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

The tasks I had to complete were the two ancillary tasks, which was the Digipak and the Magazine Advertisement, and the main product was my music video.

The main idea I had for my Music Video when choosing the song “Heartbeat” was the actor going through a series of events, which bit by bit showed the breakdown of her and her relationship as a whole. The Music Video was made to add a visual reference to the song, and to give the audience an insight to the artist and what she’s about.

My Music Video contains various close-ups as it is a very emotive song and video, which means that not only are they viewing the visual expressions to the song, they are also familiarising themselves with the artist and her style, for example what she is wearing is quite feminine, so Beckie as an artist is now seen as quite a feminine girl, due to the fact she wears a skirt, and accessorises with jewellery. The Video was also created to give the audience a visual of the situation she is faced with. I believe that my Music Video effectively portrays this due to the fact the audience get to see her relationship from when things were going good, through the breakdown, and right near the end where she is an emotional wreck because of him. This helps the audience work out the words, as the imagery is used to assist the lyrics in understanding the Music Video. I wanted to clearly distinguish the contrast between her happiness, and her sadness, and I done this in a number of ways. I used the black and white effect in order to display Beckie in a very sad mood, due to the low-key lighting and the blacks and greys. I put the “Reel 8mm Film” on the shots were things were working out in the relationship, which portrayed Beckie in a happy state, and almost as if these shots are surreal and only imaginable, when they are in contrast with the reality shots.

I believe that the most iconic part of the video is the very end, where there is a dramatic build-up with the fast cuts, and the tempo also speeding up. I believe that it is effective how the shots change to the beat, which makes the visuals relate to the tempo even more than if they did without changing to the beat, this also relates to Goodwin’s theory of music videos creating a visual for the song, including the relationship between the lyrics, visuals and tempo of the song.

The purpose of the digipak was to accompany Beckie’s album, and to provide an insight in to Beckie’s life and her style. I believe that the digipak has successfully served its purpose due to the fact that each page on the digipak contains a different picture of Beckie, which shows various sides to her, and in all, she is wearing a different costume, which shows her style and characteristics.

The thank you page in particular stands out as I have used the handwritten font, in order to give the audience a sense of familiarity as to what her handwriting would really be like. Also, the photograph used on the thank you page has emotive language cut out of the photo, which represents her, and all that she feels. The back page shows that she is intrigued by antique looking things, as the back page is quite modern and feminine with the whole background effect, the chandelier and the silhouette feature. The front page is black and white which portrays her being depressed, and with the absence of colour, I tried to portray the absence of love and happiness. The institutional page contains the same background as the back of the digipak, and this was in order for the black and grey type of theme to run throughout my coursework. The background is reduced in opacity and placed over the image to make the image of low-key lighting, which shows there are secrets hidden and unhappiness within her. Beckie’s facial expression is almost as if she is confused, this is the mix of the two contrasting features. I tried to explain how she must be feeling inside, she feels hollow, confused, lost and does not know what to do due to this breakup.

The magazine advertisement which I created was to promote and express Beckie as an artist. This magazine advertisement has served its purpose as it shows Beckie in both lights, by containing the front cover of the digipak, which is black and white with the photograph of her with a straight face, and by containing the main image which is in colour, and shows her smiling. The costumes which she is wearing portray her as to be feminine and stylish, which gives the audience an insight in to her life and her styles. It also presents what music critics think of her music, which is why the quotes from music magazines are included.

Through the main task and the two ancillary tasks, I believe I have created a brand image and identity, for various reasons. First of which, is that the whole of my coursework really plays on the element of the contrast between happy and sad, good versus evil, which are called binary opposites. The music video portrays both the good times during the relationship, displayed with the reel 8mm film effect,

and the bad reality shots, with no effect, in order to portray this realism.

The magazine advertisement also shows Beckie being both happy and sad, which shows that she has a series of emotions, but also that she is really a happy person. The photographs used of Beckie, are a mixture of close-ups, mid-shots and long shots, and they contain different costumes in order for the audience to really get a sense of Beckie’s character.

The theme throughout the main product, and ancillary texts displays Beckie’s emotive side, with constant referral to emotions and the constant colour scheme of blacks greys and reds, which are very draining. Also, this mood is contrasted with the shots in the music video which have the “Reel 8mm Film” effect on them, which display a surreal and happy place, and also, the magazine advertisement, which portrays Beckie in a new light, as the photograph is colourful and she is smiling.