Digipak/CD/Album adverts 1-Conventions of CD Advertising

From research of the indie/alternative pop genre i have been able to gather conventions in order to "get it right" Here is an analysis of an advert of the indie/alternative pop genre.

Ancillary Text / Planning 8-My Digipak

Here is my digipak and spine that i created on photoshop. As you can see i have used the light blue colour contrasting with the old film look of my video. I feel the digipak portrays the overall feel of the video.

Ancillary Text / Planning 7- Digipak flat plan

One element i forgot to add in on my flat plan is that on the top right hand box i will have the track list and on the back of the digipak i will have my record label name and logo

Ancillary Text / Planning 6-How have the sales of CD's changed?

CD sales have dropped dramatically in the last five years due to illegal downloading from the Internet and the popular and easy to do CD burning.

 This has caused record companies problems, for example: The Universal Group (one of the largest record cooperation's)  had to cut the sales prices up to 25% in the last two years, in an attempt to increase sales. 

The figures below show the drastic decline in CD sales, going hand in hand with an increase in downloads from the internet.

Single Sales    CD   :  Downloads

2007               6.6m      77.5m

2008               4.1m      109.8m

2009               2.5m      148.8m

2010               1.9m      158.6m

2011               1.1m      175.1m

This graph to the left shows the steady increase of digital downloads against the steady decrease in physical CD's. Now in 2013, the digital half of the graph is double what it was in 2010, with digital downloads dominating the way in which we listen to music.

I would say that in the last 5 years, CD's are becoming less of a mass market item and more of a niche product that caters to a small and loyal following.

Nowadays it is not so much the sales of CD's, which makes the artist earn his money but more iTunes and other online downloading sites. Artists now make the majority of their money from concerts and touring.  That change came along because it is so easy for everyone to access Internet anytime and anywhere. In addition iTunes also allows the buyer to buy only one song of a whole album, which makes it more convenient for some people.

It seems that physical CD's are increasingly becoming a thing of the past.

Ancillary Text / Planning 5-Remake of Existing Digipak

Here is my attempt to recreate the front and back of an Arctic Monkeys album on photoshop. i chose to use Arctic Monkeysy as they fall under the genre of indie/ alternative pop.

Below is the actual album front and back.

 

 

 

Below is my attempts on photoshop

 

 

 

Ancillary Text / Planning 4-Focusing on Star Image

How is star image used?
I have been looking at how important the image of the star is on a Digipak in the means of promoting .It shows how influential images,colour and font can be.

Music Video- Very Rough Edit!

Here is the very first and very rough edit of my video! Currently the video says it is  longer than it is- (this is because i accidentaliy left a clip floating around somewhere and forgot to delete it), but infact my video stops at 3 minutes 32 seconds. I know it isn't perfect yet by any means, but here is my first attempt! As you will notice there are changes from my animatic video. When editing I originally stuck to the animatic, but found the video lacking in variety, with each clip lasting for too long. As you will notice i have put the clips together at a faster pace to add variety. You will also notice that the order is also not exactly as i had planned, due to using the clips more frequently and i also chose not to put in the timelapse clip. I did this because i feel that it did not have the original desired effect and looked out of place. I also chose not to use any stop motion. I made this decision for a similar reason as i didn't add in the timelapse footage. It didn't fit in with the overall tone of the video, and i feel it could have worked if the song was more upbeat.

All Footage Collected- Editing Begins!

Ancillary Text / Planning 3- Digipaks & CD Cases

 This is a Digipak >

A digipak is a specific style of CD Case, which is what i will be designing for my music video and song.
 A digipak typically consists of a gatefold (book style), usually made from cardboard. A digipak consists of a plastic disc tray that has been glued inside a folded cardboard case. Digipak once referred specifically to the patented digipak packaging, however it has now become a genericized trademark that is now commonly used for any cardboard centred CD packaging.
As i said they are made from cardboard ( paper) and despite once being thought of as being environmentally freindy versions of CD Cases, they do have a higher manufacturing costs - another potential con of having a digipak is that they are more liable to potential wear and tear than jewel CD Cases ( wouldn't last if they got wet for example) , however CD Cases can easily be smashed.

