Digipack template ideas

 This allows minimal inlays but allows a different and slightly indie design.

 this is an even more individual design. it allows lots of inlays, and a card design, which would fit with he indie genre.

 This is a booklet style template. it allows for many inlays and could be linked include some intertextuality with the way it could link with a book.

this is the traditional CD/digipack design. we have decided to put our own individual pin on this traditional design to give it an indie feel to match the genre and style of the artist. we decided to include a small booklet with the front cover on one side and filled with inlays.

Digipack ideas 2

We are considering including the use of techniques such as metaphors, connotations, denotations, symbols, content signs and font. 
metaphors/connotations/symbols- The title of the album is tearing back the wallpaper, our front cover is going to be a shot of torn wallpaper with brick wall behind it with the lyrics to Hazel Eyes on it. the metaphor that he is tearing back the wallpaper to reveal what's underneath. the connotations/symbols that he has been hiding behind this wallpaper and he is tearing it back to show his true feelings.
Content signs- we are going to include a guitar in the shot of the front cover to represent the fact he is a genuine real artist who creates his own music. 
Font- we have found a font to use on our album cover. 

Digipack micro-elements analysis 2

Colour difference between the front cover, back cover, spine and inlays. 

Newton Faulkner is another indie artist I have researched, and i have decided to analyse his album 'Hand Built By Robots'. 

As you can see the has a background theme of a cloudy sky. On the album this them can be seen across the entire Digipack. the theme is continued on the back cover and both inlays.

However, this theme is not featured on the spine or on the CD cover. Sometimes spines are made a more bright noticeable colour so they can be better seen when on their side. We as a group are planning on using this technique when producing our own digipack.

Digipack micro-elements analysis

Colour difference between the front cover, back cover and spine. 

This is the spine for the album 'Tourist History' by Two Door Cinema Club. The colours used on the spine match those used on the back image. this is a very common concept for album covers. However The front cover is a dark image,  contrasting to the back and spine colours, this allows the album to be shown as breaking conventions and allowing the album to stand out. the inlays on both sides however, both match the back cover as well. 

Another indie artist of whose digipack i have analysed is Ed sheerans album +. this is in a different style to the of the Two Door Cinema Club album. it has the same back cover and spine and front cover design. But it does however have a dark inlay which allows  the orange + on the CD to stick out more. 

i have analysed 5 digpacks produced by indie artists, all of which had a difference in colour or theme between the either the front cover and the back cover, or the front cover and the back cover and spine. We are most likely going to conform to this convention when producing our digipack. however the indie genre is all about being individual and different and we have considered  having all three aspects of the outer digipack (front cover, back cover and spine) different themes/colours as to break these conventions further. or we could challenge this convention by having the front cover and spine different colour to the back cover. 

Benjamin Francis Leftwich- Atlas Hands beach shots analysis

Micro element analysis of Benjamin Francis Leftwich's Atlas hands. i am mainly analysing the camera use and the way the location is used and represented in the video.

Throughout the video a large range of shots are used. An establishing shot is used first to set the scene, in the first few seconds it allows the audience to know that the video is being shot at the beach. 
They use low angle and high angles shots to show things like the characters tying each others hair, the characters are also mainly children. This holds connotations of the beach being a place for children and a place to be immature. we are also following this with the use of shots showing our characters eating ice cream, laughing, joking and flying a kite, all associated with immaturity. 
In terms of editing, the cuts made are not made to the beat of the song, this is a convention of the indie genre and relates to rebellion. 

digipack ideas

For our digipack we have had some thoughts on album title and shot ideas.

For album title we have, tearing back the wallpaper, new beginnings, higher heights, and a fresh start.

We have an idea for our front cover, a mid shot of our artist looking up to a wall with torn back wallpaper, this mainly relates to our first album title idea, but can also relate to new beginnings. 
We are planning to have another group meeting to finalize decisions and to decide on inlay and back cover ideas.

prolgue analysis

We are planning to use a prologue at the beginning of our video, I have found some music videos that use this technique to see what they are trying to show/represent.


This is the music video for Rihanna's California king bed. this has a 32 second long prologue. in this video it is used to set the scene, with close up and medium shots of both the narrative and performance scenes. it shows a direction and a general story line to the video. it allows the audience to gain an insight into the story behind the video and the lyrics and to connect to the artist without music.

planning evidence

Costume and props

planning evidence

We decided to produce a final cut express video showing the timing of the shots we are going to use, matched to the music. this is a moving story board and will help us greatly, along with a written shot list, to film our video quickly and easily.

Costumes and props.

Costumes 

Our artist will be wearing Chino's, a denim shirt, and some form of casual shoe. It relates well to the indie genre and the age bracket of our target audience. We also think that it will make him look casual and comfortable which also relates to the indie genre, due to the idea of being casual in videos and public appearances, which greatly differs from a pop artist.

Our female will be sporting light blue jeans, which are able to roll up. This is so we can easily film the paddling scene. She will be wearing a wax Barbour style jacket

She will also be wearing red vans. We have decided that we want her to be wearing these because they are practical and casual and go well with our indie theme.

Props 

Guitar - By having the guitar is showing that he is a credible artist and can play his own music. it is also a key convention of the indie genre. 

Microphone stand- to show he is singing his own music and its not auto tuned or greatly tampered with. 

 Ice cream and chips- cliche thing for couples in films, videos and television. also links with the beach location. 

