Evaluation Activity 4 - Media Technologies

Evaluation Activity 4

How did you use new media technologies in research and planning, construction and evaluation stages?

Planning & Research - Meryl Cariaga

After we had decided on the London scenes and where to shoot them, we then made a plan on how we would go about and film it. Below shows a screen shot or Google Maps (A web mapping service provided by Google) showing the route of the numerous locations we will be filming in. Access to Google maps meant we needed access to the internet. In using this service meant that the route is planned according to the shortest distance and thus, time would not be wasted as we planned to film the scenes in a logical order.

As you can see our first stop is Tower Bridge, after we will then move onto Nelsons Column (Trafalgar Square) then onto Buckingham Palace and St James’ park, and finally Westminster Bridge (Big Ben). From there we can then make our way home using the underground station. (To view the image clear, simply click onto it)

(To view the image clear, simply click onto it)

Above shows Meryl planning the route of the London scenes using Google maps via the Internet. This greatly contributed towards the final product as it enabled us to follow a route that allowed us to film in the areas coherently.

Construction – Laurence Ewen

This is a photo taken in the construction stage of the production process. In the foreground to the left of the frame, Laurence Ewen can be seen looking at the camcorder screen ready to film a shot. This shot was used in the montage scene of our music video, which showed the protagonist bear positioned in different places in London. It is an over the shoulder shot showing Tower Bridge in the background during sunset with the bear in the foreground. We were able to use the camcorder to zoom and fit the bear in the bottom left of the frame without sight of the hand holding the bear up. This is a shot we were especially proud of and several viewers of the music video mentioned how they found it to be a highlight of the production.

[Photo taken using a digital camera by Alex Brown].

Evaluation – Diranjeet Sohi

“How our Digipak meets conventions- Diranjeet Sohi” blog entry.

This blog entry is part of the evaluating stage. Within the snapshot attached Diranjeet Sohi can be seen constructing the blog entry. This blog entry evaluates the progression form the planning stage to the evaluation stage. The blog site blogger.com was used in order to evaluate just how we constructed Digipaks through the use of technology. As the blog indicates Safari was used on the Apple Mac and we looked into the history and layout/design of Digipak. The use of Safari enabled us to gather information and construct our Digipak using the correct conventions. This evaluation enabled us to review our process of producing a Digipak, which was completed as an ancillary task to accompany our music video.

Evaluation Activity 3 - Audience Feedback / Group discussion

Audience Feedback - Music Video

Audience Feedback - Ancillary Tasks

Group Discussion

Evaluation Activity 2 - Combination of main product and ancillary tasks (Youtube annotations)

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

Main Task: UNKLE - Lonely Soul Music Video

Extension Activity 1: Extension (part two) - Laurence Ewen

Considerations about the conventions used in our album advert were given throughout the process of the design. We used the research we previously found regarding other adverts that had been used for albums, and applied conventions found in these adverts to our design.

Below are annotations detailing the conventions we used.

[Click to enlarge]

The use of conventions in this advert enhance the quality of the piece and make it more attractive for any potential buyers of the album. The conventions have been successful in past professional marketing campaigns, and they work in informing and persuading viewers about the release.

Evaluation Activity 1: Extension (part one) - Diranjeet Sohi

Discuss how your digipak and advertisement use typical conventions of layout.

Digipak

In order to create a digipak for our music video we needed to gather much research on typical digipaks. We looked at mainstream artists such as Eminem and Madonna, and how they incorporated the particular style and genre of the artist. The cover of Madonna's Celebration digipak was quite vibrant whereas Eminem's use of colour was a lot darker in Curtain Call, reflecting them as artists as well as the overall feel of their music.

When designing our digipak we decided to use similar conventions.

For example on our front cover, we included artist iconography to make our digipak as recognisable as possible. The font

of the album title tied into theme of the album itself. This was a common convention within our research. Eminem and Madonna both use ic

onography to play on their popularity and success. Unlike mainstream popular artists such as Madonna and Eminem, we did not use any images of the artist UNKLE, thus subverting the usual conventions we discovered in our research. Instead we used an image of the bear which stars in the music video.

The artwork and colour theme needs to reflect either the mood of the music or genre used by the artist. We established that UNKLE were trip/hop electronica, thus the colour theme had to portray this. The main track, Lonely Soul was quite melancholy. We used dark blue to reflect the genre of electronica and black because the mood was quite dark. This was a typical convention we regularly came across. The particular image used depicted the bear's isolation,

as shown in the video. We used photoshop to give the image a slightly blue tint.

A digipak offers more to the customer. Instead of just a CD, there are compartments with album art and a DVD of the artist's videos/performances. These would most likely be included on the left and right inner slides on either side of the centre tray. In order for our digipak design to appear unified, we kept the colour scheme consistant throughout. The inner images of Eminem's digipak are dark and suggestive of violence and inner conflict which match the themes of his music. Keeping true to

conventions, we used the colour scheme of our front cover.

