Digipak Creation

I have drawn up a plan for my digipak design which I will use when creating my digipak, this makes it much easier to put together having a hard copy of my idea. I have included this below;

I have also made a size template for my digipak, included below; (1000 pixels square for each panel and 40 pixels width for the two spines);

I have taken some photos for my digipak, the originals are included below;

OUTSIDE THREE PANELS:
For my front cover, back cover and inside cover I want to create a visually interesting case which gives off the same type of 'edgy' look as the music gives. These are important as it's the first thing that the audience see and could entice people to buy the album. I have decided to design these panels separately and then put them together into my template at the end as each is going to be quite individual. Below are my cropped and edited photo ideas for my front cover panel;

I cropped each of these images down from larger photos to create a more close-up type feel to have on my front cover, having the main character as the dominant feature makes it more striking. My favourite image is the third one so I have chosen to work further with this to develop it into a front cover design. Below are some of my ideas for this; 

I decided to take my original image and add on a 3D cellophane effect slightly to make it more edgy, I then gave it a 'noise' over the top of the whole image to make it feel quite quirky and indie; to match in with the genre of music.

Above are three different front cover designs I tried out, in the end I decided I liked the first one as it's quite simple and doesn't overpower the main imagery on the cover. This is the design I will use in my digipak. 

  Next I decided to look at how to do the back panel of my digipak, for this I want some imagery alongside the track lists and conventional barcode and record label details etc. Below is the background I chose for my back panel;

This image is one I took of the trees above, I have edited it in the same style as the front cover so that the theme of my CD cover follows through. Below, I have included track listings and other conventional features i found on my researched digipak covers, this is my finished back cover;

The final piece on this row is the inside cover, I want this to be quite plain so I'm going to do it plain but with the album title on it as the band name features more than the album title does. Once I have added this in I just need to do my spines, these will just feature the album name, band name and record company name along coloured bands. Below is my final outcome for these three panels;

INSIDE THREE PANELS:

I have started work on what my inside could look like, here are my first two drafts of the inside three panels;

In the above two drafts I was playing about with the idea of having circular images inside my digipak, which represent the disk shapes and also add a sense of surrealism which relates back to my video and music to keep to one theme. The two outer square panels will be card folder sleeves for my CD on the left and DVD on the right, therefore I have no plastic CD clip holders to ruin my designs and it's more commonly used in all of the digipaks I looked at. I prefer my second design however the middle panel seems a little like it would be found on the back of a CD/DVD as oppose to the centre piece inside. To try to create a mixture of the two pieces I have created my final inside three panels design for my digipak below;

I like my design above as the two circular photographs are quite similiar yet really different in the way they appear, they give off a surreal interesting effect and work well on either side of the Metron$ CD/DVD banner. These inside panels are quite simple, I like this as there's not 'too much' going on as the front and back panels are the most important on my case.

  For the centre banner image inside my digipak here I took several photos along a scene to photostitch together using Canon software to create a more panoramic view. The original image with adjusted levels and effects in photoshop is below;

I then mirrored this image at the centre where the larger dominant tree is to create the banner used (also above), I changed the opacity so it was more faded then added the 'Metron$' band logo ontop, I also added 'CD/DVD' ontop in a more opaque way as it wasn't the main feature. I think this works well almost as though it is a little 'logo' for the band.

Now all I need to do is create my digipak by printing the two images and sticking them on card to make a real  solid copy.

Digipak and Magazine Advert

To go alongside my music video for 'Pictures by Benjamin Francis Leftwich' I am required to create a digipak for it's single release and also a magazine advertisement for the single release. I want to create quite simple yet interesting pieces for both of these to define the song and attract attention.

For my digipak for the album release I want to create a visually interesting piece going across the front 3 panels showing a photograph of scenery relating the the video I have made, this will be in panoramic so that it continues across all panels. I then would like to make the inside three panels more plain with just band logos  and possibly album song lyrics quotes on.

