Music video and Digipak - final product

This is the final product of our music video.

Digipak final product 

Magazine advert development and final product

I designed the poster with the motif of 'Alice in Wonderland', I thought the most appropriate way of incorporating it would be through the rabbit character. The intertextuality included will be something that will resign with the audience.

I included imagery associated with 'lucid' and 'trippy' iconography and distorted them to enhance surrealism. The mushrooms appear to be melting down the page, they are foregrounded against a variation of blending colours. The finished draft of the poster was suppose to be the shape of a vinyl record, that held host to an 'underground' realm of wonder and fantasy, feeding into the themes throughout the video. I did this in acrylic paint and did not anticipate the difficulty transferring the idea into Photoshop. I tried to keep certain elements from the draft into the final product, but the difference is still large.

The final product still aims to keep the vivid colours and patterns in to reinforce the fantasy element, however we have taken out the 'rabbit' character after many attempts trying to place it somewhere. The end result is a combination of photographic images including a still from the video, and at the bottom a subtly placed shot of the lake in which we filmed; and also non-photographic images, including the lucid border.

Shooting schedule

Release form

As we filmed in our own time, out of college we did not require the use of these release forms;

Style Sheet

Style sheet (fonts, costume and location)

Storyboard

This is the complete storyboard (plus template) for our music video.

Shot list

Final Pitch

The song will be perfect world by Kodaline which is an additional track on the album 'In a Perfect World'
 it will contain a narrative structure. The premise of the video is based around a young woman who suffers from Agoraphobia (fear of being outside) she is isolated and insecure, eventually the manifestation of her thoughts and desire to be outside are projected into this secondary world that she has created, she switches between these worlds until eventually the line between fantasy and reality is blurred.

The Magazine advert will be a combination of actual photography and animated imagery to create the contrast between realism and surrealism, by using binary opposites it reflects the conflicted state of mind that the character is in, the character will be featured in each of the texts to create continuity and familiarity with the audience. The digipak will most likely feature a scenic image, with bold text placed upon the front

Moodboard (Ideas for digipack and poster)



Audience profile

Name - Jane Doe
Age - 17
wears vintage and thrift clothing, likes a mish mash of styles, resorts to cheap ways of replicating current trends, the clothes she wears are often colourful. She's an extrovert who places herself in social situations promptly. She plays the guitar and performs acoustic renditions of songs. She collects records from a number of eras and has appreciation of classic and retro art/music/film.

This promotional package will appeal to Jane because of the lucidity of the colours, they create a strong and vivid image that will be reminiscent of the hippie era. Being interested in old things, she will enjoy the inclusion of some classic Alice in Wonderland imagery.

Locations

Locations 

The cycle track near college is a convenient location in terms of accessibility, however the path is both scenic and features the elements of nature we need to create the alternate realm.It's narrow path will act as a metaphor for the path, the character must walk to overcome the obstacle of her insecurities and fears.

The hoggs pond is a continuation of the character exploring her fantasy of the outdoors, because of the character suffering from Agoraphobia (fear of the being outside) she manifests what she remembers from childhood and implements it in her own fantasy, at Hoggs pond there will be ducks etc, which are reminiscent of this. 

The field parallel to York college will be featured in the dream/flashback scene at the beginning of the video. 

The house featured on the right of the image will be the interior, and also the location of the 'reality' aspect of the video. 

Survey results

 Question one asked participants their age, the majority response was between the age of 15-17, and the minority being 18-24, this was useful because this age range is the target audience for the genre that our song falls into, thus we can tailor it to this audience and  market to our potential target audience. Being a young audience also most likely means that they are more aware of music videos of contemporary culture and how they are aided by the advancement in technology.

 The second question asked participants their gender, it was almost equal, with male participants being slightly higher than female. The typical listener of indie rock can be either gender, the genre does not appeal to a specific.

All of the participants watch music videos at least every so often, this means that they are accustomed to the codes and conventions recognizable in music videos. It also provides more useful audience feedback, knowing that they have some knowledge regarding music videos.

The largest two answers from this question was rock and alternative, which means that these participants fall even further into our target market. It means that they understand what is expected of these particular genres.

100% of the participants accessed music videos through YouTube, this reflects how the proliferation of technology has affected the distribution of music in modern culture. The use of social networking will also be useful to us in the sense that it is interactive and we can gain more audience feedback from it.

80% of the participants preferred a narrative in the video, this confirms that our idea and aim to include one is the appropriate thing to do if we want to appeal to our target audience.

 I gained a wide variation of responses from the participants in response to the question, however many said that they like to see lyrics that match the visual imagery in the song, the audience require meaning and symbolism to create an effective video. The audience wanted something unexpected and different from the typical video, and were against using explicitness to boost ratings.

 There was a collective response between the participant regarding bold colours, unique design and eye-catching imagery. However a few of the participants would like to see an image of the band on the cover, which is something we considered avoided.

Digipak examples

 Digipak examples.

Collecting album covers/digipaks from other artists in order to gain a greater idea of what to aim towards has been difficult in the sense that there are a large range of formats in the indie rock genre. I have gathered specific examples that demonstrate the differences in the same genre. The Black Keys EP cover features the 'drawn' or at least animated technique on their cover, this is something that intrigues me, because I want to implement elements or surrealism or 'fantasy' in our digipak cover. The colours in the bird are vivid and by using the contrast of warm and cold create a stronger image.

