Ancillary texts- Digipak and magazine advertisement
Our artist Jamie T has a very specific and unique ‘star’ persona. We have constructed three texts, the main product being the music video and the ancillary texts being the magazine advertisement and the digipak. We felt it was important for these texts to be similar and therefore be a good combination which represents our artist in the best possible way. This is shown clearly in our texts as certain images, and iconography is linked throughout the audience’s previous background knowledge of Jamie T and this additional information which is in the format of a music video and ancillary texts which promote the artist even further.
Our artist Jamie T has a very specific and unique ‘star’ persona.
As you can see, Jamie T can be compared to our very own Jamie T (Group member Joe Bond)...
Dyer’s theory of the 'star' and paradoxes are that he states that stars depend on a range of subsidiary media – magazines, TV, radio and the internet in order to construct a ‘brand’ image for themselves which will essentially be marketed to their audiences. For example, to compare with other artists here is the artist The Streets. This is his album cover which is taken from the album ‘A Grand Don’t Come For Free’.
As you can see this album cover is very aesthetically pleasing and does conform to Dyer’s theory. The image definitely promotes the artist’s unique style of being urban and slightly rebellious. Jamie T’s image is quite similar to The Streets as they are both trying to convey the fact that they are similar to the audience. However, this does comply with Dyer’s theory as the artist is present (by the way that the artist is portrayed to be similar to the audience) but also absent as the artist is still a ‘star’ and famous, which is not what the audience is so they essentially look up to the artist and they become iconic.
Jamie T’s brand image is clearly shown in his music videos, magazine advertisements and digipaks . They all reinforce what he is all about in terms of his background and persona. He is seen as being a rebellious young man who is serious about his music but at the same time likes to enjoy himself. Dyer says that a ‘star’ is an image, not a real person which relates to his second paradox which is that the star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer. Jamie T is present as we used montage editing in our music video which shows us a glimpse of what he is about. The subsidiary media backs up and reinforces his meta narrative as his brand image is continued. In our digipak we have used an iconic shot of the london eye and the beer bottle/can which show his youth and rebellious personality. Dyer’s first paradox is about the ‘star’ being ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer, this is shown with Jamie T as the audience can relate to him by the way that he represents himself, but he is still somewhat absent as the audience can rarely have very much contact with him. The ordinary side keeps the audience appeal, we have produced a lo-fi video which creates a relationship between the artist and the audience, it gives them a para social intimacy which is why the audience has their favourite artists. Our narrative helps this as the audience can relate to our narrative because it is a love triangle which is a common theme in everyday life. The locations of the house and garden also help to portray our artist of being normal, just like everybody else, furthermore the costume is identifiable to the genre which shows what type of genre it is clearly.
However, the music video can also be extra-ordinary as the performance based scenes break the fourth wall and are speaking to the audience in the first person mode of address. This is normally done in close up and lip synching is involved which creates the effect well. By using this first person mode of address Jamie T is showcasing his talent to the audience and is therefore a 'star'.
For our ancillary texts, our brief was to produce a digipak and magazine advertisement which was to represent the artist and promote them.
Our digipak is designed to be a four page digipak which kept the product simple to produce and construct which was good as we were looking to produce quite a simple digipak that kept to the conventions of our artists brand image and motifs. Here is our Jamie T ‘digipak:
As you can see, I have designed the digipak to represent Jamie T in the best possible way. I have tried to show this with the use of the ‘empty fridge’ idea which I came up with when thinking of themes for the digipak. The empty beer can connotes that Jamie T likes to have a drink which shows he likes to enjoy himself. When I constructed the front cover of the digipak, I wanted to use an urban font for the design which we got from cutting out letters from a newspaper and scanning them into the computer. The background image is of our artist Jamie T posing in front of the London eye. I have applied a slight blur to the background which puts more emphasis on the typography which should be identified first before the other subjects of the image. For the inside covers and back cover font I used alphabet fridge magnet letters which are easily identified. Each letter appears to look like a fridge magnet which further links the digipak pages together. The use of the empty fridge with alcoholic beverages inside it portrays Jamie T to be quite youthful and fun loving which is what his image is all about.
In past digipaks from Jamie T’s albums he has used similar themes, one of them being from the album ‘Panic Prevention’ which used an image of Jamie T in what looks like his bedroom.
Here is Jamie T’s album ‘Panic Prevention’:
Jamie T is seen lying on the floor of his bedroom playing his guitar, the guitar shows what type of genre the album uses which tells the audience immediately what they are likely to hear if they were to purchase the album. Furthermore, his bedroom appears to be very messy, and as we all know untidy bedrooms are often associated with young men. This further promotes Jamie T’s image of being youthful and also rebellious.
The advertisement was designed to be a full page advertisement in a music magazine. Here is our magazine advertisement:
Our digipak and magazine advertisement links to our music video through the main background image we have used, you will see the same location in the music video as we have on our texts where Jamie T is dancing outside the London eye. 
As you can see the music video has a scene outside the london eye, the ancillary texts also use this same location...
This helps collective identity as Jamie T’s audience, whether they are strong fans or ambient viewers will be able to immediately identify his music video if they have seen the magazine advertisement or digipak in shops, this helps to promote Jamie T further as he is building up a brand image that is iconic to Jamie T.
Furthermore, Jamie T has some common values of musical stardom which we have represented, these are of -
• youthfulness (in the way that he is portrayed through his music videos, digipak and magazine advertisement)
• rebellion (the use of smoking and consuming alcohol in his music videos)
In Jamie T's music video he has been seen smoking and drinking with his mates which shows rebellion...
• an anti-authoritarian attitude
We have used this musical stardom value in our music video at the scene where Jamie T is being tied up by the 'fairy policeman.'
• success against the odds(in the way that he has made it into the music world without the help of big name talent competitions or over excessive media surrounding him)
• furthermore, we have constructed another value of musical stardom in our music video as we have emphasized the idea of Jamie T and a girl. This is one of the conventions of other genres such as pop because it is often that the narrative is of a boy and a girl...
As you can see we have created another musical stardom value as there is now a sense of ‘sexual magnetism’ towards Jamie T as the audience will attract more females who may like the attractiveness of Jamie T.
By using Dyer’s theories and critical framework which essentially constructs a ‘star’, I can conclude that in order for the brand image of a star to be produced and built up; the media which surrounds them which includes both the music video and promotional items such as the digipak and magazine advertisements must represent them in the best possible way which conforms to the conventions and style of the artist. I think that we have achieved this very well in the construction of our music video, digipak and magazine advertisements in the way that I have portrayed Jamie T to be youthful, rebellious and fun loving which fans know are his main personality traits. Hegemony is used because the idea of the star image is that the consumer is positioned in such a way that they are in relation to dominant social values. The ‘star’ is clearly more famous and almost more idyllic than the audience and so this creates the star persona that the audience like.
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