By Rebecca Gomes


By Daniel Barrell

Digipak Concepts

We started our digipaks at the design stage, and each sketched out a concept for how each side would look. Choosing the universally accepted size of 6 sides, which set to work on coming up with ideas that suited the theme of the band and of the song. we also included various references to our music video within our digipaks.

For my evaluation of a past student's digipak I chose to analyse 'The Vixens', a fictitious pop band.



The front cover has the basic album information, including the name of the band and the name of the album. The same information is also present on the spine for ease of locating the album within a music collection, a common convention of digipaks. The back cover has a colourful theme which includes pictures of high heeled shoes, thoroughly emphasising the genre of the band. The back also lists the song names, another common convention. A hand drawn piece of abstract art also expresses the genre of the band, adding a hint of indie and abstract to their image. Finally, it also contains a picture of the band all standing together, a very common convention (especially for girl bands).

By Daniel Barrell

Past students digipak

I looked at another example of a digipak, this was from a student from the previous year which I found on the OCR get ahead media website.

digipak analysis
Their digipak only has 4 panels; it is suppose to have between 6- 8.
The band is present which is a common convention of a digipak.
They have included a list of the tracks on the album.
A barcode has also been added on the right hand corner of the digipak.
The digipak lacks a spine, which is where the band name is suppose to be written.
There are no lyrics for any of their songs
There are no reviews
No information about the band/ artist has been included
The name of the band and album has been included on the front cover; the font and colours used represent the genre of the song well.
finally there is no reference to their record label or website.

By Rebecca Gomes

Digipak Analysis

As part of the research into digipaks, I looked at a previous students work from the 'get ahead OCR media' blog. The first convention that can be clearly identified is the name of the band, 'The Ghost Frequency', and the name of the album 'Nightmare'. On the back cover their is a listing of all the tracks and a barcode, which are both typical conventions. There is also a 'parental advisory' logo to give the customer more information. The relevant images and colours that have been used of the graveyard, a burning candle, and a girl in a darkened room, show the ghostly/haunted theme of the digipak, but also promote the band and attract the target market that this digipak is aimed at. However, on this digipak, no information has been included about the band or album. There is no evidence of the record label, the bands website or the album credits; which is therefore not following all of the digipak conventions.

By Louise Welch

Digipak dimensions

We have researched that the dimensions of a digipak are: 139.5mm x 6mmx 125.5mm

This is a template of a 6 panel digipak

Digipak Analysis

Before we could start designing our own digipak we first had to research the conventions of a digipak. I found an example of a digipak on google and chose to do a detailed anlsysis if this digipak.

Firstly the digipak was an 8-panelled single tray digipak. It included a detailed list of all the songs of that particular artist/ band.
This band has decided to use visual imagery, however not of the band/ artist themselves. They have decided to incorporate the use of abstract imagery which may well be the traditional and reoccurring theme fir them as a band.
Strong imagery and colours have been used to convey the genre and it represents the band particularly well.
The name of the band has been written on the pine of the digipak, so that when owner of the CD stores it away it allows them to find the CD quickly with ease.
There seems to be no reviews from magazines or newspapers however this may be displayed on the CD cover it-self.
Where the tracks have been listed, below there is a small bold section where the bonus tracks and scene section for their extra feature DVD is displayed.
The digipak includes information about the band as well as displaying the lyrics to one of their songs.
The record label is also included within the digipak as well as the person, which designed the digipak.
A barcode has been added at the bottom of the digipak.
Finally the website of band is included at the bottom of the digipak, so that the owner can visit their website.

by Rebecca Gomes

Digipak Research

'Teenage Dream' Katy Perry

Once I had identified the conventions of a digipak, I was able to analysis an existing digipak to see if and how it followed these conventions. I chose Teenage Dream by Katy Perry.
This entire digipak consists of the case with two fold in covers , a booklet and two CD discs. On the front cover of the digipak is a picture of the artist, which is one of the main conventions of digipaks. However, is doesn't include the name of the artist or the album, which is unusual for a digipak, so this isn't following one of the conventions. On the other hand, the artist could be trying to make a point that she is so famous, so she doesn't need to have her name on the front cover. This digipak follows many other of the typical conventions including a track listing, the barcode and credits (which identifies the producers, editors etc). It also includes the artist and album name on the spine, the record label and the website for the artist.
There is also a recurring theme throughout the digipak. The Katy Perry digipak has a sweet/candy theme, which is conveyed by the use of colours and images, including the pink clouds and the images of cakes and sweets on the booklet. This theme is also continued on the CD discs, as they cover in a image of a donut and a sweet.
Another convention that this digipak follows, is that it includes a variety of images of the artist. The genre of the artist is also established, which had been done by the candy theme and colours, representing the pop genre.