 The vampire weekend cover features a single image underneath the bold and foregrounded text, the image doesn't feature an image of the band itself, which is something I want to avoid in our digipak, the final image shows an experimentation with both an image and animation, it creates a balance that compliment eachother well, If possible I'd like to corporate both realism and fictional imagery in our digipak to display the contrast between fantasy and reality. The simple background illustrated in each of the covers make the image more prominent and are much more likely to attract their audience.

There are similar elements in each of these examples, this helps in gaining a wider understanding in what is popular in that particular genre. There are however several differences, this gives me creative leeway when producing the digipack covers,  it also means it will be easier to follow the conventions of the genre.

Song Permission

Group member Grace, contacted both the record label RCA records and Kodaline through twitter to ask for permission to use the song 'Perfect World'

German expressionism

1920- 1929

A short history 

World War 1 had just ended, The consequences of this had left Germany in despair, feeling isolated. In 1920 a film called 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' was made. Directed by Robert Wiene, the film was one of the first example of German Expressionism in cinema. At the time, foreign film was banned in Germany, Hollywood had no significant effect on the select film makers who ignited the movement. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is often credited as the first horror film, the tone of the film was distinctly dark, focusing on a mentally unstable antagonist as the lead role. 

The film was ground breaking in terms of exploring a characters inner angst.German expressionism was the first movement to expose a persons most hidden emotions and drag them to the surface. In just a few short years, films such as Nosferatu (1922) and Metropolis (1927) followed the instantly recognisable traits of German expressionism. Contemporary directors like Tim Burton have been heavily influenced by German expressionism, films like Edward Scissor hands would not have been made if it wasn't for the movement, The character of Penguin in Batman Returns is a direct influence of Dr. Caligari.  

Aesthetics and Style

The all around tone and aesthetic nature of the films are there most prominent feature, the sets are abstract and usually distorted, the actors movements are lucid and dance-like. We see to the left and example of a

still from 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'  The set design is deliberately animated to reinforce the surrealism. This essentially is a projection of the characters minds and emotions, since the story depicts a carnival creature who serves under an asylum director, the overall concept that the set displays accurately portrays the dark and damaged vision of disturbance. The use of lighting/shadow exaggerates the theatricality of the characters performance, this could be said is a reaction to the typical impressionism seen in films up until this movement.

The reason I have included German Expressionism into the blog , is because the cinematography is something I would like to include in a particular segment of the music video. The bleak and dismal tone of that the setting and shadows portray, would suit the inner feelings of the character in the 'real' world. 

Magazine advert (research)

For our promotional poster, we decided to digress with the theme of surrealism and dream-like qualities that are present in the realm of fantasy. Much like film movements such as German expressionism and French New Wave, a group of artists have structured a movement in the way they create an image to their audience. The movements mentioned above are conjured through the desire to rebel against the 'norm' in the industry they belong to. In this sense, the posters I have chosen to analyse or at least consider as a platform to base our own upon, go against the usual conventions of the typical band poster. For example, below we see a Kasabian poster, which feature recognised elements of the expected poster, it features members of the band as a collective standing underneath their own name. Usually band posters are minimalistic and straightforward, with little to no creative design.
we see this once again with a Red Hot Chili Peppers posters, the four members are stood against a plain background.

To the left we see a contemporary example of this idea of containing chimerical elements, to exaggerate a concept or an image the band want to communicate to their audience. The vivid colours and lack or realism depicted through the way the elephant is portrayed, creates a much more adventurous and layered aesthetic. In a way, the poster almost tells a story, we see a small, insignificant man stood on the trunk of the elephant, the man is a silhouette, his entire being black. This contrasted with the lucid colours of the elephant, suggest that their is a deliberate clash between the two beings, the ambiguity of the image leaves the mind to interpret freely and differently. Tame Impala are a modern band that embrace music of the past  featuring elements of psychedelic rock that was prominent in the 70s.




Here is a much more toned down example of the same animated approach to a band poster. The colours although bland in comparison, there is a certain charm to the 'drawn' together style of the image. The poster features a carousel, commonly associated with dream-like components that create the magic of a fairground. Instead of the usual horse or carriage seats used on the carousel, there are a number of instruments replacing them. This poster has focused more intently on the musicians tools rather then themselves, which is unusual for a band poster. Drawing attention to the instruments gives a sense of the musics identity, rather than the appearance of the band.






This is not a band poster, but significant due to the elaborate colour pallet. It's essential to observe how vibrant colours interact to create a certain  'wonderland' effect.The merging of colours in the background create a romantic setting, the warm colours contrast nicely with the blues and green below.

 This particular painting uses imagery that is usually associated with the idea of false ecstasy replacing reality. For instance, the mushrooms are blatantly related to drug use. The mushroom is an iconic image that was made famous in the sixties. This poster has an atmospheric tone that would fit perfectly into the world of hippy culture. There is also religious iconography, that most likely belongs to Hinduism or Buddhism.




There are elements of each of the posters above, that  intrigue me in regards of our own. The theme of fantasy plays a significant part in our project, the idea that someone looks to their own imagination to replace the hardships of reality. The rabbit (in reference to Alice's Wonderland) is a symbol for this, as a motif I would like to place him subtly throughout each of the media platforms, to create a sense of continuity. Another component that appears affective is the 'drawn' or painted effect, it rejects realism as an  art form. I will be uploading some initial sketches, progressing to the final draft.