Ancillary task - Digipak plan

When sitting down and looking through the digipak's which I researched into,  as well as looking into pieces of art which I liked, I was inspired to take a more artistic approach on my digipak.  This lead to me drawing out a Digipak design.  I designed the CD itself, the front and back cover and the title.  Although I did like the shots from the video itself and thought they were powerful enough to be used for the digipak, I think they lacked individuality. I also wanted the digipak to have meaning, like a piece of art, meaning which each person could read as different.  The one thing I did think was a negative to this design is that it is quite complicated.  This could mean that it could take to long to complete or too complicated to create.  The design I drew out is to the left.



The CD design which I came up with was broken up pieces of the male and females facial features.  The pieces should make up a whole face on the front of the CD.   This is representative of the fact that the male breaks the woman, through being so controlling.  It also shows that they are in love through the fact they make up a face.  It is commonly said that your partner/ the person you are in a relationship is your other half.  Therefore, the fact that they are making up a face shows that they are the two halves making a whole.  I think that this design could be in black and white to show the vintage style I have gone for throughout the music video.

The front of the digipak shows a photograph at the bottom of the design.  This photograph is of the couple in a car.  To take this picture I intend to use my Grandad's vintage MG.  This will enhance and match my vintage genre.  The male is driving the car as he is in control.  This is representative of how controlling the man is throughout the video, when being with the woman.  Higher up in the design I would like to be a layered, transparent collage of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Palm trees etc., along with a vintage video game themed layer and some layered drugs.  On tip of all of this will be the title of the song 'Video Games'.  This will be placed in the centre of a VHS recording structure.  This will show that all of it is on camera; in the public eye.

The back of the digipak is very similar to the front in that it still has the layered background, however it has the back of the car.  This is representative of the end.  The idea behind the layering of the background is that the couple are driving into something which appears attractive and glamorous, however that's not how it really is.  The fact that the man is driving shows that he is the one taking their relationship into the drugs and into the spotlight.  The layers also represent that there is more to what meets the eye, like their relationship; everything seems perfect, but underneath its not at all.  I will apply filters and effects to the digipak to make it look vintage, so that it will continue to fit my genre.

The idea behind the title came from my opening titles in the music video.  The way that I present the song title in my video, follows the VHS effect that I have used in this.  How the title 'Video Games' links to my video itself is through the idea that the male is playing games with the female.  The VHS effect around the title shows that the entirety of these games where being filmed, there were people watching and what happened to the girl could have been prevented.  This is because the couple are in the public eye as they are so famous.  This is what I was trying to capture in the approach I took with the title.

Ancillary task - Change to Digipak plan

Originally I had no intention of going out to take pictures for my Digipak, however after sitting down and planning my digipak by drawing it, I have decided that I am no longer going to use the shots from my video.  Although I think that the shots show the narrative and represent the video well, I did't think it was very challenging.  Therefore, I have decided to go and take photographs for my digipak which I have already planned on paper.  I will post photographs of this plan in a later post.

Ancillary task planning - Digipak - taking images

Taking images for digipak

Once deciding that I no longer wanted to use images from my music video, it meant that I needed to go and take more pictures.  I went to Bishops Itchington to take these pictures,  as my grandparents have a vintage mg which was perfect for the images I wanted to get.

When I planned the digipak, it involved pictures being taking of the couple inside of the car as well as picture of the back of the car.  To take the first pictures of use in the car, I used a timer on the camera and placed it on a tripod, positioned so that it would take a picture of us in the car.  

the second lot of images, I took of the back of the car for the back of the car.  These are photographs which I took.  The two pictures show the couple driving into the chaos. 

Ancillary task - Choosing images

When looking into what images to use on my digipak, I firstly intending to go out and take photographs however, when looking through my video, I think that the shots I already have strongly sell the video.  What I wanted from the images used on my digipak is the innocence of the girl to be clear, as well as the males influence.  I want there to be mystery in the image; there's something more going on.  I intend to use these images roughly to mess around with ideas for my ancillary.  Once I have more of a clear idea on what image to use, I will use photoshop to ensure the image is clear and good quality.

The first image that I am considering to use for my digipak, is the one of the female sat on the bed, holding eye contact with the camera.  The  reason I think that this would be a good image for the front of my digipak is because of how innocent the girl is portrayed.  She appears as though she needs help.

The second picture which I wanted to use is the high angled shot of the couple on the bed.  The male has strong eye contact with the camera, which shows his power.  The woman just stares at the man, which shows her obsession with him.  This image is another contender for the front of the digipak.


