Digipak: Creating the Back Cover

So after my first attempt of filming yesterday and my discovery of Kirty's black board drawing I thought it would look good as either my poster or on my digipak.
In result I decided to experiment of putting it on my digipak.

At first I did consider using it for the front cover however, I thought the amount of black wouldn't really catch a consumers eye. It also isnt a very exciting colour, so instead I thought about using for my back cover, rather than the scribbles I originally had.

I opened my image onto photo shop and tidied up the bits of white chalk which had been rubbed off by using the cloning tool:

I then realised that I needed to pick a font that would match the picture to put in the song lists. I tried a few however, I felt none of them looked very good, so in the end I decided to try and draw the text on. 

I did this by using the paint brush and picking a brush that give it a chalk effect: 

I manage to find a realistic effect, using the drawn on text matches the indie genre as it is something different. And really matches my intentions of childhood. 

I also added, two bar codes, including a Blackberry one. As consumers now use modern technology to find out more about the band, this barcode takes Blackberry users to their 'website'. 

I got the pictures from google and then dragged them onto my back cover:

Originally I did a single album cover, but after speaking to my teacher I decided to add on more songs to make it into an album, here's the finished picture: 

 

The Perfect Tin!

Today I went on a sweet tin search! After trekking it all over my town in my free, going into various shops I had no luck! Losing faith, I got a message from my mum saying she had found a 'Love Hearts' tin in the shop near her work. She picked me up, and there, to my amazement was the PERFECT love heart tin!!!

Rather than the Haribo love hearts, this tin had the sherbet love heart sweets in, which also has a vintage and more sentimental appeal to it. So I decided that changing to the sherbet love hearts was a good idea as it was much cuter and suited the tone of my music video!  Its going to be heartbreaking when I have to slightly abuse my tin in order to make it look older!

Costumes

I want my actors to wear modern costumes, because I want it to seem quite timeless. I dont want anything too mainstream. I also dont want them to be glamorous as this isnt what you'd expect for an 'Indie' genre. I want my audience to feel like they can relate to my couples, so I want the outfits to be quite simple and something you may expect to find in a high street store.  I want Kirst and Effie to wear something either pink or red to relate to the sweet tin. This could also link to some idea's I have had for my digipak. I also definitely dont want any aspect of the Male Gaze theory so Effie will be in a shirt and trousers.

Children

Teens

Locations

Old Couple
In their lounge. Sat on their sofa, as it will be their own place already gives me the homely Mise- En- Scene that I want to represent the 'togetherness'.

Children Couple
In a modern house. Having them in a house when we see them when their younger and also when they are an old couple gives the feeling that their lives have gone round in a circle. Making the equilibrium the same.
It also allows me to have access to the fridge meaning I can get the young boy to spell out "best friends forever" which is a main point of the story. It also links to my digi pak.

Teen Couple

Carvers park on the park roundabout. This is the last day the spend together before the boy has to leave. Like they are reliving their childhood.

Props

• sweets (love hearts)
• sweet tin (one new and one slightly battered)
• football
• cup cakes
• play park

SCRIPT 1

SCRIPT Girls and Boys in Love Music Video by

This is my first draft of the script the old couple will use at the beginning of my video. There is a chance it may change, by either making it longer or changing the setting for when the teenagers meet.

Initial Idea

The initial idea to my music video is a narrattive which follows the story of an older couple that met when they were just children. My main idea came from the film 'When Harry Met Sally", in the film there are mini-scenes thhat have an old couple telling a short story about how they met each other.

I've decided that I am going to adapt from this idea by having a 30 second clip at the beginning of my video of an old couple describing how they met, then the rest of the video will be seeing them through the different stages of their lives.
During the 'teenage' years I dont want them to officially be together as it will give my story more shape, also allowing me to follow the narration conventions of Torodov.

Similar Genre

Vincent, Vincent and the Villains 
Band shots playing instruments with things you'd find in shops - Links back to my idea of playing drums with pots and pans, guitar with shoe box/ tissue box and elastic bands.

Narrative: Code & Theorists

Vladimir "Propp" (1895-1970)

8 characters/ spheres of action

1. Hero
2. Villain
3. Donor (help the hero by giving him something)
4. Dispacher (sends hero on quest)
5. False Hero
6. The Helper
7. The Princess/Prince
8. Her Father

31 plots all together

Tzvetan Todorov (1939)

Equilibrium ------------> Disequalibrium ---------------> Equilibrium

(normality)

 

Is there a clear beginning and end?