Using photoshop brushes, we created abstract images to suit the mood of the album. The tray was to be more simple because most of the time, the CD would be covering it.

So there was no use of another image. Some digipaks chose to use images on their CD tray and some didn't. We decided we would just stick to the colour scheme and make the tray black. The tray simply had the artist iconography and album title.

The back panel consisting of the track listing again kept to the colour scheme. We used an image of a brick wall to blend in with the front cover image. On the other hand, we had to darken the image from red bricks to black and define the edges with blue. The font was kept exactly like the font from the front cover to be consistant. Following the convention of putting additional important information at the back, we added a barcode, the label logo as well as a disclaimer. The only information missing was the timing of the tracks.

Finally, the panel beside the back panel contained images of musical instruments.

Like the other images, we added a blue tint so that it didn't look out of place.

Evaluation Activity 1 (part two) - Alex Brown and Laurence Ewen

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real life media products?

Part 2

• Any other techniques used

To move our bear in the video, we had

to use puppeteering techniques to make it look effective. We originally thought about using sticks and strings, but after attempting this, we found it very difficult to move the bear aro

und, and it looked ineffective. Instead, we simply used our hands to move the bear around. This means that the shots look relatively realistic as no visuals of puppeteering equipment can be seen, which could have been an issue had sticks or strings been used.

In the image shown, we wanted to show the bear walking through the car park. To do this, we used our hands and held the legs of the bear, and then simulated walking movements. The camera just cuts out the hands of the person moving the bear.

• Special effects

One of special effects we used was slow motion, which we used when the bear gets kicked through the air. We decided to use this effect here

as it enhances the dramatic effect for the audience and creates suspense, as the audience are unaware of what will happen next. Slow motion was also in the shots where the coin is tossed into the bear's money pot (seen to the right) and when the bear falls off the bus shelter bench.

Another special effect we used was dissolve. This was a useful effect as it enabled us to edit the shots together with fluidity, thereby enhancing the continuity of the scenes. The use of dissolving also makes the viewing of the video more pleasant as shots flow together better. In addition to the dissolve special effect for transitioning between shots, fades to and from black are also included in the video. This is often to represent a change of setting, suggesting the introduction of a new scene. Plus, the effect is used at the end of the video when the bear is looking over a ledge of a multi-story car park contemplating suicide, and this adds in enhancing the sense of ambiguity in the question of the viewer over whether the bear jumps off the building or not.

Blurring was another technique we used several times in the video. In the introductory scene, it works to give the impression that the bear is just waking up and his eyes are adjusting to the surroundings. With the iMovie software, we were able to reduce the opacity of the blur to enhance the perception of the bear's regaining of consciousness (as seen in the image to the left). The effect was used again later in the video as a transition into the bear's daydream. A 'flash

' effect was also used here to make the state change of the scene into a daydream more obvious and to represent an alteration in consciousness for the bear.

• Performance

For our video, we did not include any 'performance'. Our idea had the bear as the protagonist, and having a performance would not suit our idea. Originally we thought of having lip-syncing used in the video, with a passer-by singing the lyrics, but we decided against this as it would not have been appropriate or relevant to our video. Also, as our main character is a soft toy, it would have been impossible to have the character lip-syncing realistically.

• How the video suggests the music genre of the track

In our research, we looked at many videos from the genre which our song was from, such as Massive Attack's 'Teardrop'. All of these videos shared similar conventions. Lighting was relatively dark throughout the videos and they evoked similar sombre emotions. We tried to reflect this in our video, and it's dark atmosphere is evident throughout with the content of the plot (such as when the bear is contemplating suicide in the car park, as seen in the image to the right) and the dark lighting in most of the shots.

• How does your video reflect research done into the style of the artist's other videos.

We also researched many of the music videos by Unkle themselves. One of these videos were for the track, 'Be There' which is also featured on the Psyence Fiction album and is similarly categorised as 'trip hop'. This video, too, included dark lighting, a relatively slow pace and dark colours, like our video. We followed these conventions particularly in the car park scene which shows the bear approaching a ledge in contemplation of suicide. The interior of the

tall car park is seen to be quite run down, dilapidated and isolated, with no presence of other beings in the area, which can be seen in the image to the left.

Evaluation Activity 1 (part one) - Diranjeet Sohi and Meryl Cariaga

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Part 1

• The Style of the Video

Our video subverts many typical conventions of music videos. In this case the style is very unique because instead of a human main character/artist, we used a teddy bear.

We decided not to use a band performance as it was not needed, and does not suit the mood.

• Setting/Location

Our video was shot in many areas in London, especially the central parts. These include: Tower Hill; Tower Bridge; St James' Park; Buckingham Palace; Ilford Town Centre (Car Park); a playground in Buckhurst Hill; a bus stop

in Woodford; and a charity shop in Loughton. With the Tower Bridge filming, we were able to film other landmarks within the background such as: the Gherkin and Tower Bridge. St James' Park we filmed a forest shot which turned into a form of transition. We chose to film the bear in trafalgar sqaure.

