Rejected images for the digipak

I recently took some images to use on the front cover of my digipak. Our initial idea was to have an ordinary image of our artist in the front and a faded image of her screaming behind. I began to edit the above image to put in the background. One of the first things I done was remove the back ground as I was standing against a white door and this did not give the visual effect that we wanted, therefore I thought it would be best to completely remove the background. 

However as I began to put the images together, I very quickly realised that it was not creating the visual effect that I wanted,  As well as this I think the use of the white back ground for the cover of the CD cover is far too plain and boring. As well as this I think it decreases the professional aspect of the cover. 

As well as this, I also received some feedback from a member of my A2 media class who is not in my working group and they gave me some constructive feedback that the image was not visually interesting and looked very basic, in comparison to what could be achieved. 

As a result of this I realised that it was very important for me to take new images to use of the front cover of my digipak and therefore done this as soon as possible. 

I am pleased that I tested out this idea as it made me aware that it did not create the visual effect that I wanted and was not going to appeal to my target audience. I realised that a far less complex image is often required on the front of a CD cover in order for it to look as professional as possible.

Digipak

As we have started to look into creating our own digipak it is important that we have a basic template of what to follow. In order to do so I have looked at some images on Google in order to gather a greater understanding of what is expected. This is displayed below:

I think that it will be easier to create our digipak if we follow a guideline. Therefore I am going to use the images above as a template for our own coursework. I think that this simple research has been useful to us as a group as it has helped me to gather an idea in my head of what the expectations for a digipak are, this is important as it is different to a CD cover. 

As well as this it is important to look at some professional digi paks to see how other artists have styled their work.  An example of one of the professional artists that I have looked at is Taylor Swift, I decided to look at her because she appeals to a similar target audience. 

The image above displays the backing of Taylor Swift's digipak. This backing shows the list of songs featured on Taylor Swifts album and the information that is needed on the back cover. For example the record label that produced her album and the bar code. I think that this digipak is effective because it clearly displays an image of the artist on the backing and it is likely that this is exactly what her target audience want to see. As well as this, the font that displays the songs featured on the album is also very clear and easy for the audience to understand. 

It is important that when creating our digipak we consider all of the crucial information that needs to be displayed on the back cover. It is also important that we make sure we display the correct images throughout the cover, in order to make our product as appealing as we possibly can.

Fonts

I have began to gather some ideas of what I want our digipak to look like. It is important that as a group we spend time deciding on the style of our digipak as this will become a reflection of our artist and her work. 

The image above shows some of the fonts that I have been looking at and have considered using. One of the fonts that I particularly like is the last one. I like this font because it is simplistic and is easy to read, where as some of the other fonts are quite complex which could potentially make it difficult to advertise our artist, as some audience members may struggle to read the font. An example of this is the fourth font.  

I think that we should use more than one font throughout our digipak In order to make it appear interesting. For example we should a different font for the title of the album to the list of songs on the back cover. I think that we should do this because this is often reflected in professional artists work. Moreover if we was to use the same font throughout, it could become repetitive and therefore it would be not be eye catching on the shelf for our target audience to pick up. 

Overall I am pleased with some of the fonts that I have found, although I think that further research is needed in order to find the ideal font. for our digipak. As well as this, it is important that we gain audience feedback to ensure that our target audience are interested in purchasing the product.

Dancer

Whilst editing our music video we gained some feedback that our video was very orientated around our artist. Although we want our artist to be the main focus of the video, we also want a variety of shots so that our audience do not become disengaged. As well as this, quite often professional music videos tend to feature more than one person. As a result of this feedback we have decided to add a dancer into our video. I think that this is a great way of keeping the audience interested as it changes the atmosphere and tone of the song, which draws the audience into something different.

The print screens above display what our dancer looks like, his style and the location of the shots. Before filming our dancer we had to think of another location as we didn't want him to feature in a similar one to our artist as we wanted to keep the video exciting and tried not to be too repetitive.  Therefore we decided to use a brick wall. This location is very simple, however I think that it gives the desired effect. We didn't want the background of these shots to be too complex as it might draw away attention from the dancer himself.  Although, I think the wall is not too dull. 

Furthermore, I think that it is useful that the dancer is a male as this means we have both genders included in our video. This hopefully means we will be able to branch out to a larger target audience and interest both young males and females.  Males watching the music video could potentially be inspired by the young dancer and his talent.  As a result of this they may want to watch the video more than once or they could show their peers. 

Next, since we have begun editing this shots and placing them in the sequence where want them to feature. I am pleased with the overall look. As a result of this I am very glad that we listened to the constructive feedback that was given to us as it meant we was able to change the variety within in our music video and hopefully enhance its overall visual look.  I think that if we decided to ignore the feedback given to us and carried on with the artist throughout the whole video, it could've become boring and quite repetitive for our audience to watch. This means that they might not of even watched the whole video or are unlikely to want to watch it again. 