I also think that this picture is a very strong image, which could be used for the front cover of the digipak as I find it quite powerful.  The strong light behind them highlights their outline.  This shows a clear image of them kissing and signifies a love.  However, the dark colouring of the shot in comparison to the light shows that there is mystery in the relationship.

The final shot I liked for the digipak is this one to the right.  It is of the males mouth breathing out smoke.  I chose this one as it is one of the other shots which can subtly reference the drug use.  I also like that it is a light on the mouth and area of smoke, against the dark background.

Ancillary task - Advertisement conventions

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Ancllary task - Advertisement research

 Mumford and Sons is a group which isn't exactly in the same genre as the song for my music video.  However, the advertisement which they have created for their album is of a style which I am found of.  The band is still in an indie genre, however doesn't fit the vintage style.

• The advertisement looks homemade with the 4 photographs looking taped to the paper.  The tape is dark and slightly see through.
• The text on the advertisement is at the top and bottom.  At the top of the paper, the bands name is there, as well as the album name just below.  At the bottom of the advertisement, there is quotes or slogans from the band.
• The colouring of the advertisement is in contrast.  The images taped on the paper are in very light, and in colours which are summer like.  This contrasts with the dark border and coloring of the background.   

Ancillary research - Digipak artist research

To further my knowledge of digipaks in my genre.  I looked at other artist's digipaks from this genre.  This was so that I could get a general idea about the layout of digipaks for this genre.  This will be useful as I will be able to use the format and design of other artists can influence my digipak.  By noticing the similarities in Indie digipaks, It will ensure that mine fits the genre.
The digipak which I have decided to analyse is Lana Del Rey's album titled 'Ultraviolence'.  Lana Del Rey is an American indie singer, who has influenced a lot of my project.  Ultraviolence was released 13th of June 2014.  The songs on the album are very classic songs of Lana's; some of her first released.
I chose to analyse this album firstly because it fitting in with my genre and holds many of the aspects which a 'vintage' indie digipak holds.  Lana Del Rey is also the artist of the song I chose to use for my music video and therefore it'd be useful to look at some of her other stuff.
Analysis -
The front of the digipak has a clear image of Lana entering a car.  She stands staring directly at the camera, making eye contact with the audience.  The writing, reading her name is overlapped by the image of her.  The name of the album 'ultraviolence', is at the bottom of the cover and laps over the image; it is very prominent.  The whole image is in black and white.  This sets a colour scheme of white, black and grey.  The cover is very simplistic, in that there isn't much on it.  This is attractive as some covers can be over complicated, so it makes this one stand out.
The colors make it minimal and follow the simplistic.  This could be done to create a focus on the music as opposed to anything else.  The clothing of  Lana in the photograph is also very minimal; a white T-shirt.
When looking inside of the digipak, the conventions of the simplistic outside is defeated as there is a use of colour.  The actually CD art is a close up picture of some flowers.  These flowers are in very bright colours; pink, blue and off white.  This is the section of the digipak which holds the most colour.  The inside booklet is also very colourful in comparison to the outside of the digipak.
The booklet holds an image of Lana lying on the a bed of flowers.  These flowers are the same ones as on the CD, however not as colourful.
The idea of colour against black and white colour could be used to make a bigger impact. It is a digipak which stands out in the genre of music.

Ancillary research - Advertisement research

Lana Del Ray is an American singer who has highly influenced my music video.  'Video games' is one of her songs.  I thought that it'd be good to research into her work, considering how highly influential she has been to my own.  I have previously researched into her digipak for her album 'Ultraviolence' and am now looking into the advertisement for her newest album 'Born to Die'.

• The main image of the advert is highly simplistic and the advert itself isn't over complicated with unnecessary information.  This gets straight to the point and is easy to understand 
• The image on the advertisement is very similar to that on the digipak.  This makes it easy for the audience to identify either when looking for them.
• Across the top of the advert says 'Lana Del Rey', this grabs the audiences attention straight away and tells them who the adevrt is about.  This is also complimented with the image of Lana covering the majority of the page. 
• At the bottom of the advert shows the CD pre release and when fans are able to purchase it. 
• The advertisement doesn't hold a lot of information, however this could be because Lana is a very well known artists, who is very popular.
• Like the style of my music video, Lana carries a vintage theme in all of her work, including this poster. 

Ancillary research - Digipak artist research

A digipak which is from a closely related genre to my own is the Two Door Cinema Club digipak for their album.

I really like the was that this digipak has been approached.  The band have used a cat as their image which I think is very unusual.  By doing it grabs the audiences attention as it something which hasn't really been done before.  Something which I would like to use in my ow digipak is the use of unusual images as I think its something which I think makes a huge impact.  I also like how the colouring has been edited to almost look supernatural.  This makes the eyes pop.   

Ancillary research - Digipak