sams digipack options

 

This was wmy first full draft of my digipack but when I was trying to put the bands name and the name of the album it just looked out of place so I asked people to give me feedback on the album, and comments ranged from. "It doesnt look like an album" to "It looks like it is set in emmerdale" so the comments were not what I was searching for. However a few nice things were said, such as "the back cover's font looks very profesional" so I decided to keep this style in my next attempt at a digipack, which is below.  

This was my second attempt at a digipack, when I had finished it even I had to admit that it is a very big improvement to my first one as it looks a lot more like something you would see on an album, the band name and the title of the album fit nicely with the background as they both stand out, I think this was to do with the saturation more than anything else as it alows all the writing to stand out (apart from black as much). Unlike the first digipack I did this one doesn't like in with the video at all, but that's ok as there's more than one song on the album so the pictures could be from different songs, and jake has linked his digipack to the weight of living song, so that could be the lp cover that is sold on ITunes separately as a single and my digipack can be the whole album and the picture can link in with other songs, which are shown on the back cover. I had to change the song list around on this backcover because the writing would have gone over Kelsea and I didn't want this to happen because I want people to be able to focus on all of the band at once and not have anything in the way to distract them, it is the same with the names of the songs, as I didn't want anything to complicated behind them and draw the audiences attention away from the songs. That is another reason why I picked a black curtain background, because of its simplicity and behind the curtain is a stage so it's like the band is about to perform. The picture of the wall is where the band were stood and it shows that the band are always moving forward and aren't going to be at the same stage of their life the whole time. Also this is where the cd will go so I didn't want to hide anything very important behind a cd so I just wanted something plain. The top left picture was originally three separate pictures and was my first thought of a front cover as I was going to do a triangle, I the decided that I would split the front cover into three using these pictures but I couldn't get them equall so i decided to cut the people out of the picture of me and Kelsea and kept jake's picture as an original and layered the cut out of me and Kelsea on top, I did this so people can have a close up of the band and it shows the band is close but they are all different as they are looking in different ways. If I only sold the album onmitunes though the only thing people would be able to see would be the front cover, but in the shops they can see everything so the back cover has everything on it from the song names to where the record was made, and who by also I included who distributed it and which websites to go to to find more details about the band and where to get merchandise for the band which shows synergy between companies as they are advertising inadvertently. 

Sam Lyon

Sams poster to go with the digipack



This is my poster that I did to go with my digipack, I used the same picture as my digipack front cover as this shows synergy between the two items, also it is easier for the audience to reconise when they have seen the poster and are looking for the album, plus I have used the the same font in the advert as I have for the digipack as this also is showing the synergy between the two as well as the simalrities between them. The poster also shows where the digipack can be bought from, it would be distrabuted to more places than the three shown but being realistic I wouldn't be able to fit them all on so the three I have chosen are the three I would have done a deal with to advrtise each other and show the synergy between eachother, also the three that I chose to put in are very big companies, I tunes is the biggest music distributer online, tesco is arguably the biggest supermarket company and hmv is the biggest music hardware store. So using these shops to distribute my product alows me to reach out to a larger audience and sell more copies and make more money. The only thing I did change on the poster was where the weight of living title was positioned this was changed so that I could fit in the "out now" and "available now" because the album may get mixed up with all the different words and the names may be swapped around so I laid it out in this way to make the poster simple but easily rememberable and you can easily tell the name of the album because I put the name in a pale orange so it stands out from the background as well as the rest of the writing that is on the poster, I also postioned the writing in this way so the writing doesn't cover any of the picture so everyone can see the band without looking through the writing.

possible pictures for my digipack and why

I have chosen this picture as my front cover after asking (a wide range of people in the sixth form college) which picture looked better for an album cover? And this photo won by 18 votes as this photo got 24 out of 30 so it won by a large margin. I also really like this photo as it show purpose and direction like the band knows where they are going and we are together as a group and not an individual, also the background is very simple so the band and album name will easily fit on to the picture. I am planning on desaturating the picture as well but so the red of the coats stand out and the names of the band and album as then the audience won't be directed just to the middle they will be directed to the names and then the coats as the names will be brighter. This picture as it is now uses a rule of thirds so I will create my poster using the picture as it is now as this shows synergy between the advertisement and the album which is what I am trying to aim for. To take the photos where the three of us are in the shot we used a dslr camera and a tripod and set the camera on a timer.

