Q2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

After completing the music video I went on to create a Digipak and magazine advert, the original concept I had was of a young girls face displayed on the front cover smashed into pieces to create a shattered effect, after playing around on photoshop and researching other album covers I decided against this idea as too much would be happening on the front cover, confusing the viewers eye.
I started by researching into album covers of a similar genre as well as those of different genres to see what conventions are primarily used, the main concept I wanted to discover was how to make an album cover eye catching as this is what will draw the buyer in to look over and then purchase the product.

Album covers of the same genre to my own or of the Alternative genre use very simple formats for their album cover. An example is, Of Monsters and Men album cover, it portrays a man on the beach smiling at the camera, the image itself looks as if it could be captured by his friend, family etc, it does not look as if it was professional taken and I believe this is what gives its appeal to the audience, its simplicity is appealing and they will be able to relate to the image. Out in the waves is a small house, this provides a level of "anonymity" which would lead the audience to believe that the music videos of this artist have everyday life situations with unusual things happening or by changing a certain element.   I then went on to view a music video by Of Monsters and Men "Little Talks" the video is in animation format, its the story of 5 men who spot something falling from the sky and go over to discover a female being inside, as the group go on with their journey they come across numerous beasts which the female is able to defeat, its a story of however small you are, you can defeat your demons. This is a realistic story which conforms to the conventions of Alternative and yet tells the story in an eye catching point of view which audiences will find intriguing, this then goes on to relate to the normal scenario on the album cover with the out of the ordinary placement of the house.
Throughout our music video we included shots of this normal scenario with the out of the ordinary placement of objects, such as the shots of the young girl surrounded by lamps flashing on and off, the room itself presents a scenario presented within a home. Although all the furniture is seen to be covered up by sheets presenting the idea that the home is abandoned or that the individuals will soon be leaving, this is commonly seen within homes, the use of the lamps presents something unusual. First of all they are the only objects that are seen to have not been covered up and second that they are flashing on and off in a circle around the young girl, she is aware of what is happening around her and that the camera is upon her, this breaks down the 4th wall.






Another example of a simple front cover is Sea Wolf, as seen on the right, it presents a basic image of the sea and sky with the font being the key focus, the band name corresponds with the image and although it is simple it still brings in the viewers eye, both album covers present the element water, this is one of the key themes throughout our video.
A shot is used at 1:29 presenting a river, the shot pans along part of the river, this is used as a cut away from the original scenario unfolding and also provides distortion between the shots so the audience is provided with this overwhelming feeling that the young girl feels when she is outside, she is trying to take everything in of her place of happiness.
After my research I concluded that most, if not all Alternative genre albums don't include an image of the band on the front but instead a location, an object or a group of individuals portraying the theme of the album.

I then went onto look at Pop album covers, what become obvious throughout my research is that the singer is the focus point of the viewers eye, an example on the right is of Lady Gaga, Artpop. Lady Gaga appears clad with carefully positioned objects/hair to hide her body, although a convention of Pop is extravagant costume, not wearing any clothes is seen as being dramatic and in some cases controversial. The surrounding background is a mixture of images carefully edited with no natural setting, this is also a convention commonly seen in Pop. The album cover works with the music videos on the album, as both supply theatricality, audiences can initially view this album cover and it's themes come across clearly, individuals know what they are getting when they purchase the CD.


After viewing these and others I decided that my album cover should take one element from the music video and expand it to provide the key theme of my Digipak. I preferred Alternative covers as I believed they manage to capture the viewers eye without being extravagant, this is what I wanted as my music video is about abuse and loneliness of a young girl, if I had a front cover with bright images and provocative women, audiences would be confused about the correlation between the two and they would not be getting what they expect. An album cover is there to provide a single image of the entirety of the music on the album, therefore the image needs to correspond with the conventions of the sound and visuals of the songs/music videos.

The element I then went on to capture was the haunted and broken feeling the protagonist is feeling, this was then captured and amplified on each panel of my digipak.

My front cover displayed the image of a girl, her face is split into three parts, this displays how broken she has become because of the abuse she has suffered and the lifelong neglect, this also provides the possibility that she may never truly be "fixed", the image provides an insight into the main product. What is also noticeable is that the girls face on the left is shadowed by darker lighting compared to on the left, this is to represent the dark and light in her life, the good- herself and the bad - her family, this continues on with the theme, haunted. The other thing viewers will see is that her eyes are closed, this can be interpreted in a number of ways; she is praying for help, she is at peace or that she is trying to ignore the world and escape to her own piece of paradise. The background is a collection of trees, they are presented with an effect which results in them having a haunted look about them, nature is used throughout the music video and this theme is therefore presented on the front cover. In our music video the image of a tree is shown, this was used was a contradicting image against the images of the young girl trapped inside. 

