Possible photos for digipak

Here are the possible photos which we will be use for the digipak. We have followed a typical convention of the indie genre by using a familiar, unspectacular urban setting rather than a studio photoshoot. The use of the doll and the girl form the video will create intertexuality between all 3 products.

Digipak Analysis

Though the compact disc revolutionised the music industry when it was first introduced at the end of the 1970s, in the modern digital age it is fast becoming an obselete format. Since the removal of the CD 'single', the charts are now created from MP3 download sales, from websites such as napster or from itunes. In addition, websites such as youtube and lastfm have made it easy than ever to listen to an artist and watch live footage without having to commit to a purchase. The arrival of Spotify has also furthered this, as users are able to create playlists and listen to multiple albums from the same artists, without having to pay for any of it. Rather than playing music through a record player or CDs in a jukebox, music is now typically consumed through portable ipods and mp3 phones, using headphones and portable speakers.

However, there is still pleasure for audiences in having something tangible, a piece of artwork which can be enjoyed and treasured, connecting audiences with the artist. This also means that the 'album' CD format is now more important than it has ever been, as this is the only opportunity for audiences to have a 'hard copy' of a piece of music created by the artist. More loyal followers of particular bands are more likely to purchase a hard copy of a band's album over download, as it requires them to purchase the album in its entireity rather than simply downloading singles they have perhaps heard on the radio from it, as modern audiences often tend to do rather than purchasing the whole album.

The CD album has recently evolved in order to adapt to changes in the industry, hence the creation of the 'digipak' format. This is a more versatile format, allowing more variation and creative expression than the traditional plastic 'jewel case' format, as the albums vary from the more conventional 4 panel, to up to 6 or 8 panels, usually with an accompanying booklet. They often contain additional content such as bonus tracks and accompanying DVD, to encourage audiences to purchase them rather than download the single.

One of the main advantages of the 'digipak' is that it allows the audience to become more familiar with the artist on a personal level.

This suggests a return to the prestige of the much-loved vinyl format, where album artwork was considered as an integral part of the album. During the 1960s and 1970s, there were many iconic album covers created which still exist as merchandise: retro posters, teeshirts, art prints etc.

For instance, here is the front image of the 1979 album "London Calling" by The Clash, and below a retro teeshirt and collectable tin with the the album cover on. This shows the significance of iconic album artwork, as it is the image still connects the audience to the band and survives as merchandise some 30 years after it was originally released.

Digipak Research

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Initial ideas for magazine advert/digipak

In our initial planning of the magazine advert, we contemplated making a image which was composed from different boy parts of the boy and doll (e.g. the doll's face and the boy's body)  to make a mis-matched person which would challenge convention and attract the attention of the target audience. Another idea that we had was to make the image look like objects on a kitchen table, which linked to the video e.g. the doll and the purse which she picks up in the opening scene of the video. However, we thought that we should make the advert less strongly linked with the video, as we were advertising the album as a whole rather than just the single. We decided that we would link the advert to the album title, "Wall of Arms" by using a wall as the main backdrop for the image.

The image above also shows some initial digipak designs (on the left-hand side) for a 4-panel design. We intended to link the digipak to the initial advert design by continuing the idea of mis-match by using an image of a face, created by using parts of the girl, boy and doll's face. We thought that if the digipak had slits, we could have flaps that lift up like a children's book, revealing different combinations of parts of their faces underneath. However, we decided that this would be too complicated and the industry would probably not produce such a complicated and therefore expensive format.

Here is the revised design for the digipak, as we have now decided that a 6-panel format would allow us to include more images and therefore increase the appeal to the target audience. We will link the album title to the design by using a brick wall. We will use the red motif to link to the magazine advert and the video. There will be a scrap-book effect on the inside cover, using screengrabs from the video, which will appear to be stuck down by sellotape. Handwriting-style font will be used for the lyrics on the inside cover and the tracklist on the back

Magazine Advert- Planning and Research

Magazine Advert Analysis

The following adverts are taken from "Uncut" Magazine

This advert is promoting an album and DVD release by indie folk band "Noah and the Whale." I chose to use this advert for research as it is of a similar genre to the indie rock band we are promoting, and therefore has a similar target audience.

The title of the album "The First Days of Spring" has associations with youth, new opportunity and the outdoors- a themes which comes across strongly in the rest of the advert. It also suggests the end of the hardships of winter and promise of brighter prospects.

Typography
-The use of serif font for the album title is reminiscent of school-girl handwriting, such as in a journal or diary. This suggests happy memories and the idealism of youth and has associations with being a daydreamer
-The use of italics also has romantic undertones, such as in a love letter. This is fitting with the album, as relationships are a key theme.

