Digipak Title Concepts

Using a few images that I made, I was able to use the process of 'masking' (with Adobe Flash) to bring across the idea of an image being the text. Using the pixel-art (or trixel in this case) I could perhaps retain an elegant form of simplicity that would suit the genre by using these images, though I did have the idea of using actual eyes (photography or drawn) in place of the images I prepared, having relevance to the title, music video, song name as well as being aesthetically pleasing. As well as this, I had the idea of using some shots of the forest areas used during filming for the text, as this looks nice and natural, as well as offering a nice solid HD image to use with lots of colour and tone diversity, meaning that choosing a background colour for the cover will be a lot easier and more manageable.

I haven't yet decided what image to use as the underlay, or if I'll even use the shape I made, but it is likely that I will use either eyes, forests, or low toned pixel art like the purple one featured above, possibly even a combination of two concepts merged together, such as a photograph of eyes rendered with Hexels for a pixellated/digital effect.

Advertisement analysis

The left advertisement is very spacious, neat, clean and somewhat hard to make out due to the choice of similar colours, as well as the tones used. Due to the editing of the photo for the desired effect it makes it hard to make out the white text, however is eye catching. We see the emboldened name of the artist at the top, and the rest follows in a centered fashion, many 4 star reviews being presented with actual stars to ensure that the audience immediately knows of it's credibility, the names of the reviewers being quite feint due to the rating itself being more important. There is also the record group in the bottom right hand corner, as well as a website link at the very bottom. Evidently the name of the artist has been given more prominence due to the care given to ensuing visibility, which leads me to believe that this is the most important part of the advertisement, as it is the initial point of interest for the audience. Also, words such as 'new' (pull phrases) add to the sense of excitement and enthrall the reader into the belief of this product being exclusive.

The right hand advertisement is much more clean and has less movement, the letters being evidently three dimensional due to the shading and shadows, and is very informal in it's style, the colours being varied standing out against the grey background. Again, a similar layout is used, with a centered theme, as well as the "Out now" vocabulary and ideas conveyed. Also, it's apparent that many other platforms and media types are listed, which would appeal to younger groups indefinitely, the words "download" and "stream" immediately telling us of it's ease of access. The bombardment of not only pull quotes but also emboldened text conveys the sense of urgency, excitement and limited availability (exclusivity), which is far more to the point and eye catching than the other advertisement, though the professionalism of the left one is far more acceptable in this sense, as more people have heard of Paul Weller, meaning that there is less advertisement needed  as he already has a fanbase that follows him, whereas the other looks as if it plans to pull in new fans. My magazine advert will fit the conventional A4 size as shown above with these two advertisements.

Plan for Digipak

Below is the rough plan for the Digipak, the top 3 panels being the outside, and the lower ones being the inside. I have not included the spines yet, but they will essentially just be the logo, digipak name and name of artist.

Plan for Advertisement

I haven't decided on all of the colours as of yet, but the lower half will be black for the white text. The text will be sleek and neat, as well as constant, apart from maybe the title, which might be incorporated into the actual image, as well as carrying across the conventions of the Digipak. This is a rough guide, and I will use this as a small reminder of the general layout often featured in advertisements of the 'calmer' genres, i.e. indie, electronic and acoustic styled music.

The image will likely be first person in a sense, maybe featuring arms reaching forwards, and will be digitally augmented, possibly with a program I use called Hexels, or at least rendered using it for a digital effect. The actual image itself I am unsure of, though may feature wildlife, nature, scenery, flora or fauna, as that was a theme in my music video and suits the genre.

Digipak analysis

This image of a "Guns and Roses" CD case shows the difference between standard albums and CDs when compared to Digipaks (this example is quite old and outdated, however the same concepts apply). The case itself is usually made of a different material entirely, if not slightly, and features more of a card feel to allow for a soft look, almost luxury, due to it's unconventional appearance, as well as the obvious folding and compartments featured. Furthermore, for production and ease of creation and assembling, this card material proves to be much more efficient and cheaper than multiple hinges and plastic moulds, as well as meaning that the artwork and text can be printed directly onto the body itself opposed to a thin piece of paper tucked into the back of the front panel. In general, we see that Digipaks look generally more professional, clean, smart, soft, unmechanical and solely functional. Plus, the card body can be integrated into plastic moulds for the CD to grip, and for small books to slot into pouches or slits in the actual cover, which can be 'opened' by squeezing each side lightly to make an opening for the CD or books to slide right out, the grip from the card when unpressed keeping the contents inside, essentially.

Modern Digipaks seem to involved more action and general fan-desired content due to their exclusivity, as a Digipak is essentially aimed at dedicated fans, making it's purpose that of collection, enjoyment and investment into the artist as a business, fanbase and to convey that sense of dedication between artist and fan, both ways. The idea behind releasing a Digipak is not only a record of their achievements, but also as a way for fans to have a piece of the journey, and to own an exclusive part of their career. Upon analysis, it's basically a marketing technique where fans are convinced that this particular copy of their work is somewhat exclusive due to the books, artwork, general unconventional aesthetics and small extras included (such as new songs much unheard of, or extra content for the money), in my opinions. I don't fully believe this, but it is definitely an element involved, and to truly dedicated fans, they're sometimes forced/compelled to buy this item to aquire it for their collection despite it including content they may already possess, much like a child purchasing the same action figure due to a new coloured costume that cannot be obtained on it's own, or someone buying an exclusive product despite the higher price just because of it's limited availability (such as the Anchorman 2 Tango cans).

