Digipak Testing

Below are some testers go digipak ideas using some still images that i took whilst shooting the music video. 

1. I downloaded a digipak template from the internet - from discfactory.com 
We chose the 4 panel CD digpak template.

2. I then placed the .ai format into illustrator.
3. Initially there was more layers of text letting the user of the template know what lines are for what purposes - here i was learning more about how to use illustrator and the lines suggest different things.   

4. I then changed the colour scheme of the image to black and white. I tested this shot to see if it would work better than in colour. in the future I will testing the colour scheme by increasing the hue and saturation increasing the colour of her dress and so the overall colour scheme of the digital may be blue. I did this in photoshop; then imported it to illustrator. 

5. I edited the exposure and the gamma correction of the image in photoshop, this increased the brightness of the image. So the face of the woman on the image is brightened up and the rest o the image is also brighter. 

6. I then increased the depth of the blue on the image. This intensified the colour blue of the dress and also the surrounding location. I wanted the colour scheme to be predominantly blue. 

7. I then clicked the preset 'default' button and the image to the left appeared. This is when clicked 'high contrast blue filter'. This then changed the entire colouring and shading of the image. The blue of the dress turned to a bright white and this is the final effect that was applied on photoshop. 
8. I then used the rectangle lasso tool to create a square tat reached the blue line on the digipac template. The right clicked to crop to match the shape of the rectangle. This then fits the correct shape of the front cover of the digipak. This is what we have so far.

 

9. I then added the text to the bottom of the image and this states 'Night Drive Loneliness'. I have changed the colour of the 'Drive' on the dress. This is because I need the colour to be able to have been read clearly by the audience. I may in the future add colour back to the image or make the text on the front cover more bold.








10. I then added the 'Warner Bros' symbol from a website. I added this to the back cover for an idea of what the symbols and the digital will look like when completed. The writing is also blue to see the blue theme. 

11. This is another version of my digipak at the moment. I have flipped the front image and at the moment i am planning on having the inside being black and white then the outside being either the pink colour of the sunset or a blue colour and emphasising the dress in the images. I have also changed the colour of the text to white on the back cover instead of being blue because now it is clearer to the audience. 

Another digipak that i have tested with is similar to the edit above however u have increased the colour of blue in the highlights on the sunset picture instead of increasing the pinks and the red tone. 

12. In this image i have edited the top wide shot of the protagonist sitting on the fence in photoshop. I increased the hue to 6+ and then also charged the colour balance by increasing the blue and light blue tones. I also increased the yellow mid tones to equal out the blue highlights.

13. I have also changed the colour of the writing to white, therefore standing out to the audience against the cool lake at Fewston reservoir. I also added the album name on the front cover of the digipak and put it in the bottom right hand corner so that it stands out against the dark mud beach. I have edited the sunset image to cool blue tones instead of the pink, red tones that it was like before because i wanted the colour scheme of my digipak and the magazine cover to be blue tones. 

14. Here i am testing the colours of the spin of the digipak. I used the 'eyedropper' tool on illustrator to pick up the colours from the lake to match and then used these colours for the spin. At the moment (2/2/17) I ma leaning towards using the light pink. However, it would go with the conventions of the rest of my digipak and magazine to use the dark blue from the 'eyedropper' tool of the blue (velvet) dress. (Image above).

Choosing a font

 At the moment I have been using the font 'century' this was a default font. However, i have now come to the conclusion that the font 'century' does not fit with the conventions of my digipak, therefore I have been looking into a variation of fonts on the website 'Dafont'. 

From this website I have been testing out many different fonts, most of which have been sans-serif text because i feel that sans-serif fits the conventions. If I were to use a serif text then the rock part of the pop rock genre wouldn't be portrayed to the audience. Also i would like the text to be as clear as possible enabling the audience to be able to read the text clearly when they see the digipak and the magazine advertisement. 

Here I used the text 'poster' from dafont; this was the first text that i tested out, however, I feel that the text is too thin and if the audience would't be able to read the text from a far. This is the issue with a few of the texts that I have tested, such as the font 'yellowpeas'. (To the right). With this digipak I ma going against  the general conventions of 'Garbag's' usual designs however I am keeping to the conventions through the use of the dark colours and the female being on the front cover, representing femininity much like Shirley Manson. 

Above is another edit for a different digipak. I changed the inside of the digipak to being black and white and with the lyrics to the chorus of the song 'Night Drive Loneliness'. 

In the future I will be adding the Garbage logo in the right hand corner of the front cover to match the general conventions of Garbage's digipak's. They have the 'G' on the front of every cover. 