Choosing between these two picture (above and underneath) was very difficult for me as they are very similar and after looking at them closely I have decided to go for the one on top because of the facial expression the jake has got, and that was what made me choose that picture, also there is more room on the left hand side of this picture, this is good as I was going to use it as my back cover for my album so there need to be some room for the songs to go down the side of the album. The writing of the song will be in white this is because the writing will stand out a lot more from the black curtain background. Another thing in this picture is the attitude that the audience gets from the three of us is very menacing, it's like we are saying what are you even doing looking at us? Which is a look most people stereotype with a teenager so this shows we are still a young band.

The three pictures above are what I'm planning on putting into my inside left cover. I am going to do this by splitting the three pictures up and putting them together so the faces are looking in different directions. I have done this as its very artistic and different, also it fits in with what jake has done with his front cover which was my idea to split the pictures up in to three. 

This is the picture of the wall I will use for the inside left cover, I will use this because it shows the band has moved on and that they are moving at a fast pace. I will cut it down so its just the wall in it, I will do this in photoshop. The Cd will go here so I dont want some thing very complicated that it can be covered up by the cd, that is also another reason why I chose to use this picture. 

Sam Lyon

sam lyons album ideas

my album cover

My album cover was very poor as the background was to complex and the colours of the background made it hard for me to get the colour of the writing right and for the writing not to look out of place, so this picture of one direction is something I am now aiming to imitate in the way of simplicity, as this allows me to get my band name and title in easily without it looking out of place and weird, instead the simplicity of the backgroung and the way the boys are lined up allows the title to stand out to the audience. Also unlike the other albums one directions name is a different font to the name of the album as well as the album name being very small  

I don't want to repeat the one direction album completely as that isn't really the style that I am looking for so I am going to attempt to a bit of attitude in to the picture by using the style of green days album warning. The way they are walking past the camera like it isn't even there is what I would like to try and do but with a simple background, I also like the fact that there's no colour in the album apart from the name of the artist and the name of the album as this draws your attention to the names even though they aren't central and the album name agian is quite small but the colour is helping it stand out because of the saturation. 

This picture of paramore is also something that jake and I can easily relate to as in the band that we have there is 1 girl and 2 boys, so this picture is good as it shows they are close but not in a weird way and it isn't cheesy like the one direction but it is more direct towards the audience unlike the green day one which doesn't address the audience where as this picture shows some members of paramore addressing the audience but at the same time showing attitude in a very simple picture that could easily be used as an album cover with its simplicity as well. The three pictures also dont really have the feet in as they are using more of a mid shot so this makes the audience focus more on the band members faces. Also for a debut album people want to know what the band looks like so this also is why I have decided to keep the three of us in it.

Sam Lyon

Sam's album layout idea (drawn out)

Sam Lyon

Ed Sheeran poster and cd synergy

Sam Lyon

The songs I have used on my digipack

I have used 14 different songs on my didgipack and i have picked them all from the same sort of genre so the songs arent out of place and the album seems more realistic, as you wouldn't get Eminem on the same album as you me at six or Bastille. So the songs I have chosen are:

1. The weight of living Bastille

 2. She moves in her own way The Kooks

 3. Of the night Bastille 4.Take aim Kasabian

 5. Fire Kasabian

 6. Lyla Oasis

 7. Sex on fire Kings of Leon

 8. When the sun goes down Arctic Monkeys

 9. Pompeii Bastille

 10. My number The Foals

 11. On our way The Royal concept

 12. The city The 1975

 13. Lived a lie You me at six

 14. She wants me The Pigeon Detectives

 On the actual digipack though I didnt include the bands names as its supposed to be all by the same artist and not a compalation so I set the album out as if the band has done all the songs. Plus I put the songs in a certain order so that they fit around the football boot that is also on the back cover as I thought this would look really good, and the people I showed it too thought that this was a very good idea as it doesnt miss out on any detail.

Sam Lyon

digipck trail

This was my first attempt at making my digipack on photoshop, I tried linking in each theme from the music video on to the album. After getting to this stage (even without the front cover) I could tell that didn't look good at all so I have decided to go with one theme, which is the football theme. The digipack doesnt look good because the images contrast massively and clash in style. I really like my back cover though so i will keep that and stick with the football theme and I think I should include a picture of the band on a football pitch but with musical instruments so you can tell they are the band and not just some random people. I am going to take a picture of me jake and kelsea with items that are musically linked in front of a goal. This will link in with the football theme. For the inside covers I will use a football pitch to go over both of them as this alos links in with the football theme and means there is no blank spaces, plus I didnt want anything to complicated to go behind where the cd would have been.

