Early Designs for DigiPak

As explained in my blog post below, I've designed the front and back cover of my DigiPak. There may be aspects of it that change as time goes on but certainly this is roughly how I expect it to look when I combine it with the inside cover design:

(The colour scheme is very much the same as the one I'm using for my website. The fonts are also something that is coherent in both products)

Production Process

Over the past couple of weeks I've not been able to chart the progress I've been making on my website and DigiPak. I've not had anything visual to show for my efforts as a lot of it has been planning and experimenting with different designs but I've now made real progress and feel ready to present some of my work.

The website is coming along well and I have a basic shape to all of my pages. There is a coherent style both visually and in terms of written work, which makes it seem professional and precise. There are small things that I can update over the course of the production, like the blog/podcast (to make it seem relevant), but other than that the basic information can remain pretty much the same. I will ask both Scott and Cathy to take a look at it and ask for some feedback on how they would have represented 'Digitized' themselves, and once I'm happy with it I shall post images and a link in a blog post.

My DigiPak is not quite so advanced in terms of it's progression but I have a rough template of how the front and back covers will look. I will post an image of this in a fresh blog entry above this one.

The video itself has entered initial production and as a group we've gone on location and begun filming small parts of it. We're unable to undertake large chunks of filming in one go as timing issues are proving to be a hinderance. We have, however, calculated a rota for filming schedules that we will adhere to after half-term (our first lesson back is Wednesday 7th November) - this not only helps us know when we have to go out and film but also helps us to ascertain a timeframe that we want to complete all filming by. We are reliant on the weather as if rain is too heavy or winds are too strong we can't film - so we are hoping for a bit of kindness from mother nature!

The plan is to upload an unfinished video (halfway through the process) and acquire feedback before posting a finished version on to a specially designed YouTube channel.

Equipment List

These are the list of things we require during our ‘Pogo’ music video filming process:

- Video camera (to be borrowed from Media department at Sixth Form)  - to film the majority of the video. Permission required and granted from Mr Butcher as we need to ensure no other Media students borrow it when we need to use it.

- Mobile phone (My own) – to film certain elements of the video and give the impression the audience are experiencing it with us. Incorporating new media in to our film and using new technologies to enhance the effect it has on those who watch it. No further permission required as it is my mobile phone and I'm happy to use it.

- Tripod (to be borrowed from Media department at Sixth Form)  - to help film some of the video. Permission required and granted from Mr Butcher as, again, we need to ensure we have it booked out to prevent other Media students from using it.

- iMac (in Media department at Sixth Form) – to upload and edit our video. Permission required and granted from Mr Butcher but this shouldn't be a problem as we are given access to them for at least 4 hours a week.

This is all the equipment we need for the filming process and now we have the necessary permission from Mr Butcher, we can take the equipment on-location to begin filming.

Filming Process

Myself, Scott and Cathy are now in a position where we are able to decide when to begin filming, the only thing left to organise is what equipment we will need to use/borrow.

We've developed a lyrical timeline and storyboards so we know exactly what we want to film, it's now just a case of going out and doing it. We need to do night shoots because of the nature of our storyline - drunken guys around town, chasing after a girl etc, which makes it difficult because it means we can't film during our allocated time at school. Having discussed when we are all available to film, we've found that it may be difficult on occasions due to work commitments, so that's something we'll have to finalise. The one contextual factor that could jeopardise our plans to film is adverse weather conditions but obviously that's not something we have any control over. We'd have to overcome these problems if necessary.

We've produced a recce for one of the internal locations - bedroom - and have scouted ideal locations around town to film all our external clips. 

We hope to begin our first round of filming shortly.

Pre-Production Recce

Having decided upon what the video is going to portray, we set about exploring potential locations for filming. Some of the early stages of the video will be set in a bedroom – with one of the lead males – and it will attempt to chart his progression from getting ready for a night out with his mates.

Photos of the bedroom we’re looking at:

We identified this room as a possible location for these shots and were impressed by it’s versatility in terms of the different vantage points it has on offer. The size of the room is small due to the large bed situated in the middle of the room, which makes it difficult to capture any long, establishing shots. However, it does mean we can get intimate in our filming and if this location is used, we’re hoping the fact it’s up in the face of the lead roles that the viewer will feel like they are there too. In reality the Friday/Saturday night party scene is rather physical and personal. As we want to reflect and epitomise suburban life realistically, we need to ensure we capture the essence of a real night out to help our audience engage with what they are viewing.

As you can see by the images sandwiching this paragraph, there are some potential lighting issues we would have to overcome. There are many obstacles in the room and although we specify that the location needs to be messy to represent a typical young guy’s bedroom, it does cause problems for us in regards to filming. Some of the objects have noticeable shadows due to the position of the lights, however, we prefer the idea of having the room as dark as possible when filming, with only a spotlight appearing on the character.