Below is the final edit of my digipak. Here, i have added the copy write text and the barcode as vectors in the bottom right corner of the back cover. I have put these is black because barcodes do not scan unless they are black. Have used the font Bangla Sangam NM after testing the font for the text for a long time i decided that it should be sans-serif and I've added the lyrics of the song 'My night Drive Loneliness' on the inside left hand side. the inside is black and white whereas the outside is bold and catches the audience's eye. This design will flow onto the magazine advertisement for continuity. 
 I have also got an image from the internet of 'Garbage's' logo and ungrouped the image to make it have a transparent background then added it to the top right corner of the digipak, this follows the general conventions of 'Garbage's' digipaks. 

This is the final edit of my digipak, here I have added the vector onto the spin and the band logo on the spin also. I have changed the text Pinera, this is simple and legible, this also continues onto the magazine advertisement. Then the colour blue is also a very strong theme in the cover of the digipak. I added a black colour of dar blue over the inside two images and then changed the opacity to 46%, this made the inside look like there is a filter and there is a blue tint to the inside. I also used th colour swatch tool and used the bright pink colour of the reservoir for the text of the song 'Night Drive Loneliness'. 

Album Covers

No doubt 

American rock band that 1986. Since 1994 the group has consisted of, Gwen Stephani, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont and Adrain Young. They are of similar genre to Garbage, therefore i am going to analyse some of their didgpaks or album covers. 

They are an alternative rock band and in this cover i can denote that there is a lot going on and the main focus is the women. The band's name 'No Doubt' is also in large writing at the top of the album cover. The cover is also animated and there is a large circle behind her with a tress and people working in it. A common convention in the album covers seem to be with a large eye catching design in the centre of the album cover. The album title is called 'tragic kingdom'. I am able to denote also that there are flies on the outside of the circle as if they have flown through and it's a vortex. The female at the front may be represented as Gwen Stephani. The people in the back ground may possibly be the rest of the band mates.   

This is another cover called 'Hella Good'. This is one of the more early covers that No Doubt released. The background is back and white and the colour scheme is again three colours; red, black and white. The band members hair is also either black or bleach blonde. This was a common hair colour in the early 2000's and late 90's. The background is black and white and is in a circle, the preferred reading of this may be a vortex and to mess with the audience's eyes. Overall this is a very simple album cover and the colour scheme matches the general conventions of a pop rock album cover. The writing is bold and stands out to the audience.  

Magazine Adverts

The Magazine Advertisements I am going to analyse are related to the genre of Garbage, however I will not be able to analyse a magazine cover by garbage due to the limited magazine adverts for their albums that I could find. 

This is an advert for album by 'The Killers' DAY AND AGE. In this magazine cover there is a tile effect. We are able to connote that the tiling effect represents the  image of being in a warm country at night. We are able to denote that there are play trees silhouetted in the background of the cover. The sky is darker at the top and begins  to get lighter at the boot by the land. This signifies that it may be at sunrise instead of at night.  The large moon and purple sky signifies this to the audience. The magazine cover then fades into a solid black at the bottom where the detail about the album is placed. It states 'the brand new album' and 'featuring the single human'. There is then the link to their website where you will be able to purchase the album and get more information. 
'The Killers' is the brightest white; therefore, the audience are able to notice it and the title stand out to them. The colour scheme that they have used (purples,whites and blacks {there is also some yellow and red signifying a fire or heat}) is bold colours in which catch the eye. 

This is an image of a digipak made by 'The Killers'. The audience are able to denote that there is a clear link between the theme of the poster and the digipak. In fact the poster is identical to the digipak cover; apart from the fact that there is a fade of black at the bottom where the text about the new album is. Therefore the formatting and the image that they have used is the exact same. They have done this for continuity and this helps with sales due to the fact that people will be abel to identify their band through the branding of the album cover and the magazine advert. We are aware that this is a common convention in the sales and advertising of a album. Therefore in my digipak and magazine cover I will be using the same colour schemes and the same type of design; therefore people will be able to identify and know that when they see the branding is related to the band Garbage.

This is a magazine cover for the band 'Muse'. Muse are a rock band that were formed in England in 1994. A label of theirs is 'Mushroom Music'. Garbage also share this label and therefore they are of similar genre and production. 
 This is a magazine cover for their album 'The Resistance'. The resistance was out in 2009. From this cover the audience can denote that there is a bright colour scheme with a mosaic pattern. There is then white writing in the front of the magazine cover. This is a similar design to 'The Killers' magazine cover; in which used a tiled theme and then with white sans-serif text for the name of the band and the name of the actual album. We can denote that in the centre of the magazine cover there is the world; and in the background there is a dark blue colour with white spots, in which we can connote is space. The mosaic pattern gives a tunnel effect and there are holes in the tunnel with a man on a walkway leading to earth. This allows the audience to connote that there has been a big build up to this album and it will be amazing. It is coming to earth, much like the person on the magazine cover.   

