Friday 15 March 2013

Evaluation 2:

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? (Digipak and Mag ad)

My idea was to produce a coherent package that carried a strong visual motif, thus creating a brand identity. The brand is a theme of sexiness, playfulness, rebellion and ultimately, fun. The visual motif I devised was an extreme close up of lips/lipstick. I aimed for my main product and ancillary texts combined, to attract my target audience of teens, age-ranging from 13 to mid-twenty year old girls and boys. The motif of red lipstick enabled my video and ancillary texts to attract my audience for various reasons- firstly, the brightness of the lipstick creates a redundant pop/contemporary rnb element, allowing my female audience to relate to the video/texts regarding fashion and the pop culture. Also, her visible nose stud connotes youth and a rebellion- a notion of non-conformism. It also connotes the fashion sense of this generation, and would undoubtedly appeal to my target audience.



Secondly, the use of red lipstick and extreme close ups was intended to relate and attract a male audience too- through the use of Laura Mulvey's theory of Male Gaze, and an attraction to the model.

Here, Thea is featured in an extreme close up, seductively licking her lips. This displays intertextuality- as Graham Allen claims 'it foregrounds notions of relationality', and 'every artistic object is so clearly assembled from bits and pieces of already existent art'. I have also edited the shot in black and white, to match Azealia Banks' shot, inkeeping with the musical genre and brand. I feel that Azealia Banks' brand is similar to my own that I have created for Thea, as she clearly displays elements of fun, rebellion, playfulness and sexiness.


My video


Azealia Banks- '212' (above)

It is important to create a brand identity when producing a music video, magazine adverts and a digipak for many reasons. Firstly, it is something that can be recognised and ultimately associated with the product. For example, my brand identity is presented well, in the sense that it reflects the latest style and designs related to my musical genre, inkeeping with the urban 'feel'. The red lipstick featured throughout my products contrasted with the black and white shots used for the digipak and magazine advert in order to stand out, and be noticed and recognised by my target audience.

Playful: Below, the shot features Thea putting lipstick on at the beginning of the video. It intends to portray sexiness, in conjunction with the playful element of Thea sticking her tongue out to the camera, posing through a black frame. This is the initial creation of the brand. Also, it features voyeurism, again touching on Laura Mulvey's theory, where she believed that women 'being captured in this gaze are valued primarily for their ability to be looked at. This was the intention of blending the two camera shots using Adobe Premier Pro editing software- allowing for two shots of Thea to be seen, one connoting sexiness (applying lipstick), and the other connoting a more playful aspect.



Rebellious: Below, the shots feature Thea pulling her hood up in time with the beat of the track, thus using Goodwin's Synaesthesia of linking image with time of music, and Thea rolling a cigarette. The hood and cigarette both connote rebellion and non-conformist attitute to society. This creates a brand, something that can be recognised and associated with my musical genrem and ultimately, Thea, as she is the main focus, and only character within my video.




Rebellion is also displayed in my magazine advert (Below, left) where Thea again, smokes a cigarette. The only visible colour is that of her lips, the bright red visual motif I have carried through my products. (Below, right) The front cover of my digipak, featuring only Thea's bright red lipstick conveying sex appeal.



Fun: Below, Thea is featured pulling odd faces and unchoreographed dance moves. This adds an element of fun, an aspect of my video that adds to the overall brand, inkeeping with the redundant conventions of my musical genre.





Below features my digipak, a shot of Thea that connotes fun and playfulness, using red lipstick again to add sexiness. Her nose piercing connotes rebellion, and a non-conformist attitude toward society. I decided to include the colour of her sweater aswell as her lips by using the history wand tool on Photoshop. The colour adds fun, inkeeping with the brand I have created.




Below- Azealia Banks' '212' video, unchoreographed dance moves connoting playfulness and fun, contributing to the brand of her video, similar to my own. Element of sexiness is also featured, as she is wearing shorts; revealing the majority of her leg.


Below- Rihanna's 'Rudeboy' video, featuring playfulness, fun, and sexiness with the use of bright colours (attire and background), revealing clothing, and provocative dance moves, mainly consisting of her lower region (bum).


I decided to replicate this feature of The Male Gaze with Thea, in order to add redundancy and sexual appeal to my video, inkeeping with the elements of the brand. Below, the camera shot is a close up of Thea's bottom. She is wearing tight jeans, again adding to the sexual element of the brand. This shows intertextuality again, regarding the aspect of provactive dancing, which is a mimic of Rihanna's, however Thea's clothing isnt so revealing.






If my product were to go on sale, it would more than likely be placed in the urban/rnb section of a CD shop such as HMV. This is because the majority of the elements of the video and the song itself feature redundant conventions of this musical genre. It would ideally be promoted in a music magazine such as 'VIBE', as it appeals to my target audience more so than magazines such as NME and The Rolling Stones; the genre being the main cause of this, also the age and style of my model.

The locations of my products vary, for example- the shots for my digipak and magazine advert were taken on college grounds, in a wooded area. This was somewhat entropic, as this location bore no relevance to the genre of music, nor the style of costume my model was wearing.

Spetchley Woods- located next to college, in Worcester.




Shot of Thea taken in Spetchley Woods. The location is more likely to be associated with an indie/folk genre of music, not rnb/pop, allowing for it to become somewhat entropic.


Regarding props however, my model was featured in both my magazine advert and my digipak smoking a cannibis joint. This connotes rebellion and displays a non-conformist approach to society and legislation, (cannibis is illegal). It is also illustrative of the title of the track- 'Born To Fly'. I was intending to relate the word 'fly' to smoking cannibis, in a way of describing the effects of the drug. It was also a stylistic technique that I aimed to become associated with my model and in particular, the musical genre.  

 -Taken from the digipak

 - Taken from the video.






1 comment:

  1. Some evidence of proficiency. However, it's not really detailed enough to lodge firmly within the proficient band.
    There needs to be a much clearer sense of what the brand identity is. Fun, young, playful, sexy, rebellious perhaps? How are all these elements communicated across ALL three products?
    The points about the lipstick are not the brand identity itself rather they are part of the strategies to portray the brand identity. To me the lipstick connotes young/fashionable/sexy attitudes. As does the presence of the male gaze and needs to be explicitly demonstrated across ALL three of the products. You mention rebellion in the two ancillary products but not in the video.
    Take the brand identity I suggest here and then try to find evidence of how this is demonstrated across the main and ancillary products.

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