Final image of album digipak

Album digipak

After creating both covers on Photoshop we saved them onto the student drive, into our group folder so we are all able to easily access them.

Front Cover

For the front cover we decided not to use any images including the group members, so we chose to use two images of the powder paint across the floor and then merge them together to make the final image look bolder and more effective. When we had merged both image together we decided to play around with the colours and filters to make it bolder, and after doing this we decided that blue/green and purple combination was best as we feel it represents the group as a whole and will appeal to the target audience (young teenagers). The paint splatters at the bottom we downloaded from the internet to use as a stamp/brush on Photoshop. Before placing the stamp onto our main image we would choose what colour paint splatters we wanted so that it would coordinate with the colours on our main image, we chose to add 3 stamps of the paint splatter in blue, pink and pastel purple which we all felt fitted well with the main image.

When thinking about the font, we decided for the front cover that we would use our first font choice that we chose in our final two. We were able to gain access to this font through the website DaFont and it was under the 'Retro' category which we feel linked in with the name of our group Vintage Strobe. We typed out what titles and names we needed, which were originally a black font, and then print screened them and saved them as images to then open in Photoshop. To change the fonts to white we lightened them, and for the name of the group we made it transparent so there was no background colour, and for the title of the album we made the font transparent so it shows up inside the white background where we print screened it.


Back Cover

Our album back cover was a lot more simple to make. For our main image we simply played around with the brightness and saturation to make the powder paint as bright as possible but still making it look like powder and not entirely edited. We then had to add all the necessary extra images that an album back cover has, so the record label, barcode and copyright message. The barcode was simple to find and add to main image, but when it came to the logo we had to see which one showed up best against the background. We first wanted to have the red and black Sony Music logo, but the black writing did not show up well so we decided to use the all white one as it shows up very clear on our main image. For the copyright message we looked at what would be featured within the message by searching on Google, when we found what the message was we typed it out onto a PowerPoint slide and then print screened, and saved as an image to again open in Photoshop.

For our track list we decided to use our second font choice out of our final two as we feel it went well with the neon effect of the paint in the main image. We found this font by searching for Demi Lovato's Neon Lights font in Google, and we found a website where we were able to create our own text with this font. We print screened each album track in this font and saved them as individual images to the open in Photoshop. The font was originally black and had a white background around it from where we print screened, and we were going to keep the track list like that but we then had the idea to lighten the font to white and get rid of the background, and it looked much more professional and we were still album to clearly see the entire track list.

We now have to merge both covers together to make our final digipak, and we feel by doing this it will make the entire thing look a lot more professional.

First image idea for front cover

For our first idea for our album front cover we thought that it may be a good idea if we tried to merge the two images of each individual girl together on Photoshop. We added the two images on top of each other then faded them out so they looked like one whole image, we then erased the top image on one half of the face to show the two girls different faces. When we had completely merged the images together we decided that we were not keen on the image as a whole, and it wouldn't look good with our back cover or the groups target image. So we scrapped the idea of using the group in our main photo all together and decided that we would still focus on powder paint as an image, but not with the group featuring in it.

Final font choices

From the first six font choices that we chose, we have narrowed it down to two which we will then decide on which will be used for our album digipak.

First Choice

This font is our first choice for our CD cover. We feel that this would fit in well with the chosen genre of our artist, but also that it looks quite vintage which obviously fits with the name of our group. Depending on what image we use for our CD cover, we will play around with the colour of the text, and we will most likely use the same font that we choose for the track listing on the back cover as well.

Second Choice

We decided this font would be another one of our top choices for our album digipak, and we were inspired to use this font when we saw Demi Lovato's Neon Light's single cover. We found the font on the internet and thought that the name of our group looks good as the font looks like it has been made up from glow sticks or a neon sign, which fits in with the actual name of our group in general. When we start creating our album digipak we will then see which font looks best with the final mage that we choose, and we will decide from there.

Final image choices for digipak

We have chosen 4 images from the original choices that we will potentially use for our whole album digipak. We have decided on which image we definitely want for our back cover but we now have to decide which image to use for the front cover, and we have two images to choose from.