This is their CD or digipak cover in which is the exact same imaging as the magazine cover. Again this seems to be a common convention of the creation of the merchandise and advertising for a particular album. We can denote that the bands name is int he top left hand corner of the album and this is generally needed on the front over of any album because it helps people know what band they are going to be listening to and this also helps with advertising and sales. The background of the cover is a light dull grey then there is the bright tunnel of colours and this helps the colour stand out and brings attention to the cover.

'The Horrors' are a punk band from the south of England and they were formed in 2005-present. We are able to connote from the dark use of colours that the band are a punk rock band. The audience can denote that the colours used are monotones such as; blacks, white and greys. The facial expressions on the band members are serious and from this i can connote that the album is a serious and dark album. 'The Horrors' are a darker punk rock band compared to the other bands that i have just analysed. The bands also smaller than 'The Killers' and 'The Cure'. Again the text is sans-serif and in white. The text being white seems to be a common convention in the music cover. This could be duet it standing out and in this cover it looks like it is glowing. 

This is a magazine advert for 'The Cure' and their album 'A Forest'. From the magazine advert the audience is able to denote that in the background there is a strong blue edit on a forest. Then there is an image in a red hue of the band 'The Cure'. This image features all t he band members; Simon Gallup, Matthieu Hartley, Smith (vocals) and Lol Tolhurst. The red and the blue are contrasting colours therefore the dark blue of the forest is enhancing the brightness of the red catching your eyes. There is also a white boarder that matches the writing of the magazine cover. This allows continuity of the magazine cover. The image in the background is the same image that is on the album cover, however, on the album cover the image is in black and white. However, there is still continuity with the image because the audience are able to denote and recognise that the image is the same and connote that it is the cure 'A Forest'. 'The Cure' is in large writing at the top of the page in the centre. The writing is in their logo in which is everywhere; therefore, when you see the writing you connote 'The Cure' and their music.
 Below the image there is are the lyrics of the song 'The Forest'. The 8 stanzas of the song are on the front cover. This gives the indication as to what the album or single will be about and involve. 
 In the bottom right hand corner we are able to denote that there is a paragraph about the 'APB music company' and who helped produce the album; naming the artists in this album.

This is an image of a CD cover from the album 'A Forest'. The audience are able to denote that it is the same image that is in the background of the magazine advert. This allows a continuity and for the audience to recognise the cure's album when they see the image of the forest. I am interested in the cure's album because they are highly correlated with the band Garbage that i am creating my music video on. Therefore i will be taking inspiration from the album cover and the magazine advert for my designs. 

Digipak analysis

Below there is an example of a digipack by Garbage.

The outside of the digipak are bright colours; such as pink, blue and greens. The colours shown are similar to bright Chinese culture.The blossom colour of the small flowers on the cover help the audience to connote the bright culture of the art work.
 There is a bright pink colour on the outside then the main background seems to be a light blue, in which we can connote is the colour of water and this allows us to assume that the blue signifies a river and the leaves and flowers are possibly floating in the river. The blue could also represent the sky, therefore the flowers and the leaves would be  floating in the air. This allows the audience to get a sense of calmness and serenity from the outside and inside of the digipak. However these colours contrast the music that Garbage create.  Garbage are an indie rock band therefore, the cover being bright colours goes against the conventions of a indie rock bands digipak. As a member of the audience i would assume that the cover would be dark like their music; much like in the Foo Fighters cover (in which Butch Vig {the drummer of Garbage} helped to produce). 

   Butch Vig helped to produce the Foo Fighters digipak 'wasting light'. From this digipak we are able to denote the distressed background; meaning that the background is not 100% black but has some white. This is a factor that matches the typical conventions of a rock bands digipak or CD cover. We are also able to denote the limited by bright colour palette used on the front of this digipak. The audience is able to denote the band member's faces layered over each other and then with colours such as: pink, green, blue and red. The colouring of the bands faces is also connected with the title of the digipak, which is red. The text is also sans-serif, this is a repeated font throughout the digipak. Again keeping the text the same font throughout a digipak is a common convention that is used often. This is due to the fact that when purchasing an album people will assossaite the writing with the album and also - if there is booklet or if the CD - then they will be able to match the CD with its case with ease. 

