My answer for the A2 Med

1. Evaluation Question 2
How effective is the combination of your main product
and ancillary texts?

2. The three products are linked quite obviously through the use of
image branding. The image of the couple walking away at the
end of the video is also used in the digipack and in the
advert, which creates an iconic image for the band to be
recognised by.
The image of the microphone on the floor at the end of the
video also is used in the digipack, which is used to show the
focus on the music, not the artist.
Each image is repeated, either on the digipack or in the
advert, because they can become triggers in the audience’s
mind; when they see a microphone on the floor, they will
hopefully always think of our chosen band. Therefore, the
images not only establish a brand but act as a way to remember
the artist too.
Simple Links

3. The Links In Pictures

4. The links were made with these specific images, because we felt that these
images showed a key element to the type of band that we were using. The
microphone shows a focus on the music rather than the artist, which was
something we found to be very common in a punk-rock video. For
example, looking at my genre research showed me that “rebellion” or
“rejecting conformity” was a common theme. This theme was more seen
with older punk-rock bands, but the idea of ignoring the aesthetic image of
a band was important then, so we tried to carry this across.
The couple holding hands was an iconic image because it created emotion in
the video, therefore showing that the band can appeal to the audience on a
deeper level. The couple also feature one of the “band members”, the
singer, which shows that though the branding focuses on music, there is still
a face behind the music, which can attract the younger audience who may
look at music based on aesthetics.
Why We Made These Links

5. The links we made for the digipack and advert to both contain shots from the music
video was heavily based on our research. In my research I found that a lot of artists
used images from their videos as branding for the rest of their image, for example
our chosen band My Chemical Romance wear school uniforms in their famous “I’m
Not Okay” video, and are also wearing them in the photo on their digipack of them.
Using the couple walking away as an emotional hook was also something we found
to be quite common; again, our chosen band incorporated a hand-drawn image of
“Helena” on their digipack front cover, which links to their song about the death of
the singer’s grandmother. Though this is a subtle emotional pull, it still shows the
band to have an emotional side, which again can appeal to the younger audience.
The microphone, creating the “music not artist” idea, was included because we
found that most ‘serious’ punk-rock bands tended to focus their own work around
their music rather than their image. The Clash’s album that I deconstructed contained
absolutely no photos of the band, and therefore forced the listener to form an
opinion based on their music alone. Though we didn’t want to go quite as strongly as
this with our message, we felt that keeping a music-focus was important to the
genre.
Research Influences

6. Our Target Audience Feedback indicated to us that we had
made very strong links that made sense to the audience.
This is a good thing because if the links weren’t clear, then
they do not work and the audience may think that the
images are just being overused.
The links indicated to the audience that the band were
more of a modern punk-rock band, but it also created that
idea of an edgier side to keep the audience involved.
We felt that our links were effective because they fitted
with our research and they were well understood.
Were the Products Effective?