For my magazine advertisement of the album I want to follow a similiar theme as my album cover so that they both relate together, I want to create a piece which has a photo as the full size of the advert but towards the top the photo itself is more plain to hold text.

Digipak (analyse existing texts)

1) Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare

   This is a fold out case album with only 1 CD inside it, but it could easily have had another in and created the effect of a digipak. I chose to analyse this as it is of a similiar genre of music as my song. The whole case has a theme through it which uses a dark grey colour majorly and has some bright area of artwork lit up within the dark scene. Even these bright areas which are the main focus have a restricted colour scheme of mainly using khaki green, pink, blue, white and black; this adds to the theme of the CD and lets you know the case is all connected. The whole case follows the idea of having plain windows and being able to see through windows, and these sections being the main focus. The front cover has only three small segments of colour however through the inside of the case the coloured areas are larger and more dominant.
   Only the side the CD is on and the back panel are plain without this imagery on, the CD side is a plain black cd holder. The CD design is dominantly khaki green and shows a 'tattoo-esque' style face design in black and white; this is in sync with the theme within the windows.
   The back panel is plain black and shows only the song titles shows as a list along the bottom in the khaki green colour with is also seen on the front cover as the font colour for the artist name and album title. Along the very bottom of the back panel is a barcode and label logo alongside adresses and websites for both the band and 'Domino'records.
   Both the inside panels at either side of the cd feature buildings with large areas of colour inside them, this shows graffiti style areas alongside traditional features such as a bathroom, chairs and tables. This is quite 'edgey' and relates back to the youth who listen to the Arctic Monkeys. I'd like to create a quite 'young' styled digipak of my own and this has inspired me on how you can use the areas inside a digipak to a good effect and make sure no space goes to waste.


2) Bon Iver - Bon Iver

   This is also a CD album, with only one CD in, however the CD is contained within a cardboard sleeve in this case, which is an idea I could emmulate with my own and have a cardboard sleeve at each side inside the case to hold the CD and DVD.
   The front cover features just a large piece of artwork and no artist name or album name which isn't really conventional of Cd covers. The artwork fills the majority of the front panel, with just a slightly cream 'off-white' background. The spine is in red with the artist name and album title in white writing in the same font as all other writing on the case. This red is very dominant and there is some of the same colour in the artwork on the front showing a link between the two.
   The back panel of this CD case shows the artist name and album title with the track names below in two columns; all of this is in the same black font. Next to the spine is the barcode vertically, out of the way of the main text. At the very bottom centre there is record company details and websites, this is a convention found on most CD cases.
   The inside, fold out panel also features a piece of artwork from the same set as the one on the front, this creates a theme to the piece and is quite a 'fine-art' piece. These artwork features relate to the type of music being quite elegant and fine.
   The inside three panels are quite plain and feature no imagery, which I don't really like about this album case, I suppose in a way this is to let the music do the talking more. The first panel is cream and shows credits and who performed the tracks. The centre panel is plain red, the same colour as the spine. Then the third panel is cream again with some information about the CD and making of it on.
   I like the simplicity of this album cover however I'd like to create a more interesting, visually intriguing one myself.

3) Metronomy - Nights Out

   This CD cover is my favourite of the three as it has a lot going on although it is not too 'busy'. The two out-facing panels feature full cover artwork; whilst the four inside panels are plain black with only text/band logos on. The layout for this has inspired my own, as I would like full cover design across possibly the front, back and inside front panels, whilst having more plain inside panels.
   The front cover of this features a large artwork piece showing the main singer of the band. Along the top left is the album title in faint white writing, barely visible. The main focus of this cover is the artwork as oppose to any text. This could be because Metronomy have a very niche audience so the audience will purposely go out to buy their album as oppose to browsing around in a store for what to buy.
   The inside cover panels are plain black with text over the top of it, this is all following the band logo type theme, with the same text and colours. I like the idea of the inside being more plain but having a lot going on in the outside panels which are the ones which are first seen.
  

