Partial Storyboards

I have storyboarded some of my concrete ideas to see how they flow and look.

Partial Video Plan

Linking Music to Video

Digipak Development

A few small changes:

I have added the artist and album name to the CD cover in the same colour.

I have added a highlight to the artist name in pale blue to link it visually to the CD. I have also added the plot for where my cover photo will go.

Digipak Development

I then formatted the track list in a conventional style as shown in my style models and flat plan. I used the serif font for the track titles and the sans-serif for additional details and the numbering.

I then knew that copyright information was conventional for a CD back and important show authenticity and identify the true owners on forged copies. Therefore I came up with the album's typically conglomerate record label "Zeos Music" and its subsidiary "Zap!" and followed conventional text-based record label logo aesthetic to make it realistic.

I then created copyright text following the conventions of real CD copyright language and also, like most modern CD's included a web link so users can take advantage of web 2.0 and access further information on the artist.

I also grabbed a barcode image from Google and cropped it to be vertically shorter in accordance to real CD barcodes.

I then put these all onto the back of my digipak in the way plotted on my flat plan.

I have used my pink swatch to highlight the record label logos and make them stand out against the other items on this panel. I will keep this colour coordination constant throughout the materials.

I decided that the bonus section of the track list didn't stand out enough, this could leave the reader unsure at a glance what their special edition bought them, so I employed the highlighting technique shown in my moodboard. I made a yellow rectangle shape and layered it under the text. The overall look this gives is modernist and sort of random, like a Mondrian. This idea stems from the Gorillas digipak which incorporated a similar technique using an image bleed.

Digipak Development

I have roughly blocked out the colours for my digipak using the wand and shape tools. Each shape is item is its own layer to allow for quick and easy editing later.

I have added the cover text in accordance to my flat plan, in my chosen typefaces. Whilst design-wise there was nothing wrong with this layout, I decided ultimately it was just too average. I looked again at my moodboard and saw that it was common to have a much larger size difference between the artist and album name, as well as having larger spaces.

I adjusted my design accordingly.

Notice also I adjusted the horizontal scaling on the sans-serif body text to make it more visually correct in comparison to the main font.

I took the time to correct the colours to match those of my moodboard swatches.

Editing Practice 3

What I learnt from this practice is that having the characters movement match the beat of the song creates a joyous flow/beat to the video. I used title cards and I am happy with the result so will use them in my final piece. Making the ending of the video was harder than expected because I had limited footage, I now know I have to record enough footage (including excess) in order to fill the timescale of the song.

Ad Flat Plan

Digipak Flat Plans

Digipak and Magazine Ad Questionnaire Results

The majority of participants chose the 'dark and desaturated' and 'vibrant' options. Therefore I will use a mix of both in my final product.

The participants appear to prefer the serif font. This conforms to what I've learnt from research, that a retro/vintage style is very common in the indie genre. This, along with professionalism and adultness is the feel a serif font connotes.

The mean of this section suggests that most participants regard having the album name and artist name on the cover quite important (6.6).

The majority said that featuring the track list on the CD would not be beneficial, however I think that it would be helpful as if the CD becomes separated from the digipak, one would still be able to see which songs are on the CD.

I agree with my peers that including the track lengths on the track list would not be beneficial.

The mean of this section suggests that most participants think there should be 3 extra songs on a special release album.

The participants say that an image of the artist themselves it preferred for a magazine ad. Perhaps as the audience doesn't want to see images they've seen before. It could also create more of a connection between the audience and artist before the album's release.

As the preference between lyric book and poster are so close, I will make the decision on which to include later down the line.

Digipak and Magazine Ad Questionnaire

An audience feedback questionnaire concerning the fonts and colours for the digipak, and text to image ratio on my magazine ad can be found here.

Music Video Questionnaire Results

This shows that my audience would like the amount of lip-syncing in my video to be low, perhaps as it is known to be done badly or be too cheesy. I will try to keep my lip-syncing minimal.

This shows that the most popular filming locations amongst my audience for an indie pop video are urban outdoors such as busy streets and studio sets. These are relatively modern options and so fit with my younger target audience. The popularity of the urban outdoor option suggests that an indie pop audience likes relatable and familiar settings and themes.

As suspected, the audience wants a mix of both mounted shots and steadicam. I bore this already in mind as I myself think too much steadicam can be sickly, even annoying whereas too many still mounted shots make the video devoid of action so a balance in my video is necessary.

This result shows a preference for the video to mostly follow the lyric. I will, for now, bare this in mind for my video.

As expected the cut is the most popular edit, probably as it is most familiar to the audience. It is somewhat surprising that the challenging, creative indie audience didn't opt for the graphic match. One respondent gave an open answer which I don't fully understand and sadly I cannot track down the person for clarification so I will have to disregard this.