Colour
-The muted colours of the poster are typical of the indie genre, as the bands are often styled in a retro way, with the promotional material reflecting this image
- The use of the pale blue image of the sky as the main background connotes tranquility. This fits with the often slow-tempo music on the album

-Light blue also has associations with idealism and freshness which fits with the theme of youthful optimism, innocence and new beginnings. This fits with the title track of the album, which includes the lyrics "It's the first day of spring
And my life is starting over again."

-The pale blue also links to the song title "Blue Skies" on the album

Image
-The soft focus on three of the band members suggests past memories and fits with the idea of tranquility which is portrayed in the advert. The light on their faces and the fact they are facing upwards connotes optimism and redemption- which fits with the idea of spring representing a new beginning

-The tall grass in the foreground has associations of life, nature and freedom- again reinforcing the meaning of the album title.

-The image appears to be slightly sepia tone, which is associated with childhood memories and old photo graphs

-The band member in the foreground is pointing an old-fashioned camera , which connotes happy memories. It is pointed at the audience, which involves them as young people and causes them to consider their own memories

Use of reviewer's comments/ratings 
-The inclusion of four-star ratings from reviewers suggests to the audience that they are buying  high-quality album which comes recommended by others
-The quotes are taken from respected music magazines such as "Q", which gives them credibility

-The reviews used describe the album as "beautiful" and "magical", which fit with the theme of the wonderment of youth and the associations with natural beauty and tranquility which are conveyed through the advert
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This is an advert promoting the indie singer/songwriter "Jamie. T" and his release of his "Chaka Demus" EP.

The amateur look of the image demonstrated by the torn edge and simple use of colour express the artist's humble South London roots. The advert is for an EP rather than an album, and also shows that it will be available on 12". This fits with the idea that the artist is going "back to basics", to provide the audience with raw music which has not been expensively produced. This indicates that he is trying to be taken seriously as an indie artist who the audience can relate to, and also reflects the premise behind the indie genre. The 'torn' edges also reflect the artist's rebellious persona (shown by the photo below of him with a can of cheap lager on the red carpet of the Brit Awards) which is typical of indie artists, as they are often presented as rejecting convention.

Typography
The artist's name and the title of the EP are in unassuming sans serif font, which expresses the "no frills" image the artist is trying to convey. The use of red font also draws attention to the advert, as red is often used to highlight key information, so will be noticeable to audiences.

Colour
The black and white effect of the image gives it a retro feel and the circular shape resembles a record. This fits with the "back to basics" values of the artist and the traditional philosophy of the indie genre.

Image
The artist is looking down from what appears to stairs, which expresses his urban roots and reflects his choice of song subjects- about "real" young people growing up in the city. The effect is that the target audience are able to relate to the artist. The use of a low-angle shot, where he is looking down at the audience is in an ironic way, as the artist has a down-to-earth image.

Audience Feedback

We interviewed a range of young people, (the primary target audience for the indie genre) both male and female, in order to obtain feedback about our video production.

Teacher feedback

Teacher Feedback

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We will add titles to our video in response to this feedback

Peer feedback

We posted our video on youtube and popular social networking site facebook, as well as asking for feedback from other students in class. This allowed us to gain feedback from a wider global audience, rather than simply our family and friends.


Comments from youtube:


This comment suggests that people liked our choice of narrative, and found it amusing. This was also commented on by the user below.

However, this person has pointed out that there were some continuity mistakes in our production. The comment about shaky shots is probably a reference to the scene of the boy's realisation, where we purposefully used hand-held camera in order to create a sense of chaos to reflect his state of mind as he struggles to take in the situation.



This suggests that our use of fast cutting rhythm and handheld camera before the ending was effective in creating tension

0:18


This individual thought that this shot was effective. We chose this angle because it included our red motif and it has a voyeuristic quality to it, as it gives the impression of someone being watched without realising it. This fits with the sinister side to the video, as the boy is being manipulated without realising, and the audience is made complicit in her plan

2:01


They also liked this shot. This over-the-shoulder shot from the doll's point of view, which we used in connection with a corresponding shot from the boy's point of view, in order to link the them together 


Comments from facebook:

Summary
Generally, we were praised for our editing and cutting rhythm. However, we learned from our feedback that some people found the narrative hard to understand initially, we suggests that our motif may not have come across as clearly as intended.

Video production

This is the original version we uploaded to youtube



However, we had compressed it for website quality, which meant that our motif and narrative were not as clear as they had been during editing. We have now re-exported it from imovie at full quality and uploaded it again to youtube



We learned from our teacher feedback that we needed titles at the beginning and end of the video. We had not included them, as our research was based on music videos online, which often do not have titles in the video itself as they are instead written above. Nevertheless, we have added titles on for this version:

Applying Goodwin's Theory to our music video

Applying Goodwin’s Theory To Our Video

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My Video Analysis

Video Analysis

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