This is a CD Case ^



Why there is more value on a digipak

Having 6 sides, a digipak gives me more opportunity for visual artwork as well as general information about the artist and their work. In doing this a person with the digipak can get a better feel for the artist, and it also gives more of a chance to promote, attracting more than just fans, as someone may see the digipak and just like the look of it- a CD case does not really do this and there is less to look at. A digipak is more of a collectable item with more accessible information than a CD Case.

What to include in my Digipak

• The artist name
   
• The album title 

• The record company name
• The Copyright Label
• Lyrics
• Signiture of artist
• Album photographs ( taken whilst shooting)
• Barcode
• Disc holder



Ancillary Text / Planning 2- Font testing

I know that i want a basic font, as that is what Lana Del Rey always uses. I also know that i want it to be a dark colour- black to be presice as i don't want to stray far from the artists usual branding. However i did try out, and experiment some different looking fonts to get a feel for what i am going for.

Ancillary Text / Planning 1- Promoting

I did some investigating on the internet about how musicians promte themselves. Now adays one of the most popular ways of promoting your music is through the use of music blogging websites, for up and coming musicians, however for already well established artists there are other methods. Here are the "Top Ten best websites to promote your music"

1.  iLike.com
2.  MySpace Music
3. Last.fm
4.  OurStage
5. MP3.com
6.  OurWave
7. PureVolume
8.  Facebook
9.  iTunes
10.  GarageBand

Obviously, image as a musician is very important as well as the music itself, as all of our media today is linked with music videos and photographs- the colours & dress sense ect used are crutial in the attraction of followers. Text and image is a very important aspect of the branding of an artist, as what artists use as the front cover of a digipak for example, connotes certain things, attracting certain people.

Investigating of Lana Del Reys Marketing and promotion of her latest release " Ride"

Typing the title of the song into google images, images of her with the american flag come up all over the page which is a very iconic look she is going for.  Here is a collection of images that she used on her blog, digipak and album to promote the song.

The font Lana uses on the titles is the same she uses for every release. In doing this she has made a recognisable font that you tend to associate with her music. The colours used in her promotion for “Ride” are all quite classic colours- white, red, blue- these are the colours of the American flag, which holds strong connotations of patriotism, which is unusual for Lana- as she is, as I’ve already established an indie/ alternative artist and normally has quite unconventional videos. Her video for ride is very usual for her, and conforms to her audiences expectations, but the promotional imges ( such as the one above with the American flag and buttwiser t shirt) is perhaps an attempt to appeal to a wider audience range. All in all, the font, colours and images used all connote Lana's specific look that she has created herself through branding.

Research & Planning 21- The shooting begins!

Louisa and I have been rehearsing for the close up shots- she has now learnt all of the lyrics and does a beautiful lip sync! Yesterday I gathered the first of my footage. I wanted a blank canvas as the background for this section, so she stood in front of a plane white wall in her room.  Here is a not so good quality picture of the location taken on my phone. ( my camera makes it look very grey with lots of shadowing, however it is infact a clean bright white wall!)

Research & Planning 20- Collections of props and costumes

Props 

Notepad & pen( using my own)
Candles/ Lights ( my own / borrowing from Media & Drama departments)


Costume

Long flowing white dress ( borrowed from a friend)
Black/ green scarf ( my own)
Leggings ( Louisa's)
Black long sleeve top ( my own)

Research & Planning 19- More of Louisa...

Research & Planning 18- Location shots

 Covesea Beach

Path/ Road

Blank Wall

Location and set for dark section( white sheet over cupboard)

I chose these locations as i feel they match the genre and give the right vibes of what i intend to portray. My locations play a key role in my video and to me are a crucial element of identifying the genre of my target audiences expectations.

Research & Planning 17- Shooting Script & Shot List

I have already made a few tweeks from my original plan as you will see in my shooting script. I have incorporated and re used more of the sections, as i feel that will make the video less static, and give more visual variety. Mainly adding in more of the head and mid shots as i feel this will enhance the flow of the video.

My Shooting Script

 

 

 

My Shot List

 

 

Research & Planning 16- Animatic- with sound

 This animatic shows which shots i intend to shoot, against the song. Although it is timed to the song, and all the shots are ones that I intend on taking, there is potential for slight changes in the animatic, depending on the validity of the shots I manage to get, and leaving room for potential complications on the shooting day. This Animatic should act very useful in the rest of my planning, as it gives me a base and target to aim towards.

