Digipak's for our selected genre

 I have been looking at digipak's of the indie genre of which are band song choice is. One of the examples of this is a band called The Script. This is an indie rock band and this is their digipak. They have a running theme throughout of hands being together and colour theme. The colours are beige and and browns with the black being their jackets and hair. This makes them stand out more so the band is highlighted on their digipak.This is something you really see in an indie band digipak, having a running theme on it so that people recognise the band and this certain album by the hands and the beige and brown colours.

Of Monsters And Men is an indie band that have created a digipak that is made out of the card that they are normally made out of. It has only one fold that has been made with the CD and a booklet within that included their lyrics. This is a basic digipak which goes with the bands theme as they are very pastel with their colours and natural with the pictures and colours that they use. This digipak follows the basic codes and conventions of a digipak, with the songs in a list on the back of the CD album and the CD being in one side of it. It has acknowledgements on the inside on the right. This is something we are going to do with our song and band digipak.

The Kooks again, have a running colour theme throughout their digipak. The theme is black and white and the red is the main colour that stands out and makes the CD album stand out from other black and white CD's in the stores that it is being sold in. They have also followed the normal codes and conventions of a typical digipak by having the list of songs on the back of the album. They have gone different from other indie bands digipak's because they have an image of themselves as they don't normally do this because indie bands aren't as they aren't as popular as other bands/artists.

Digipak's

A digipak is a special CD album that is a folded book-style album. Sometimes the album has a CD and a DVD within the digipak that has many folding panels. Some have a minimum of one, up to four folds that contain elements of the digipak of the band/artist of the album.

They are normally made of card instead of the normal plastic CD album cases.















Digipaks used to be very are whereas now they are very popular and used by many bands and artists.

Font style idea

This font is called Lithos and we like it as it is very plain and in capital letters which is what we are aiming for as the video will then stand out more against the font of the title before the video begins. This font is different to an average style capital font style so it goes with the indie band and how the a different to others with their songs and their CD covers.

This font is called Orator. This is another font idea that we had in mind for the beginning of our music video for 'Alone In This' as it is again, a very basic font but is very effective as it looks very serious and the type writer styles shows that it is like a document by someone which goes with the way we are shooting our music video as we are doing many shots like a handheld camera from our main characters point of view so it is her documentation which links in with the font style perfectly.

This font style is called Nueva which is a very small basic, capital styled font for our title. This is a cool font style for us to use because it is very basic but has a unique twist on it which is what we are showing our main character as, a basic family living in poor conditions, but a unique twist of hope.

Confirmation response from 'The Shape Of The Earth'

The lyrics to our chosen song and meaning

The Shape Of The Earth - Alone In This.

All these names and people places, oh I’m not that sure, I’m not that sure, am I alone in this?
All around the world they tell us oh we’re not that sure we’re not that sure, am I alone in this?
I don’t know how to breathe oh I’m not that sure, I’m not that sure, am I alone in this?
I always try and work on this a lot,
What I have I’m sure you haven’t got,
I can only, only tell the truth….


This is a song about someone questioning themselves to whether they have someone looking out for them and in the same situation in life as they are. This is a soul searching song about someone who really wishes all these things because they don't want to be on their own throughout all their life. The song is about admitting that they feel this way as they didn't want to say it as it is a realisation of themselves and the people around them and it's a fact that isn't the greatest and it's one they wanted to ignore and try to think isn't the truth.

This will be good to link in with our music video idea as the lyrics connect with what it going on in the video and makes it more emotional alongside the images and the story that appears with it. The story is about a girl who is from a bad family and lifestyle as she was abused and bullies within her own home. She then decides to travel around the UK to get away from her life and escape. Along the way she meets new people that make her happy as well as seeing loads of places that make her feel free along with the travel. These lyrics link in as she feels alone in life and wants to find something other than this feeling. It also helps to have these lyrics with the music video because she is travelling on her own and the lyrics state that the person feels alone.

The Shape Of The Earth CD covers

These are the band 'The Shape Of The Earth's CD covers. There is a similarity between them all as they are all drawings and painting like pictures and font on the front. This is a very basic style that they have and it has becomes a signature thing for their band. This has been reflected and thought about in the production and research into our idea stage of making our music video to one of their songs, 'Alone In This'. We have gone for a simply but good storyline in our music video and a basic idea which reflects the image of the band and their theme running through themselves and their CD covers.

