Planning my Digipak

The first box is my draft for the front cover of my digipak. This was difficult to draw, so i did a rough sketch of what it would look like. The real thing will be a collage of photographs. This could be photos specifically of my artist, or just photographs i take when filming. I wanted to make my album quite vintage looking, therefore decided i would boarder this page with a golden frame. I feel this will make the digipak look more valuable and also will be appreciated more as a collectors item. The sort of frame I was looking at for inspiration was something like this:  

This is because i feel it will help to keep up the vintage, older era style i wish to portray in my music video. I chose to have the fram filled with a collage of photos as i feel it will allow me to show all my abilites and skills with photography and artistic design. I was thinking about how i might begin to make the collage. I could do it on the computer, scatter the images across a document and use that. However, i might print out individual images, place them on a flat surface, possibly covered in coloured paper and scatter the images across the background. I thought of this idea as i used it during AS when creating a collage for the back of my magazine cover. I could do the same thing i did with that, upload the photo of the scattered photos to the computer and fade it, so it's not so harsh. This is what my collage in A2 looked like on before being edited and put on my actual  magazine:

The next box is a draft of my back cover of the digipak. This is a lot more simplistic than the busy front cover, but I feel this is necessary, or the whole digipak will look too cluttered. I decided that I would quite like to use an image of the location I am filming my music video in and incorporate it so that it is a back cover image. This means that it will not be boring in the sense of just a colour as my back cover background and is still showing my photography skills. It also means I can put a sepia – like colouring over the image I take (if it does not already capture perfectly), allowing me to maintain the vintage style I want to create with this digipak.  Mogwai's album inspired me to use this as a back image as they used a location in their "Hardcore will never die, but you will" vinyl, and I feel it was very effective, even though it was minimalistic

 Within the writing I am going to include a list of tracks. I will then also have a “special thanks” section. I feel this is necessary, as the music artist I am focusing on is very young, of the age 16. Therefore she would be hugely grateful to everyone who has supported her and made the up rise of her career possible.

The next box in my draft for my digipak is the first inside image. This is of my artist looking up and touching a forty ford. This is because my actual music video is going to be set in an older era, i am going to film my music video and then put a sepia contrast edit over the top of the footage to make it look older. I have access to old cars also, which means i can use it during the car crash. It is also very visually pleasing and captures beautifully on camera, here is a copy of the car i will be using, it isnt the exact car but it gives you an idea of what it will look like in the image:

The next box will be another image inside my digipak. This will be shot on location also, showing my artist in the meadow. I might change the angle/choice of shot for this particular photo. I felt a diagonal photo would be effective though, contrasting and interesting to look at. However, I might also experiement with an extreme close up, as it will be a huge contrast to the opposite photo of my artist standing next to the car.

Magazine Ad Analysis

Diary #15

Today i am thinking about how i can develop my research into the target audience of my music video. I feel as though the audience is the most important element when creating a media product. And in this case, with music, audience is very specific. I am going to create a video questionaire, asking lots of different people within my target audience, what they like, who they like, where they go in their spare time and so on. I feel this will give me more of an insight on how to create my music video in a way that'll be successful with its target audience. 

Diary #14

Today i analysed the song lyrics of the song i am using for my music video. This was extrmemely helpful as it allowed me to achknowledge the kind of shots i might be able to incorperate into my music video. I found that the lyrics of my song actually fit perfectly with the storyline of my narrative. Words like "save me" "knocking" and "drunken eyes" will all allow me to emphasise the sympathy i wish the audience to feel for my character. It will also enable me to have interesting shots, such as extreme close ups of the girls eyes with dialated pupils etc...

Another thing i did today was write up a brief props list using prezi. This allowed me to think out side the box about things i could use in my music video to make it more interesting. I came up with bubbles, glitter to emphasise freedom and a careless attitude. In contrast to bags of clothes and car keys thrown on the floor, to emphasise the girls lonliness after being kicked out, and the keys on the floor will represent the panic of the driver that has just hit the girl.

Analysis of Lyrics

Who are the audience of Indie Folk Music?

Who Are the Audience of Indie Folk Music

Diary #13

Today I have decided to think about who my target audience is. This information will be gathered using my previous audience profile I have made. I am going to look into the way Indie Folk/ Alternative music influences their audience and who their audience is.

Moodboard

I decided to make a scattered selection of songs and sounds that will create the mood for my music video. This includes the song io am actually using for my music video. I felt this would be effectiove, as music sets the mood better than anything, and as this is a music project, i felt it was essential to set the mood using it.

Diary #12

I decided I had done enough research for now, and will come back to it later. As it is getting on in terms of time and I feel as though Planning is very essential. Therefore, I began by sending Birdy an email. This was basically just to show that I had considered copyright issues and was aware that her song is not mine to use or mess about with, so I asked her permission if I could use it.

I then created a spider diagram for all my initial ideas. This is just so that I could get all of my work onto a page, and put my ideas out clearly, allowing me to adapt/change/develop them. I will be able to add to this diagram and think about what works and what doesn’t. This is being used as a guidline for my production work.

I am now working on my mood board. I decided instead of using photos, I would create a video on Adobe Premier pro. I am getting videos off YouTube, converting them into downloadable videos, and then adding them to my mood board. This is just so that I can have a selection of songs and images that show the sort of image I wish to portray in my music video.