The flashback scene which gives insight into the Bear's tragic background, was filmed at the charity shop in Loughton. We specifically picked a shop that wasn't too busy. The shop keeper kindly allowed us to use a shelf and we used some of the shop's products.

One shot which depicted the Bear's miserable existence was the alley way scene. This was filmed outside a house in the back garden where there was a group of bins. We showed the Bear peering into the bin, and then accidentally falling into the rubbish.

At one point in the narrative, the Bear discovers the residence of his previous owner. This was filmed in the living room, and the outside part of the window. We showed his previous owner with another bear, completely forgetting our homeless Bear.

• Costumes and Props

When filming in London, we used two members of our group to walk past the bear. These two people were smartly dressed in suits to blend in with the other Londoners. The area we chose was in the business area of London therefore it made sense. The girl who bought the Bear in the charity shop was dressed as a young, casual shopper. The bag was significant because the Bear fell out, which places the bag and the owner as the reason the Bear is lost now. We specifically used the stuffed toys from the charity shop to depict the isolation the Bear felt because he didn't fit it. They were full of colour and plush, whereas he was dull and tatty.

At the beginning of the video we showed the bear waking up to London on his blanket, with his tin and newspaper. This signifies his loneliness and thus conveying the mood of the song. As someone passes by they fling a 10p coin in the Bear's tin. The bus stop scene consisted of another human character who owned another loved bear. This bear was dressed up which presented the fact that the homeless Bear was unloved and dirty, whereas this bear was well taken care of.

We also used another different bear for the playground scene. This bear was pushed on a swing, but the lonely Bear was not. For the suicide scene the note was written on a dirty piece of paper with a pencil, all manoeuvred by a group member in the guise of the Bear.

Moreover the bird dropping was made using a mixture of yoghurt and mud which was then dropped on the Bear's head. We used montage editing by filming different shots and editing them together to create meaning. For example, one shot filmed the Bear looking up, and other followed bird's flying. The birds were important because they showed how nobody cared for the Bear's wellbeing. Finally, we used a dog to complete a sense of companionship in the house scene.

• Camerawork

At the beginning of the music video, the camerawork is used to show the movement of the bear waking up in the morning to London.

This is because, the camera is on its side showing the bear is lying down, he then sits up. Following this, there is a long shot depicting the bears isolation as there is nothing else surrounding him, just his possessions, and passers walking by.

As a passer walks by, he tosses the 10p coin, at this point we use a close up shot of the tin. with the 10p coin being tossed inside. Also, an over the shoulder shot is used to show the point of view of the bear looking up to the passer tossing the 10p coin, this gives a sense belittlement.

Numerous shots of the bear in the background of london landmarks is used to give the sense that the bear is coming towards the end of his life. We also used many establishing shots to show the bear as the "small fish in the big sea". Below is an example of the bear in the foreground of tower bridge:

To transition between scenes, we used a panning shot of the forest. We did this by tilting the camera upwards, and spinning the camera in a circular motion.

Another type of camera shot which we had used high angle tracking shot of the birds,to show the bear had droppings fall on his head. Within the car park scene, we used another point of view shot of the bear looking down, considering jumping off the top level of the car park.

• Editing

Our music video typically subverts most of the conventions of a music video. Firstly, we did not include lip syncing. Simply because our main character is a teddy bear. Thusly, we could not make the the bear lip sync .

At the beginning of the music video we immediately used editing techniques. Such as a blur to signify that the bear is waking up.

On the other hand, we did edit to the beat, which follows stereotypical conventions of a music video. Here is an example of the song shot of the bear which is shown as the beat of the music occurs.

There are numerous parts of the music video which we had used slow motion, firstly when the passer tosses a 10p coin in the tin, the bear falling out of the bag and falling off the bus bench.

In addition, the flashback scene also uses some editing. This is because, we used another type of blur and flash to show that it is the beginning of the scene and the end.

One of the initial shots was too bright for the scene, therefore to overcome this problem we simply darkened the shot to sit the video.

In order to transition between scenes, we used fades to convey this. We decided to use these particular fades because they were simple, and they did not take away the attention from the narrative. This is unlike the flashback scenes, as here we needed to convey a shift in time.

• Other techniques used

To move our bear in the video, we had

to use puppeteering techniques to make it look effective. We originally thought about using sticks and strings, but after attempting this, we found it very difficult to move the bear around, and it looked ineffective. Instead, we simply used our hands to move the bear around. This means that the shots look relatively realistic as no visuals of puppeteering equipment can be seen, which could have been an issue had sticks or strings been used.

