Ancillary Digipak Research

The image below is an example of a digipak. These CD cases are usually made of cardboard and fold out into about 4-6 differant parts. They are often used for double albums, or CD and DVD combination products.

Here is a slideshow video of some famous and relevant album covers which have given me inspiration for ideas for my digipak. As you can see there is a wide variety of differant album covers. Each one is very individual and styles are often assosiated with types of bands. Some bands have art type album covers, and others have photography based covers.

I will be designing a Digipak promoting my music video, here are some other famous examples of album covers i will be using for inspiration. The Queen album cover features the four band members against a black background. Although the cover is very simple, it has become one of the most iconic Queen images of all time, with the same concept later being used in the music video for Bohemian Rhapsody. This is something i am going to reflect on when i produce the digipak for my music video, by keeping it simple but effective.

The image below is the album cover for Arctic Monkeys first album "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" The cover is a photo of a friend of the band smoking. The cover was somewhat contraversial with many people critisizing it, saying that it was promoting smoking. Some alternative album covers were released with a similar image but without a cigarrette. Once again this album cover is very simple but also very effective.  



This is a quick draft of what the front cover of my digipak may look like. I have edited one of the images from my location research on Photoshop, changing colours and adding text. I have changed the colours so that only the postbox is in colour, emphasing the importance of it.

I have also added a script type font for the title of the artist and song.

Audience Research

I produced 20 questionares and handed them to 20 people, including a variety of differant age groups and tastes. I am hoping that the results from my audience reseach will keep me focused on my production.

These are the questions which i asked.

How old are you?

How often do you watch music videos?

Where do you usually watch music videos?

Do you think that a music video should show a developing storyline narrative?

Can you name any specific music videos which you rate highly and why?

These are the results from my audience research. I have produced a number of graphs to show the results from my audience research effectively.

The first chart I produced is a very simple one, showing the range of ages who partook in the survey. As you can see I asked at least one person from each age group, emphasising on the 16-24 age bracket, as this is the main age group which i am aiming at. I asked 10 people from 16-24, 5 people from 25-33, 3 people from 34-42, one person from 43-51 and one person who was aged 52 or over.

The second chart i produced shows the results from the "Where do you usually watch music videos?" question. As you can see the most popular source for watching music videos is online on websites such as YouTube and MTV. This shows the development of the internet in the media industry as it is now the most popular place to watch music videos amoungst my questionare answerers. Television music channels are still very popular, but with many music videos now available online on demand, the internet seems a better option. As I will be distributing my music video using the internet, it allows me to reach a wide range of audiences for free.

I also asked how often you watch music videos. A pie chart showing the results is below. The majority of the answers said that they watched music videos occasionally, with 30% of people watching them very frequently. Only 5% of people said that they never watch music videos, and these answers were from the older age groups.

The final question in my audience research questionare was could you name any specific names of music videos which you rate highly. I recieved a wide variety of differant answers, from many different music genres. Here is a list of some of the music videos which were given.

Coldplay - The Scientist

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

Feeder - Just a Day

My Doorbell - The White Stripes.

Lady Gaga - Telephone

Conducting audience research has been very helpful during the research and planning stage of the production of my music video. I have learnt that the age group which I am aiming my video at (16-24) mostly watch music videos online frequently. My audience research has also focused me on exactly what audiences want from music videos, and looking at music videos which people rated highly has helped me understand what makes a good music video.



Lyric Analysis

These are the lyrics for Breakdown by Jack Johnson.

"I hope this old train breaks down

Then I could take a walk around

And, see what there is to see

And time is just a melody

All the people in the street

Walk as fast as their feet can take them

I just roll through town

And though my windows got a view

The frame I'm looking through

Seems to have no concern for now

So for now"

 
I think that the first verse of the song is very meaningful. The main story of the lyrics is about how inbetween tours, Jack didn't ever have time to explore his surroundings as he was always on the move between differant venues. The next segment is the chorus which is repeated three times throughout the song.
 

"I need this

Old train to breakdown
Oh please just
Let me please breakdown"

Therefore he wanted the train to breakdown so he could explore. However i think that these lyrics can apply to everything, not just train journeys. How we should be aware of our surroundings and explore how things work and differant parts of the world. The next paragraph is the final verse before the chorus is repeated for the ending of the time.

"But you cant stop nothing

If you got no control

Of the thoughts in your mind

That you kept in, you know

You don't know nothing

But you don't need to know

The wisdoms in the trees

Not the glass windows

You cant stop wishing

If you don't let go

But things that you find

And you lose, and you know

You keep on rolling

Put the moment on hold

The frames too bright

So put the blinds down low"

 

This verse is also explaining about the missed oppourtunities and how we should take time out and explore our surroundings and how things work.