Louise Welch

Digipak Analysis

For my analysis I chose an ACDC digipak. The colour scheme and overall theme of the pak strongly expresses the genre of music, red and black with 'rockstar' sparkly writing conveys the idea of a rock and roll band. The name of the band is clearly displayed on the front of the pak, accompanied by the name of the particular compilation. The spine Also has this information displayed, making it easy to loacte the pak within a large music collection, a conventional feature of digipaks. The record label is also displayed on the spine, ensuring that they are recognised accordingly. The back of the pak is very similar to the front, with the same hard steel border and colour scheme. Tracks are also listed, a very common convention of digipaks (and albums as a whole). At the bottom of the back there is the generic information, including the digipaks terms and conditions, accompanied again by the record label and the necessary barcode for commercial selling. Conclusively, the pak, although abiding by a small number of conventions, still does not contain the vast majority (such as a picture of the band and reviews) making it less generic.

By Daniel Barrell

Completed Music Video

Filming & Editing Process - Week 2

To distinguish the chorus of the song from the verse’s we decided to use a stop motion effect. As a group we thought it would make the music video interesting and original. We also wanted it to convey the meaning of the song, whereby the character is going through their everyday monotonous life, but everything around them is changing. To make this effective we had to choose a variety of different locations for each shot. We planned the majority of these before filming, and some of them we found when we were out. The changing background shots included a field, street, urban area, forest, etc. A couple of the shots in our music video were planned to be of the character travelling up the escalators in an underground train station. However, we found this difficult because it was constantly busy, and we were told we couldn’t film in this area. To resolve this problem, we decided it would be best to use stairs instead, as it would still create the same image and effect that we wanted. Daniel took responsibility for the editing, and Rebecca and I both gave our help and suggestions, and overall made group decisions. We had to ensure there was continuity editing and fluidity throughout our music video. As we had included lip syncing in our footage, it was very important that we matched this up to the song. This followed a convention of music videos and also made it look much more professional. When editing the shots for the stop motion footage, we cut it to the beat of the song, so the shots would change in sync with music. I feel we accomplished this very well, because we also had to make sure the character was in time as well, to create the effect of him continuously walking with just the location changing.

Louise Welch

Filming & Editing Process - Week 1

Once my group and I had completed our animated storyboard, we wrote a list of the different locations we needed, and the shots that had to be filmed there. This made our filming easier and more organised, so we knew exactly what to film in each location. Firstly, we decided to film the beginning shots that would take place in the characters house. We used Daniel’s bedroom so we could set up the mise-en-scéne exactly how we wanted to. We made the bedroom and kitchen look very messy and haphazard, to convey the characteristics of the protagonist, and were creative when we filmed them. We included several close up shots of different objects before introducing the character, and we also used an aerial shot of them. For our music video, we filmed at lot of shots at the train station and in its surrounding areas, to show the suburban setting, but we still used a variety of shots to keep it interesting, such as close up shots, long shots, aerial shots and low angles. When my group and I were filming shots of the train and the man’s journey, we wanted to ensure they were creative, to keep the audience interested. A shot that worked very well was the high angle shot of the train travelling forwards. The high angle created more of impact and helped to establish the setting aswell. To show fluidity throughout our music video, we used shots to show the male character on his journey, such as close ups of his feet, over the shoulder shots, and tracking shots. During the filming process, we all had to take on different roles. I was responsible for ensuring the camera was set up correctly, so that it was level and at the right angle. Rebecca and I also had to make sure that each shot was framed well; otherwise it would have looked unprofessional. Another location we used for our music video was Canary Wharf, as we wanted a formal work place within the city. We filmed a low angle panning shot showing the tall buildings to establish the setting and to make it look intimidating over the character.

Louise Welch

Third Week of Filming

On our final week of filming, it was simply a case of filling in the various gaps and shooting the exotic shots that were not time-practical. For example, the alleyway shots (as we needed another actor and it was unfair to keep him for long), and the car shot. During the alleyway we hit a problem. To have me fall on the floor in a realistic manner was dangerous (considering the floor was made of hard concrete) and so to combat this we used a thick coat to break my fall. We also filmed the forest shots, picking locations that were natural but also with clear pathways to suit the theme of the previous 'changing shots'. All shots were now complete.

By Daniel Barrell

Second Week of Filming

On our second week of filming we did the majority of the train shots. After I scouted out several shooting locations using google maps, we travelled to them, filming the platform shots as we went. The overhead shot of the train going under the camera was particularly tricky, as all bridges over train tracks are walled with obtrusive grilles that prevent filming. To overcome this we held the tripod into the air, with the camera attached to the top. It was tricky, but we got several excellent shots that were exactly as we wanted. The weather was freezing, which made every shot very uncomfortable for me, but we carried on, and eventually finished every station and train shot. To get the lip syncing shots correct, I played the song from a mobile phone hidden off shot. Our main problem this week was the escalator shots. Every time we tried to film on an escalator, a member of the public would appear and ruin the shot, which was a major inconvenience and consumed an awful lot of time. To solve this, we decided to film the shots on a staircase instead, which had a similar colour scheme to that of the station and therefore fit in just as well within the plot. This was much easier, as the staircase was deserted and gave us lots of time to get accurate and correct shots.

By Daniel Barrell

Email to record label

Due to our previous research I knew that Keane has three different record labels. These are:
Island
Interscope
Fierece Panda

As required by OCR I emailed all three in hope that we would get at least one reply. In the email I explained what we are doing and asked permission to use the audio track.

