How effective is the combination our main product and ancillary texts?

When constructing our music video, digipak and magazine advertisement- we had to ensure that it complied with the conventions of our genre in order to appeal to the correct target audience. EuroPop often produces unconventional music which has a positive/fun emotional feel which appeals to a variety of different audiences from various social backgrounds and age ranges. Therefore, when creating our ancillary texts- we had to transfer the energy and ideas from our song into visible products which reflected the same effect achieved by our music video. We felt this would be achieved by the correct content as well as technological input in the hope we could maintain the same lively, vibe we had in the music video. The front cover for our digipak involved a lot of manipulation of the original image through the use of Photoshop; creating effects which increased the bright perceptibility of the digipak. It was important that the front cover caught the eye of the consumer- as this is the most significant panel due to the nature of the presentation of a cd case commercially. Our digipak (pictured left), complied with the rule of thirds- as the main focus (the hand gesture love heart) is pictured centrally as it is the main feature in the design. We used the hand gesture as it is used multiple times in the music video (example bottom left) as it became a symbolic code integrated into the appearance of our video. The iconic symbol allowed us to gain recognition as it is a largely recognised gesture which is visible in the media, however more specifically the image of many artists (examples of Justin Beiber and Taylor Swift right). However the consistent use of this in our video made it a key theme, which almost created an image that was specific to our musictherefore in order to maintain consistency, we wanted to include it as the main image of our front cover. A great inspiration for the configuration of our front cover was the Tinie Tempah album Discovery. As you can see (pictured left), the album is in fact similar in appearance our own, due to the compliance to the rule of thirds- where the subject is pictured down the middle and the object is pictured centrally. Additionally, as we can comparable see, there is a pink glow which has been created through image manipulation. A difficult process of this was, creating a glow which is visible through the reflection in the glasseshowever with colour pigment replication, we were able to keep the shine from the glasses lens as well including a pink light effect shining off of them; which is used for Tinie Tempahs album also. The font used for Colin and Matt, Saturday Show creates a retro 80s effect- when I see this font; connotations that appear include discos and nostalgia from a past era which is widely used- for example in the 80s themes Rockstar game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City(font pictured right).

The inside left cover promotes something which is resonant throughout our video- an acceptance of a multiple cultures. Similar to the music video, our inside left cover shows many flags being painted upon my face, whereas in the video the faces of different individuals are painted to suggest a range of nationalities. The countries used all feature within the continent of Europe- which relates to the main theme and song title of our music video Euro Love. A lot of the connoted characteristics in our music video are based around the idea of fun and happiness, which I feel is additionally captured in the digipak panel as we can see the various expressions on displayed by me. The 3x3 grid configuration allowed us to create division as well as inclusion- as the image was segmented but for plausible reasons as we could show the different nations clearly as though they are coming together. The pink box located around the middle image creates a focus point, which all the other images surround- this showed the idea that all the nations are individually their own, however they are all drawn together. The visual concept of the image is powerful, due to its quirkiness as well as uniqueness, which ties in with the idea of our music videoas we aimed for something different which is not so evident in the market due to its originality. The strong inclusion of multicultural love is coherent in both our music video and ancillary texts, due to it being a key theme in the song. Therefore we initially decided on key ideas which we felt would be applicable to elaborate upon- ideas such as pink, love hearts and togetherness were raised. However, we wanted to create these ideas in our own way which was specific to our music video, which I felt we did. Our back cover, managed to support the idea of friendship which is displayed in the music video, as the two main characters that are featured in the music video are based around the giant love heart (pictured left).The pink twirls we wrapped around the characters suggests they are enveloped within the Euro Love influence, as there seems to be a compliance to their friendship with their recognition of one another in the image as well as the suggestive heart which connotes positivity. With regards to our magazine advertisement, the intentions of this were much different from the digipak, as the intentions of this were to advertise to an audience in order to sell the album. However, we tried to still include some of the ideas which were conveyed throughout the video and the digipak. For example, the inclusion of the pink writing maintained consistency in our image, as well as the inclusion of the iconic sunglasses that the main performer wears. The image of the brick wall provided a good canvass to lay other images and text on; however most significantly it gives a very casual effect, setting the location in a urban area, which is supported by the causality of the actor as he holds his briefcase and perches on the bench. The colours used are additionally very powerful, as the pink writing contrasts with the brown bricks effectively to make it bold. In conclusion, our ancillary texts support our music video effectively; extensively reinforcing the original ideas we wished to convey. Quirkiness and originality was achieved by mirroring the

behaviour we used from our characters on screen and transferring them to an inanimate text. Complying to the conventions we used in our music video was significant in creating a strong digipak and magazine advertisement, as it enabled us to work from already pre-crafted ideas of which we could: use, change and redevelop in order to achieve the visual success we desired.