In the image shown, we wanted to show the bear walking through the car park. To do this, we used our hands and held the legs of the bear, and then simulated walking movements. We made sure the puppeteers fingers were out of shot. We found this difficult especially within the car park scene and bus stop scene. This is because within the car park scene we needed to film the bear moving towards his suicide spot. To overcome this problem, the puppeteer needed to hold the bear from the bottom, creating a bobbing effect. At this point the camera needed to cut off the bottom half of the bear from the frame. In addition in the bus stop scene, the puppeteer had limited space to push the bear off the bus bench. In order to push the bear off the bench we used a rod which then allowed the puppeteer to push the bear making it unobvious that another being is pushing him off.

Analysis of our album advert

Numerous decisions were made in the creation of our album advert for the digipak of the selected 'UNKLE' album. One of these factors is the textual content of the advert. It was important to include all the necessary information required to meet the conventions. One of these details is the description of where the digipak can be bought. We decided to enter this information at the bottom of the advert in the section where the background is black. In this area, we informed the stores in which the album is available. Below this, we detailed the UNKLE website which viewers can look into for more information about the release of the album. Of course, in addition to this, we also included the artist name and the title of the album near the top of the poster in large bold text to attract attention.

We researched various fonts using Microsoft Word, testing out various fonts which we thought would fit our album and poster. For the font, we chose a similar font for the Unkle logo to what Unkle have used themselves on their own album artwork. For the text for the album name, we used a more simple font for this, which contrasted from the band name font we used a more simple font for this, which many artists also do. We made sure the fonts for the information (such as the release dates and album formats etc) were clear and bold, to make sure it is clear and readable - we used the Arial font for this.

We chose fonts which were stylish as well as being clear.

The images specifically follow typical conventions of an album advert. In this case we used an image associated to the music video. However it is not an image from the music video. The picture was taken before hand, in order to see whether the bear suited the role as the lonely bear. We decided it did, and thus, used this picture as the album cover. In addition, the use of this particular image will create audience familiarity, as the same character is used within the music video we had created. Moreover we included logos, specifically of the artist, in this case UNKLE.

How we have been creative in the process of making the project - By Meryl Cariaga

At the start of the creation of our project, we admit it was not as creative as we thought it would be. This is because our initial idea of our music video was to use a homeless man. However following audience feedback; after our pitch, we found that we have limited situations to put the homeless man in, thus creating an unexciting music video due to the use of repetitive scenarios. To overcome this situation we simply changed our initial idea of the homeless man, and turned it into a homeless teddy bear. In doing so, we found that we were able to place the teddy bear in numerous situations, therefore creating a more interesting music video, which the audience will become enticed. Below shows all the decided scenes to include within the music video, and how we were able to create creativity:

Firstly, the start of the music video was the first creative scene we had included. This is because, immediately at the start of the video the audience are unaware that the main character is a teddy bear, they would assume that a human being is waking up to the streets of London, However at the drop of the music, a medium close up shot of the teddy bear is shown to show that the main character is the teddy bear. In doing so, will create a surprise reaction in the audience.l

Also within the beginning scene we decided to portray that the teddy bear is homeless, we had done so with the use of props; an old towel, used newspaper, tin to keep money and a sign hanging around his neck “Lonely Soul”. This shows the creativeness as it creates a more preferred mood, that is, disheartening. This is because it shows he is alone, with passers walking by, ignoring the fact that he is a teddy bear and living the streets of London. To enhance the disheartening mood, we made a passer flick a 10 p coin in the tin. The creativity in this is significant, as it shows a close up shot of the tin, whilst the 10p coin is being flung into it. At this point a slow motion effect is being used. Thus, creating more sad feelings for the audience.

Furthermore, we had created creativity in the process of producing the music video by taking the time and effort in filming at many London land marks. This included; Tower Bridge, Gherkin, Trafalgar square, St James Park and Buckingham palace. All these land marks were used as part of the montage scenes. With tower bridge in the background and the bear in the foreground, as for the same as the gherkin. In Trafalgar square he sat alone on nelsons column, at St James Park, he was kicked by a stranger and also bird excretion falling onto the bears head. As you can see the London shots were used to create a lonely feeling for the bear and for the audience to feel sorry in the situations the bear is in.

In addition, a particular scene which shows the creativity in the music video is the flashback scene. This is because to portray that the video goes into a flashback mode we had created a blur effect, at the beginning of the scene and at the end of the scene. For the flashback we had to film, in a shop which will allow us to film inside. We used a charity shop. In this scene the bear is placed on a shelf with other bears, where the other bears are being chosen and bought. However the bear is left alone on the shelf with a sold out sign. This shows the creativity in the production of the music video because we had used quick cuts of other bears being bought. As soon as the bear has been bought, the owner accidentally dropped the bear out of their bag. At this point the bear needed to fall out of the bag easily, but not noticeable that it was done on purpose.

Another particular scene which shows the creativity is the lounge and alleyway scene. In this scene the bear comes up to the window of the house and peeks into the lounge, where its previous owner is watching TV with other bears and with their pet dog. Initially, the pet dog was not part of the plan, however we thought it would create creativity as it will add the effect that the bear is all the more lonely, and that the window creates a barrier, and acts as a metaphor on how no one will love or accept him. During the making of this scene it was not possible for the bear to stand on the window sill, without the help of one holding him up. To overcome this, a puppeteer was needed to assist the bear, without them being shown in the frame.