Roland Barthes (1915-1980)

• More than one narrative to push story ahead
• 5 Codes
1. The Enigma (puzzle)
2. The Action (dont have to see the whole sequence of events)
3. The Semic (connotations of character)
4. The Symbolic (how things are represented eg. dark& lightening = frightening)
5. Cultural (reference to their environment & speech) 

Claude Levi-Strauss (1908-2009)

Narrative depends on 'Binary Oppositions'

Rich - Poor

Old - Young

Stories reflect the values, beliefs and myths of that culture (wiseman, medicine man)

Narrative in Music Videos

For my music video I have decided I would like it to have a narrative. The main feel of the song is very major and jolly, with a 'feel good' vibe. It also makes me think of Summer so I want my narrative to be happy.

I googled 'Music videos with love narrative' and found a youtube playlist called "20 Best Music Videos that Story Tell" to look for elements that narrative music videos involve. I've written notes on the things I like:


The narrative is clear and obvious. The love story is effective with interesting and original camera shots. The acting here is exaggerated, especially with the expressions, as no speech is used.

Gwen Stefani - Cool
Includes flash backs of when they were together, showing there love with warm lighting.
Dress codes - with red dress, however some of the costumes are a bit too 'glam' for an Indie genre.
A lot of slow motion and focus on the eyes, however this is more of a sad love song.

Watching the rest of the videos in this playlist, it became apparent to me that each video either was a 'love tradegy' or had a 'struggle' in their relationship.
 For example Bruno Mars' Grenade is totally depressing, and definitely isn't what I'd like my music video to be like!
 However, as most music videos do feature a problem with in the story line, I have decided that my teenage couple are going to experience a 'problem' with in their relationship.

Inspiration

Florence And The Machine

I was just listening to some music on youtube and I came across Florence's music video for 'What the Water Gave Me'. I found I was gripped to it and decided that I like the merging of two scenes on top of each other as a transistion. It works well as it isn't obvious and not tacky. This is something I hope to include in my video.

Stornoway

I also found this video from the band Stornoway. The whole video is of them playing on a roundabout. I really liked the shot of them being still and the background moving. I think this would look good for the headshots. One of my favourite shots in particular was..

Kate Nash - Mouthwash

There is a similar shot in Kate Nash's Mouthwash music video. It also contains elements of Florences cross faded shots. (2:22)

Noah and The Whale

I have realised that in many music videos the camera is rarely steady the whole way through. Noah and The Whale's 5 Years Time uses very unsteady shots. I think this gives the music video a slightly vintage feel, which is what I want as it is going into the past.

Gotye

I like the use of the head shots in this. At the beginning I want head shots of my characters so they can be associated as the same people, and shows them growing up

 

Story Board!

Here's a rough story board for my music video:

Digipak Research

Kate Nash

This digipak has hugely influenced mine. It has a wide shot of a house, which is similiar to the house I want drawn on my digipak.

The image looks surreal as it has been created on the computer. The colours are bright, and you can see Kate Nash, the artist, in red so shestands out.

The font is simple and immitates hand written text. Following the conventions of childhood. Just like mine!!

Vincent Vincent and The Villains

Here, they have gone for the scruffy text, and a feel of hand drawn stripes.

They have also combined computer text, on top of a picture, just like my design (without the computer text!)

Jason Mraz

This is similar to the Kate Nash digipak. The font is simple and looks handwritten. The picture is drawn, again something I'd like to feature in mine. It isn't anything jazzy and could show he thinks music is more important than the glossy outfits and fame!

Animated Influences - Indie Genre

Kate Nash - Foundations
This used to be my favourite song when I was 14 so no wonder her music video has inspired my own.
I like the use of colour within the costumes and set, but also the animation with the socks, watches and tooth brushes! This is what I'd like to include in my video with the crumpled peice of paper.

The childishness between the protagonist is also similar to what I want with my older couple.




Regina Spector - Us

This music video is animated throughout. It is animated to the quick piano  beat. I want to add jump cuts into my video to make it look slightly old. The colours are slightly dull which I think makes the video a bit more deep,making you listen to the lyrics more. I want my video to reflect the major tones of the song so I want it more colourful.

I also like Regina's red lipstick as it makes her lips stand out when she is singing the lyrics.