Tea lights- surround our artist to create a more meaningful, romantic atmosphere. also a small source of lighting. Camera phone- to create a handheld effect. to emphasize intimacy and romance between the characters.

audience research

this is a video made by one of our group members Danielle, and shows some feedback from target audience members to some questions surrounding the genre of our chosen artist; indie.

audience feedback from our songs

After playing our song to the rest of our class, we asked them what they would include in the music video that we would create.
 These are the results that we got:
 1. -girl he's singing to, walking about singing to a girl, "calling out" to her
 2. -sunset (low lighting), fields, country girls, he sings about her but not too her
 3. -happy and upbeat, urban, love song to or about a girl, dancing
 4. -band playing from the start, a guy singing to a girl, but cant see him
 5. -acoustic guitar, unique voice, mellow, slow, indie rock, love, relaxing
 6. -city scene, see a girl (with hazel eyes), maybe bumps into her a lot, singing as walking, he pictures her in his head, flashbacks, smiling at each other, tries to ask her out but always gets cut off
 7. -guitar (acoustic), sun, drums, love, eyes, beach 8.- urban (maybe cambridge), black and white, looking out of the window, shirt (tie?), guitar- cutting to electric guitar being played by someone else, no girl (maybe photograph), shot of him performing in bar/cafe, following a day, time shots of different views walking around, outdoors but city

 We are still going with the idea that we will film at the beach.we are also going to use the idea of representing a change in time throughout the video, from morning to evening.We will also have guitars featuring heavily in our music video as this is a huge feature of videos in the indie genre.

video group planning meeting

music video theorists

Music video theorists on Prezi

similar artist research

We have identified Air Traffic as a similar artist as they share a similar sound to our artist. WE are going to take into account the use of camera angles, such as establishing shots, close ups, and tracking shots and try to integrate them into our video. We will also take note of things like props, costume, location and editing. In almost all of the videos we have viewed from similar artists and artists of the same genres, we have noticed the use of cross cutting between a narrative and a performance. we have used this to plan our video. 

Ben Howard research - Task 2

Benjamin John Howard is an English singer-songwriter, born in West London. He moved to Totnes, Devon when he was 8 and is currently signed to Island Records. Howard was raised by musical parents who exposed him to several of their favourite records from singer-songwriter artists from the 1960s and 1970s including Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, by whom he was strongly influenced. his genre can be described as folk rock. 

he is very casual in terms of clothing, whether that be for gigs, interviews or music videos, he generally wears very similar, very casual everyday clothing. his gigs are generally very intimate and personal where he can connect and interact with the audience a lot. although during this summer he has been playing some festivals in which his sets have become more up beat and appeal to a larger audience and crowd.  

this image he represents is similar to indie rock artist Ed Sheeran in the way he doesnt want to appear as fake or generated, he wants to be represented as genuine. 

Examples of both an intimate and festival sets. 

    

Rascal Flatts research - Task 2

Rascal Flatts is an American country music band. Since its inception, Rascal Flatts has been composed of three members: Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney  During the 2000–10 decade, Rascal Flatts recorded for Disney Music Group's Lyric Street Records. While on that label, the band released seven albums, all of which have been certified platinum or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In order of release, these albums are Rascal Flatts (2000), Melt (2002), Feels Like Today (2004), Me and My Gang (2006), Still Feels Good (2007), Greatest Hits Volume 1 (2008) and Unstoppable (2009).

their songs and lyrics are generally routed from the conventions of their genre. they are typically love songs, whether that be new love, lost love or lack of love. they also have songs about the country side, a key feature in the conventions of country music. 

most their videos are shot in the country, so to show the audience its where they come from and its very important to them, something the audience can relate to. 

the gigs they play are varied. some they will play and are very intimate, with normally low key lighting, and very little movement. however they also play more up beat and more active sets, with lots of lighting and staging involved. 

these are examples of both.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuL0SJiAOcM

this is the music video for their song 'take me there'.

Ed Sheeran research - Task 2

Ed Sheeran  is an English singer, songwriter, and producer. Born in Halifax, before moving to Framingham, he learned to play guitar and started writing songs at a young age. He began recording in 2005 and moved to London in 2008 to pursue a music career. In 2009, inspired by James Morrison, he played 312 gigs. In early 2011, he released his eighth independent extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project; with it, Sheeran gained mainstream attention. Three months later, Sheeran was signed to Asylum/ Atlantic Records.

Ed Sheeran can be described as an indie rock/acoustic artist. he potrays an image that he is no different to the people who listen to his music. he wears very basic clothing, typically jeans and a t-shirt. in his video's he is represented as a normal person with normal problems. he has also been shown to be a good and charitable person in the video for 'A Team'. 
his concerts are always very basic, he only ever has him playing his guitar and making music on a loop pedal. they are usually very intimate gigs where he interacts and connects a lot with his audience. 

these are two examples.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAWcs5H-qgQ

The music video for Ed Sheeran’s The A Team follows the story of a young prostitute living in London. The fact the video creates a story is very attracting for an audience. it builds anticipation, and curiosity as to what is going to happen to the character created. It has the same effect as a trailer of a movie.

Ed Sheeran can be described as an indie rock/acoustic artist. This song is more of an acoustic song and features just his voice and just his guitar. This allows him to portray an image of reality, and that all the music he makes is from him, and not produced on a computer.  He also shows this by barely featuring in the video. By doing this he makes the video all about the music and the story it creates.

The lyrics relate to the struggles of a young prostitute, this may not be something many viewers can relate to personally but the general struggle of life with little money, drugs, poverty and trying to put food on the table are all things viewers can relate too. The target audience of the audience is a young one, from around 16-25. This is mainly because his songs and videos relate to issues of young people, young love, heart break, loss, unemployment to name a few.

The artist himself is only in the video for about 10 seconds, and he is seen giving money to the homeless girl and giving her some company. This allows him to come across as very charitable and to be shown as a good person.

The rest of the video follows the girl’s story to the end. I think the way in which the girl’s story pulls the audience in is the reason it is a successful video.