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

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I have made the genre of Finn’s music clear across my productions by following conventions of the
Indie genre. When producing my music video, I ensured that it focused heavily on the theme of love
and revolved around a relationship. This is typical of Indie Pop music videos, such as Thomas Rhett’s
‘Marry Me’ music video that focuses on a developing romantic relationship between two childhood
friends. This means that the theme is familiar with the audience which in turns suggests that they
would be able to both understand and relate to it. Furthermore, the idea of being broken or
damaged by love is also explored within my video because I found that this was common in Indie
Pop music videos, as demonstrated by James Bay’s ‘Let it Go’ video and Tom Odell’s ‘Another Love’
video. By following the conventions of the Indie genre, I have made it easier for audiences to relate
Finn to other artists that belong to the genre and have therefore promoted his work as being similar
to what audiences already know and love.

In addition to this, I followed the conventions of marketing campaigns for Indie artists by taking
inspiration from both the minimalist and modern retro art movements. These are both regularly
demonstrated in CD covers and posters for Indie artists. For example, I used a black and white
photo, thus reflecting the monotone colours of the minimalist movement whilst also using a
dramatic overlay on Finn’s face, therefore illustrating a typical feature of the modern retro
movement. The muted colours of my CD cover link to the desaturated shots in my music video,
constructing a connection between the two products and creating a visual style for Finn. The bleak
colours could reflect the theme of identity loss that is present in my video as it implies that all
vibrancy and life has been drained out of Finn and he’s been left with an empty husk.

The dominance of various tones of grey illustrates the bleakness

that is evident in Finn’ music as his world, as well as my
protagonist Caitlin’s, lacks colour and appears to be devoid of
joy. I took inspiration from Ed Sheeran’s ‘Small Bump’ music
video in which his fear and anxiety are demonstrated through
desaturated, monotone shots.
 Visual Links

I created a logo for my artist which

features on both my CD cover and my
poster, thus connecting the two. The
logo is comprised of a simple, sans serif
font which is framed by two white bars.
While this is a very basic logo, it ensures that focus isn’t detracted from the main visual while still
making it obvious that it’s Finn’s music.

Additionally, as previously stated, my products are connected through their colour palettes. This
means that audiences will be able to see the same themes of depression, identity loss and isolation
that the colours connote reflected in both my music video and my print productions, ensuring that
the main message in my products is illustrated.

I used the Bebas Neue font on my print productions because it is a bold font that stands out when
placed over an image without detracting attention from the main image. This is important because,
while I wanted the album name to be clear, I also wanted the picture of Finn’s face and the
newspaper design on top of it to remain the main focus. The bold nature of the font reinforces the
weight behind the album title, further working to promote the themes of identity loss and isolation.

I used the recurring motif of having parts of Finn’s face obscured by newspaper to link to the theme
of identity. I did this to create a connection between the recurring motif of my protagonist staring at
her reflection in my music video as both motifs deal with the theme of identity and suggest how
damaging heartbreak can be which links to the lyrics of the song. This ensures that identity is one of
the key issues included in my productions.

In both images, the subject’s face is cracked or distorted which implies

that they are broken in some way and are struggling to find a way to
return to their former selves.

I took inspiration from the marketing campaign for ‘Teen Wolf’ in

which the characters’ faces were cut into shards to represent how
broken they are by the trails they’ve gone through.
Thematic Links:

The thematic motif of a break down in communications is present in both my music video and my CD
cover. In the music video, I explored this theme by removing all audio from the scenes that included
dialogue despite the fact it has become more common for music videos to included dialogue to
further emphasise themes within the song, as demonstrated in Beyonce’s ‘If I Were a Boy’ video. By
removing the dialogue, it conveys the idea that despite words being spoken, the meaning/message
behind them isn’t getting across as the couple continue to argue, perhaps suggesting that they can
no longer understand and therefore connect with each other. In order to illustrate this theme in my
CD cover I ensured that there was no direct address. I did this by obscuring Finn’s eyes with
newspaper in a photo that, ordinarily, would have featured direct address. This implies that a barrier
has been placed between him and the viewer. This is effective because it suggests that Finn wants to
connect with the audience but that something is stopping him, perhaps the pain and subsequent
insecurity caused by heartbreak, which would connect him to my protagonist and suggest that she
represents him in the video.
Finn’s eyes as well as part of his mouth are covered, effectively
cutting off any form of connection or communication between
him and the audience. This disconnection is illustrated in my music
video through the blocking of my characters as they each stand
on a third, leaving an empty space between them that symbolises
the distance their break down of communication has created
between them

I could have made my other most prevalent theme of relationships more obvious in my print
productions by including a photo of my characters, Caitlin and Pippin, on the inside panels of my CD.
This would have made the link between my two productions stronger and perhaps made it more
obvious to the audience. However, part of my objective when creating my print production was to
ensure that it worked to create a brand identity for Finn which meant that I needed to include
images of his face. This could suggest that it was more important for Finn’s debut album to make
him recognisable instead of to thoroughly explore all of the issues raised within the music video.
Representation:

I constructed the image of Finn being a tormented artist who has lost his muse, leaving him to suffer
in isolation. I did this by obscuring his face on my print productions, thus creating a barrier between
him and the audience and leaving him unable to connect or communicate with them. This theme is
carried over in my music video in which Finn’s distress can be seen. During the final segment of my
video I used a flickering effect over footage of Finn playing the drums. The rapid cuts to black imply
that there is something missing in Finn’s life that he is trying to hide, from himself especially, by
diving into his music and devoting all of his time and attention to it. This constructs the image that
Finn needs his music to escape from the world and suggests that perhaps it can offer the audience
the same reprieve.

Across my productions, I have presented teenagers as being lost and disillusioned. In my music
video, this image is constructed through the behaviour of my protagonist, Caitlin as she struggles to
get out of bed and spends her days haunted by memories of the past. This is reflected in my print
productions through the editing techniques I have previously discussed and the monotone colour
scheme which connotes despair and grief. These are emotions that everyone will have experienced,
especially teens as they struggle to balance education with developing relationships, meaning that
my target audience of late teens will be able to relate to it and find solace in Finn’s music. However,
this is dependent on how the audience ‘decode’ my productions because, as Stuart Hall stated, while
the producers ‘encode’ their products, it is up to the audience to ‘decode’ it and they will do this in a
variety of different ways depending on their background and their own personal experiences. The
polysemy of my productions could lead to the audience having a variety of different responses as
they may accept some of the meanings while rejecting or modifying others, therefore having a
negotiated reading of the text.

Conclusion:

Overall, I think I have created a reasonably strong link between my productions by including similar
colour schemes and themes, but that this link could have been made stronger. If I was creating my
productions again, I would feature Finn more heavily in my music video, perhaps having him act as
one of the protagonists. This is common in music videos, for example in his ‘It Will Rain’ music video,
Bruno Mars plays the male love interest which works to make the video seem more personal while
also making him more recognisable. If I did this in my video it would create a stronger connection
between Finn and his music as well as building a more significant link between my music video and
my print productions which include close ups of Finn’s face.