Digipak First Rough Plan

Here is a rough plan for my digipak
I want my digipak to relate to my music video. In order to do this I have decided to make it quite childish. The fridge magnets link to the fridge magnets my young boy will use in the music video to spell out the words "BEST FRIENDS FOREVER". The sweets will also relate to the sweets the teenage boy will give to the teenage girl. I love the idea of creating things then taking pictures rather than actually doing them on the computer. For example on the cd I want to have sweets, like Haribo love hearts, black liquorice for the birds and magic stars! This also makes my digipak very colourful, reflecting the happy song.

Few music video ideas.

• Closing my eyes and listening to the song, I imagine lots of colours and playfulness
• I want my music video to feature children and I think the beat sounds upbeat and fun.
•  I would rather a narrative music video with maybe a bit of performance.
•  I want to include lip syncing as I think it would be odd without some!
•  I'm thinking maybe different couples or a couple throughout there life.
  
  
  
  

I'VE DECIDED!

Finally, I have decided my song for my music video. It is Boys and Girls in Love by The Rumble Strips.
The genre is indie, because I would like to experiment with artistic shots and it has a brilliant beat.

The lyrics are limited which is helpful when learning the lines. Where they are repetitive this means I could possibly repeat scenes in the video!

Just cos you think it, don't make it so
Drive you to drink, it wont let you go

Plenty of girls and boys in love, plenty of girls and boys in love

Move to the city, lose all ur heart, she wernt that pretty, you aint too smart
Plenty of girls and boys in love, plenty of girls and boys in love

And aint it a shame, oh wo oh oh wo oh
Aint it a shame, oh wo oh oh wo oh
Aint it a shame, I let you go

Plenty of girls and boys alone,
Plenty of girls and boys in love,
Plenty of girls and boys in love,
Plenty of girls and boys in love. 

Music video research

So before I decide my style and song I want for my music video we have watched a few music videos in class to help inspire our own visions.

Postcardfrom 1952
This music video took pictures taken from the '50s and reenacted them adding movement. The slow motion images compliment the music perfectly. I really like the old vintage feel with the '50s mise-en-scene and dress codes, however, setting my music video in a different decade would be very challenging as I wouldnt be able to have anything from todays world in the shots. The way I could over come this is if I was to set my video in a forest or somewhere outside where you wouldnt get any cars.

 Another thing I like about this video is the warm lighting, this is something I may look into when filming my own video.

Jamiroquai - Virtual Insanity 
The surrealism in this music video makes it something of a spectacle, the plain set also works well, as you can see that Jamiroquai is the attention.


M.I.A. Bad Girls
I love the costumes in this and the constant movement of the camera. This is a more hip-hop genre where there are many possibilities such as dances.

Metronomy
This is one of my favourites, the lighting is beautiful. I especially want to take inspiration from the editing matching the beat of the moving.

Music Video Analysis

Artist and Title	Visual	Pace
Bob Dylan Subterranean Homesick Blues (First music video 1965)	Bob Dylan in the side of the shot holding card board cue cards that relate to the song. Tramp in the background and in an ally way all gray.	Country, jolly music but the action is smooth.
Pharcyde Drop Directed: Spike Jonze	4 rappers walking, moving, jumping etc. in reverse so the movement is robotic. They had direct address rapping to camera and there were only 3/4 shots all together. When they jump on and off shot it looks like they are on a harness. The water is poured down in reality but in the video it looks like it is gravitating upwards giving a really cool effect.	Again smooth pace as it was tracking from in front shot. Although the lip synching didn’t really work at times, it didn’t matter as you were distracted by all the movement in the mise-en- scene.
OK Go (2006) Here it goes again Director: Trish Sie	8 Treadmills, the band are dancing on them jumping on and off. The mise-en-scene seems a little tacky and not perfect but it doesn’t matter too much because it is mainly focused on the action. The colours are simple.	Movement within the speed of the treadmill. They jump with the beat of the music
Metronomy (2011) The Bay Director: David Wilson	80s filmed, white stilettos and bathing suits. Was actually filmed in Torquay looks like the French Riviera. Framed by other scenes in the video. James Bond film.	The frame moves along to the beat of the song also with the split screen when it comes on and off. One point legs open up the screen as they are being closed.

Music Video Shot by Shot Analysis

Katy Perry -Thinking of you

So to get our music video minds working we did a shot by shot analysis of a music video of our choice. I did Katy Perry's 'Thinking Of You'
The amount of shots were crazy as you could imagine, with a music video directed by Melina Matsoukas.
Jess Work Katy Perry