Back Cover Image

We have made this image our back cover image because, where it has been edited it looks really vibrant against the darker background and it includes the element of powder paint in it, which links in with one of the settings of our music video, and it features the initials of our group name Vintage Strobe so we feel it would look good as our back cover with the track listing on top. However we still have to discuss where on the image the track list will be placed.




Front Cover Images

We have chosen these three images for our album digipak, we will either use the first image as a whole or we will merge the last two images together to feature both girls on the cover as a whole group. We will use Photoshop to edit them further, depending on what image we choose as a final decision. We will then add the text over the top of the image, so the album title and artist name.

Font ideas

Image ideas for Digipak

CD cover inspiration- back covers

As well as making a front cover for our album digipak we will also have to create a back cover which will include the track listing, any additional images, record label logo and a barcode. We have found a few that we feel inspired by and have given us a few ideas for our won work.

Little Mix- Salute back cover

This back cover is very simple, it has a plain font and the track list is featured in the middle of the image and it has no additional images included. However we like the main image of this one because it is quite artistic and fit in well with the front cover image of the album, it shows the sky and clouds and we wanted to do an image like this but perhaps with powder paint as the background. We want to use a more interesting font but not too fancy so it takes away the effect of the main image.

Taylor Swift- 1989 back cover

This back cover is again very simply, the font of the track list is simple but the numbers are created in a font that looks like a black marker pen, the same as the font used on the front cover of this album. The image shows the top half of Taylor's face as a close up, and the effects used look quite vintage/classic to give off quite an old or worn look. The black font contrasts against the lighter image which is effective because it allows the audience to see the song titles clearer and see if they are interested in buying/listening to the album.



Demi Lovato- DEMI back cover

This back cover uses monochrome colours to create contrast, which is similar to the front cover of the album. It does not show images of the artist and the main image is very simple as it is plain white with various black lines cascading across the background. The font for the track listing is very simple but they're in all caps which allows the writing to stand out to the audience. We want to make our back cover stand out but not make it too overwhelming to look at, we want to tio be simple but effective at the same time.

Album digipak track listing

We have come up with 11 tracks that will be featured on the back cover of our album digipak, these are listed below in the order they will appear on our digipak.

1. Louder (Neon Jungle cover)
2. Faded Lights
3. Don't Let Me Go
4. Weightless
5. Never Knew I Needed You
6. Night Dances
7. Not My Style
8. Remedy
9. Fire And Ice
10. Bound To You
11. 1964

Production schedule

We divided production roles between two pairs, so Me and Hayley would have a list of roles, and then Becca and Viki would have a list of roles as well. This way we would have equal contribution and balance in the group.

Me and Hayley

Since we were not going to act in the video, Me and Hayley will be filming the shots and settings throughout the video, while Becca and Viki act. Whilst one of us is filming the other will be helping with props, lyrics and music, for example when filming the powder paint scene, Hayley was filming and I threw the powder paint at both girls. We played the song from our phones so we also had to make sure we started the song and stopped the song at the right places to get the correct shots and lip syncing on point. When we first started to film Viki and Becca were a little hesitant on the song lyrics, so we would get the lyrics up on our phones to make sure they were singing the correct words, we had to go over the lyrics a few times but in the end they got it spot on.

We are also going to the ones to create our album digipak and the promotional poster for our group. We will use photoshop to firstly create the digipak to make it look as effective and professional as possible, then we will use our album cover to create the promotional poster which will advertise said album.

Becca and Viki

Both Becca and Viki will be featuring in our music video so their main roles will be acting and lip syncing. They will also do occasional filming and helping with props, for example holding the balloons while we pop them and vice versa. If we need help or if they want to do some filming out of choice, but myself and Hayley will be the main people who will film.

Becca and Viki will be the main people who will edit our video to create the final outcome, however out of the pair Becca is the one who has done the most of the editing, with Viki helping out here and there. We all have input into what editing techniques would look good, and we are shown different clips to choose to put into our music video, this way we all can make a group decision on what would look best for the video.

Media Theory

 

There are various media theories that can be linked to music videos, including...

Two-step flow model

This was suggested by Katz and Lazarsfeld and they say that the media produces these 'messages' to send to an audience, however the messages don't directly affect the audience or their perceptions. The messages sent out by the media are mediated to an audience through opinion leaders, opinions can develop massed on other peoples comments. This is a two-step process, the opinion leaders are given messages by the media and they 'lead' others by using word of mouth, where an audience will believe the opinion leaders' statements.