Research & Planning 15- 5 Sections & Storyboard

In my video i'm planning on using 5 different visual sections to add variety and also create a sense of story, despite the fact there will not be a physical story line, and only follows a vague narrative structure. First of all i am only using one person in my video, this will be Louisa Robertson. I chose her because i feel she has a look suited to what i had in mind, and she is also a talented performer and actress. Here is a picture of the beautiful Louisa.

                                                                                              

My sections:

A Beach- mid/long shot of girl dancing and moving- footprints in the sand etc..
Close up & extreme close up-girl mouthing words of song (black and white)
Long/mid shot of field/trees-girl walking away
Lanscape/clouds- timelapse
Dark room- girl sitting, shadowing (almost silhouette)

I plan for these sections (apart from the black and white section) to all be edited with a vintage filter effect.

Story board

Introduction to music- no lyrics just sound-Very slow tracking following footsteps by water - only just being able to see the bottom of feet in top right hand corner

 First lyrics of the song-" not even they can stop me now, boy i'll be flying over head, their heavy words cant bring me down, boy i've been raised from the dead"

 

Next verse- dark room/ atmosphere, shadowing, candles, protagonist crouched-writing

 

beach scene- comes in at chorus- has 3 sections above. 1-frolicking around, 2 spelling out "radio" in sand, 3 mouthing words, tracking (this time section 1)

 

 

"American dreams came true somehow, i swore i'd chase until i was dead, I heard the streets were pathed with gold, thats what me father said" 

wooded area/ general countryside- louisa not as focal point

 

Chorus again-Section 2

 

 

"How do you like me now?"

 

 

Section 2

here is the time lapse landscape scene- comes in after chorus- short instrumental (extended chorus)

 

 

 

extended chorus

wooded area again ( protagonist slightly closer ) stop motion, with Louisa in 3 different places in scene consecutively

dark shadowing ( quick editing)

 

Section 3

 

last line of song " how do you like me now?"- extreme close up on lips

Research & Planning 14- Story Arc

My Story Arc on Prezi

Research & Planning 13- Key Elements

When I very first began watching and analyzing music videos at the start of  the course, as a class we played music video bingo, in which we used a list of common traits that many music videos tend to have.

Recently while researching, i found theorists who look into elements that make a video into what it is. Here is a prezi i made on what i discovered.

Theorists of music videos on Prezi

To conform to my genre of "Indie/alternative pop"

 -  Costumes need to match the feel and vibe of the song..ie:
 light floaty dress to go with the soft cinematic sound.
 -Costume and set must be planned to trigger emotion and a meaning, whether that be feeling lost , happiness, sadness or anger.
-Editing must be vaguely matched to the beat of the song, in order to create a sense of unity between video and track.
- I want to add a" vintage" or old fashioned filter affect, use interesting/ odd camera angles- creating a strange perspective on an object, must use lens flare and lots of fading and merging , perhaps stop motions/ landscape timelapse. Here is a very good example of stop motion.


To conform to Expectations of my Audience

- Must stand out as different to other music videos, whether they are in the same genre. Must have an element of something new and have individuality, drawn from the editing or even the ideas behind and within the video.
- They want to see something aesthetically pleasing and an emotion drawn they can relate with.
- They want elements of surprise due to a build up of one emotion, which leads to another one.
- A non linear story line.- having a collage of scenes.

- i want the video to be realistic- that is a very important factor to the audience, however it needs to also have a slightly surreal side to it, but this is portrayed through emotions and feeling- the song in itself sounds quite surreal.
- Through Mise en scene I will use a change of costume, eg: in one scene wearing a  long flowing dress on a beach, in the next wearing very dark clothes in a dark room, with lots of shadowing- the lighting will also help accentuate these changes in mood.

-The cinematography should be exciting and uplifting ,however it must conform to extremes-therefore at times being simple in order to focus on the subject in the video.
- Editing transitions should be relatively steady, to match the slow rhythm of the song .

What is expected in my video? ?

- Must conform to what my audience members want, so I will make sure i achieve and check through everything i have listed above to conform to them.
- Very importantly the video must correlate with the song, so the editing needs to be timed well with the lyrics.
- There must be elements that my audience can relate to. I will use scenes such as a windy beach , and a dark "cold" house and a busy street- that combined with the costumes and props may seem out of place, however i want it to look slightly out of place-giving it that sense of surrealism. i want my video to have a postmodern twist that makes it "different"