How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?
When producing the music video we challenged the co
nventions of a performance based video and incorporated a larger narrative and storyline for our target audience, which is normal for the genre of indie rock. Although the target audience wouldn’t expect this, we felt it was engaging and fit the style of our star image well. By challenging the blueprint, Altman would say it might be a tricky decision as the audience could reject the text, however the characteristics of indie rock often include the depiction of a simple guy or girl so we decided to follow this convention. It was filmed using a variety of shots so it was fast paced and appealing to the target audience, promoting energy in both the narrative and performance. It represented our star as rebellious and untrustworthy to create a bold storyline for our viewers. This was conventional 
because we also included a wide range of filters to show the good moments against the bad. This was a symbolic code as Barthes would propose, as we used low key lighting for the depression and high key lighting for the positive moments in the relationship.
The repertoire of elements of an indie rock music video include the narrative and performance being filmed in different places. We decided to follow this convention. However the narrative challenged the usual blueprint as suggested by Altman, for indie rock as it was naturalistic which is unconventional for the genre. It would normally follow the blueprint of abstract, symbolic and surreal narrative.
How do your products represent social groups or issues?
Our star is known for being an experimentational arrogant character. He is presented at the head of the table with everything he needs placed conventionally around him, showing he isn’t a simple boy next door. This fits with the Paradox of the Star as proposed by Dyer and represents our star as extraordinary. He is also shown as decadent, showing that he is spoiled and rich. This comes across in the mes en scene with the extravagant white candles and candle holders, as well as the statement leather jacket which displays higher class and status. These are symbolic and semic codes which Bathes would argue would be decoded and read appropriately by our target audience, as they provoke certain connotations. This is extraordinary clothing for an ordinary situation showing Dyer’s paradox of the star. Furthermore his metanarrative connotes a quirky side to him in the way he is positioned and holding the knife and fork, this could be classed as another semic code. This represents our star as chilled out and relaxed, which fits with his values and believes. The whole descendant of Sunday Lunch is very much a cultural code and could only be decoded by a certain demographic.
We wanted to represent our star as playful and slightly arrogant. To do this we 
showed our star pouring the red wine past the gobet to indicate it was deliberate and that he has some attitude to him, this gave our star an extraordinary character. He’s also represented as playful because of the rotation of the back cover showing he is a bit of a tease. This could also be a cultural code according to Barthes as some would see the deliberate pouring of the wine out of the glass as disrespectful whilst others would decode it as playful and daring.
How do your products engage with the audience?
Engaging the audience is important for any social media page to allow for marketing, social interactions and a good release of the product, ensuring a good reception from the target audience. Indie rock demographic usually ranges from 16-22. To allow the social media page to have maximum audience engagement one of our main aims was to ask questions to the fans in order to get their responses and therefore promote social interaction.
This is explained by Blumler and Katz who say social interaction, personal identity, entertainment and information are essential for every media text. For example when engaging with our audience we created promotions for our album release by getting fans to send us a photo of their sundays roasts using a hashtag. We did this so our target audience felt they were involved with the release of the album and were connected to the star as possible. It was also important that our target audience were able to receive relevant information and entertainment by promoting our stars’ new tour dates and performances. This showed our audience that they have opportunities to come join our star on tours in the future and allow for our fans to feel part of the journey. It also makes him more present in fans’ lives, something Dyer argues is important in any metanarrative of an artist. We also included quick snippets of the music video and teasers of the release of the album to allow for maximum views, likes and comments from our specific fans. When captioning our posts I also made sure to include questions to encourage social interaction and allow fans to feel as if they were speaking to our star directly. This encourages the idea that he is present and ordinary, something that Dyer said was important in any star’s metanarrative. Furthermore to help reinforce the audience’s personal identity we also included stories including charities our star supports and important politics at the current time.
How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?
Our mission statement was: Lukash isn’t your average boy next door, he cares for controversial issues that most other artists feel are taboo. He is propelling himself towards legendary status, and pushing the indie rock norms to the next level, and intends to continue exploring new musical terrain. His albums are bold, brilliant and hold a comprehensive creative vision.
A brand needs to be easily recognizable for a target audience to be able to decode and understand the narrative and the genre and star image being communicated and represented. A producer must work hard to be able to bring together the correct campaign. All of our products put together included a coherent representation of our star and the genre of indie rock. We wanted Lukash to come across as an edgy boy next door, however with an extraordinary feel, talented and iconic – all aspects of the paradox of the star. We represented our star across various platforms and allowed for our star to come across as a confident individual. For example within our digipak our star is confidently sitting at the head of the table with an arrogant look on his face.
We used various tricks and techniques across the platforms, such as colour, editing, camera angles and mise en scene to encode those key repertoire of elements. Finding the key codes is important so that our target audience can decode the representation, understand the connotations and not reject the text. It’s also essential that media language is employed across various platforms to communicate the same message but in different ways. Hall is clear that in order to encourage a preferred reading, the producer has to speak the same language as the audience.
In the music video we used close ups to create emotion and connect our star to the audience we also used upbeat rhythms to represent the conventions of indie rock branding . Within the digipak Barthes would argue the pouring of the wine past the glass is symbolism and unique, ordinarily it would go in the glass but because our star is different it’s being poured past it. For the composition and framing we framed Lukash in the middle showing his authority and his confidence. In indie rock the audience expects to see a character with arrogant 
nature, therefore we showed this throughout the whole of our branding for our star. Throughout the SMP we aimed to continue the arrogance, blunt language, plus his control and opulence. The mission statement along with the overall colour palette allowed us to bring together the overall brand image for our star.