Another film inspiration

This film is called Into The Wild. this film inspired us as its all about one person travelling on their own as they don't like reality and will do anything to get away from it. We like the idea from this photo as it is a good picture to show him travelling with all of his belongings. We want to show our character travelling with all of her things too, but she'll be travelling through streets not the wild, but we want her to be walking through all different things to show she'll travel anywhere to get away from where she 
came from.



This picture is a great shot as it shows the audience that the character hasn't got anywhere to go so they will literally sleep/stay wherever they can. This shot is him on top of an abandoned van, in our video we will change this to our character sleeping on a bench or something like that just to let the audience know she hasn't got much else. When we video her sitting on something higher, we want her to be admiring the scenery that she can see so we can tell she loves where she is and that she finds comfort in it. 

We love this shot as it shows the main character from the movie doing something he admires in a place that he loves, this inspired us to do this in our music video with our main character. We want her to be sat somewhere alone, reading also so it shows the audience that she has a peace of mind where she is and that she is relaxed and happy. In the shot we want to capture a good part of the scenery to so we can fully portray her happiness now that she is alone and far away from her home.




In our music video we want a shot exactly like this where it shows a close up of the characters face to try and show all of the emotion they have. In our case we want our character to be looking out to an open field or scenic area and have tears in her eyes to show that she feels like she is where she belongs. We want this shot to be at the very end of the video, so we can show her looking a little scruffy from where she has been travelling for days, but we want her to be smiling and feeling like shes finally got to where she has always wanted.

Our mood board

This is our mood board for the sort of thing we want to show in our music video with the shots and the location that we are aiming for. We want there to be close ups on the main characters face as this focuses a lot on her emotion and how she feels at different stages during her journey. The start f the video is going to be in her bedroom that is quite messy and child-like to create the illusion that they are a poor family so they haven't been able to decorate in a while. We want her travelling around the country. We have a shot on the train within the mood board which is another shot that we are going to recreate along with the handheld effect in some takes to show her filming her journey and when she meets people to show her happiness more clearly and more close up without filming all steady shots of her face that become tiring to the eye for the audience of our music video. We want her smoking in the music video as shown by one of the pictures in this mood board as it indicates she leads a stressful life and is stereotypical for people that lead that lifestyle and who's house and family are in the same way the main characters is within our project.

Film inspiration

We have got some of our inspiration for the storyline and the feel of the music video from films. One of the big films that have helped us realise what sort of story and shots that we want in our project is 'On The Road'

This is one of the shots from the film that is good for what we want to show in our music video as it shows the main character walking along the train track with their luggage to show to the audience that they are travelling. We are also inspired by the way he is wearing dark clothing at the same time as the sun shining and making the location within the scene look bright and cheerful.

The light behind the main characters head in the this shot with the sun setting is a shot that we want to recreate for the ending of our music video as it shows the emotion as we want the camera to turn to face her and for her to smile with the sun shining behind her as it sets and then the music video ends. We feel this would be a good ending as it shows that she is happy in her own little way and she is at her happiest when she is travelling, alone.

This scene from 'On The Road' is perfect for our music video as we ant our main character to meet people on her journey that show her happiness. Her dancing would be a good shot to have with people as it is when people are at their happiest. The people around her shows that she is comfortable with them as she is able to dance and let go in front of them. Her dancing on her own shows that for that moment she is the centre of attention as well as her being alone even in the happiest of times to some extent.

This shot from the film is something we want to portray in our music video as is focuses on the emotion of the main character which is a big part of our project because of the song and our storyline. Showing how she is feeling throughout the music video at different points and in different situations she is put in within it helps the audience to know how her emotion changes within the stages so that the viewers feel the same way and get more of a vibe from it.

The scene from 'On The Road' where there is a close up of a women laughing is a shot that we want to show in our music video project. We want to show her happiness every stage that she smiles or laughs to really emphasis upon it as this is a big factor in our music video, her emotions and the change in it with different people and surroundings.

