Whilst making my music video and ancilary texts I consistently was trying to focus around a brand identity.
My music video focuses on the narrative of a girl who likes to be herself and act like 'one of the boys'. She then decides she wants to become a girlie girl to get the boy she likes to notice her, and to 'try and fit in', which many young girls can relate to in today's society. She has a makeover and her new look blows the boy away. Although, she ends up showing her boisterous side again when she gets jealous of another girl, and she starts a fight. At the end of the narrative the boy she likes puts her 'boyish' hat back on her, which is symbolic of her being loved for being herself. Therefore throughout my music video I wanted to promote the image of her being herself, and that it's okay to be different.
I consistently wanted my media texts to appeal fun, energetic and carefree.
To create a strong brand identity, I needed to think about how to make my texts work together to represent my artist in the same way. Therefore when creating all of my products I focused on...
1. Theme
-Intertexual References
2.Style
-Font
-Mise-en-scene
3.Colour
-Scheme
-Locations
Theme
Throughout my music video I made intertextual references to other media texts, which have the same narrative.
Eg:
- Shes The Man
- Taylor Swift as she walks in transformed
- Pink Ladies
- Cinderella Story
The main theme I used was Pink Ladies. As it is a classic film, and my music video narrative has the same basic plot. Todorov's narrative theory can be applied to my music video and similarly to the film Grease (explain in question one). Both are based on the main girl not fitting in, so she has a makeover, and then at the end she is liked for being herself.
In my music video the artist wore a black leather jacket in the white background shoot (T-birds). The other two girls wore pink ladies jackets. I used this shoot for the choruses and the final scene in my music video. This was so that it was consistent. I also use the Pink Ladies theme throughout my ancillary texts to create a brand identity.
Here are some screen shots of the Pink Ladies theme being used in my video. As you can see I also edited in some very quick cuts of the Pink Ladies jacket, to reinforce Dyer's theory of representation. As I wanted to represent the girls in the background as contrasting to the artist.
The second inlay of my album, has the Pink Ladies logo on it to reinforce the theme and compliment the music video. Also as you can see I have used a black and pink colour scheme, which also connects with the music video.
Also I used the outline of a high heel, a football and a lipstick in black and white on the back of my album cover. This is because it relates to the narrative and symbolises what happens. I chose these objects, because they are stereotypically symbolic of the binnary oppositions between boys and girls.
Style
When making my album I used three different fonts, which I downloaded from dafont.com. I used a font called 'Katy Berry' for the artist's name. I used a font called, 'Black Rose' for the album name. I used both of these fonts and the same colour scheme on both my magazine advert and album to promote a familiarity between the text. I used a very basic Times New Romans font for the small print on the back of my album, but for the main text on the back of my album I used a font called, '______________'. I also used this font for the promotion text on my magazine advert, which says, 'OUT MONDAY. FEATURES THE UK NO.1 UR SO GAY'.
I used the font, '____________' to make a sign at the end of my music video. I made a 'THE END' sign to promote the album. I also made this to continue representing the artist as fun, and to continue the scene in the arcade, along with using the same text as my print products.
The mise-en-scene I used in my music video and ancillary texts was carefully constructed to represent the same brand identity.
When I did a photoshoot for my album and magazine advert, I made the artist wear the same dress as in the last scene of the music video. I also got her to wear the hat, which is consistently used throughout the music video. The contrast of the hat and dress relate to the narrative in my music video.
Also, when taking photos I ensure she took some photos of her messing around to look fun, young and carefree. I used the same photo I used for the album cover for the magazine advert, to make sure the texts are clearly connected. I chose the image I did, because it shows her shrugging her shoulders as if to say, 'I don't know'. This reflects the narrative of my video' where she just wants to try and fit in.
Below is a visual mindmap I made to show how my main image used on my print products work with my music video. As you can see she acts silly a lot to represent the fun, clumsiness that many teenage girls (target audience) can relate too. I portayed the fun, carefree side of the artist in the music video, therefore I felt the image I used for my prints sums up my music video well.
Colour
From my Pink Ladies theme, I decided to carry on the pink and black colour scheme throughout my texts. Pink stereotypically also appeals to young teenage girls, and is bright and cheerful. I also used a hint of blue, which compliments the pink.
On my album back cover I inserted black outlines of a high heel and lipstick. This refers to props used in the music video. I also placed an outline inbetween the two 'girlie' props which denotates a black and white football, but it connotates boisterous behaviour (relating to music video narrative).
The locations used in my music video were; a classroom, hallway, bedroom, staircase, the pier, and a white background. All of the locations used were realistic, and accessible for my target audience (13-18 year old girls). I wanted to keep a bold bright colour scheme for my print products, and only use a photo of the artist. Therefore I felt that when making my album and magazine advert I needed it to foreshadow some of the narrative and locations. For the majority of the song (not the second verse, chorous or bridge) the artist's hat is present in the narrative. Stuart Hall's theory can be applied here, because I encoded all of my products with the hat, which I want the target audience to decode as being symbolic of the artist being herself.
Conclusion
Overall I think the combination of my main product and ancilary texts is strong, and all are clearly related. I consistently focused on brand identity. The Pink Ladies theme is present in my music video and ancilary texts, and the colour scheme chosen also compliments the theme. By focusing on my artist's attitude in filming and taking photos I was able to convey the same representation of her being fun, silly, carefree and trying to fit in. The mise-en-scene of the dress code used in my print products are the same clothing items used in my video, and the iconic symbolic hat features in all products. The fonts are all carefully chosen, and used variously over my products.
After showing my music video, album, and magazine advert to a group of 14 year old girls (my target audience), I can conclude that they did instantly know that the texts are linked. I have carefully constructed every element of my magazine advert and album to relate to my music video, and my audience feedback shows that the combination of my products is very effective.
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