I am still unsure as to whether I want to include a scene like this but if I do, it will be short.

Moodboard

This is a collection of visual references I have taken from the internet to inspire the look of my promotional material.

There is a mix of new and old references, as well as modern material in a retro style. This is a current trend in indie design. My choice of font reflects this style with its vintage look, designed in 1905.

I have also noticed a trend for having images set in boxes, not filling the page. This is a trend I am keen to get into my digipak design.

There is an overwhelming trend of having the artist and title name centred in the top of the panel. My design will follow this.

The colours I have chosen come from an H&M t-shirt as part of one of their artsy collections. I thought the colours satisfied the brief of the audience questionnaire (a mix of dark and vibrant), as well as standing out from existing products.

Ad Inspiration

Inside a copy of Rocksound magazine I found this poster advertising the then new Artic Monkeys. This is the design I will base my poster on. I think it reads in a very logical way with the artist name at the top so it's the first thing the audience reads, followed by a large image to portray the artist in some way, then the album name and release dates, and finally the record label logo.

Following the trend of my questionnaire and digipak however I will implement brighter colours to reflect more of the whimsy of the indie genre. The contrasting simple text will be a feature I maintain from this design.

Album Back Inspiration

Whilst researching album packages on Google, I came across some back covers (tracklists) that I liked and appealed to the tastes of the indie pop audience.

This design will serve as my basis. I love how the list is centred on the page with bold track names and small numbers. I also like that it is less cluttered and I like the way the copyright info and barcode line the bottom snugly.

The bleed of the cover image onto the back is usually seen as a no-no or mistake so the intentional use is interesting as it creates an almost disorderly, rebellious feel which would suit my artist and genre.

For my design I would use much brighter colours to suit the whimsy of indie. The track list will be conventionally centred and the copyright info and barcode along the bottom.

Album Cover Inspiration

Whilst listening to indie music on Spotify, I came across an album cover I thought was aesthetically pleasing. I like the minimal design of Perry's cover and that it features pastel colour which is very conventional to the indie genre. The large artist name immediately stands out with its bold type also.

In terms of image, I would prefer a photo rather than a sketch as it clearly showcases the artist on their own, drawing attention to them as a commodity and sales point- the basis of music promotion material. I would utilise the same medium shot but perhaps with a more varied colour palette like in this image. I think I would have my artist looking away from the camera to create a disconnection and mystery common to indie artists.

Music Video Pitch

Scene Ideas Mindmap

Digipak Development

I have taken the digipak template and prepared it for editing in Photoshop.

First I opened the template .psd file in Photoshop and then created grid guidelines with the ruler tool along all of its edges to outline the front left, front right, inside left and inside right of my digipak.

Using these guides I then created rectangles to fill them with the rectangle tool and coloured them different colours so I could distinguish easily between them. I then masked out a side piece of the inside left quadrant to form the opening of the tube pocket as seen on the template.

I then created a custom shape using the magic wand and marquee tools to define the shape of the CD tray, filled this in white on a new layer and lowered the opacity to simulate the clear plastic.

I then created a CD sized circle tool shape according to the template and used a layer mask to make an inner portion of the disk 50% transparent, just like a real CD.

I can now change the colour or style properties of any of these shapes freely as well as add text and images. I will interview my peers next to gauge preference on colour, font and images.

Digipak Template

I will be using an industry standard digipak template:

to make sure my digipak, if produced for real, would be the correct size. It is a 4 panel pack with a tube pocket on the inside left which would be to house a folded poster or perhaps a booklet of behind-the-scenes photos and lyrics.

Music Video Questionnaire

An audience feedback questionnaire about things such as types of edit and filming locations for my music video can be found here.

Todorov's Narrative Theory

I have decided that my video will not follow Todorov's theory as it will be anachronic which is more common for a music video.

Goffman's Character Theory

My music video will only include one main protagonist who will drive the plot and be the subject of the action and several bit players (city kids) who will contrast the protagonist and have no back story.

Propp's Character Theory

Advert Analysis: Blackstar - David Bowie

made using Canva.com

Advert Analysis: My Everything - Ariana Grande

Digipak Analysis: Family Jewels - Marina and the Diamonds

Digipak Analysis: Glorious - Foxes

Music Video Analysis- Hungry Like the Wolf

Song Choice

I have chosen to make my music video for the song Uptight Downtown based on my previous ideas.

I have asked for permission from the artist's label, Polydor, to use the song...

...but as there has been no reply for a significant amount of time I will go ahead with the song, which I am allowed to do as it is for educational purposes.

Video Analysis: Amazing - Foxes

Filming and Editing Practice 2

This is our second group video shot as practice for filming a conversation, hence the over the shoulder shots and 'shot-reverse-shot'. It is in the style of a news report and as such demonstrates the conventions of that genre such as a title sequence and anchor looking directly into camera.