Sam Lyon

Analyisng location

location is important in videos because it can link in with the lyrics and make the video seem more realistic, like royle concepts video to on our way, this links in with the lyrics as they are on about being young and having fun so the location is where young people hang out during summer and they are having fun together so this shows that the location is needed as that is what you expect to see with the lyrics that have been sung because it would look very odd and out of place if they were in a school being taught in classes and the lyrics are about having fun. So we have used some locations that fit in well with our video, like Kelsea's part of being bullied, most bullying goes on in school so we used the school for all her parts, where as Jakes part is needed to be done in offices late at night so we are using a college office, this is useful because the office looks like a work place and thats what Jake's character needs. All the footballers scene is in a sports facility, football pitch and in a bedroom when he is unable to play becasue of injury. So we had to think carefully where we were going to film as the location had to fit in with the story line and if it didnt it would look very odd. Alos we have to think about the time of day and the weather as well. So for jakes part we will have to film when its starting to get dark to show he is staying at work late to show he has laods to do and he has to work hard. Also for the cloud passing we have to pick a day when its not raining and the clouds are moving about quite a bit so they look better than just one big cloud. For the football bit the weather doesn't really matter as long as its not too windy. The performance bits will be done on a stage in college with no body there as it is like the band is practicing or it could be done in a room as that way it's like the band is practising at home so either one would work.

Sam Lyon

Album Design JTN

Synergy between albums and magazines

synergy between album products

Eminem has himself in each one of his albums so this is showing that it is his album, another thing that links in all of these albums is that one E is backwards this is another way of showing that the album is buy Eminem, these help fans of eminem pick out his material easier and gives him a certain style of albums as the covers aren't completely different form eachother. On these albums there is a parental guidence sticker on them, this is to stop children listening to the music, but doing a quick bit of research most people said when they were younger they were more attracted to an album with the parental guidence stickers as they wanted to hear the swearing and rebel. Also I will do some of my own research into finding adverts of artists who bring out explicit albums and see if their adverts include the fact that there album is explicit and the younger generation shouldn't be listening to it.

Synergy of Stereophonics magazine advert

Stereophonics advert for the ablum Keep calm and carry on, the band is siting having lunch or a drink at a table but the sea is coming in and covering their legs but they dont seem bothered by it, so this is a denotation as you can see that they should be bothered but they aren't so this links in with album title.
The cover is quite bland apart from the bottles on the table which is right in the middle and the band only covers a third but its the horizontal middle third that they are covering so this is keeping band in the middle so the audiences eyes are drawn to the band equally as know one is higher up than each other and they are all in an eye line so you cant help but look at all of them at once. The poster is the album cover as well so if you see the advert then you know what the album looks like which is a very good idea as you dont want to many pictures on a one page advert as it gets confusing. Another good thing about this advert is the bit at the bottom, which is giving the information about when the album is out and what platform it is available on, this is vital information to the audience as some people may not be able to get certain types of media platforms as some peole may not have I tunes so they may have to buy the CD, and it shows that they apeal to a wider range of audience as a smaller band wouldnt put their material on to different platforms because there wouldnt be much point as not many people would buy it. Also synergy is shown on the advert becuase the stereophonics website is printed at the bottom so this alows people to acsess the band on the computer instead of just in magazines, so this is something Jake and I will take in to consideration.

Sam Lyon

Back of digipacks analysis

This is a live cd of a guns n' roses tour and the picture on the back is of a band member who is doing a live performance and the performer isn't in the complete centre but its close enough for the audience to be drawn to easily and for them to see the names of the songs, also there is alot of dark colours in the background then the yellow writing is used this is good because the song names standout easily.

The back of green days 21st century breakdown doesn't show the performer but it uses a unusual drawing that shows love and aggression with the picture as the couple are kissing on top of a car but the background is on fire to show anarchy, aggression and also against the dark background it draws the attention of the audience to the picture of the couple. 

Eminem's new album MMLP2has a digipak to it and this looks very simple as the is no outstanding imigary that is showing emeinem in it, it is shown as a sign post saying danger as it is liking in with the front cover which is a wooden shack that looks like it is about to fall down and the sing post is saying the building is unsafe and dangerous, the back cover is very different as there is no way of telling from the back of the album that it is by Eminem.

