Digipak Genre and Moodboard

After considering how genre is reflected in the design of a Digipak, you will now have to create your own individual moodboard to collate ideas for your Digipak cover.
As a group you will then reflect on your own ideas and choose aspects of them to follow through to a Digipak mock up as the next task.

Remember you are creating an album cover for the band/performer – not just the song you have done your music video for, although this will feature in the song list.

You should consider all of the following and find images, ideas to illustrate the feel of the Digipak design. We do not want it just to be a printed board though this time; it will require you to be experimental, creative and consider the overall vibe, feel, image, ideologies of the band/performer.

Images – MES, locations, characters, designs, graphics, illustrations, photos etc
Typefaces
Colour Schemes
Inspirational Digipacks – something similar?
Logos
Copy Ideas – text etc.

LOOK AROUND FOR INSPIRATION – DON’T JUST GOOGLE! and add in BUZZ words.

REREAD YOUR MISSION STATEMENT – THE BOARD SHOULD REFLECT THAT USP, THEIR VIBE, THEIR BRAND.

This moodboard should be 3D so should include collage material that you stick on to it and then take a photograph and embed on to your blog. Include textures i.e. leaves, material, objects, artefacts that all help connote, communicate the brand identity of the album.

For example a piece of stone might indicate that the star is urban, hard, aggressive, modern whilst a piece of red velvet might communicate the star is self-indulgent, arrogant, wealthy, extravagant. The more you think about the star’s brand, image the easier this will be.

LOOK AROUND FOR INSPIRATION – DON’T JUST GOOGLE! and add in BUZZ words for a busy, brainstorm of exciting ideas – you can annotate directly onto the board or once you have taken a photo of it for inclusion in your blog, you can annotate in indesign or photoshop.

Colour Scheme Designer (Mixes colours and find complementary ones)
Colour Lovers ( a brilliant site with pallettes hex codes (copy and paste in Photoshop)
Flikr (great images)
Pintrest (good for typefaces, textures, design ideas…)
Behance (Lots of portfolios of work from inspirational creatives)
Typography to inspire (100 great pieces of typography to feed your inspiration)

LOOK AROUND FOR INSPIRATION – DON’T JUST GOOGLE! and add in BUZZ words for a busy, brainstorm of exciting ideas.

Image result for 3d moodboards See the source image

Image result for 3d moodboards

The overall feel does not mean that if there is lace on the moodboard or a leaf, that you will have to include that on your digipak cover – but the feel, imagery, ideas, connotations will transfer over.

HAVE SOME FUN!

Digipak – Previous Student’s Work

Choose a DP cover from the display on the wall. Mrs Cobb will point out the ones that achieved Level 4 as clearly it is this level that you will be aspiring to achieve.

Then search for that blog so that you can use the images in your post. Or take a photo and embed that.

Go to www.blogs.grammar.sch.gg and search for the site in ‘blogs’. There are some paper copies around but you will still have to find the images on their blogs to copy and embed.

Using the four general assessment criteria in the slideshow below, explain how the students skills are evident in their digipacks. Be specific with examples from their texts and what they have done.

Digipak Forms and Conventions

We now need to have a look at how digipaks are designed to work alongside videos to support the promotion of a new album.

Consider digipak covers. What do they have in common? What are the forms (technical elements for all CD covers) and genre conventions (designs particular to that genre of the music)?

Here are our notes on the conventions of a digipak. Read them when you get stuck.

Now you must find a digipak cover from the same genre as your music video and annotate it for the design forms and genre conventions. This must be uploaded to your blog. Make it detailed and use the terms from the sheets below. Try and find the back of it too, that would be great for some of the technical forms i.e. barcode, publisher logo etc.

Click for an example analysis

You should focus on: images, graphics, illustrations, font, colour, technical conventions (barcode, parental advisory, album title on spine, tracks on the back), register of copy, mise-en-scene, composition, intertextual references, how does the cover communicate meaning, denotations and connotations, image manipulation, filters, generic conventions, how can it be ‘read/interpreted’ by an audience, star image, metanarrative, representation?

