EvaluationEvaluation: In what ways does your

media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

    Ancillary products CD digipack and CD advert 

I have produced a four panel digipack for the given artist of my song who is shown in my music video. This has allowed me to be creative as i have had to think of ways in which i could link all three of my products together. 

Front cover and spine

My digipack                                                     Real digipackBoth digipacks contain the title of the album and the artists name, a picture of the artist/s and the instruments the artist/s play. These are all typical conventions for a front cover of a digipack. to my digipack i have also added a label which gives information about the album and the hit songs it contains. This was not included in the McFly digipack but was in the Robbie Williams Digipack i analised for my research. For the spines, both digipacks contain the title of the album and the artists name, as well as record label/brand label. These also being typical conventions. For my main picture i decided to have one of the artist and a yellow flower as i wanted the yellow flower to symbolize unrequited love and rebirth.

Back cover

My digipack                                                     Real digipackBy comparing both digipacks it is obvious to see which conventions i have fulfilled. These being:- the titles of the songs, bardecode, record labels details, copyright information and a relevant picture which fits with the theme of the album. For my back cover i decided to layout the album songs in the shape of a heart so that the target audience would be to see the theme of the album. I chose to use a still from the music video of the couple holding hands at it represents their close relationship which also fits with the theme of the album i am trying to portray.

Inside panels and spine.

My digipack

Real digipack

The inside panels in most four panel digipacks are left quite plan as the main focus is on the front and back covers, this can be screen in the McFly digipack. When i came to producing mine i decided to leave them relatively plan by only having a close up picture of the yellow flower on the front cover. I decided to do this because it reinforced the symbolism i wanted to be portrayed on the front cover. For the titles of the artist and album i have used the same font and writing style as this adds to the continuity.  

CD advert

For my second ancillary task I had to produce a magazine advert which would promote my music video and digipack. When making my poster i wanted to make it as effective as possible as the main purpose of an advert is to promote its product, here being my artist and digipack, to appeal to the given target audience. I also wanted to ensure it looked as realistic as possible as the more realistic a product is the higher quality the product should look and therefore be.

From carrying out textual analysis and my audience questionnaire i found that depending on the target audience, the style and layout of an advert varies. My questionnaire showed me that my target audience of females aged between 15 and 25 prefer adverts that are a whole A4 page like the example of the Rihanna advert on the left. My questionnaire also highlighted the main areas which are most important when it comes to producing an effective advert. These areas were: the title of the artist, title of the album, the picture and product information. By looking at the Rihanna advert it is easy to see how the four areas i have pointed out are seen to be important, by there size and how they are made to stand out on the page,

Product analysis of my productThe picture is of the artist and of the instrument she plays, this is a typical convention as by having the artist in the picture it is actively selling them as a person as well as their music. By having the instrument in the picture it gives the audience more information about the artist and also the music they play. THe picture is also the same picture used for the front cover on my digipack this is also a convention and can been seen by the Gwen Stefani advert i have analised. With the picture in black and white expect from the flower drawers the attention of the audience to the flower, making it the focal point. By having the flower positioned in the middle of the page also adds to this.

 The titles of the artists name and the album cover are both situated at the top of the page as this is the normal reading pattern, top to bottom and left to right. The same font is used for both pieces of writing but the title of the artists name is written in a bigger font and is bold. This is to standout more over the album name as it is a conventions to have the main writing of the artists names over the album name. The writing is all in white this is so that it standout on the black and white background. The font used for both pieces of writing resembles handwriting this is so that it looks like the artist herself has written it.

Product analysis of my product

The writing at the bottom of the page give information of the release of the album and songs most familiar songs it contains.This is a typical convention found with CD adverts as it gives the audience information about the product being promoted. The writing  is in different font and it in capital letters so that it stands out from the background picture and differentiates from the writing of the artists name and the album name.

Underneath the Information about the Album there is a quote from a newspaper about the advert. This is a typical convention as it promotes the product my giving other people views about the product. This is used as a persuasive device.

The ways in which i have linked my 3 product are through using the theme of love and lose. Using the same picture for the advert as I used for my digipack front cover and the same writing on both. I also used a still form my video for my back cover.

Overall, from looking at existing products and analsying my own products I have identified all the conventions i had met. By looking at my products against existing products it allows me to see just how realistic my products are and how they would fit in their given market. I am pleased with my products as i feel that they would fit in well.I also feel the my ancillary products work work well together and alongside my music video.