The two digipaks for "KoRn" and Linkin Park" feature very similar elements, possibly due to the shared genre. They have prominently light and dark extremities (tone-wise) opposed to a confliction on tone, colour and hue, as well as featuring colours like grey, red, black and brown, an accent colour present, also.

Notably, the title is quite clearly not always central, but is placed where it best serves it's function; Korn have a theme of black and white photographs used with the digipak (including the small booklet of photographs tucked away in the front cover's sleeve), which are also quite functional for highlighting/distinguishing the text desired to be read and seen, Korn using the title and content list to do their job on the left-hand 3rd of the cover to allow for the image to have a prominent presence, also due to Korn not having any kind of symbol apart from the logo itself meaning that their 'mark' doesn't take up enough room to look good on the cover with the photograph used. On the other hand, Linkin Park use the full cover for their digipak due to a symbol being used often, as well as their absence of any kind of photography, meaning that they can use the full cover with no worry of disrupting anything. The colours used are similar to that of Korn, the background colours being somewhat soft and darker toned than that of the title and logo (the lack of sharp contrast in tone between colours of the palette used making for a soft 'sandy' look, as if old tarnished paper or dirt is a theme to the digipak's contents, whereas Korn may have a story or narrative in mind with their digipak due to the extensive, and promoted, photography), which makes for a pleasing, rough, soft weathered look, suiting the genre. As a last point, they both feature a warning for their content, "parental advisory", which is to safeguard younger people from consuming information that the parents may be unaware of or disapproving of, such as swearing or violent themes.

The back covers are similar to eachother, as well as similar to their front covers; the colour palette being carried across evidently, the text also being the same as before. Linkin Park again features their focus on the centre of the space used, whereas Korn retain their style and place it in a column along the left hand 3rd. Both feature small bits of similar information at the bottom with content regarding the label they're partnered with, distributors etc, as well as a barcode in the upper right corner. 

The compatibility of the Linkin park (LP) Digipak CD(s) is displayed on the side. as well as the slit where the book is held on the front cover. The material is tough yet flexible to ensure that it can be pulled around and retain it's value and form.

The spines of the Digipaks feature these slits for content and booklets, as well as information on the actual Digipak itself, making it easier for customers to find the product in the shelves when stacked alongside eachother, as well as for browsing collections people have for the particular one they want. It also has quite specific information, the symbol/logo being present, and the edition/album/band name all there to show what exact part of the collection it is for easier navigation for purchasing or simply just finding. On top of this, the spine also has an element of nostalgia; people with collections often like to line them all up side by side to display the spines so as to have the satisfaction of a complete collection, the spines being different as the artists evolved and grew yet keeping some of the same qualities, such as the Harry Potter films which featured Harry's portrait getting older with each edition.

Linkin Park have a similar spine to Korn, the band name simply being emboldened to show who the artists are for their fans to locate their music, with the details in that red accent colour. The logo is also present, and acts as a well known and eye catching symbol, which is frequently used in a variety of media forms, including car brand ads, game companies and computer programs.

The spine also obviously has the simple function of allowing for a box-like container when assembled, holding the many contents inside well, and allowing for the 'net' to be folded with some actual depth opposed to an instant fold, making it for too '2D' for any amount of exclusive content, as well as looking like it's bulging and untidy.

The spines will only be roughly 5mm across, the actual squares to make up the body of the digipak being 120x120mm, making the height 120mm and the total length 450mm.

Summary of Music Video Process

Successions

I have constructed a completed music video with the continuity edits I desired, as well as exploring various ways in which edits can be formed towards different meanings. I also managed to manage my time quite well to get the filming done, visiting a few local locations which suited the needs of the filming. I also made use of my camera and the various mounts, and although some clips had to be forgotten due to impracticality and general overall change of the style trying to be captured. I also managed to get a few really nice shots while on my bike, which featured continuity and purpose for time passing, as well as showing a range of camera placements within the restriction of first person view.

Unsuccessful Parts

There were a few setbacks, mainly with editing, whereby menial tasks were undertaken editing-wise which ended up too scruffy or ill fitting, such as the text appearing from the phone. This shot was simply too randomly placed wherever I tried to slot it, and so wasn't very practical towards the continuity of it all, though would provide solidarity and clarity towards the narrative. There was also an issue that I knew would occur, whereby the lighting and quality was affected, for instance a lot of indoor lights giving of a golden hue that 'damaged' the shot and didn't suffice to illuminate certain features, as well as reducing the sharpness. However, despite camera shakiness, pixellation, lighting and shot type restriction, this was in some ways a desired effect, and was expected from a first person camera, as well as budget being a factor that would affect the quality. Shakiness was obviously a feature that would be present with such a style of editing, though also adds the desired sense of realism, as a HD quality video with perfect angles and movement (as if on tracks) involving panning and zooming would not be realistic, though a video with shakiness, movement, no zooming or panning is realistic. Also, I had a slight fall out with one of the desired actors, and so only featured one other character besides myself, though this only affected one plot point and would have taken up a lot of screen time to stay appropriately relevant.

Amendments to be made

The only things that I will have to do, judging by feedback as well as my own analysis, will be to add a small finishing shot on the end to summarise the end result of the story, possibly some calendars being flipped to show time passing with relevance to the ending to let the plot points form an explanation in the viewer's head. I also need to refilm one segment (after he falls over) where not a lot happens and the editing is quite forced, it is unfitting and somewhat time wasting and so will be refilmed and reconsidered. I will also refilm the opening shots, as they're considerably lower quality than intended, as well as not being first person, though I don't mind this in the opening as much, as continuity is only important in this aspect once the POV filming starts.

Digipak Research

The Shape of a Digipak Often Differs