Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Production

Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to the concept of genre

Throughout my Ancillary 1 and 2 tasks I have portrayed the conventions of the indie pop genre. To do this I have used two theories by the theorists Daniel Chandler and Steve Neale. Chandler states that the conventional definitions of a genre are shown through content such as themes, settings and structure. The theorist Neale however believes that genres can be defined by instance of repetition and difference and that genre is part of a process of ‘mental machinery’ between ‘industry text and style. This states that there is a relationship created between the audience and producer through the product.

In my Ancillary 1 I have used Chandler’s theory through technical and audio codes presented on my CD cover. The design of my ancillary task is conventional to the content of a pop CD as it focuses on the main image of the artist. The title of the CD is situated at the top of the cover which clearly articulates to the audience whose CD it is. The setting and mise en scene of my CD cover also uses the theory of conventions of content by Chandler. The setting I used for my Cd cover is a plain white background with the artist sat in front of it. This is a convention for a pop CD as the CD’s that I have researched all consisted of a plain image with a plain background. This gives the CD a simplistic feeling. Using an image of a female on the front cover of my CD is conventional to the indie pop genre as most artists in that genre are female. Also most CD’s consist of including the artist as the main character on the cover.

The CD cover that I created for my Ancillary 1 one also uses the Neale’s theory of instances of repetition and difference well. An example of a differ3ence form a conventional pop Cd is that my product uses a yellow/brown/grey colour scheme. These colours would usually be associated with the indie genre. An example of repetition in the technical and audio codes is the use of placing the artists name along the top. This is repetition as most artists do this. The iconography of my CD however creates a difference through the use of a peace symbol. On the hand of the main character there is a peace sign which is not conventional to the pop genre. Another instance of difference represented in my Ancillary 1 is the mood of the main character on the cover. The character looks moody and down beat which is not a convention of a pop CD as pop music is seen to be energetic and upbeat. The technical and audio codes on my cover also apply Neale’s mental machinery theory. There is a relationship created between the audience and the producer shown by the use of neutral, pastel colours. This anchors the audience through the conventions of an indie pop CD as it shows that the music is original and of that genre.

In my Ancillary 2 I have also used these theories to portray the genre of the CD. For my ancillary 2 I created a poster advertisement that advertises the release of a CD. From my product research I found that a convention of a CD advertisement is that the poster is always individual and eye catching. I applied this to my ancillary 2 by making my poster stand out and make sure that the audience will be able to recognise the artist. I did this by using the same image on my poster that I used on my CD cover. An instance of repetition that appears on my CD advertisement is the use of putting the artists name at the top. This is repletion as all of the advertisements that I have researched had consisted of this. Another instance of repetition is the fact that the date of release in include on the advertisement. However an instance of difference is that although I have used the same image as the one on my CD cover I have altered it and made it stand out more. This is different to the conventions because most advertisements use the image that is on the CD to make sure that the buyer recognises the CD.