Budget

We have a budget for our music video which doesn't effect us greatly in how good the music video turns out but does have some restrictions. We have a camera already that we own within our group from one of our group members and the tripod that we would us for some of the shots is lent to us by the school that we can borrow over a period of time in order for us to get the filming in that we need to make our music video. The location that we want to film our project is in walking/cycling distance and this is how we are going to travel to the locations a majority of the time. The one cost that is going to be needed is a train ticket each as one of our shots is on a train and in the station. As this is a cost to us individual, we will then make a day of it and try and find more locations once at our destination from the train to film another scene. This will work out as our music video is about our main character travelling around and meeting people so every new place is a potential new shot.

Our Facebook page

Facebook is a social networking site that has over 1.15 billion users across all ages groups. This is a free site to make pages and profiles. These facts make Facebook the best social networking site to use to create a page for our music video to make people aware of what we are doing in the production stage and the final piece at the end. The main target audience of this site is women which is our audience preference for our music video, making it a perfect site to post on to target directly to the right people we are aiming to attract to watch our project of The Shape Of The Earth - Alone In This music video.




We created the page with the title of the song music video so that people knew straight away what the page was and what it was about. People could also search this way if they was a fan of the group or the song so they have an interest into how we are making this music video with this song. We also made a post to let the likers of the page know what the page was going to consist of and what we was going to be posting onto it in the near future all the way through the production up until the final product, being our music video. We are going to be putting our rough cuts, our ideas and pictures of the production and the storyboard so that everyone that looks at the page is updated and helps us to keep up with what we have done in the same way our blog does.

We have 16 likes on our page from friends and family which shows them all our page posts on their timeline and our pictures and videos that we post so they are always updated and in the know.  This page on Facebook has allowed us to put our music video and our research into the public and make our target audience aware to increase final video views and attention.

Our song choice

The Shape Of The Earth - Alone in this

Synopsis plan of our music video

The main character in our music video is going to have a back story of her being brought up in a bad home with a violent upbringing with her family of which she lives with. The music video will start with shouting and arguing whilst she is packing her bags to leave. This house is going to be full of very basic furniture and have a dark, grotty atmosphere and feel. This creates the look to the audience that the family is poor and has no care in their appearance or life in general. The song begins to start when the door slams and she leaves the house with her belongings and goes travelling alone to find friends and escape her family. We will be showing scenes of her on the train, walking through busy towns and quiet field, trying to find peace away from home. Along the way she meets people that shows her glimpses of happiness for them few minutes that she's with them. The music video all in all, suggesting to the audience that no matter where she goes and who she meets she will always be alone.

Location ideas

As in our video, it involves us travelling around so we will need may locations to get the effect we are aiming for. We are looking for places that are close to us that will look as if we are filming in more than one location and parts of the UK so that it creates the illusion to the audience that the main character is travelling around. These are the locations that we want to have in our music video;

• House
• Train station
• On the train
• Estate
• Crowded town
• Long roads

This is one of the ideas that we had for our music video as we wanted it to have that dark, misty feel and have it being filmed at different times of the day to creates the illusion that the video is over a long space of time. The train station is also one of the scenes that we want the main character to be seen in during the music video. We want her to be facing the side whilst the train goes by in order to show that time has past and she is waiting for her train. An empty looking train station also helps to show that it is very late and shows the audience that she has no where to go which helps to portray that she is travelling alone with nothing but the clothes in her hand luggage bag.

This is also another scene idea that we had in mind. This helps to show that the weather is changing over several days which again, helps the audience to realise that she is travelling for a long period of time. The dark effect that we are aiming for is just how this image shows. We want some shots of the main character walking through open spaces with a lonely road like this picture suggests. Having the rain drops on the camera lens like this, is creating the handheld camera feel that we are trying to make during her travelling sequence of the music video.



 

Time and weather thought

We have decided that we are going to film our music video over different days and at different times of the day so that we can make the illusion to the audience that its going over a long period of time. This is why the weather changing over days and shots are going to look good and add to the effect that we are aiming to create with the long time period setting.

Equipment list

There are some technical equipment that we will need to use in order for this music video to work efficiently and be how we want it be. This will be things such as;

• Tripods
• Our digital camera
• Recording studio and a computer programme called 'Audacity'
• Computer/ computer programmes (Adobe Premiere Pro)
• Mobile phone

Other equipment that we are going to need is a ladder so that we can do the birds-eye shot that we want in the beginning of our music video will look good and be steady when we take the shot.