Lyrics, timings and shot list

The weight of living 0.05
(fading into the video)

The weight of living 0.09
(busines man typing the weight of living is an over the shoulder shot)

The weight of living 0.13

(nerd in the corridor holding a folder saying weight of living on it, is a mid/long shot)

The weight of living 0.17
(Footballer braking ankle will be a close up so the audience can see whats happened)



All that you desired, when you were a child was to be old, was to be old
Now that you are here, suddenly you fear you've lost control, lost control 0.20-0.36
(footballer looking at the picture is an over the shoulder shot then from there the camera will be moved to focus on the picture on the wall of the person he aspires to become this will be a close up shot then the camera will show a mirror and in the reflection of the mirror will be the footballers ankle that is in cast so this will be a close up again but in a different way as the audience will be looking at the reflection and not right at it)



Do you like the person you've become? 0.36-0.43
(busines man turns off the computer screen is a close/mid shot, even though the audience can only see his face the shot is mainly off the computer then you can see the reflection off the computer screen)

[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsty.com/bastille-weight-of-living-part-2-lyrics.html ]
[CHORUS]
Under the weight of living, you're under the weight of living 0.43-0.51 ---- 1.28-1.35
1. (Unsuccessful buisiness man gets into car and goes home)
2. (Unsuccessful buisiness man writing CV)





Under the weight of living you are under the weight of living 0.51-1.01 --- 1.35-1.45
1. (unsuccessful buisiness man gets home and recieves letter of redundency then goes to car and puts head on steering wheel)
2. (successful footballer watching football game)





The weight of living 1.01-1.06 --- 1.45-1.50
1. (unsuccessful school girl gets pushed over in corridoor)
2. (successful footballer in the gym getting better)








It all crept upon you, in the night it got you and plagued your mind, it plagued your mind 1.06-1.13
(unsuccessful school girl wakes up in middle of night relising it was all a dream)


Everyday it passes, faster than the last did and you'll be old, soon you'll be old 1.13-1.20
(clouds go over, time pass shot)




Do you like the person you've become? 1.20-1.28
(unsuccessful school girl looking into mirror crying)


[CHORUS]

Oh, tell yourself this is how it's going to be, oh tell yourself this is how it's going to be 1.50-2.20
(Unsuccessful buisiness man getting rejected by multiple job interviewers)


[CHORUS]

The weight of living
(successful footballer getting better at gym)

The weight of living
(successful footballer training football game)

The weight of living

(successful footballer playing charity game)

The weight of living

(successful footballer scoring)

JTN and Sam Lyon

Central focus- Album covers

The Guns 'n Roses album follows the line convention as the cross on the album follows the actual crosses across and down, this brings your eyes into the middle of the album especially as there is a plain black background and the cross is in differnet contrasting bright colours.

This album follows the the guide lines that most do of having the main focus central on the cover. This is where you are drawn to look on album covers. The lips of Christina stand out as the red lipstick is a big contrast to her pale skin.

This digipack goes against the normal digipack style as the main focus of the album is not in the centre of the page, instead it is slightly off to the right. The reason they will have done this is to draw a attention as the audience would think it it is a bit different from normal album covers and might have something else to offer.

JTN and Sam Lyon

M.I.A bad girls analysing socialgroups in music videos

M.I.A. Bad Girls
Music Genre - Rap, Hip hop, Indian music
The social group of the people in the music video are mainly female and they are indian but are rebelious in their traditions. This is clear by the way they are dressed in the traditional burkqa


bling
other women dressed in full outfits but has patterns on
guys stood around the sides watching over making a barrier perhaps to say they disaprove
car races/horses
M.i.a.'s outfits tighter than other costumes
rebelious of clothing, lyrics suggest rebelion

1-indian, rebels
2-traits-female outfits, bling, car shows, dancing keeps some tradition but then some grinding

JTN

Where we got our inspiration

Rudimental- Waiting All Night
This video links in with the music video we are going to create because one the characters in our video is going to be a footballer who suffers an injury juring a game where he breaks his ankle, it then monitors his progress on getting better and eventually playing again. Similar to how in this video the biker damages his leg and has to have it amputated and then getting a prosthetic leg and eventually managing to ride again.

Taylor Swift- You Belong With Me

From this we video we have got a style for one of our characters, the typical geek who is ignored by everyone, wearing geeky clothes and not getting what she wants.

Will Smith - Persuit of happiness

This is where we got our inspiration for our buisness man who gets fired, this film is about a man who cannot afford a place for his child and is trying dessperately to get a job.