Magazine Advertisement (analyse existing texts)

        1)Jay-Z (The Blueprint 3) 09.11.09;

       -  Main features; large artist name at the top, large album logo features across the majority of the magazine page, below the image there is the album name and then larger underneath the date it is due for release alongside  the record company and website.

      -  The colour scheme is limited to mainly whites/greys/black, however there are three stripes of red along the centre of the large image, the only other place this red is seen is in the record companies name at the bottom. This red is quite ironic as the album is called The ‘blue’print 3. The red gives connotations of anger, blood, love and passion, which can relate back to what Jay-Z may be trying to portray through his music.

      -  The two largest written texts on this magazine advertisement are the artist name ‘Jay-Z’ along the top and the date of release ‘09.11.09’ at the bottom. These both appear to be in a bolder font than the album name and are a lot larger than the record company and website both along the bottom.

      -  The main image on this advertisement is what appears to be a large pile/construction of instruments and music based equipment. This relates back to the fact that a lot of work has gone into this album and there are more modern things like keyboards alongside more retro musical equipment such as a gramophone; this could be saying that although Jay-Z makes more modern music he is still influenced by older music and respects this.'

           2) Noah And The Whale ‘The First days Of Spring’;
- I like the layout of this magazine advert for Noah and the Whale, the fact that all of the text is along the top where the background is quite plain and then the subject of the photo (the band) is along the bottom makes it more interesting and pulls the advert together. The fact the whole background is a photograph and there is no colour block section for writing is something i wish to emmulate in my own magazine advert.
- This advert has all of the font in the same black colour, however a lot of it is in different fonts and sizes to make it appear different. The title of the album is along the top in the largest writing and then the band name is below in a slightly smaller writing, in a plain font and it is also written in capital letters, this creates a much bolder piece of text.
- This advert only has one 'expert opinion' on it, with it's one quote and four star rating, this is probably the best from a bunch they had but they wanted to use one which would appeal to their target audience more and one which was one of the more positive ones.
The date of release is the third largest text on the piece and each of these pieces of text are seperated by smaller pieces which make the text flow together when you read it aloud.
- The bottom line shows a logo for the record company, this is conventional of most magazine advertisements as they want to advertise theirself as a label on their artists work. This image is also in black so nothing stands out in the advertisement.
- The image features the band and shows the main lead of the band in sharp focus whilst the others blur into the background and are almost obscured by the grass. The sky in the background is blue which also relates to the fact their hit single off of this album is called 'Blue Skies' which is also featured on this advertisement.
- This magazine advert is the one which has inspired me the most and i'd like to use many features of it in my own. For example, the image style is one I would like to recreate and the monochromatic text at the central top is also something I want to do.

3)La Roux (Debut Album)- This album magazine advertisement covers a double page spread, the left hand side features only a large image of the artist and the artist name large across the top in the iconic font of the artist. This imagery is also used as the front cover of the album so is easily recognisable to the audience. The right hand side of the advertisement is a plain page which continues the background colour scheme. It features 8 quotes about the album from different newspapers and magazines.- The colours on this magazine advert are dominantly red and brown which is in a 'fade' style effect, these colours match the hair colour of the singer so keep it to a quite monochromatic theme. The text is in a white plain colour as is the artist name/album title, this makes the theme come together and lets people know that the texts are connected.-The photograph on this seems quite faded with it's colours as oppose to being striking and bright, however it is still bold as the unique hairstyle and features make the image. The face has a bright red/pink outline along the front edge of it connotating fire, heat and love. This reflects in the 'edgey' music La Roux creates.
- I like the simple format of this piece and how it has a strong sense of a theme in it due to the colours and text.

Video Creation

MUSIC VIDEO:

OUTTAKES:

Pre-filming Planning

Before I start my filming I need to go take photos of my location and figure out exactly how it will be best to film and whether the decided location is suitable. I need to get all of my props together and ensure they are all up to a good enough standard. I need to make a schedule of how to manage my time well and make sure I work efficiently to get all of my filming done within one or two days.
     The location I have decided on is a forest area near my house as it gives the effect I'd like in my video and also has the convenience of being only a ten minute walk from either my house or college.
     My music video will include mainly the only prop of the papier-mache head, and I will have my character dancing in various places in a forest. I don't really want any buildings in my video as I'd like to create a sort of surreal aspect to my video, and give the impression that it could be in some other land.