YOU ARE DOING A MEDIA LANGUAGE ESSAY AT THE MOMENT – THIS IS A MINI ESSAY ON HOW MEDIA LANGUAGE IS USED IN PRINT DESIGN TO ENCODE MEANING. WHAT DO THE COLOURS, IMAGES, FONTS, LANGUAGE, PHOTOGRAPHS, FRAMING, COMPOSITION, ANGLES ALL ENCODE?

Your Album Brand & Mission Statement

Remember the brief?

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music video (major task), together with a website for the band and a digipak for the album’s release (minor tasks).

It is important to note from the beginning that you are not making a digipack and website to advertise your music video! You are launching a new album, which contains that song, but which also contains a number of other tracks.

So before you start planning the print and web elements of this promotional package. You need to be clear about the mission statement for the whole campaign. You must think more holistically about the album and create an integrated advertising campaign…

Your Marketing Strategy & Mission Statement

Who is your Audience?

Who they are (demographics)
What other media they consume and participate in.
What their values attitudes and beliefs (ideology / psychographics)

A Call to Action

How do you want the audience to engage with your star / album
How will they invest time and money in your star / album

Who are the competition?

Name three similar bands / artists.
What are the trends in album designs of similar stars / bands?
What does their website look like?

Your USP (Unique Selling Point)

Is your star already established or are trying to establish a new presence in the market?
What is your star image & how are you trying to innovate / develop that image?
- Are you mixing up elements of different genres?
- Are you trying to re-brand your star?
- Are you emphasising the ordinary or extraordinary?
  - Remember according to Dyer meta narratives include both.

Your Mission Statement.

In 50 words or fewer write an agreed mission statement that includes the central idead that will unify your brand.
- This will include ideas represented in your music video, but must also bring in a wider range of ideas that you will develop as you make your 3D Moodboard.

TASK.

Complete this mission statement in production groups and copy it into your blog.

This blog post is essential for when you come to complete Creative Critical Reflection 2.

How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?

Draft 3 – peer assessment & feedback on YouTube

Attached is a sheet which lists who you should be sharing your Draft 3 with on YouTube. The peers should then respond to the video in the comments section which you will snip tool and embed as feedback. Summarise and reflect on their feedback. When you are giving feedback make sure you use media terminology and provide some constructive criticism. Make sure you review the videos that are shared with you, either directly or find them on the student blogs. It is your responsibility to review their Draft 3 to enable them to move forward.

Once you have done please edit the document and highlight your name in green to say it it done.

PMA for narrative and RA for narrative

Use the previous documents you annotated for Performance and ensure you have ample detail on them to cover yourself and your actors for risk and also you are absolutely sure about props, make-up, costume, locations etc.

Storyboard – essential planning

STORYBOARDS

You need at least 40 post it note on A2 paper so that you can really sort out how you are going to shoot your narrative. Think of all those elements you need to apply – match on action, shot reverse shot, framing, 180 degree rule, pull focus, DOF, framing, angles and distances to help tell your story.

Here is some background reading to help you understand the purpose of storyboards and how they are designed. How to Use a Story Board

Here is a template for you to create your storyboard. You may use drawings or take photos to complete these. BFI Storyboard Template or you can use the post it style so that you can move your images around.

They need to be as detailed as possible and you should take a photo of them out on your shoot so you don’t miss a shot.

Remember to take inspiration from professional videos. Narratives tend to be more thematic and an amplification of the lyrics. Rather than an illustrative full story.

Stick men are fine but add in the detail of the type of shot i.e MS, LA ECS, Tracking, Pull focus etc….

Happy planning!

Performance Rough Cut and Performance Shoot evaluation

Evaluation: includes photos, reflection on the day (bullet pointed), what went well, what didn’t go well and @ 6 targets. Do you have ample coverage?

Rough Cut: this does not need to be lip synced – so just create a video@ 5 minutes worth of great footage that you can use. Once you have done this and are sure you have enough coverage, then you can start fine tuning it with lip syncing and editing to the beat.

Risk Assessment

You will have got an adult to authorise your filming off school premises and hopefully this has been submitted to your teacher. If your performer’s are under-18, if they have not already got their guardians/parents to sign the parental permission form, then they will need to fill one in too – regardless of whether they are at this school or not.

