Evaluation - Question 2

Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product with ancillary texts?

The genre of my production arguably falls under many different genres such as spoken work, trance, hip-hop but the stand out and main genre being trip-hop.The digipak and magazine advert were vital components in producing an effective overall product, after completing the music video attention was turned to the digipak and magazine and thought was put towards creating an effective digipak to compliment the music video.

When planning and considering different ideas for the digipak design I choose to look at a vast variety of different album covers, ranging in genres, however looking most in depth at album covers of the trip-hop genre. Looking at these different album covers helped to conceptualize the sort of style and features that would be most effective in engaging our target audience. Album covers that were looked at for inspiration were 'Imagine' an iconic album by John Lennon, 'LP1' by FKA Twigs, 'We sing, we dance, we steal things' by Jason Mraz and 'False Idols' by Tricky.

Digipak - Panel 1 

In order to generate an effective image for panel 1 of the digipak we experimented with many different shot types mainly of the characters face. The decision was made to stick with the close up of the characters face depicted on a blank white background as many artists of the trip-hop genre such as 'Tricky' and 'FKA Twigs' use this approach and by making panel 1 similar to theirs, allowing the audience the chance to relate and identify the genre. The use of the close up also helps to engage the audience with the character as they are clearly able to see all their emotions, as the character in panel 1 has a rather blank expression on his face, it leaves the audience wondering what emotions fill the blank space and creates an eagerness for them to find out. It also helps to create a link between the audience and the character as they have identified him in the digipak and will go on further to identify him in the music video. The use of the close up of the face in panel 1 develops and supports generic conventions of album covers mainly to promote themselves as an artist, an example of this would be John Lennon's album 'Imagine' where a close up of his face is used furthermore supporting the generic convention of this type of album cover.

FKA Twigs album 'LP1' shows a close up of her face with a sense that it's been animated, her album falls under the category of trip-hop similar to that of Fold's music. The album cover for 'LP1' creates a sense of ambiguity meaning the album cover leaves the audiences views open for interpretation. Unlike certain album covers from Iron Maiden which portray features of heavy rock such as band members seen with guitars surrounded by fire, this image leaves the audience wondering what the album possesses and expresses causing an excitement and eagerness to find out. The album 'LP1' was looked at closely when generating an image for panel 1 of the digipak, particularly the facial expression of FKA Twigs herself, which appears to be very blank yet again creating a sense of ambiguity, this facial expression was replicated in panel 1 for 'Fight Back'.

The choice was made to decrease the vibrance on the image for panel 1 and to increase the saturation meaning that the image became a slightly darker and duller tone. This was done to connote what the music video represented, the dull, dark tones can be linked with the bleak hope for this country, in the fact that young people of the UK have no hope against the mighty force of the government and they shall be forever overruled and cuts to education will continue to be made along with the rising tuition fees.

I felt the close up image of the main character as panel 1 of the digipak effectively relates to our music video as I feel the image portrays how voiceless many protesters felt in 2011 across the country and that they were being over shadowed by the violence and criminal behaviour shown by many. The fact that the character is shown to be completely alone in this image supports this point and as he is pictured against a blank white wall, this further endorses this point. The glasses decided to be worn in panel 1 also connote that the character is representing the so called mindless minority of protesters who caused criminal damage and inflicted harm on others at the riots, therefore this image for the album cover arguably represents the two divides of people shown at the London Riots in 2011, the peaceful, voiceless protesters and the violent, aggressive and commonly labelled as 'mindless' protesters. The sunglasses also act as a 'recurring motif' identified by Goodwin as they appear in the digipak and also the music video.

Digipak - Panel 2 and 3

Panels 2 and 3 of the digipak are the inside panels, these can be either viewed as one whole image, or two separate ones, in most cases a whole image is used spread across two panels. The image used for panels 2 and 3 was taken by myself and is of a panorama form allowing the image to spread across two panels forming one whole image. The image was taken in Anglia Square, Norwich which is well known for its bleak and derelict mise-en-scene therefore making it a prime spot for this image as I wanted to display a theme of lost hope and faith. Using this image was therefore effective as the graffiti suggests the place has been neglected by society which could relate to how many people felt during the protests and riots in 2011. Yet again the image has had its vibrancy reduced and saturation increased to make the image a much darker and less vibrant tone. The image also portrays a sense of isolation yet again referencing the emotions many protesters felt during the riots as there isn't much sense of liveliness  as no pedestrians can be seen and the cars look abandoned.

The image for panels 2 and 3 also portrays a good sense of urban life. This sense of urban life is portrayed in the music video for 'Ill Manors' by Plan B, urban surroundings suggest a sense of poverty perhaps offering an explanation about why many people took the riots as an opportunity to go 'looting'. It should be coherent to see that the panels 2 and 3 connote a sense of demonstration, oppression and rebellion as an audience may be able to relate with the surroundings they see in panels 2 and 3 with the surroundings seen during the London riots in 2011.

Similar urban locations from 'Ill Manors' music video and London riots in 2011. 

Digipak - Panel 4 

It was debated to have a screenshot from the music video as my panel 4, but it was overruled as the quality of the screenshot wasn't good enough and felt the quality would have hindered the whole digipak. It would have been effective however as it would have linked visually to the themes of the music video when given some background information about the location of the screenshot. The chosen image for panel 4 is yet again taken from Anglia Square, Norwich. It shows a closer shot image of an abandoned old office block where squatters now burrow and crime is committed. 

The purpose of this image was yet again to display urban life and to replicate surroundings of the riots in 2011 but was also to display a hidden message with the graffiti seen of the little boys mainly focusing on his eyes. The message being that the people are not oblivious as to what goes on behind closed doors in government and their plans to further cut education etc. The graffiti image also relates back to panel 1 in the fact that it is a plain image of a face. 

Magazine Advertisement.

The image seen here on the poster for the digipak is the same image used in Panel 1, this adds a recurring motif within the print production supporting the view of Goodwin. The idea was for the poster to be striking and bold but also for it to encourage audiences to relate it to politics/government/social change. this therefore provides a consistent theme throughout the digipak and music video. I wanted the poster to encourage audiences to relate it to social change and politics therefore when creating the poster I was looking at some political propaganda such as an image of David Cameron's face next to a quote stating 'We can't go on like this, I'll cut the deficit, not the NHS'. The colour theme was changed into black and white, keeping the tones as dark as possible avoiding bright, vibrant colours which represent hope and happiness.