Costume idea

This is the costume idea for the main character in our music video. We have chosen loose fitting clothing such as a jumper and baggy jeans to create a 'don't care' attitude look. This stereotypically indicates that they are negative in their selves and that she comes from a bad upbringing to have a depressive image. We will also have her wearing a beanie in order to hide her hair to show that she hasn't done anything with it because she couldn't be bothered and she didn't have the time to do that to show that she just wants to get out the house and don't care what she looks like as this is the character idea that we are trying to portray.

Update

My group and I just had a meeting with our media teacher to discuss our progress of what we have done, are doing and what we plan to do short and long term in order to complete our research and our music video. We have been advised to look more into our train shot idea and probably make a day of it so that we aren't wasting our money on the train ticket for one shot. We may also have legal problems shooting a shot on a pubic train so we will have to look further into that.
This meeting has helped us to know what we have to do in more detail and what else we have to do in order to plan ahead for our shooting, developing and editing of our music video and what other research we have to do so that our blog is up to date and full of information of what we have done and what has taken place in our research and planning.

Risk assessment

Planning update

We have confirmed the person that is going to be the main character in our music video. We have asked her what would be needed of her throughout the process of making it and the amount of time it may take of hers in order for us to get enough shots and in the right time of day and setting and it was OK to go ahead. This has made us feel more at ease about everything because we know that we have our actress confirmed and we can now plan the storyline of the music video around the person we have chosen to play the role.

Our final idea

Initial idea

Music video analysis: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Can't Stop

I am going to analysing Red Hot Chili Peppers 'Can't Stop'.

Representation: Red Hot Chili Peppers are shown as a typical rock band as they have long dark hair and tattoos which are very stereotypically rocker. This helps show the audience the genre of song that they are listening to and the type of music video that they are watching. The lighting is very natural which shows that they are a down to earth rock band as they are normally very dark and gloomy looking music videos. This shows that they are different to others in this aspect and shows that this particular song isn't going to be as heavy rock as this normally would be.

Audience: This music video would be specifically aimed at an audience that listens to rock and enjoys their music as there is a lot of comical gestures in the video that will be appealing to fans of the Red Hot Chili Peppers as it is different and more interesting for them to watch them in a different light than from before in their previous music videos. This type of music will impact the way that the type of audience that they are attracting fashion style as it will be an audience that dresses punk rock or rocker as it is these types of people that would want to see the music video for these reasons alone and the type of music that they listen to will be like this kind of song so they are more likely to be the people that listen to this song and watch this music video.

Conventions: The main singer in the band shown in the music video is lip-syncing as he is shown performing in the video with the whole of the band. This is a typical convention of a rock music video with instruments and the band being shown performing.

 Movement: At the start of the music video, the camera moves along inside the pipe as if to show the audience that they are a part of the music video and to create the effect of them being their with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.During the chorus and the build up to it in the music video, the pace of the camera shots become more frequent and at a faster speed in order to add more effect to the song.





Goodwin's Theory: This theory shows throughout this music video as it used the stereotypical elements of a rock music video as it shows the band playing their instruments and singing, them with their tattoo's and their hairstyles as well as them doing stupid crazy things in the video as they are shown to be in their genre characteristics. There is a relationship between the music and the visuals within the music video as the pace of the camera shots increases towards the build up of the chorus and the chorus itself so it adds effect for the audience and to show the link between the song and the music video. Within the video, the main singer in the Red Hot Chili Peppers is shown looking in a camera mirror from within shops which is a frequent reference to motion of looking which is part of Goodwin's theory and it in this music video.

The camera shots and angles within this 'Can't Stop' music video as very fast and there's a lot of close ups to the bands face, especially the main singer. This is to show the audience who is singing the song and to help them to establish the band so that they can recognize and guess the style of song that is going to come from this music video as the know that the Red Hot Chili Peppers are a rock band. There's also a lot of long shots which help to show the viewers where it is located and can see the whole picture so that they feel more involved and engrossed in the video. The camera quickly goes from one thing to another in terms of location and the type of activity that is going on in the video. This shows that there is so much going on, linking in with the fast pace and tune of the song. Most of the angles that are used throughout the music video are at eye level which makes the audience feel like they are with the band and as part of the video.

