New Digipack idea

After talking to my teacher and attempting to think more creatively to make my idea more quirky, I am thinking about using toy instruments instead of real instrument into the concept art.

This still puts the focus on the instruments which is what I have always intended for my digipack, but it does it in a slightly entropic and more interesting way. This is thinking outside of the box.

Print Work: The Concept

My first  idea for my 4 panel digipack is to have the band on the front with their instruments in a full body shot to establish their brand identity; they take music seriously. I want them to come across as quirky though so I will have them wearing trademark bright colours while they are smiling, to make them seem friendly and down to earth. The back cover of the digipack will be a high angled shot looking down on the instruments, including a guitar and a drum kit, with the single titles placed over the top in post-production. The third panel will have a tight shot of a bass guitar stood up against a brick wall making it seem edgy.
This idea was inspired by the indie-pop bands Mumford and Sons and Noah and the Whale who like to move away from the pop genre towards the indie genre. However on re-evaluating the song I am going to use, I have decided that it is more pop than indie and so I am trying to come up with creative ideas that are more quirky.

This is my first draft for my digipack.

Confirmation

I have had confirmation on the singer that I am using in my video, who also wrote and sang the song that I'm using in my video.

She has also confirmed that she would like to get involved in the video as the artist.

I now also have a studio booked for filming and have had confirmation that I can film on Wednesday 2nd January. The studio is locally based so it will be easy to get the actor and myself there on filming day.

Focus Group

So I have set up a Facebook group so that I am able to get audience feedback on any ideas I post on the group.

I have introduced it in an informal way so that my friends are more likely to give feedback when I ask them to.

Time Management

This is a first deadline plan. I will try to stick to these deadlines in order to be as organised as possible as I am working with a real band.

Mumford and Sons- Little Lion Man

Analysis of Generic Conventions

 

 

This video is set in only one place with the artists playing the song on a theatre stage. This demonstrates immediately that the band is all about the performance and the music. Nevertheless, extreme close-ups of their faces are still included in the video (which is more typical of a Pop video) to establish the relationship between the audience and the artists so that the audience feels intimate with the band themselves. These close-up's include chiaroscuro lighting which adds an element of mystery to the band but also is created by simple small light bulbs scattered around the set which creates that DIY feel that is typical of an Indie-Pop video. The emotions shown on the faces of the artists creates a connection between the mood of the song (gloomy and sad undertones) and the audience (who should be feeling sad).

Instruments play a vital part in the video, making the band come across as serious musicians who make their own music (as opposed to pop stars having it done for them). Extreme close-up's of the multiple instruments used by the band, including more obscure instuments such as a banjo, allows the band to come across as multi-talented and much more Indie than Pop.

It is interesting that this video is also set in a social environment however there is no audience watching them. This reflects the song's theme of lonliness and upset. It also creates an intimate feel with the audience watching the video at home who may have felt more detatched from the band if there had been a second audience in the video. 

There is a little bit of synaesthesia present that establishes the difference between the first verse and chorus (but less so in the later chorus). During this chorus, there is a long shot of all four of the artists on the stage and throughout this, the camera tracks forward slowly until the end of the chorus in which the shot changes. This shot is effective because it simply shows all of the artists singing together in harmony as opposed to many shots of the artists together which would create a fast pace which does not go with the slow tone of the song.

Noah and the Whale- 5 Years Time

Analysis of Generic Conventions

In this Indie-Pop video, the texture is very grainy and gives a feeling of a 1980’s camcorder, a shaky hand held camera adding to the low quality. This is typical for this genre as it adds a ‘DIY’ effect to the video. This effect allows the audience to feel that it would be just as easy for them to create a similar video and this connects the artist to the audience. 

The video is very illustrative, an example being when a bust shot of the male artist has his hands over her eyes, allowing her to peak through in a head and shoulders shot when the lyrics “I’ll put my hands over your eyes but you’ll peak through” appear. Synaesthesia plays a large part in the video. It establishes the difference between the chorus and the verses which is a theory of Goodwin. When the chorus plays (“Fun fun fun”) the artists stand and act out the lyrics by pointing to the sky on the beat of the words, dressed in bright yellow boy scouts clothing, even though they are in their late 20’s (a theme of youth and childhood antics runs through the video). It happen again in later chorus where the words change to “five years time” where the artists put their hand forward for “five”, make a Y shape with their arms for “years” and make a T shape for “time”. This adds to the animation of the video and gives the part of the audience who are more mainstream the chance to learn the easy routines. The actions the artists make add a sense of child-like fun which in turn would make the audience feel happy. 

The video also has a theme of socialising which is common in Indie-Pop videos. The artists are seen enjoying themselves with local people in a pub. This gives the sense that the band is fun and enjoys normal activities that the audience would probably take part in. This makes the artists seem approachable and the kind of people the audience could get along with if they met. It would also be a cheap, if not free, setting for the band who would not have much money to spend on the video and so any audience member who creates music or film videos could be inspired by this. Most Indie-Pop videos will create the look of socialising by having the setting as their house, a garage or outside whereas a pub is more obvious but works better with the strangers in the background giving a realistic feel.  

Instruments play a vital part in the video because it shows the audience that they are genuine artists who don’t necessarily want the fame but take their music seriously. The scenes where they play instruments are frequent but not continuous as the video is mainly made up of vocals. When there is an instrumental, the artists make full use of showing off their instrumental talent. The second shot is of the female artist playing a ukulele on a sofa; this looks casual and natural. For twenty two seconds the artists play violins and another ukulele and at one point even shake a shaker. This demonstrates their range of instruments used in the song, showing off to the audience that they are definitely not pop stars and have no desire to be. During this the editing is different to that used on any pop video as the editor plays around with chopping up the screen into parts, fragmenting the artists and having one artist playing the ukulele in the top left hand corner of the frame and the artist playing the violin in the rest of the frame. This gives the audience different things to look at and emphasises the creativeness not only in the artists but behind the scenes also.