In the email I wrote:
"Hi, we currently attending Trinity Redbridge Sixth Form and we are in the process of constructing our own video for our A2 coursework. We are writing to ask permission to use the audio track, Keane ‘Everybody’s Changing’.
Thanks."

Unfortunately I was unable to find the correct email address for Interscope records, but managed to email the other two companies.

Here is a screen shot to show the email i sent to Island records:

Here is a screen shot to show the email i sent to Fierce Panda records:


By Rebecca Gomes

02/12/ 2010 weekly blog

02/12/2010

Today we were suppose to spend time editing our piece, however due to the bad weather conditions the school closed. I found this the ideal opportunity to do some more work on the blog.
Firstly I have analysed a Keane video:
Somewhere only we know:
In total the video lasts for 3 minutes and 26 seconds
Unlike their other music videos, ‘Some where only we know’ contains high amounts of storyline, where their other videos, evolve around mainly performance. Performance however is used but incorporated within the storyline. They use lip synching, and we see the band playing the drums and the piano.


The settings used are dark and dreary; and is quite scary at some points this is a common factor I have noticed within all of their music videos.

The storyline evolves around the band and we tend to see the main singer throughout, the video advertises and promotes the bad well.

Another thing I have noticed that Keane tend to use within their videos, is the idea of abstract characters/ ideas. Although there is a storyline, the audience may not understand this as we don’t really know what’s going on. They have also used an abstract/ animated character within the video; I think they have used this to simply make the video more interesting.

The video matches the lyrics quite literally- ‘Some where only we know”. The band are seen in a dark, gloomy isolated area, where they are seen performing.
In comparison to their other videos, this one seems more interesting for the audience this is because there is more going on rather than the band shown performing throughout the whole song. The performance and storyline is also very much played out to the beat of the song which is another music video convention.Fade out editing has been used a lot during the video, at one shot that stood out for me was the shot in the taxi when the window is all steamed, I think it’s really effective and fitted in really well with the rest of the video. The window looks as if it’s got a message on it, trying to hint something to the audience.





By Rebecca Gomes

First week of filming

On the first week of filming we started by scouting out suitable locations for our very diverse range of shots. After several train journeys we decided on several locations, including Canary Wharf and Debden. We borrowed a tri-pod from school and set out of begin filming. During the first week, we specifically targeted the most tricky shots, in particular the ones inside canary wharf and the train shots. First of all we filmed the bedroom/house shots, taking care that to ensure the mise-en-scene was correct and fitted in with the theme of the film. We wanted to convey the image of a generic, modern slob, and I believe we achieved this quite efficiently through the use of several props. The weather took a turn for the worst and the temperature dropped dramatically, making me regret choosing to have m character dress in a suit with only a shirt! We made use of the time when moving from location to location, by filming various 'background shots', simple medium angle tracking shots that have the protagonist moving towards the camera. Much of our time was taken up by traveling on the train, and so we took this opportunity to film a few internal train shots as well. We hit a major roadblock while filming at Canary Wharf, when we were told that filming on the premises was not allowed, however by the time we were confronted we had already finished the majority of shots in that location, and filled in the gaps with almost identical shots from Romford.

By Daniel Barrell,

Weekly log: 18th&19th November, 25th&26th November 2010

Thursday 18th & Friday 19th November 2010

On Monday 15th November we had been out filming for our media production, the lesson before hand I wrote a detailed list of all the shots we still needed to film or re- film due to bad framing or simply disliking the current shots we had. This gave us some footage to edit on the Thursday, Dan did the editing while me and Louise assisted him, by explaining how long each shot should last and the order they where to go in. While doing this I kept a list of all the shots that still didn’t work and the ones we hadn’t yet got round to filming. To be creative and differentiate ourselves from others, we decided that for the chorus of our song we would film our main character walking along while the background would change. It took a lot of effort to find our different backgrounds, but we adventured out to many different places to find places to film that would look effective. This included a field, a forest, a busy street, an alley etc… We tried to vary the type of shots we used, for example a few Ariel shots, long shots, panning shots and so on. As well as this while filming on the Monday, we used the slow motion effect on a few of our shots. When edited together it looked really effective and worked really well with the rest of our shots. While editing our shots together on the Thursday, we discovered we still had over 30 shots to film, and we would only have one more week left to film. As a group we decided that it would be best to film some footage on the Friday as we would not be able to get it all done in one week.

Thursday 25th & Friday 26th November 2010

Again we decided to film on the Monday which was the 21st November, this allowed us to have a lot more footage to edit on Thursday when we went into school. To make it easier for ourselves to see what shots we still needed to film we added all of the shots we had already done and added filler shots, to the ones we still needed to do. On the Thursday we discovered we had a problem with the continuity of the last few shots of the film. One of the shots there was a train, the next it was gone, we added a variety of different effects to the shot to see if we could improve it in any way however we was not happy with what we had and decided that it would be best to try and film it again. We also decided that we would go out and film on the Friday and on Monday 29th November to finish all of the last shots. On the Monday we planned to re-film the train shots we where having continuity problems with, however there was a train strike and we was unable to film the shots.

By Rebecca Gomes