The font is very simple and elegant reflecting a feminine style, this is amplified by the harsh background, these two elements portray the key elements of the music video. 

                                                            

Panels 2 and 3

The main theme throughout the middle two panels is that of a haunted building, a church in this case, although it is quite different to what continues on throughout the music video it still provides an eerie feeling. Churches are known for being hallow and cold, this can present the emptiness that the protagonist is feeling. The effect used gives the church a haunted feeling, a feeling of dread, it portrays the place as abandoned, the effect would more commonly be used in the genre horror, I believe this adds something else to the Digipak and individuals would be more intrigued by it and therefore, be more likely to purchase this as a CD for collection purpose rather than download it online. The shades of red used supply an array of shadows across both the inside and outside of the church, this provides a visual of ghostly objects/figures, this presents the lost feeling that my protagonist is feeling.

I didn't wish to use the theme of nature too much throughout the Digipak because it was used thoroughly on the music video, therefore I captured more of the emotion which was portrayed, thus the darkness of this emotion can appeal to audiences. 

The back cover continues on with the editing theme from within the CD cover, the lights were captured inside a home, this is the first image which links in a more obvious fashion with the music video. Two adjoining turned on lights are connect on a wall, this is the single object in the shot, this is the first image that would be captured within a home environment. The shot is a close up of the two lights, thus the viewer cannot see behind them to view what is happening in the rest of the household however, due to the black and white used on the surrounding area, the viewer get's the impression of darkness, loneliness and pain. Comparing this then against the contrasting bright colour being emitted from the lights, which portrays a single solidarity bright light against the darkness. In relation the young girl in the music video is considered the bright light against the darkness, her family, therefore I have displayed the young girls solidarity through the image of a household object which then goes on to relate to the environment in which she lives in.
The font used is entirely different to that on the front cover, the font on the front is delicate and feminine while the font on the back is more masculine and bold, this is vast contrast, a further representation of the battle between the female and male. It is also used because it is considerably large and therefore individuals will easily be able to read the song titles at a glance.
Goodwin identifies that music as a form will have a relationship between visuals and the music and therefore lead on to have its own style in which audiences will be able to relate to, with the various elements such as; pain, the use of black and white and elements being reinforced throughout the Digipak, audiences will be able to establish the style and this will in a long term effect result in them associating this style with Noccankani.

The above image shows the magazine advert which will be used to promote the CD, the image is the same as used on the CD cover, this is because I believe it is a strong piece and if I used a different piece it may confused the customer and not tie in as well to the overall themes portrayed in the piece. By using the same image, individuals can establish the style of the product. The one main difference is the font 'Noccankani' and 'Out Now' the font is bold and large much like that on the back cover of the CD, the different being that it is black, this allows it to stand out boldly from the background, black also represents a darkness within. 

Goodwin's theory states that music videos include a demonstration of typical genre characteristics and can also link to film genres, one of the most clear examples of this is Iggy Azalea 'Fancy', the song takes on Hip Hop/Rap but still has influences of Pop, the music video provided for it is a replica of the 1995 comedy Clueless, this shows high intertexuality with visuals identical to that in the film, this includes; location, mise-en-scene and costume. The film is very much a chick flick comedy, this corresponds well with the Pop although, Iggy Azalea is more Hip Hop they have merged the two ideals well together to provide something that audiences are very much interested in watching. This also brings in a wider range of audience, those who enjoy Rap would listen to the song then go on to watch the music video, after enjoying it they would go on to watch the original film, this provides credibility for the film. On the other hand those who are fans of Clueless would then go to enjoy Iggy Azalea music, using intertexuality introduces a different array of individuals to the artist.



For the music video the main influence of movie genre was independent 'indie' these include feature films that are produced outside of major film studios, budgets are usually lower and they are credited for the way the producers/writers print has been left on the piece, the content is usually a lot deeper and portrays real life scenarios instead of fantasy worlds which are shown in higher film studios, a clear example being Harry Potter which was produced by Warner Bros, an American producer of Film, Music and TV.
The music video has taken on this indie genre, it was produced as a way of helping people and a video in which people could relate to, it wasn't necessarily used for escapism, this is the idealism of many other genres such as fantasy.

My Digipak has influences from the movie genre horror, this genre seeks out individuals most primal fears and results in a negative emotion, this ties in well with my music video as some peoples fears may include that of abuse or abandonment. My front cover shows a young girl with her eyes closed, this to some horror genre enthusiasts may portray the girl as asleep waiting for the villain to attack or that she is dead.
The main influence resulting in this horror convention is the effect used on the middle panels and back cover, the distorted movement of image looks as though objects/buildings are being shadowed, dark colours are used aiding to this effect. The use of this horror genre effect provides a larger range of audience to be intrigued, upon viewing the front cover they would then go on to listen to the track and the music video, this allows them to be introduced to a wider range of genres.