After shooting the lounge scene, we still had spare time to film any other necessary shots. We found that there was no more shots to be included in the scene, so we created another scene; the alleyway scene. This scene was not included within our planning. However, we thought it was necessary to film another scene to create another situation. In this case, the bear approaches a dust bin, leaps inside, and gets stuck. This was particularly challenging as the alleyway only gave us a limited amount of space in order to film, therefore there were many awkward positions the camera man had to inflict in order to film the bear approaching the bin without the puppeteer being apparent in the frame. This shows the creativity as the alleyway was in the same location as the lounge, therefore we did not need to travel, and we used our time effectively.

Furthermore, the car park scene shows the creativity in our music video. This is because we wanted to film in a car park which seemed derelict and eerie to contribute to the mood of the video, yet in a location where it seems busy. We filmed in the Ilford multi-storey car park. Although this car park had many floors, we used this to our advantage. Firstly, to show the bear approaching his suicide spot, and shots of the bear at the top (suicide spot) looking at the distance. To do this, we filmed at the ground floor of the car park, with the camera tilting upwards, to show how high up the bear is.

The bus stop scene shows our inventiveness, because of the particular situation we had put the bear in. In this case, we got a relative (Alex’s 10 year old cousin) to be part of our video, to play the role as a child playing with another bear, in front of the lonely bear; at a bus stop. We included establishing shots where the young girl sits at a distance from the lonely bear, to show loneliness and jealousy, we was able to portray this also in putting the bear in the foreground and the girl in the background . This scene required puppeteering skills as we needed a shot of the bear sulking; this was a success, as it looks as if the bear itself is moving his own head, without the puppeteer being shown. In addition to this, seeing as the rods and strings were no use, we decided to use the rods that were in the shape of a crucifix, to your advantage. To do this, we used the crucifix, to mounevre the bear off the bus stop seat, to create the effect that the bear is sliding off the bus stop seat. This scene was not filmed in a busy London area; in fact it was filmed locally, to create a busy effect similar to the London scenes. To make this scene feel like it was filmed in a London area, we specifically chose a bus stop where a bus comes frequently, with not so many bus stop users, in order to film the bus in the background.

During the Park scene, was another situation we put the bear in. Here another child is shown swinging another bear whilst the homeless bear sits alone on the next swing. We had used creativeness through camerawork, for example, whilst the child swings the other bear, the lonely soul bear is shown in the background, this is used to reinforce the lonely bears’yu situation, and shows how he wants to be loved and cared for. Another way of reinforcing the fact that the bear is lonely, we used an establishing shot of the park, which at the time was empty. Therefore, we thought to use the emptiness to our advantage. This Is because an empty park in the middle of the forest, conveys a loneliness feeling.

As well as the park scene being filmed within the park, we also filmed the suicide note scene in the same location. It is clear our creativity is shown here because we used two scenes in one to save time. At the time of filming the park scene, we were falling behind schedule, so effectively filmed this scene where it is not obvious it was the park. We found that the suicide note scene was also filmed effectively as we made sure park hints would be visible within the frame. Also, within this scene required skill as we needed to film the bear as if he wrote the note, this was a success, however took a great deal of time to film to prevent the puppeteers hands to be shown.

Typical Conventions of Album Adverts - By Meryl Cariaga

From researching album adverts, it is clear that they all share typical album advert conventions. Most of them contain very little information, such as, the name of the artist, name of the album, date of release, where the album will be available and an image associated with the artist/album. By only including a limited amount of information will engage the audience towards the advert, possibly due to the limited use of eye catching colours used, or the bold text attracting the eye, or even a striking image. Therefore, it is clear that by only showing the “essentials” within the advert, will engage the preferred audience.

In some cases, if the artist is well known and successful, the use of quantitative data will most certainly be used. For example, it may state “5 UK hit singles” in big bold lettering. With the use of quantitative data, will persuade the audience’s tastes and preferences. In addition to the use of this, relevant colours will be portrayed to convey the genre of the artist/album. For example in the Madonna Celebration advert, striking vibrant colours are used to convey a pop/Dance genre, whilst attracting the eye of the preferred audience, such as young teenage girls who like the colour pink. All the colours used will portray the mood of the album. Form taking our own example, the UNKLE, Psyence Fiction advert, it would be wrong to portray a brightly coloured advert, when it is not associated with the artist or the preferred audience and the particular genre, in this case trip hop.

Furthermore, album adverts will always use the logo of the artist. Fore example, the Basement Jaxx “Rooty” album advert, uses their own logo. In using the artists own logo, will attract its particular audience, and create familiarisation in the audience. This is because, in using the logo, audience will know who the artist it is, and know the genre the artist is.