BEFORE EACH SHOOT IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS

Before you go on shoot you must complete a specific shoot risk assessment. You must discuss this assessment with your teacher before the shoot and describe to them exactly what you intend to do and ask your subjects to do. Each time you go to a new site, venue, location you will need to produce a new specific shoot risk assessment.

We will not give permission or our approval to any of the following:

Filming near the edge of a cliff or drop that could cause injury
Working with fire or combustible materials
Working in a location which is a designated building site or has been fenced off to public access
Filming in any private property, unless you have permission from the owner
Allowing someone to swim or play in open water which is more than 1 meter deep
‘Stunt’ work that includes physical action sequences & includes reckless car driving

If you happen to have a responsible adult who is also a lifesaver or fireman then there may be exceptional circumstances allowed if they accompany you on the shoot but it all needs to be discussed well in advance.

THE RULES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

YOU MUST ALL COMPLETE AND RETURN A SIGNED PARENTAL PERMISSION FORM FROM YOUR PARENTS TO ALLOW YOU TO FILM YOUR MUSIC VIDEO IN YOUR OWN TIME AND IN HOME STUDY TIME.
IF YOU PERFORMERS ARE UNDER 18 AND EITHER FROM IN OR OUT OF SCHOOL, THEY TOO MUST GET THEIR PARENTS/GUARDIANS TO COMPLETE A PARENTAL PERMISSION FORM.
YOU MUST ALL COMPLETE A RISK ASSESSMENT FORM THAT YOU DISCUSS WITH MRS COBB OR MR GREGSON BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE PREMISES OR FILM AFTER SCHOOL OR AT WEEKENDS. IF YOU RETURN TO A VENUE YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO REPEAT THE EXERCISE.
IF YOU ARE LEAVING SCHOOL DURING HOME STUDY YOU MUST SIGN IN AND SAY WHERE YOU ARE GOING.

Star Image – Representation

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE STAR IMAGE!

How the star/band/performer is represented in your video and on the digipak and website is crucial in constructing the values, attitudes and beliefs of the artist in the mind of the target audience.

REPRESENTATION, AUDIENCE AND OWNERSHIP ARE COMPLETELY INTERTWINED CONCEPTS!

WHAT IS THE INSTITUTIONAL PURPOSE OF A MUSIC VIDEO?

Music videos are made primarily to promote the star, in order to sell their music, in order to make money…well mostly!

They are also constructed to construct a set of desires in the target audience to be like them, think like them, love what they love, be involved in their lives & buy what they suggest.

There are huge synergies between marketing and star image! We don’t just buy a product we also buy into the values of the star image and in purchasing their product emulate them. Media representations of the star image is crucial in terms of raising an audience awareness.

STARS SHOULD BE STUDIED AND ANALYSED LIKE ANY OTHER TEXT!

They are essentially walking talking brands, who use their branding to advertise, publicise and sell to fans. Stars have to remain constantly interesting to keep the fans intrigued – the star image evolves and is constantly reinvented by media companies! In fact Stars could be seen as its own special kind of ‘species’.

RICHARD DYER

Richard Dyer Handout

Richard Dyer is a theorist you need to learn about. He came up with some concepts about how ‘star image’ works in the media. The link to the concepts booklet is in the menu at the top of the blog. Find it, add it to your drive, print it, LEARN IT!

TASK

CREATE A ONLINE CONCEPT BOARD IN PINTEREST/GOMOODBOARD STAR IMAGE (you can use any other collage app of your choice but you must be able to annotate the images you upload to it).

Your task is to take the ‘star’ (performer, duet, band, group…) you analysed when you did the genre analysis and create a ‘concept board’ on how they are ‘represented‘.

Find examples of news stories, incidents, events, digipak covers, music videos, articles, blogs, tweets that all contribute to their ‘star image’. The way they are represented is called their ‘metanarrative‘ (over arching story about them).

Image result for pinterest

And remember, just as you do in your TV drama analysis – you must add ADJECTIVES to how they appear through that particular event, story, picture etc. You can do this task as a group but must all equally contribute to the page.

This is a link to an excellent example. You should have at least 15 – 20 images and comments.

Media Studies 17-19

Your personalised textbook and revision source.

Component 3