2. The main purpose of any Advert and Digipak is to
promote and advertise the artist and the album. The
theme of the Digipak and advert usually come from
ideas in the music video and the genre of the music.
They also come from the star construction of the
singer – this is to help identify the artist from others
who choose to do the same. One typical example
would be Michael Jackson and his studded glove, or
even Ariana Grande and her iconic hairstyle.
4. For our A2 media coursework, there were three
tasks we had to carry out – making a music video,
creating a digipak and a magazine advert. The
combination of the music video and the digipak and
magazine ad, are extremely effective in the sense
that the colours are prominent and flow between all
the media texts. For example, the images included in
the digipak and magazine ad are from a photoshoot
we did in Abney Park – we also have a lip sync of the
artist in this location, within the music video.
Therefore, immediately we have maintained
consistency and created a flow between all media
texts – by also using a purple tint filter, we have
maintained the consistency of a fantasy like mood in
the digipack and magazine ad.
5. In addition, one way in which
we created synergy, is by
having the artist wearing a
flannel shirt and a black chiffon
maxi skirt, with loose curls, in
the music video, the magazine
ad and some images of the
digipak.
Orginally, we were going to include an
image of the artist with flowers in her
hair, however, as we decided to
eliminate the lip sync of the artist in this
location and this outfit, as a group, we
decided to not use this image as it does
not link with the product of a music
video, or the magazine ad.
6. The combination of both the ancillary tasks and
the music video is effective in the sense that
we as a group tried to portray her as an
empowered individual and is being active in the
sense that she is trying to control her
relationship. The magazine ad and the front
cover of the digipak is a slightly low angle
image which has connotations of superiority
and dominance. However, the font establishes
the femininity and elegance of the female as it
looks fairytale like, unlike Lana Del Rey which is
more retro and bold – ours is more
contemporary and creates a fantasy like feel.
7. In addition, the music video consisted of a variety of close up shots and mid
shots of the artist lip syncing, which through research, I found that this
coincides with Andrew Goodwin’s theory, which suggests that most music
videos consist of close ups of the artist, which not only allows audience
members to be evoked by emotions but also sells the artist’s image,
presenting them in a voyeuristic way.
This idea is reinforced in the digipak’s front cover – the mid shot is
positioned in the centre, but slightly angle towards the left – in order for
the audience viewers to focus on the artist’s emotions as well as her outfit,
and the location. The smoky eyeshadow makes the artist look enticing and
the colours match with the background and the purple tint to the digipak.
The colour purple has connotations of royalty as well as creating a fantasy-
like mood.
8. When many audience members view music videos, or buy
an album, they would like to know that they can identify a
familiar feature, such as the artist wearing the same
clothes, in the same location – therefore, we ensured as a
group to have a lip sync of the artist in Abney park as well
as having the images on the digipak and magazine ad.
Moreover, we created continuity just by ensuring that the
front cover of the digipak’s image is at the bottom of the
magazine ad. Immediately, this allows audience viewers
to be able to notice the link. Moreover, having the artist
in those clothes in all three products allows there to be a
connection with the audience viewers – making it easy for
them to recognise and identify with the artist, and the
music.
9. From my research, I found that Lana Del Rey’s magazine advert has her name
positioned at either the bottom or top of the image, in a bold font, which stands
out and immediately grabs the audience’s attention. I felt that this would be
effective to apply to our own work, as well as being able to sell the artist’s image.
Another way we created brand continuity through the music video and the
ancillary tasks, was by choosing the right font. Although, in our music video we did
not have to feature the font e.g. titles we had to take into account the genre of
indie pop, when choosing the fonts for the digipak and magazine cover.
The typography within Lana Del Rey’s magazine ad is bold, white and in caps lock,
whereas when it came to our magazine ad, we italicised the font and made it
purple, in order to be compatible with the rest of the image. Therefore, by
subverting the boldness of typography, it allowed there to be a more feminine feel
to the magazine ad. We reinforced this idea by keeping in mind, it has to relate to
the Digipack images as well – making sure the colours coordinate and have the
same font, but ensuring the focus remains on the artist.
10. From my research, I found that Lana Del Rey epitomizes the indie pop
genre immensely, therefore I decided to use her work for inspiration – most
of her front cover shots on album covers are mid shots. The slight low angle
creates connotations of power as well – this could imply that the artist is
trying to put on a front, showing bravery. Her mannerism, posture and
body language illustrates her inner power she possesses and also the back
cover shows her walking away.
11. The magazine ad shows her
walking towards the camera but
looking away – this implies she
has a need or want to explore,
effectively, links with the lyrics;
‘we still have places to explore.’
This shows her adventurous
nature as well – and can be
applied to the various scenic
shots we have used.
12. I further developed the idea of creating a link
between the Digipak and magazine ad, by including
an image of the artist walking away on the back
cover, where the tracks are listed, on the Digipak
and then having the artist walking towards the
camera but looking up in the magazine ad. Originally,
as a group, we wanted another close up of the artist,
however, as she is in a different location and in a
different outfit, it did not link with the rest of the
images, therefore we as a group we decided to
include images where the artist is in the same
location and the same outfit. This enabled us to
maintain consistency throughout the Digipak,
magazine ad and the music video.
13. For the internal panels of the digipack, we used images of Wapping – which was a
central location within our music video. The image of the hands shaped in a heart,
symbolises the theme of love and relationships – a key feature within real media
texts (indie pop music videos) as well as our own. The purple filter allows the image
to interlink with the other images – the heart generally links with the indie pop genre,
which revolves around the idea of love. This also interlinks with Maslow’s theory of
‘psychological needs’ – audience members would watch this to relate or to fill a void.
The cd panel is an image of a scenic shot – there are branches at the top of the image
and the sea at the bottom – this links with the lyrics as well – ‘take me to the sea.’
Research of Lana Del Rey’s album covers, illustrates that she does use natural
imagery or scenery imagery – such as the cd panel of the Ultraviolence album.
14. The purple filter also links with the image of the hearts as well as the other
ancillary task, the magazine ad. Using a long shot allows us to include the key
features of the location, establishing a specific mood for the genre – moreover,
it is typical to have outdoors shots within the indie pop genre, such as Marina
and the Diamonds.
15. Another way in which our group created synergy throughout the music video, as well
as the ancillary tasks was also through another form of mise-en-scene: setting and
lighting. In our music video, there are establishing shots of Abney Park as well as a lip
sync – this links to both the digipak and the magazine ad as the shots were taken in
Abney Park – also it is vital as it is another convention of the Indie Pop Genre.
16. The typography, colours and filters that we used in the magazine advert are also used
within the digipack, which ensures there is continuity between both the ancillary tasks and
it also matches the indie pop genre effectively. The print tasks were an opportunity to
promote our artist’s image and allow it to act as a form of expression of the artist’s
thoughts, feelings and emotions. In addition, the pace of the video reinforces the idea of
the artist contemplating, making decisions, thinking and reminiscing. The slow pans of the
scenic shots, establishes nature and the want to ‘explore.’ The digipack effectively gave our
group a chance to portray the artist’s image, using various images, whereas, the magazine
ad has one image, representing her character in a nutshell. We wanted these images to
generally appeal to females, for our artist to appear attractive but in an honest and realistic
way, so audience members can resonate and identify themselves with the protagonist.