Hypodermic syringe model

One of the main media theories, with the idea that the media 'injects' ideas into the audience's mind, like they are brainwashing them. This model suggests a direct passing of information from the sender to the audience, suggesting that messages are injected into the members of a passive audience without any realisation, so they are immediately influenced by said message. This shows that the media can have a powerful effect on an audience. 
 

Uses and gratifications theory

This theory argues that an audience has a set of needs and requirements that are fulfilled through media texts. There are different 'uses' of the media, including diversion from social interaction and integration, reality, personal identity from other people and information.  The theory suggests that the media gratifies the audiences needs and we seek different media products that we want, showing the power of consumers.
 

The male gaze

This theory is mainly based on music videos and the use of camera work in the eye of the heterosexual male. Includes sexualisation of women through the camera by wearing revealing outfits, as well as promoting them by making them 'sexy' and appealing to a male audience.

CD cover inspirations- front covers

Before we started to create our album digipak we decided to look into existing artists album covers for inspiration on what images and font we can use for our own album cover. We have chosen three different album covers that we feel have given us the most inspiration for our own album digipak, which allowed us to start thinking of images that we could use for the front cover and what lay out we want.

Taylor Swift- 1989 album cover

We liked the idea of this album cover because the main image shows a polaroid of the artist which is a mid shot, but it only shows half of her face, the filter on the image also looks good as it makes it look like a old image, particularly with the ripped/scratched look in the middle of the image. The title of the album and artists name looks like it has been written by hand in a marker pen, which adds an edge to the cover, but it looks effective with the polaroid type image.

This image is only a single cover but we still felt that it was effective. The background is quite bright and it contrasts the low lighting across the artist in the middle of the image. We particularly liked the font that is used for the artists name and the song title. The bright white of the font contrasts the main image and it almost looks like the writing has been made up from various glow sticks, which is what we done when filming some shots for our own music video, but we physically created the title of our chosen song using real glow sticks.

We think that this album cover has given us the most inspiration with the image that we want to use. The main image of this shows a close up of the artist and her hands are placed around her face and neck. She has silver and black paint on her body which creates contrast against the white background. For our cover we wanted to do something similar, we were thinking of using an image where Becca and Viki were both covered in powder paint, and then have a close up where they have their hands across their face, and the background behind them will be black so it will contrast the neon powder paints.

We will also need to think about what font we want to use and any other images we may want to use, but these covers have given us ideas to work with that will link to our artist and the target audience.

 

 

Music video pitch - Feedback

As part of our research and planning we had to create a PowerPoint presentation for a pitch that we will present to our Media Studies teacher. We created the PowerPoint including these points on the slides...

 

 

Whilst we were presenting our Media Studies teacher was making notes on our pitch, presentation and how we presented the pitch to the audience, each member of our group was allocated a slide to read and we ended up reading three slides each as we were a group member down since Viki was not in school due to illness.

We went through each slide in as much detail as possible to show how we have come up with our ideas and if any other artists had given us any inspiration for our video.

We also included our chosen song and artist and why we chose it, and we went into what our initial ideas were for the video and the planning that we have gone through before we were able to film so we knew what we were doing.

Our final feedback from our teach was...

• Clear vision of project from start to finish
• Imaginative approach to interpreting the song visually so as to attract the target audience
• Good evidence of detailed research and analysis, linking well to all aspects of pre-production
• Careful consideration given to props and costume to fit in with brand of artist
• Thoughtful breakdown of influences from other music videos
• Interesting choice of band title, which would capture imagination on target audience
• Excellent evidence of communication between the group

So overall our feedback was very good, and we are very pleased with it, and the grade that we were given for our pitch was an A grade, which again we were very pleased with.

Features of a promotional poster

• Album cover of artist
• Artist name
• Album title
• Release date of album
• Singles that will feature on the album
• Artist websites or pages
• Where the audience can purchase the album
• Any additional images that we may want to use
• Which album it is (e.g. debut, new, second, etc.)

Researching promotional posters

For part of our final grade we will have to create a promotional poster for our artists album digipak, stating when it will be released, the album name, album cover and the artists name.