Diary #11

This week I have been looking into digipaks. Before this project I was not even sure what a digipak was. This is because they are rare and are not seen as much. They are more expensive to create and some people would just prefer a CD as they thing that it is what is on the CD that counts, not what the CD is actually in. However, by researching them I have discovered they are actually seen as very valuable. And are often considered as collectables for real fans. This made me feel as though it will be more valuable making a digipak than making a CD.

Another thing I have been doing this week is looking into how Music Channels come into being. By researching channels like MTV and Viva it made me realise what they look for, and what their audience look for to be entertained. It gave me a better feel for the actual music industry.

Initial Planning Ideas

Initial Planning Ideas




I decided to make a spider diagram showing all my inital planning ideas. This qwill come in handy, as when story boarding, oir thinking about other elements of planning for my actual music video, i can refer back to this and remember what i had planned for my music video. It will remind me of anything i need to think about when producing my video. I can also add to this if needs be, so i have all my ideas on one page, so if i decide to change my video slightly, i can see how.

Permission to use song...

Here you can see that i emailed the music artist that i am using to base my narrative around. Here i produced a very polite and friendly message, identifying who i am, and then commenting on why i am sending her this email, then finished with thanking her for her time. I did this so that we maintain a professional relationship - as you would within the music industry when contacting a music artist. By sending this email, it shows that i have considered that it is not my song to tamper with, and highlights i am aware of copyright issues.

MUSIC CHANNELS

 A music channel is a television channel that is purely dedicated to music. There are various types of music channels, playing different types of music. For example ‘Kerrang’ music channel is purely dedicated to rock music, therefore will only play videos that are by rock artists. Where as ‘Smash Hits’ is more mainstream, pop music.
Music channels do not only play music videos however, they might often have interviews with music artist, allowing fans to find out more about their favourite bands and artists. Music channels will often have programme schedules such as “Top 50 biggest tracks of the year” and so on. Some channels such as Kiss might also have things such as “Drake vs. Will I Am”, which allow audiences to feel as though they are involved in a competition, and will judge the artists for themselves.

MTV which originally stood for Music Television, is an American cable television channel based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981.
The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts. Today, MTV primarily broadcasts a variety of reality and scripted television programs targeted at adolescents and young adults.
It also has numerous sister channels in the U.S for example MTV DANCE, MTV ROCKS, MTV CLASSIC and so on.
MTV is probably the largest most influencial music video, as it was the first channel to show the first ever music video – video killed the radio star by the buggles.

VIVA is another more recent music channel. VIVA a free-to-air German language based music television channel went first on the air on 1. December 1993. After many years of fierce competition for audience share, MTV Networks Europe eventually acquired VIVA on 14. January 2005 after it had outran its own efforts for better ratings. MTV today operates VIVA channels across Europe, in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. However, unlike normal music channels, viva also plays TV shows, such as Fresh Prince of Bel Aire, Spongebob, Family guy and My sweet 16. This gives them an advantage over other channels, as they are getting to the young target audience using channels that are most popular amongst them

There are millions of music channels, some have taken a more modern approach such as the music channel FLAVA, that has a schedule including a programme called Tweetz and Trendz. This is clever, as the music channel is keeping up with the zeitgeist by allowing audiences at home to tweet their channel with whatever song they want to hear, which ever one appears most, will get played. This also forces audiences to interact with the channel, which have proved most popular.

Diary #10

Another thing i have been doing this week is having a greater interest in my actual song choice for my music video. I have been studying all the artists i was considering using and have conducted that Birdy is the best music artist for my music video idea. This is ebcause she is young, mellow, peaceful too (which will contrast with my tragic narrative) and also iconic, as at only 12 she began a music career that has touched the world.

I was studying songs, and was stuck between 'Shelter' and 'Help The People'. This is because 'shelter' might be good as it could represent how the girl in my narrative was killed due to lack of shelter. However, by studying the lyrics of 'Help The People' i found they relate more to my story, and my using these lyrics, i might be able  to illustrate the lyrics better. For example 'drunken eyes' i could use a shot of the girls eyes in my video, as she began the video drunk.

I did a prezi that was showing research of Birdy. I looked into ther background of her life, what influences her, how she got to where she is. As i felt by having this knowledge i could get a better idea of how to conduct a video using her voice.

Diary #9

By studying the influences on Indie Folk music, i have gathered more knowledge on the type of visual look my music video must acquire. The images that stood out to me most were location images, such as forests, beaches, sunsets etc... This has given me a clearer idea of where i might set my music video and the way i might begin to film it. Starting with the sun coming up, but using editing to speed it up so it has a more postmodern feel, for example.

I looked into the influences of my artist's music genre by creating a mood board on PowerPoint. This is because i feel images are a greater way of learning and help me to identify differences in this genre in comparison to others. After gathering all my images and scattering them on a page, i began writing about them. Looking at them all, i could see links, in the instruments used, the image of ther artists and etc...

Doing this it hjas helped to have a clarer image of the mise en scene i wish to create in my music video.

Diary #8

This week i have been busy researching Robert Hales, a famous music video director and movie producer. I decided to look at him as he directs a number of various music videos, that are all from diferent genres. Such as Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Snow Patrol. By researching him, i have identified different ways of directing videos. And how the genre of the music has a huge impact on the microelements that are applied.

I have looked into how i might use some of his styles of editing and directing, which has helped me to get more of a visual idea of how my music video might look.

Robert Hales - Music Video Director

Influences of Indie Folk/Alternative music

Influences of Alternative Indie Folk Music