Question 2) How effective is the combination of your main product with ancilliary texts?

My main product, which consists of a music video, and my ancilliary texts, consisting of a digipak print production, are very much so intertwined by use of theme, genre, imagery (including style and motif) and representation of the characters within both texts.



The main connotation in terms of theme I attempted to portray is the hedonistic lifestyle of the band; portrayed within my music video as young white/British males within a 16-25 age demographic. These selection of characters was done so due to my target audience, who are also within said demographic. This was determined due to viewings of select live images of my unsigned band, British rock n roll outfit Tilted Smile.



As can be seen from the image, the live audience for my unsigned band consists of white/British males within a 16-25 age demographic.



The hedonistic and excessive lifestyle of our characters in our video is represented as stylish and 'cool' as to meet the aspirational needs of our target audience; this is done so by the exemplifying of poker as a stylish game by use of the slo-mo, the tracking and panning shots and the mis-en-scene of the suits, cigarettes and alcohol.

The gang mentality portrayed in shots such as those above not only reinforce the 'brotherhood' aspects of being in a band in presenting the mis-en-scene of the zippo/cigarette but, with this portrayal, the aspirations of the audience who so wish to be in a band are exemplified.

With this demographic in mind, my video attempted to connote an ultimately hedonistic lifestyle, which is current alongside the rock n roll genre, with excess playing a key role in the rock n roll lifestyle; expressed with the infamous statement of "sex, drugs and rock n roll." Said statement is emphasised by infamous punk rock acts such as The Sex Pistols and The Ramones, with their biography littered with tales of debauchery and excess. What made these acts so popular with their demographic (including elements of our own target audience) was the connotations of energy and escapism which they portrayed, making it perfect for the pubescent young males ravaged by angst and alienation to identify with the bands' message. Our video attempted to mirror this identification, and achieves it with images of smoking, drinking and partying; our use of skewed angles and fast pace editing attempting to identify, disorientate and draws in our audience. These factors of our music video are mirrored with my digipak ancilliary text, as can be seen below.



The use of smoking paraphanalia emphasises the hedonistic idealogy of excess that I intended to use as a tool of identification with our target audience, alongside emphasising the select connotations of our rock n roll genre.

This hedonistic ideology, and the consequences of it (unconsciousness) are shown in this shot, which is the back image of my digipack. The viewers of this image will relate to this scenario, as many who chase an excessive lifstyle will find themselves succumbing to this consequence.

Within my Digipak, the use of shredded paper in acting as a platform for the text connotes a sense of D.I.Y which is current in the audience of rock n roll; particularly punk rock. This motif is mirrored within various fanzines for punk rock- particularly the fanzine 'Sniffin' Glue' which has a very amateur motif and thus appeals to its audience, who shirked away from the gloss and glamour of fanzines for other genres: pop for example. 

The aspect of D.I.Y can also be used as a means of identification with our target audience, punks specifically, who in rebellion against the capitalist structure of British either created their own clothing or repaired damaged clothing with paperclips and tape. This rebellion can be seen to be mirrored within our video, as the band undermine the usual scenario of gaining wealth and celebrity status by means of hard work and education by gaining all their wealth spontaneously and mysteriously. This also strikes a chord with identification with our audience who may aspire to replicate the scenario/actions of the characters within our video, with our audience wishing that their friends and them can spontaneously aquire a large sum of money and thus create a band and lead the ludicrous lifestyle shown within the video.

Another factor both my main text and my ancilliary text share is a linear narrative, with both texts telling seperate stories- the video telling the story of a young, white British band who gain fortune and thus entail an extremely excessive lifestyle. On the other hand the narrative which runs from the front to the back panels in my digipak is much more down to earth, making it easy to relate and identify with the story of a young man who gets ready to go out (left) and then succumbs to unconsicousness at the end (below left); this narrative creates an audience pleasure in identifying the narrative which leaves them satisfyed with their purchase, the panels offering more to the audience than a ripped CD or a legal/illegal download. With the digipak enforcing audience identification whilst the video enforces audience aspiration, the combination of the two becomes very effective in drawing the audience into both products.