Musc video analysis: John Newman - Love Me Again

I am going to be analysing John Newman's song 'Love Me Again'. 

Representation: John Newman is shown wearing a suit jacket, trouser and shirt which helps show that he is the main star of the video and the singer of the song that the music video is. His air is slick and this shows the audience that the song is going to be the soul/pop genre and that is

was he represents. The lighting in the music video is natural lighting and sometimes it is faded which shows the old fashioned style that the artist is trying to portray.

Audience: The audience for this music video would be aimed at young and middle ages people as it is taking the old soul style back to current date music which would appeal to both these age groups of audiences. People that dress in the same way and may have an old fashioned and slick sense of style might be the target audience of the music video and the song as it is how they dress and the type of song that they enjoy listening to.

Conventions: The song lyrics are a story about someone which is shown as a story within the music video as it shows a girl and a boy. This shows that the singer is singing about a story that doesn't apply to himself. The singer is shown preforming the whole way through the music video and is lip-syncing to himself singing and he is dancing throughout the song which helps portray the genre of the song to the audience more, being soul/pop. The dancing that the people in the music video do also help to show this genre of what the song is to the viewers and also helps to create an atmosphere and feeling to the audience that the artist would wants them to feel when listening to the song and watching the music video.

Movement: The movement of the camera increases in pace at the chorus of the song as it is more upbeat than the rest of the song and it goes well with the dancing that is in the music video and helps to show the excitement that the people in the video are feeling and make the audience feel that way, being the aim of the song and the music video.

Goodwin's theory: The music and the visual's of the music video relate to the song and it creates a tone and atmosphere to the audience. This is done through the dance routines that the people on the dance floor of the video are doing and the artist on the stage preforming. The artist is shown throughout the music video as this helps to show recognisability to the audience so that they know what to buy and what to look and ask for if they like the song and the music video so they know the singer. This also helps to create an image for the artist as he wasn't a largely popular artist as the time the music video was released, so this helped boost his popularity and his awareness in the music industry and to his target audience.

The camera angles in this music video are varied throughout. There are a few close-ups of John Newman's face so that the audience can see the artist of the song and recognise him. This also helps to grow the artist popularity as the audience may have never heard or seen him before and it helps them to know who sings the song and this shows them this. The camera seems to follow him as he dances and always looks up to him in the background even when it is filming the other people dancing in the music video to show that he is the main focus and the main person of this song. This makes him look important. This also helps the audience feel like part of the dancers of the dance floor dancing to John Newman and watching him. This makes the audience feel more involved and part of the music video and grow an attachment and liking to the song. There are parts wen the music video is edited in slow motion to add tension and suspense of the start of the video and just before the chorus kicks in to grow excitement for the audience. The camera is fast pace shots and is always moving to go with the dancing and the happy theme of the song that is puts across to the viewers. There is a lot of zooming in and out of the characters, especially John Newman as he is dancing and singing.

Music video analysis: Gabrielle Aplin - Home

I am going to be analysing the music video for 'Home' by Gabriele Aplin.

 

Representation: The genre of the song is alternative and this is help shown by what the singer is wearing as they are very mix and match and she is wearing old fashioned shoes. This portrays to the audience that she is different to other artists and has a different type of music that she sings as she is in the alternative genre. This is also shown by her tattoo on her arm that is only shown as some points in the video and her hair style which is very natural and different to what is in fashion to have. The artists facial expressions are shown as serious and meaningful when showing her singing the song at certain points in the music video. This shows that the song and the lyrics mean a lot to her and show what the genre and the pace of the song is

as it shows that it may be a sad or inspirational song. There's realistic lighting in the music video which shows that it could be a true event that happened in the past to show the meaning of the lyrics and the song to the artist.

 

Audience: Target audience for this music video would be young people from about 15-25 as Gabrielle Aplin in shown in the music video to be inspirational and a role model to young people such as teenagers as she is shown fending for herself and being her own person throughout different events no matter what. She is the main character in the story that the music video is showing and this helps to illustrate the storyline through the singer of the song and so that products of theirs can be sold if the audience and viewers of the music video like it.

