Evaluation Question 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

 I aimed to combine my video, album, and advert through the use of props and filter. My props of wine glasses and a wedding ring were consistent throughout my media products, symbolizing the hedonistic attitude more typical of the young; in contrast to marriage, which demands commitment. I aimed to sustain this contrast through my props to intrigue the audience, but also to allow them to easily identify the messages and conventions of my concept. I know this was an effective combination because my audience identified with the obvious iconography, commenting their opinion on props within my survey- making it obvious that they received the message, and could how it related over the whole of my media products. I used a yellowy/black and white filter across my media products in order to create a specific, aged feel to events, and in combination with the plain clothing which my character were wearing, I aimed to use this to portray a timeless feel as there were purposely little items to make audience realize that this was a modern video. This was effective because in my audience feedback section, there were comments considering the choice of filter and character clothing, one describing the denim ‘working class look’, therefore my audience perhaps didn’t take the effects of filter in their stride as it wasn’t conforming to modern traits, showing a clear intentional challenge to the traditional conventions of filter from me in to achieve a timeless, cult feel to my video.

Representation was key to the combinations found in my 3 media products; it was relatively ambiguous in the album cover and not that apparent in the advert in order to create an ambiguity and almost a mystery which I hoped would lead many to watch my video for explanation. This placed great emphasis on the representation in the video; I tried to avoid Propp’s stock character theory, by avoiding a clear hero/villain status in order to place create emphasis on my audience to decide how they feel about each character. From oral feedback I found that the male character for instance was considered villainous by females (like in the video), as his cheating is intolerable; whereas males find more sympathy with him as he is young and foolish like much of my target audience may consider themselves to be.