This is the back of the digipak of the Foo Fighters 'Wasting Light'. Here we see the track list clearly and in a neat list. The track list is a must in creating a digipak, due tot he fact that people want to know what is on the CD and and in what order the songs are in; this allows for simpler hearing. the didgipak must also include credits to the producers and everyone who has worked on the digipak and the music itself. In this paragraph there is also copyrights. There is also the barcode in which is used for purchasing the digipak and to help retailers with stock control. All of these are necessary to create a formal and real digipak. The colour scheme from the front of the digipak has also been continued onto the back of the pack. This is for continuity and allows a member of the public to spot the digipak as Garbage when they see it. On the back there is a distressed tone to the colours and the background being bald is still also distressed. 
Another band that is of similar genre and work to garbage would be the cure. The cure are a rock band that were formed in England in 1976. They are similar and have a strong correlation to Garbage. The cure's digipak that i have chosen is made up of a limited pallet of colours also. The colours used are; reds, blues and black. There is also some white for the appearance of a distressed looking digipak. This correlates positively to the Foo Fighter's digipak. Bother rock bands and both involve a very limited colour pallet with a distressed appearance as a common factor. From this i can connote that it is a typical convention for a rock band to have distressed colouring on their digipak. Because of both of these bands having distressed colouring and comparing it to Garbage's digipak i can connote that Garbage (in this particular digipak) goes against the typical conventions of a rock genre digipak. 

So in this digipak i can denote that the colour red has been used fort he majority of the cover. The red and blue are both primary colours and they attract the audience's attention because they are very bold.  The image on the front cover engages the viewer and the hand drawn effect makes the album seem more personal and that they created it all themselves and that it cannot be recreated or copied by anyone else. Also the hand drawn effect gives the digipak an edgy look; this reflects the music that is created and how the cure are a rock indie band. However this digipak also goes against the typical conventions for a rock digipak. Although using simple colour schemes the track list onthe pack goes round in a clockwise rotation and is very small, therefore to some audiences may be difficult to read. There is a bar code on the back much like all of the other digipaks. A barcode not only is a typical convention but is needed for the help of sales and stock intake. 
 The pixies are also a similar band to Garbage. The pixies were formed in Boston in 1986. The digipak below is for 'Head Carrier' by the Pixies. The album involves a three tone colour scheme. The colours are orange, black and white. Again this seems to follow the general conventions of a indie rock bands. Garbage's digipak kind of follows these conventions with only several colour however the colours are in more detail and the pattern is more planned than in comparison to the other bands. 

Overall from what i have analysed; i can connote that the first digipak of this post (by Garbage) doesn't follow many of the typical conventions of a indie/rock bands digipak. The digipak is several different colours with several different shades; therefore, making it different already to the other digipaks in which use 3 or four colours (all of which are bold and bright) where as in the digipak of Garbage the colours are light and pale. Then in most of the digipaks the CD and the booklet are the same design to the inside and outside of the digipak. Whereas, in Garbage's digipak the colour of the CD and booklet are nearly the opposite. With the outside being light and pale colours, you then open the digipak up to find that the CD and booklet are 90% back. The 'G' on the cover of the booklet is made up of bones and has suddenly taken a dark turn. This would take the audience by surprise therefore, enticing them to read the booklet and to listen to the music because if they are not fans of the ban they would be unsure as to what they would be about to listen to. Also overall Garbage are a unique band that stand up for many groups such as LBGT and feminist organisations. They have also stated that they like surprising people and don't like going along with the typical conventions that they have been given. 

Licensing

Because I am using a copywrited music track I have to ask to use it and get rights to post the music along with my footage online. It isn't the end of the world if I don't get permission because I am able to still post the video on youtube if I state that I will not be making money from this video. I will be using 'Night Drive Loneliness' by Garbage. 

I did some research and found that 'mushroom music publishing' publish Garbage's music and I came to this place and then clicked on 'contact'. 

The website then led me to this page in which I had to fill out the from to get a license. However 'mushroom music' is based in Australia therefore I wasn't legible to fill out the form. I then clicked a sub-publisher link. The sub-publisher was GCS and I then emailed them and this.

  They then sent an automated email back in reply. 

I am now waiting for an official reply; however from this I am still going to continue. 

Rough cut two

This is another rough cut with more footage that I have been filming over the past two weeks. This is section that is 3:49 to 4:29 minutes in the music clip. Therefore is it a different clip of music from the first rough cut that I have posted. In this cut I have filmed her running in the dark and I have someone driving whilst I am filming and we are changing her. This is a tracking shot. I will also be slow editing some of the footage to slow motion like in the first rough cut. However because I edited this over the holidays I didn't have the software to edit this footage.