If I were to shoot with sound again I'd use an external, directional microphone to pick up voices better.

Filming and Editing Practice 1

Working as a group of 4 we collectively shot a reel of footage and edited it together in iMovie as preliminary to our video projects. It is in the style of a short film/docu-drama and so features the POV Steadicam shot and dramatic non-diegetic music synonymous with that genre.

If I were to remake this I would make more use of camera movement such as panning and tracking to show the new found vigour of the male character in the second half. This will be especially important for a music video as constant camera movement is a common convention to make it exciting to watch.

Initial Ideas

Possible Songs:

Shine- Years & Years

Boy overcomes bullying at school with the help of surreal visions inside his own home. Inspiration from the original video aesthetically.

Echo- Foxes

Surreal video about domestic violence. Cuts between two parallel worlds where male antagonist following female protagonist/ vice versa through their daily life, appearing when they don't expect. Lets go and dances when male leaves her alone at home- contrast.

White Coats- Foxes

Video is the hallucinations of an overdosed woman / insane woman whilst receiving treatment in an institute. Her reality of the 'men in white coats dragging her away' gradually bleeds into her surreal hallucinations. Video cuts between hallucination, reality and the blackness in between.

Uptight Downtown- La Roux

A social commentary on modern society from the perspective of a young boy. Pointing out how self indulgent and disinterested society has become. Some performance scenes integrated.

I have now begun my A2 Media Studies project

I have chosen to make a music video.

I will also be making, from the success criteria:

• a website homepage for the band;
• a digipak for the album's release;
• a magazine advertisement for the digipak.

Final Product

Evaluation 7: What Do You Feel You Have Learnt in the Progression From Your Preliminary Task to the Full Product?

Evaluation 6: What Have You Learnt About New Technologies From the Process of Creating This Product?

Evaluation 5: How Did You Attract/Address Your Audience Through Your Media Product?

Audience Response- Mark

Audience Response- Lucy

Evaluation 4: Who Would be the Audience for Your Media Product?

Evaluation 3: What Kind of Media Institution Might Distribute Your Magazine Product and Why?

Evaluation 2: How Does Your Media Product Represent Social Groups?

Evaluation 1: In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Conventions of Real Media Products?

Evaluation 1: In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Conventions of Real Media Products?

Double Page Spread Development

After consulting my target audience I have decided to change the gold accent to red to maintain the house style.

Double Page Spread Development

On the right side of the page I then brought in a photo of one of my models taken in a moody outdoor setting with industrial accents in the doors in the background, this mise en scene is ideal for indie photographs. To add a professional look and tie this side of the page to the left I used the same editing technique described here and eyedropped the dark grey from the left text as the overlay colour.

Too add artistic flair and help tie the 2 sides together further I created a circle shape and filled it with the orange-gold colour and changed the blend mode to Hard Light so that the photo was still visible behind whilst adding the vibrant colour as an overlay. I then took a large round brush with 0% hardness and painted out the corner of the clipping mask on the circle overlay to add interest and lessen the dramatic effect.

I used the exact same editing effect to add another photo of the model to the left side to fill the white space and introduce more of the gold on that page to keep the house style.

Double Page Spread Development

I then using the text tool created a large bold title to tell the what the focus of the page is. It is in a different yet complementary sans serif Circular Std typeface to split up the heavy uniform look and it adds fun interest with the large tittle on the 'i' and unusual curve shape in the 't' letterform.

I then incorporated some text to tell the reader who the article is by as this is a common convention of magazine articles. As this took up too little space I increased the tracking of the letters and put certain words in italicised sentence case to add further visual interest.

I then added some gold text in the form of a subtitle which is a common convention to add intrigue and make the reader read on to discover the meaning. It also broke up the white space further and helped maintain the house style as gold was also used for the poof on both the cover and contents page.

To spread this gold colour across the page further and tie it together I created golden lines underneath the topic titles to help further separate them.

Double Page Spread Development

I started by creating a Photoshop document A3 landscape to function as a double page spread made up of 2 A4 pages. In this way I could see how both halves of the spread looked together which would have been more difficult on 2 separate documents.

I then created a bleed border/gutter using the New Guide Layout option under View and then a margined centre line to split the page in half and complete the bleed border.

I then dragged a text box to fill the left side of the page and pasted in my pre-formatted article. I then used a free column add-on to create a 3 column layout within the text box. The faux drop cap here was created by indenting the first few lines to the same point, using the text tool to create a blown up version of the first letter and placing it in the space.

I emboldened both the topic titles and quotations to make them stand out to the reader and then increased the size of the quotes as this is a common convention and adds more visual interest to the page than just plain text.