 

I think that this song is very suitable for my music video idea, as many people are unaware and of the long journey of a letter across the country. I think that it will show the long journey of a letter and how much work goes into it.     



Oasis - Wonderwall

Oasis - Wonderwall.

This is the music video for Wonderwall by Oasis. The song was released in 1995 and reached number two in the UK chart. This music video mainly focuses on the band playing with somne other differant filler shots. There isn't much of a storyline to the music video, most of the shots are close-ups of the band members and their instruments. The other shots are quite varied and feature alot of differant props. For example seen in this video are a spinning record, saws, clowns, guitars and the band playing darts. The mise-en-scene is very simple, as almost all of the video is shot in black and white, with some exceptions. For example towards the end of the video a guitar is seen in bright green colours which really stand out against the black and white surroundings. This shows emphasis and draws the audiences attention to it. Some parts of the clown are also in colour, standing out from the black and white surroundings. The video also features some interesting camera angles and shots. Most of the shots in the video are close-ups of members of the band and their instruments. However there are some establishing shots showing all the band members together in the building.

Overall i think that the video very suitable for the song. The concept is very simple with just simple shots of the band performing. There are some clever editing techniques which emphasize certain items to bring our attention to them. However i think that the video could be more interesting and engaging if the video had a better plotline, showing a developing story or similar.

Coldplay - Talk

Coldplay-Talk (official Video)

This is the official video for Talk by Coldplay. The song was released in 2005 and was on their X&Y album. The video focuses on the four band members landing on an alien planet. In the video, after landing on the planet the four band members begin to explore. They eventually find a sleeping alien robot who wakes up and follows the band members across the planet. This is the first time we see the band playing their instruments when they try and communicate with the him. The band eventually think they have befreiended the robot, who thinks otherwise and eventually eats their spaceship as the band are taking off. The mise-en-scene of this Coldplay music video is very simple and effective. Firstly the colours are very simple as the video is completly black and white colours. Since black and white pictures are associated with space and the moon I think that the colour choices are very relative and effective. The lighting is also very simple in this music video, it is mostly dark with light from sources such as the robot's eyes and the bands torches. I like how the video combines stop motion animation and puppets with real life and think that the mixture works well. There are no sounds in the video apart from the song playing.

Overall i think that the video is very simple, yet effective. By using only black and white colours the video has an authentic space type feel.

Kings Of Leon - Red Morning Light

Kings of Leon - Red Morning Light (Official Music Video)

The video above is the official music video for the Kings Of Leon song "Red Morning Light"  This song was released in 2003. I don't think that this video would have been produced on a high budget, because the song was written before the band went mainstream recently. Once again the general concept of this video is very simple and doesn't require expensive equipment to produce something like this. The video mainly focuses on the band performing on stage possibly at a local gig. Aswell as video of the band performing live on stage, there are also very quick cuts to shots outside of the building. For example near the start of the video there are a series of quick shots of famous London landmarks, such as a London bus and Big Ben. The video also cuts to what looks like a London nightclub, and a british radio station studio. Interestingly shots in black and white old film are also shown, but i am unsure of the relevance of these. The mise-en-scene of this music video is as follows. The lighting when the band is performing on stage, is very dark lit only by colourful disco type lights. The camera angles are mostly close up shots of the band performing and their instruments etc. 

Overall i think that this video is quite an unusual video, with lots of differant quick shots mixed into longer shots of the band performing on stage. It all seems very random and i'm not quite sure of the relevance of some of them. I didn't get bored whilst watching the video because it was constantly changing and there is lots of variation.

The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony

The Verve, Bitter Sweet Symphony

This is the official music video for the song "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve. The song was released in 1997. The concept of this music video is relativly simple. It features the lead singer, singing whilst walking down a busy street. The singer seems to be looked down upon by the members of the public in the video. He often bumps into them and never changes his direction. The main character is very scruffy and dirty, but looks in place on the old and rough street. The mise-en-scene is very interesting and overall gives a cold and dark feeling to the video. This is done through the lack of lighting and editing afterwards making the video look colder and darker than it was shot in. The camera angles are very simple and almost always show the singer walking towards the camera. This shows that the video was probably shot on a proffesional dolly, a tripod with wheels travelling the same speed as the singer is walking. A variety of differant shots are used so that the viewer doesn't get bored with the same shot repetitive main shot. There are often close-ups of the characters face, walking feet, first person shots from the characters perspective and also shots of the other people on the street. I have also noticed that there is a small section of silence with visuals before the music starts, this is something i am also hoping to include in my production. The video also shows a journey, this is something i am hoping to implement into my music video. I have always thought of the song as a cheerful song, but the video shows otherwise. 

Overall I think the video is very simple which could easily be replicated with some camera equipment. However i think that it is slightly boring and isn't quite as good as the song. I have always thought of the song as a cheerful song, but the video shows otherwise.