Moreover, the image used will usually be the image of the artist, or an image associated with the album the poster is trying to advertise.

Above is a perfect example of this. Here only images of the relevant artist are shown; this again is to use artist familiarisation towards the audience. In addition, only the essential information is shown, in this case, name of the artist, name of the album, release date, and where it is available. Although quantitative data is not used, “Debut” Album” is used as the persuasive factor of this advertisement. This is because “Debut” states that the album is the beginning of the artist. It is what made the artist famous in a way that the album needs to be published.

UNKLE Psyence Fiction poster (by Laurence Ewen)

This is the final design for our album publicity, which uses and image from the album cover, as well as all the useful information about release dates and what formats the album will be on.

Planning for our Advertisement (by Diranjeet Sohi and Meryl Cariaga)

From research, we gathered codes and conventions of typical album advertisements. We found that, particular colour schemes and themes, will need to be followed in order for the audience to familiarise the product. For example, from within the Basement Jaxx advert example, the use of vibrant colours portray the genre; house. In addition the images used, link with the title, in this case, a gorilla chewing on a root, also convey the "rooty" album name. With the use of stars in the background, root and the gorilla, all give a feel of earthiness. Moreover, the logo/artist name has adapted to the use of colours. Within this example, the colours which portray the house genre is conveyed through this. In the corner of the advertisement, random paintwork is brushed across in the colour pink, however, "Jaxx" has been encrypted on top. This forces the audience to tilt their head to get a better view. This portrays basement Jaxx's quirkiness.

Whilst planning our digi pak and looking at research, we realised we needed to follow the typical colour scheme within our advertisment. In this case, midnight blue abstract. Like other digi paks, we linked the theme of the genre within the digi pak design. When designing our advert we used the same theme used within the digi pak. This is to create audience familiarity, and to not confuse potential audience with other artists.

After we completed our research, Alex drew a design on paper. A photo of this design is shown below:

Lesson Overview 10/01/2011 - Meryl Cariaga

In todays lesson, as a group; we discussed the development of advertisements for the completion of our Digi-Pak. In doing so, we all had our own responsibilities. Firstly, we researched some examples of advertisements both TV based and paper based. In addition to this, we needed to gather the conventions of advertisements in order to plan and finalise our own advertisement for our digi pak. During the research of advertisements, we needed to identify why they are effective and how, by clarifying this, we can then use the typical conventions and include them in our own digi pak.

Towards the end of the lesson, we began planning the development of the advert for the digi pak.

Album advert research: Massive Attack - Heligoland (by Laurence Ewen)

For the poster of the Massive Attack album, 'Heligoland', the designer(s) decided to follow the popular advertisement convention of expanding the artwork of the artist album to fit the dimensions of the poster. Darkness is contrasted with bright colours on the artwork to highlight the varied themes in the album. It is also quite abstract to reinforce the creativity apparent in the music.

Album advert research: Gorillaz - Plastic Beach (by Alex Brown)

This advert is promoting the album 'Plastic Beach' by Gorillaz. It is quite a simple advert, simply using the artwork from the front cover of the album, but at the bottom has information about the album release. It think it is quite effective, as the artwork is quite eyecatching and unique, and as it is the same as the cd cover, it will help consumers recognise the product in the shops or on the internet.

The advert does not need that much information, as it is aimed at Gorillaz fans who don't require any extra information, and will recognise the product instantly.

Advert advert research: 'Rooty' by Basement Jaxx (By Alex Brown)

After researching various album adverts, we thought the album for the Basement Jaxx album 'Rooty' is a good example. It uses a good variety of colours, as well as using an eye-catching and peculiar image. The colours and peculiar images are typical for publicity of this genre (the house/electronic etc genres).

The text for the band name is very prominent, so can easily catch the eye of potential customers, as well as being familiar to existing fans, as the font for the band name is similar to the fonts on their other album covers and publicity.

The poster also has information about what formats the album will be released on and on what date. The poster also advertises a date for their next live gig.

Completed Digipak

(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Using Photoshop, we created a digipak for the album in which our song used in the music video is from. Shown above is the final piece we created.

We searched the internet for measurements of a digipak, so our finished piece could be accurate. We placed this in the background of Photoshop so we could use it while designing our digipak. We have also used a colour scheme of blue and black, which we felt went well with the feel of the song we selected, which is fairly slow paced and dark, and this was possible by use of the filter, brightness and contrast tools in Photohop.

For the front cover, we used a photo taken on a camera of the bear feeling lonely. We used a blue filter with a relatively low contrast to make the picture fit in with the other pages and burn and brush tools were used to border the image to enhance the smooth transitions of the different pages.

The back page was based around an edited photo taken of a black brick wall. We were influenced by The Prodigy's album, 'Invaders Must Die' and Michael Jackson's 'Off The Wall' for this idea, however we made sure to remain creative in its completion. To make it so the wall didn't conflict with the ability to read the tracklisting, we used the brush tool to blacken any parts of the picture where the text was close. At the bottom of the page we included necessary conventions such as the record label logo, the barcode and the text explaining the copyright protection.