Katy Perry - Firework

This video gave us inspiration for doing a 3 person narative following multiple peoples lives and how the song fits with all of them.

JTN

Costume and Props Needed

Costumes

Unsuccsesful character 1,
Suit and tie at work (formal), suit and tie loosely fitted when at home, this shows the characters hard work and tiredness. Always in smart clothing as it shows that he is constantly working.  

Succsesful character, football kit, shorts and hoodie when it cast is on his leg, trying to stick with sporting gear so you know that he is very passionate about his sport  

unsuccseful character 2, glasses clothes that dont reveale much skin, then when she changes her style then she has to change into something more revealing and something a teenage girls usually wear.

props

unsuccsesful character 1, car, computer and desk to work at

succsesful character cruches, cast and picture  

unsuccsesful character 2, folders and loose paper, uses mirror as well when she looks in to it

JTN

Treatment and Storyboard

Bastille - The Weight of Living-Part 2

Above is the story board for our music video, the first scene is of the first unsuccessful character (1), we will do an over the shoulder shot, looking at a computer screen where 1 will be typing ' The Weight of Living', the next shot will be of the next unsuccessful character (2) this female will be stood in a corridor holding up a folder which had the title of the song on also, the next shot is of the successful character (3) where you will see him "break his leg" falling to the floor, from a football match, with the words 'The Weight of Living' sprayed onto the grass next to where he falls. 

Once the title of the song has been enthasised, the shot after that will be in 3's bedroom, there will be a long mirror in this shot along with a poster of a football role model (Marco Reus) and a picture of 3 as a child in football unifrom. The camaera will flip from the picture of the children, to the poster of the role model then to show 3 through the mirror but showing the cast on his leg from the previous 'break of the leg'.

Next (1) looks into the dark screen of his computer to see his own reflection whilst 'do you like the person you have become is playing in the background. After that (1) drives home to where his kids are waiting for him, however he finds a letted which tells him he has beeen made redundent and can't be bothered with anything. Next (2) gets pushed over in the corridoor and all her folders fall on the ground. After this (2) is laying in her bed think about her life all depressed. Then goes to a time pass with clouds going past in the sky. Then goes to a scene of (2) infront of some lockers. Then goes to a scene of (2) looking into a mirror crying whilst the words 'do you like the person you've become'. Next is a scene of (1) looking at CV and job sites. Then scene of (3) in the crowd watching his team playing football and how he is sad that he cannot play. Then shows (3) getting better working with a doctor and on tredmills. Then the closing scene is (3) playing football again.

JTN and Sam lyon 

Analysing lighting

Lighting can be used in many different ways, such as to make the main character stand out or to focus on someone, also it can be to set the mood in the video. Thriller is a good example because in the video, the background is dark but the people in the film are lit up by the lights so the audience can see them and the dark background gives the film a more spooky affect and adds tension which links in with the theme of the lyrics.

The lighting makes a big difference to a film because if everything was the same brightness then the main characters wouldn't stand out as much as they do as they wouldn't make a big impact as they should do as they would blend in unless the character is on there own then that makes it obvious who the audience is looking at.

Another thing light does is show emotion with the colour of the lighting, usually red is common with love/romance so this can also show the audience how the character is feeling at the time. 

We will try to use lighting in our video to make the audience focus on a specific person (when Kelsea wakes up from a dream when it's dark we will put some light on her then so you can see hear) 

Sam Lyon

Analysing character poses and facial expressions

The look on a persons face can show the audience a lot about that character is feeling towards something or some one, this is important because the audience can understand better what is going on in the music video better, this is the same with the poses of a character. Naughty boy lala is a good example of this as the boy is scared of his dad at the begining and makes himself small and looks sad so we can now tell that the boy is afraid of his dad because of his actions towards him without any talking or ways of explaining in words. Also you can see in Robbin Thicke that the men really like the women and that they know that they are going to end up with them if the video carried on because of they way they are around the women as they are always confident and not scared to be with them and the way the three men look at the women like they are objects as they are looking back and forth between thmeselves and the women and there facial expression is showing that they like what they see a lot as they are smiling and happy then trying to look cool as well to impress them. This is also an example of a male gaze which is where the women are shown to be just an object that the men want.

 Naughty boy lalala

Robin Thicke Blurred Lines

 

By Sam Lyon

Possible Film locations

JTN + Sam Lyon