 

Conventions: The song is a narrative about something that is happening in the music video and this video helps to explain the song and give it more meaning to the viewers.  Where the music video is set is in the middle of America and the audience can clearly see that she is far from home and she doesn't know where she is. This helps the song to be more appreciated by the viewers as they can see what the story behind it is and can feel more involved and understand the song and story more.

 

Movement: The movement of the camera becomes more frequent when the tempo of the music increases towards the end and it becomes more positive so that is helps to show this through the music video so that it is more obvious and explanatory to the audience. The camera shows many close up shots of the artists face so that it is recognisable for the audience and they know what the song may be and who the artist of the song is straight away. This also helps viewers that like the song or the music video to know what to ask or look for if they want to be the single or album that the song is on.

 

Goodwin's theory: The music video shows the title of the song like a film at the start before the music begins and the story starts to kick in through the video and the music and lyrics. Putting a title in a music video helps let the audience recognise the song before it begins and show new viewers what the song is to help sell more records and products of this s

song and the artist if they like the video and the song they are listening to. The artist uses lip-syncing in some parts of the music video when she is shown singing which helps to show that she is the person singing the song as well as being the main character in the story of the video. The camera does certain paces at certain times in the song which compliments it and helps to create the atmosphere that the artist wants the song to feel to the audience.

The camera angles that have been used in this music video are mostly match on action to things that are happening in the video that are specifically important to the storyline and the song. Such as Gabrielle Aplin paying for a guitar with her jewellery and her pushing her plate of food away from her.  There is also establishing shots so that we can see that she is in the middle of no-where and so that audience can get a feel to where she is and so that they are more in-the-know to what is happening in the video. The camera follows Gabrielle Aplin's movements and the pace of the shots becomes faster towards the end of the music video when the music becomes faster and more heart-felt to create an atmosphere and a specific feel for the audience so they can feel how important the story and the lyrics of the song are to the artist. There's a few close-up shots that the artist face so that the audience can recognise the singer of the song and so it establishes character.



Conventions of music videos

Movement;

Movement is a big element of a music video and usually compliments the song as it normally goes with the rhythm of the song. The movement of the camera and the angles that it is shooting the music video shows the dancing and can show many different cuts to show the fast pace of the chorus of a song and this also compliments this.  This editing of the camera can change the music video all together and go with the music. For example, in Beyoncé's video for her song 'Single ladies', she used a dance routine throughout the music video to compliment the song and use actions to represent certain phrases and words within the song.

Narrative;
Some music videos have narrative that tells the story of the song and the music video at the start or at the end of the song in the music video. This helps the audience to see what the song is representing and what the video is showing so that it is clearer and more understandable for the viewers. For example, Lana Del Rey uses a long narrative telling a story at the start of her song 'Ride' and it helps set the scene for the video and show the true meaning of the song and helps the audience understand the song and appreciate it.





Artist or band;
In most music videos, the artist or the band is shown at some point throughout it so that it is recognisable to the viewers and so that they know who sings the song so that they can go out and buy the single or the album, that the song is on. The music video may feature them singing on a stage or in the story that they are telling through the video to help explain the song and add enthuses onto it. If the artist or band are singing the song in the video, they are lip-syncing to it and playing the instruments to it (if it is a band). If the artist or band are in the video in the story they are acting and preforming within it, or the music video may show them doing both.


Intertextuality;
In some music videos, they use intertextuality to reference to other singers or films using credits at the start and end of the song with the title of the song and the singer or bands name so that it is recognisable and it shown as something important and professional to the viewers. Other music videos also use this concept in their videos by copying scenes and referencing to other music videos so that viewers recognise what they are trying to do and make it more fun and enjoyable to watch as it is similar to something that they have seen before.

Some other references to things can be done in more abstract manors. This is done in some music videos so that the audience feel like they have achieved something when they notice and recognize the reference that the video is presenting through the video. For example, My Chemical Romance referred to Nirvana's music video for 'Smells like teen spirit' in their video for their song 'Teenagers' by using cheerleaders so that they can see that they have used them for inspiration with their video and their song.