For the fold-out page, we used the photos Laurence took of his studio instruments and included them in a picture showing pictures of a turntable, a microphone, a guitar and a keyboard which are all common instruments used in Unkle's album.

For the inner section of the digipak, we used the abstract art which Laurence had created on Photoshop previously, and without a high level of alteration, resized it to match the dimensions required for the digipak. We also included a picture of a disc to show where the CD would be situated in the digipak, and entered text onto it in the same font as was used for the front page.

Left Inner page:

Center inner page:

Right inner page:

Advertisement Research by Diranjeet Sohi and Meryl Cariaga

We looked at an advert for Michael Jackson's latest album which had been presented often on TV.

The advert opens with his first name in glitter. This is significant in two ways, the first being the use of his first name only. This highlights his status as a megastar, people do not need to see his full name to necessarily recognise him. Secondly, the sparkly background and diamond type font links to him being "pop royalty". This is accompanied by the first single released which plays while images and clips of his previous album arts and performances are pasted together, thus it is a reflection of his life. In addition are clips of his dancing in the background. The voiceover is only used at the end to announce his album release. The advert includes an animated image of a gold crown being placed on his head. This advertisement is successfully playing on Jackson's King of Pop status as well as his death, through the use of old music video clips.

Here are a range of clips of adverts announcing the release of Madonna's album Celebration.

The advert begins with the first single release playing in the background, and includes Madonna's dancing from the actual music video with the album artwork in the background. This is followed by the actual album artwork in full view. The promotion follows a comic book graphic theme which suggests Madonna has made history and is 'celebrating' it. The sole image is of her face, with her iconic blond hair and beauty spot which cleverly resembles Marilyn Monroe. This is the image most fans would associate with Madonna.

The next clip shows a football team clapping along to "Like a Prayer". They then go onto the football pitch, followed by the slogan "everyone's mad on her". The next clip shows a group of girls dressed up in what is considered iconic Madonna wear. They dance to "Get Into the Groove" again followed by the slogan "everyone's mad on her". The method of using five different adverts shows the extent of Madonna's popularity. It is also a way of force-feeding viewers with the content. It also emphasises the range of Madonna fans.

Work at home in preparation for digipak design (By Laurence Ewen)

On Sunday 12th December, I decided to work at home on our digipak for Unkle's album, 'Psyence Fiction' in preparation for the next media lesson when we would be using a computer as a group to complete the design template.

In the plans for our digipak, we planned on having a picture of various instruments in a studio on one of the pages. Because I produce music, I already had some studio equipment available in one of the rooms of my house. As a result, I was able to take pictures of my MIDI keyboard, my turntables, my guitar and my microphone to use as pictures on the page in the digipak. I waited until it was dark to do this so I could use flash on the camera and enhance the shadowy atmosphere of the imagery.

I also have Adobe Photoshop, which we would also be using at school. I have had previous experience in using this software, including for Media coursework in GCSE, so many of the features were not unknown to me. There is a tool known as 'brushes' on Photoshop, and in this folder, it is possible to import images and art which you can 'brush' over your project in your preferred colour, size and position. Fortunately I already had some brushes which I had legally downloaded previously, and I manipulated them into ways which would be appealing and applicable for the inside pages of the digipak. The tone of the digipak design and the conventions of the album were considered throughout this process which took many hours to complete, and I was able to take this work, as well as the shots of the studio instruments to class the next day after saving everything onto a flash drive.

Below are some work in progress pictures which show my work on inner pages of the digipak design in chronological order:

Digipak template (visual) by Laurence Ewen

After completing a template for our digipak, with written descriptions on each page describing the content which would be applicable, we created a more visual template which we could fold

into shape and refer to when using Photoshop.

One aspect that we deemed quite

important is that the sides of the

pages are faded out to black. This is especially appropriate for the front cover which has a picture of the protagonist bear from our music video sitting on a dirty street pavement next to a brick wall. The effect symbolises the bear's seclusion from the rest of society, and he has no escape from his current life position where he is always ignored and rejected. The state of his surroundings assist in emphasising this as it suggests that he is homeless like in the music video, and it establishes quite a melancholy atmosphere for the viewer to go with the similarly 'dark' toned music.

Lesson Overview 13/12/10 - By Meryl Cariaga

In today's lesson each responsibility of the group members were divided. Overall, we had finalised the design of the digi pak and started to create the actual digi pak, using Photoshop. During the creation of the digi pak, we concluded on what images to use within the inside and outside panels. The centre panel inside, will be the tray, where the CD will be contained, with only a black background, framing the CD, is the abstract art consisting of black and blue streaks. The extra panel, which folds inside are the images of the equipment which would normally be used in the creation of the music, for example, a microphone, turntables, a guitar. Of course all images are taken at an angle to give a professional hint, then using photo shop, the images are given a black and blue hint to add to the consistency of the theme being used. On the front cover, is an image of the bear sitting alone in front of a brick wall. We then used photo shop to edit the colours, in this case, black on the outside framing the photo, and a hint of dark blue on the picture. As you can see, the theme we hae decided to use within the digi pak, portrays the particular genre, and sets the mood.

