Task 2

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

According to Richard Dyers theory, star image is constructed from a range of materials. In order to construct my bands ‘star image’ I also used a range of materials this included the Pop promo itself, a digi pack and a poster.

This is an example of my video material that conveys their star image…

This is an example of the digi pack…

Image of the poster…

The USP and characteristics of the start I have constructed.

• They are an organic band – they are more naturalistic and an authenticity about them. They seem to have written their own music and have their own voices and choose their own clothes and style. They haven’t been engineered and controlled by their record label.
• Their quite young therefore they have a lot of potential – Youthfulness
• They write all of their own songs – Creativity and talent
• They try to relate to modern audiences by setting themselves in familiar locations.

   These are some of the stills that I think communicate their star image…

These images communicate their star image because it shows all of their USP’s. Their young and youthful, their creative and talented because they’ve written the song and they play their own instruments and they base themselves, in the video, in a relatable location that the audience will recognise and relate to.

The location is a key aspect of the bands image because, like I’ve said, the audience can relate to it but also it is used as a metaphor for the band and their emotional discovery behind the songs influences.

Looking back at my institutional context of the band was the beginning of the star making process. They were a new band that needed moulding and I did this. At the beginning of the process they had an unoriginal, indie rock look…

So in order to change their look to make them more appealing and to get a wider audiences attention I got them to wear things that were more colourful. It sounds very simple but by adding colour that immediately draws attention to them and separates them from the usual indie look. Originally we were going to have them in military style jackets but I decided that it might restrict them in the future and cause them to lose fans if they decide to change their look.

Also we wanted them to be in clothes that represented them as a band. Which is why we had them dress like this…

Artists like Biffy Clyro, who happen to be signed to the record label they would like to get signed to, have heavily influenced them.

The record label is called “14^th Floor Records”

This is a sensible record label choice for them because the label seems to sign artists involved in similar genres like Biffy Clyro, Joshua Radin and Marmaduke Duke therefore they would have experience with handling bands like ‘Now is Everyone’.

According to Keith Negus there are two distinct ideologies in the way a bands image and career is created. These ideologies are: Organic and Synthetic.

As I have already mentioned in the bands USP’s they are an organic band meaning they had some control on the clothing image and that they have composed their music and play their own instruments. This makes them an authentic band. They haven’t been controlled or engineered by a record company they have been nurtured which is what I did when I changed part of their original image however I ran it past the band giving them a choice.

Keith Negus says “What I’m looking for is the working act. The real act. The act that can get up on stage and do it. That act will give you a career.”

Going back to Richard Dyers ‘Star Image’ theory a paradox should be created between the band and the audience. My band does this through direct address in the video, digi pack and poster. This is when a band member makes direct eye contact with the camera. There is then an incoherent relationship created between the artist and the fan.

A paradox was also created by the use of location. By using a location that is recognisable to an audience and having the band walk, in the video, through parts of it, the audience then think of the band as people like them however when the direct address or location isn’t used they are soon shown that they could never be in the bands world. Hence the paradox is created.

During the shoot day we took digital stills with a SLR camera. We used them in the construction of the digi pack. It consists of a front and back cover and two inlays. The inlays are made up of a montage of stills from the shoot day, the promo and their private life, giving the audience a voyeuristic view of the band. This reinforces their organic nature.

For the front cover we made the title bold to draw the audience in and scaled the band members larger than life to emphasise their importance. The colour reflects both the mood of the song and band, tying it altogether.

The poster creates certain enigma codes. The most obvious being the positioning of the lead singer. He is positioned in the background but is the only one giving direct address, just like in the promo, showing he is present but out of reach which relates to Richard Dyer’s theory of star image and reinforces that they are, as a band, different to the audience. 

Overall both the main product and ancillary texts support each other to reinforce my group and I's intentions for the band to make sure we promoted and marketed the band in a positive way in order for the target audience to give us a preferred reading of the band (a theory by Stuart Hall) and make the band popular and successful.