HEALTH AND SAFETY
- The health and safety of my location is important as I don't want either me or the actor injured. I am using an outdoor location of a forest so it doesn't pose much risk, it could however have obstacles posing a minor risk of falling and incurring an injury. These obstacles only show a minor risk of low level which can easily be stopped by keeping an eye out for anything dangerous on the ground. Whilst carrying out my filming I shall keep a record of anything which poses a threat and how it was dealt with.

PRE-FILMING EXPERIMENTS
- Before starting my real filming I decided to do some practice shots and make a montage using different effects and techniques to get used to using the camera. I have also experimented with how different lenses effect my video and how the outcome would look. The material of this video is unrelated to my music video but has helped me to become more confident in preparation for doing my music video filming. I have included the 15 second montage below;

PROPS

- I have now created my papier-mache head and this is my main prop, as it is now complete I can commence filming as soon as possible. I have included a photograph of my prop below;

Music Video Ideas

For my new music video I have decided to create a more fast-paced, upbeat video which will be much more visually interesting than a boring slow moving one. From my poll at the beginning of the project I have the following results;

These results show that the majority of my target audience are aged 16-19 and prefer indie music with abstract/surreal videos. As my previous ideas which I formulated before getting the results of my polls have a more narrative, storylined theme to them I think it's a good idea for me to change my ideas to a more 'edgy' abstract theme. I have now decided to pick a more upbeat, yet still indie song, by Metronomy; who are an indie band on the record label, 'BECAUSE MUSIC', the chosen version is also a remix which will appeal more to an audience of 16-19 year olds, and also it doesn't have an existing video for this version so people won't already have that in mind when viewing mine. For my music video I want to create an abstract short film to run alongside the video, however it will still hold relevance to the music.

Below I have included the youtube version of this song;

New Video Inspiration

Because I have chosen to change my selected track for making a video too I decided looking at some more music videos which are more relevant may be useful. Below are some existing videos which I have seen and being inspired by.

1) Cursive - I Couldn't Love You Anymore

The above video has greatly inspired me due to the location of it mainly and the lighting, the whole mise-en-scene is visually appealing as something I'd like to try to re-create. I like the way the video goes through a story which matches in with the song without being too story based, it's still quite abstract. There's a use of close up shots and long shots used together which I would like to use in my own video to add effect and give a sense of intimacy.

2) Scroobius Pip - Sick Tonight

I have found the above video recently and saw that it uses a similar principle to my idea with the full head masks. This has inspired me on how to use my head to better effect in some different locations. I also like the animation effects used here.

3) Metronomy - You Could Easily Have Me

I like the above video due to it's fast pace and how this fits with the music. Again, I like the use of masks, this time animal masks to conceal identity and give the video some added 'edge'. I would like to emulate this type of feel in my own production.

COMPLETE CHANGE OF PROJECT IDEA FROM THIS POINT ONWARDS

I've recently hit a brick wall with this project completely. It was proving difficult to find actors who were able to film and also that look the part. This has prompted me to take the drastic action of changing the song and altering the storyboard to accommodate this.

Although this sounds like a major change for so far along in the project I see this as the best way to create a good quality outcome which I desire within the allotted time. The changes aren't going to be that big. the whole feel of the video should be the same and the genre of music will be similar, I am now hoping to record just one person who will still have a paper-mache head on (as originally anticipated) amongst the same setting and using the majority of the same shots/camera work I have originally planned in my animatic, just the narrative will be different.

As I have decided to have a male role in the lead of my video as the person I have found has strong availability I have decided to pick a different song which will fit better with this. The song I am going to pick will still be relevant to all of the research I have done so far, however it may require some extra research before I plan it out fully.