To follow, the conventions of a digi pak, we included the name of the artist, in this case the logo of UNKLE. We used this logo, for artist identity. This means that the same logo is used on other albums published by the artist, which is used to establish the artist as a recogniseable band and creating familiarity with its audience.This means that fans who already own an album of UNKLEs’ will automatically be drawn as the logo has become recogniseable.

How our Digipak meets conventions- Diranjeet Sohi

When designing a Digipak we had to ensure that we designed around the typical conventions. It was essential that our Digipak appeared like a Digipak, otherwise it would just be an ordinary, uninteresting CD case. The Digipak is supposed to offer more to the customer.

After our research into conventions in our lesson, we had them in mind while brainstorming ideas. The conventions caused us to consider the marketing aspects. For example, we decided to use Unkle's iconography to appeal to the audience's eye. It would be the first thing audiences would pick up on, as they are associated with this logo. We also had to decide on a colour scheme. It had to be consistant, as well as suiting the genre of music. The genre of the whole album Pysence Fiction, is trip hop, so bubble-gum pink was already cancelled out. Red and blue together would appear too childish or christmas-themed. We decided based on the mood and genre of the album, to go with black and electric blue. Trip hop is described as downtempo electronic music, therefore our colour scheme is appropriate.

Based on our research into The Prodigy's Digipak "Prodigy present The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One", we agreed on the idea of using images of music production equipment. Furthermore, we decided to use particular shots taken out of our music video footage, as well as one photo of the bear taken prior filming. The mood of the screenshots is linked to the mood conveyed by our colour scheme. The screenshots really convey a sense of feeling blue and isolated. However, we would have to modify the background colours to match it to the black/blue colour scheme. This would be done using Adobe Photoshop on the Mac. The images would have a blue tint to them, as well as blurred black edges.

Reviews are not going to be used on our Digipak, because Unkle itself is a niche artist, their music is not contemporary thus they are less likely to have professional reviews. Plus, the Prodigy album we were using as research, lacked any reviews. The example on getaheadocrmedia.blogspot.com was quite the contrary. They included reviews and where to buy it. We felt this would not fit in with our design. Moreover, much like the Prodigy's album, our lyric list will be on the back panel.

Lesson Overview 8/12/10 by Alex Brown

On Tuesday's Lesson we began designing the digipak. First of all was a class discussion, where we discussed the different conventions of a digipak, so we had an idea on what to do. We then went into our groups and started designing. We used the internet to find examples of other digipaks, as well as using some of the examples provided by Mr Compton. Laurence also provided the digipak for The Prodigy's 'The Dirtchamber', which we were also influenced by.

Meryl had posted on the blog the dimensions used in digipaks, which we used to create a paper plan on A3 paper. On the A3 paper, we drew 6 separate boxes which represent the 6 sides of a digipak.

We managed to roughly decide how we were going to design each side of the digipak.

For the front cover, we decided to use a picture of the bear sitting by a wall, along with the artist name and album name. For the back cover, we decided to use a picture of a brick wall, which is where the track

listing (in white font colour) will go. For the extra panel, we decided to use macro images of instruments (i.e. guitar, turntables, keyboards), which were provided by Laurence. For the left and right inside panels, we will be using black and blue abstract colours, and for the CD Tray we think we should us

e a still image from our video. We looked for fonts to use, and as a group we voted on which font to use, which we decided to be 'Letter Gothic Std'. We also decided the colour theme for our digipak. We decided with the black and blue colour scheme, which will be used in the images as well.

Lesson Overview 7/12/10- Diranjeet Sohi

During this lesson, we were given the task to research Digipaks. As a group, we divided our duties.

Firstly we had to go into the history behind Digipaks, and their origins. We then looked at blogposts which gave lists of Digipak conventions, as well as detailed discussions of typical traits we might find with a Digipak. Some include: artist iconography, song listings and reviews as powerful promotional tools. We also looked at some examples. This research was vital as we will design our own Digipaks. It is crucial that we use this research to focus on the marketing aspects of the Digipak.

In addition, we emailed the record label to ask permission to use their song without breaking Copywrite laws. We discovered that the record label no longer existed, therefore we emailed the artist.

Dimensions of a Digi Pak - By Meryl Cariaga

As part of the planning stage in the creation of the digi pak, we needed to research the dimensions of the digi pak, in order to create an accurate and correct finalised digi pak.
As mentioned previously, within the conventions of a digi pak, they usually consist of 6 panels. From research i have obtained, i was able to find the dimensions a typical 6 panel digi pak would have.

Just click onto the image to view a larger size.