Ed Sheeran promotional poster

This poster features the whole album cover as the main poster image, but at the top it also features the artist name in the well known font that Ed uses for all of his promotional work. It also features his signature across part of the main image to add a special touch to the poster and to make it eye catching to an audience. At the bottom of the poster it states that it is his new album that is being advertised and that it is 'out now' to purchase. It then adds that the album includes one of his well known singles 'SING' which also reached number one in the charts. It also includes his personal website which features news, updates, music and merchandise that an audience can easily gain access to.

Little Mix promotional poster

 

This poster is being held up by one of the members of the group, but the poster is in Japanese which shows that the groups album is also being advertised and released in different countries other than the UK. It features their album cover as the main poster image, showing the album title and artist name. It states the date when the album will be released in Japan and that it is their second studio album that they are releasing. In the corner of the poster it also features the Little Mix logo which is seen on a lot of their official merchandise. 

Neon Jungle promotional poster

This promotional poster looks like it has come from the iTunes store home page, so the poster has been made into a banner that will show up when someone clicks onto the iTunes store. The middle image shows the groups album cover, and to the left the group name is shown. The writing below the group name states that the album is their debut album, and it states the album name 'Welcome to the Jungle' and that it is out now to purchase. To the right of the main image it says that the album will feature a newly released song 'Can't stop the love' and their previously released singles 'Louder, Braveheart, Trouble and Welcome to the Jungle' which will attract a larger audience if the said songs are ones that they like. It then has the iTunes logo at the bottom to show that the album is available to purchase on iTunes.

Digipak planning

We started to plan for our own digipak and what we would want it to look like. We decided that we wanted to use a basic digipak template so we would be able to spend more time on creating our final one.

This is the template that we are thinking of using, so we would only create the front cover and the back cover. From previous research we already know what we will have to include in this but we still need to plan what colour schemes, fonts and images we want to use for our digipak. For our back cover we will also have to think of any images we would want to include and the track titles that we will place on there. We already know that we will include 11 tracks for our album, but we have not yet decided what these tracks will be called, we have 2 track names so far but we have 9 more to choose.

We have used contrasting colours within our music video so we feel that for our digipak we should do the same thing, so when we decide font we are considering using neon colours for it to contrast the darker image that will feature on the front and back covers. On the front cover we will feature the album name Faded Lights and our group name Vintage Strobe. We will take some images of our group whilst film each setting and other images that we feel could be useful for our digipak, then decide as a group which one we want to use for our final product.

So far we are liking the close up image of Becca and Viki for our front cover. Where their faces are covered in neon powder paint and they're holding up their hands to their faces, which are also covered in powder. This would look good once we have played around with filters and saturation on photoshop to create a better effect of contrast. This image isn't final but it is a possible idea.

Digipak research

We wanted to look into what would feature on a Digipak so that we would know what we would have to include when we create our own, in order to make it as professional as possible. We found that there are various features within a Digipak that we will need to consider.

Inside digipak

• Images of artist or from the music video
• Section for the CD
• Logo of chosen record label (Sony Music Entertainment)
• A booklet including song listings and sometimes lyrics of the songs

Front cover

• Name of the artist
• Image of artist or image representing album or artist
• Album name needs to be included

Back cover

• Logo of record label (Sony Music Entertainment)
• Barcode (Included so it can be sold in shops)
• Year of album release (2015)
• Promotional websites or pages of artist
• Copyright/piracy warning sticker
• Track/song listing

This research gives us more knowledge of what we will need to include on our digipak and how we will lay it out when creating it. 

Target audience research

Neon Jungles target audience are teenage girls so we would only feel it right that for our created artist/group, we would have teenage girls for our target audience, most likely ranging from ages 16-21.

These images show what Vintage Strobe's target audience would look like. The first image shows an image of Neon Jungle's target audience at one of their CD signings, which also represents the target audience of Vintage Strobe. Neon Jungle consists of young female singers, so their audience are more likely to be around the same age, ranging from 16-21. We aim to base our group around a similar age and target audience to Neon Jungle, as our music choice would be likely to appeal to an age group such as those of teenagers, mainly females, aged 16-21 years.

Our target audience will more likely consist of teenage females, ranging from 15-21, so a little younger than Neon Jungles target audience, but the younger range will allow a bigger audience for our group, so we thought it would be better to have this age range as our target audience.