In order to improve our filming further I think it is important that we add a visual effect to the shots of the dancer. As well as this, we could adjust the lighting and contrast to make the dancer and the brick wall stand out, otherwise it could end up looking quite bland and that is not the effect that we want these shots to have. 

Locations

Whilst creating our music video we have tried to use a variety of locations in order to make the video appear as visually interesting as possible. As well as this, after researching into professional music videos it is often the case that the video features more than one location. Therefore as a group we wanted this convention to be represented in our work.

One of the first locations that we used whilst shooting our music video was a wooded area. We decided to use this area because the trees in the background create the cold image that we want our audience to feel when watching this music video. It is particularly helpful that we shot our music video during the winter months as the trees are bare, therefore they are symbolic of the artists feelings.

Another location that we used for our music video was a this isolated location that was located next to a castle. We decided to use this location because the brick is featured on all three walls. I think that this was a good location for some of our filming, this is because it is not a typical wall as it looks old and slightly abandoned. Therefore it fits in with the overall image that we are trying to create throughout the video. 

Next, we also decided to use the staging within our school which features a plain black wall, which I have mentioned in a previous blog post. I think that this location was ideal for the shots we wanted to create. This is because as you can see above, we wanted the focus to be on the artist and her movements, therefore we didnt want any distraction in the background. I am very pleased with the overall look of these shots, although the location isn't particularly interesting I think it creates a very interesting visual effect. 

Overall, I am very pleased with the locations that we have used for our music video. We have not tried to over complicate the video by using too many locations, I think that we have used the right amount in order to make it appear interesting and keep our audience watching. 

Editing

The print screens below display some of the progress that we have made during the editing process of our video.

 

 

Firstly, as you can see from the print screen above we have made some successful progress in the editing of our music video. We decided to use the green screen that is provided by our school in order to add a visual effect behind the artist. Since filming these shots, we have cut and matched up the lip syncing aspect of the video and placed them where we want them to feature in the video. However we are yet to decide on the image we want placed behind the artist. Furthermore, as we have not used the green screen before and this is a new technique that we will be learning as a group, it is important that we make the decision of what we want to feature behind sooner rather than later, as it could be a time consuming process.

 

Also from the print screen above you can see that we have added a ripple effect transition to our filming. This is because we are going from one location to another and therefore we wanted to display this as a new sequence through the use of a transition. We decided to use the one featured above as it fits perfectly with the narrative image we are trying to portray to our audience, which is that our artists head is not in the right mind-set after the event of a break up. I think that this ripple effect creates that mind-set.

 

The above print screen displays one of the different locations that we have used within our music video. Since filming these shots we have also began to edit them and place them where we would like to them be within the sequence. In order to improve this filming further I think that we should change the lighting and the contrast so that the brick wall is more prominent within the shot.

 

The next image displays one of the video filters that we have added to our shots. We decided to add this filter as the artist grips her hair. We think that by adding this filter to the shot it adds to the overall effect that we are tying to create within the video and the idea that the artist is losing her mind as she is no longer the same person.

 

Finally, the print screen above displays the track of filming and editing that we have completed. We are happy with where the shots have been placed and the lip syncing matches the song. I think that as a group we have made good process and I am happy with some of the final editing. However there are minor improvements that we need to make and we also need to film some extra footage to ensure that the video is not solely focused on the artist as this is not often the case in professional music videos.

Blur filters

Recently we carried out some more filming for our music video. We found a very good location which happened to feature a plain black wall, we then used artificial lighting to make the artist stand out from the dark background. We wanted to have a plain background for this filming as we wanted the artists movements to be the focus of the shot. As our interpretation of the song is about how a breakup can consume your mind and body, we wanted the artist to appear possessed using different body movements. The print screen above displays the image that we are trying to portray to our audience. As well as this when it came to the editing process we added a blur filter on top of the filming using Final Cut. We decided to add this filter as it creates the image that the artist has left their own body as their mind is distorted. Overall, I am very pleased with the effect that the filter has added to the visual effect of the video. I think that it makes it appear more interesting to watch and will hopefully keep our audience engaged throughout. 

We also adjusted the lighting and the contrast on these shots after importing them into final cut. This is because the artist faded into the background slightly. However by brightening up the shot it made her stand out and therefore was an effective choice to make. 

Next, as you can see from the above print screen we have tried to use a variety of locations within our music video. This is because it is a convention of music videos to use more than one location. We used this location because of the destruction in the background, this could be a physical representation of how the artist is feeling. Whilst editing this filming we also decided to add a filter because as you can see it looks slightly distorted. I think this was an effective choice to make, however I do think that we should be careful not to add too many filters as it could become overbearing for the audience watching.

In conclusion I think that we are making successful progress with the editing of our music video. Although we have received some feedback on our video and have realised that it is very focused on the artist and that we should perhaps try to engage other characters in the storyline.