Digipak research

To allow me to see ideally what the band digipak should look like, my first step is to perform a great deal of research.

Above are two images of album covers from bands belonging in the same genre as The Ghost Frequency. The top image is the Arctic Mokeys, a very famous Indie band from England. I like this cover, the simplicity of the image stands out. Also, the laid back and careless attitude of the model reflects the thoughts and feelings of the band. I think it is appealing how even the album name does not appear on the front, it almost appears unnecessary. The band name, located at the top left hand side of the album cover, stands out as it is bordered by a white shape. This album will stand out on shelves and is a good representation of the band. I think it will greatly appeal to the bands target audience.

The bottom image is the Kings of Leon cover for the album titled 'Wasted time'. The image on this album cover is also simple but interesting and intriging similar to the Arctic Monkeys cover. The font is in clear white, standing out against the Sepia background. The image itself is intriging, suggesting along with the album name, that the woman has been captured in wasted time. I believe that this product will stand out on shelves, capturing the publics attention.

Above is an image of the digipak for Lady GaGa's latest album titled 'The Fame Monster 2'. Similar images of Lady GaGa are shown throughout the unfolded pack. This makes it clear to the user who the artist is aswell as increasing audience interest. I like the way that the album name is written behind the CD holder, giving the user something different to see once the CD has been removed.

After looking at similar genres digipaks, I can see that a simple image is all that is necessary to capture attention. I will take this into account when producing the digipak.

Existing Band Websites

Whilst researching existing band websites, I found that all of the band website followed a set of website conventions, annotated in the images below.

Above is the Kings Of Leon website. A image of the band has been manipulated using a photo editing software to make the band members stand out against the background by adding shadows behind each member. The lead is singer of the band can clearly be identified as his stance makes him stand out against the rest of the group. The website contains both internal and external links, internal links being the navigation bar at the top and external links being the small shop section at the top of the page allowing the users to quickly and easily purchase songs. The band name has dominant and powerful position on the page, making it clear to the user which website they are visiting.

Above is the arctic monkeys website showing similar features to those seen on the Kings Of Leon website. I like the way the band image, band name and buttons link together to create one heading. The external link on this website takes the user to the bands YouTube page, increasing the interaction that the user has with both the site and band. The news appears on the home page of this website, making it a lot easier for the fans to find out what is happening with the band.

Digipak- What to include?

After looking a various digipaks both online and at home, we soon realised that they have their own set on conventions that are clear to see. All the digipaks I viewed have many things in common including:-

• Dominant image on the front, either a logo, band member or actor.
• Band/artist name is clear on legible on the front cover.
• Album name is located either underneath the band name or at the bottom of the album cover. This is once again clear and legible.
• Track listing on the back.
• Bar code located at the bottom of the back page.
• Same style image/background carries on inside the case.

I need to ensure that our digipak meets this set of conventions.

Main inspiration for characters

When doing some research, I came across a few images that inspired me and that will probably act as a guideline for what I want the characters to look like.

Vampire:

In these images, the girls appear quite normal but are obviously possessed, especially in the top image. I like the dark hair, blue eyes and dark make up look and I think that this will work well in our music video for the vampire character.

Girl:
These images are from the film 'The Exorcism Of Emily Rose' released in 2005. I like the eerie simplicity of the white shirt. This simple outfit does not take the viewers attention away from the characters face and expressions which is helpful. Also, having simple hair and make up makes the character appear more normal but due to her facial expressions, we can clearly see that she is bothered by something. I am going to have to find a white shirt similar to this!

Textual analysis of a music video

In order for me to identify the conventions of a music video, I studied the music video for 'Empire state of Mind' By Jay-z and Alicia Keys, which appears on Jay-z's latest album, titled 'The Blueprint 3'. I felt that this was a good place to start and would give me a clear idea of what is expected. This understanding will help me create a realistic video. I have split this analysis in to seven sections so that I ensure that I analyse each section fully.


Genre characteristics:

This music video is set in the urban and built up area of New York City. This setting and the atmosphere created by this reflects and compliments the style and genre of the music. The large and famous buildings in New York City are dominantly shown throughout the video using a low angle shot, making them appear powerful and supreme in the video.





Relationship between lyrics and visuals:

Throughout the song, Jay-Z is singing about various places in the city, the people and places that have changed his life. Throughout the video, the audience is shown the places and people he is mentioning in the lyrics. This creates a strong relationship between the lyrics and the visuals.


Relationship between the music and the editng:

Throughout the video, images appear of different places in New york, viewed as still images. These images appear on a drum beat, showing that the pace of the music is driving the pace of the editing. Below is a image that I particually liked from the beginning of the video. As three beats are heard in the song, three images appear on the screen. However, instead of the previous image disappearing, the images are overlayed on top of each other. I think that this is an effective way of presenting the content to the audience.





Close ups:

This music video is dominated by close ups of both artists as they sing the lyrics of the song. The close ups encourage audience involvement and make the video and narrative appear more personal. With videos like this where the words are being sung, a high level of close ups are helpful.


Notion of Looking:

There is not really a clear notion of looking in this video as it is mainly perfomance based. However, it can be suggested that we are looking in to the singers life as he shows and tells us about the places he is fond of in New York.


Intertextual refrences:

In this song and video, Jay-Z tells the audience a story of his past life, the people that he met, the people that helped him and the places that inspired this. The audience is shown this through numerious still shots. Eventhough there is no movement in these shots they soon build a story. The still images are represented as memories in the form of photos.


Performance, narrative or concept based?:

This music video is definately performance based as throughout the video Jay-Z is singing/performaning the song and Alicia Keys is shown playing the piano. Towards the end of the video, both artist join to perform the song on a set of red stairs (shown below).

Practice video

This is the video I created as a member of another group to enable us to become familiar with the software. Looking back at the video, I can immediately spot many faults with the camera work and mise-en-scene. I am hopefully going to greatly improve when creating my final music video. The brief set to us was simply 'The Journey', our job to creatively represent thios. We choose a girls journey from being a geek and being bullied to becoming an attractive girl.

The Kooks- She moves in her own way

Practise Music Video from Lucy Simonds on Vimeo.