All sound on the video will be non-diegetic due to the song being played over the top, rendering the quality of the acoustics as meaningless.

On reflection, we feel this room could easily be the young male’s bedroom. We will experiment with filming there prior to making a firm decision, although, contextually, I would suggest this is as good a location as we’re going to find.

CD Cover Comparisons

It's not just the filming and website that I have to consider within this project. I also have to create a digipak that remains coherent with the rest of the 'Digitized' package. In this document I have analysed Digitalism's 'Pogo' single cover and explained how I hope Digitized can 'inject' a touch of suburban-ness to our own CD cover.

'Pogo' Storyboards

These are the storyboards for our shoot of 'Pogo'. There are explanations as to what type of camera shot each clip will be and whether it will be in standard colour or black and white. Clearly there will not be any sound effects as the only sound that needs to be dubbed is that of the song itself. There are 27 images altogether.

Lyrical Timeline

Before we can begin processing our ideas on to paper in regards to storyboards, I felt it important to devise a lyrical timeline so we knew exactly what we would be doing at each stage of the song.

Codes And Conventions Of Our Music Video Idea

Pre-Production Survey

I have created a survey that I have issued to a number of people in my year group, keen to find out about their interest in particular types of music. Here is one completed survey;

We designed the survey online through ‘Survey Monkey’ and asked our peers in Sixth Form if they would be willing to fill it out. We didn’t just rely on printing it off and handing it out, we also sent copies online through emails so people could reply interactively with minimal effort. Due to technical problems with our Digitized Facebook page we were unable to upload it on there for our followers to complete, but we contacted them to explain the difficulty and they were willing to complete it by email. Overall we acquired 25 full responses.

This particular example has been filled out by hand by an anonymous student aged between 17/18. The feedback we received was varied which helped us to pinpoint a particular type of style that we’d need to produce to satisfy the demands of our target demographic. We were intrigued by how they usually access and discover new music videos at home, so one of our questions was ‘how do you generally discover and view music videos yourself?’.

Participants in the survey were able to choose more than one from the options available to them. The majority of people listed ‘YouTube’ as their primary source for discovering new music videos, which was what we expected. We planned to create a YouTube channel to share our video prior to the feedback we received as we realised the number of regular users on the website. However, seeing the number of people that also find music videos through Facebook, we felt it was important we uploaded the link to the video on to our page, to inform our followers of it. We also decided we’d do the same by creating a Twitter account for the band and posting the YouTube link on to there too, even though less people would find it according to our survey results. This information is important for us in delivering our music video and making it accessible for all who have access to the internet.

Elsewhere from other questions, we received advice on what sort of story-line we should adopt for the electro-dance genre that our music video comes under. Many people felt that the characters involved (around late teens to early twenties was the expected age range from the majority of our participants) should be seen to enjoying themselves as they would do on a typical Friday/Saturday night. This was a thought of ours too so in tandem with these responses we decided the characters would be seen under the influence of alcohol. Most people felt this was a blueprint for videos in this genre as that was the structure they’d gotten used to seeing from professional videos released in the 21st century. We also tried to acknowledge and implement some of the features that people enjoyed in music videos, e.g ‘party’ atmosphere, but we were unable to cater for everything as it would detract from what we personally wanted to create. Everybody agreed that they would be willing to watch our video once we had completed it, which was encouraging for us before we began producing it.

Song Decision - Digitalism - 'Pogo'

We have now settled upon Digitalism's 'Pogo' as the song we will use to create a music video for and can now begin preparing it. We still have some pre-production work to undertake before filming becomes possible but we are happy to have decided upon 'Pogo' as the track we are going to use.

The official video will offer us an idea of how we can approach it but we have our own ideas that we're hoping to implement. We do, however, intend to use part of Digitalism's name in our own identity. We will create the video under the guise of Digitized. We feel this is a modern name that perfectly reflects the genre of the song.

Our next priority is to obtain audience research.

Group Formation

I have today created a group with Scott Hawkins and Cathy Pearce to create a music video because it has become apparent we have similar ideas of how to approach it. I've stated elsewhere in the blog that I think I'd like to create a video to an electro song, which both Scott and Cathy felt was a good idea.

We have gone through a few YouTube videos to try and find a suitable song but as yet we haven't settled upon one. A leading contender though is a song by German band Digitalism called 'Pogo':

We will continue to look at alternatives but will make a final decision soon. We like 'Pogo' because it is an upbeat tune that would allow us to create a video that reflects optimism in a time of public depression. There are very few lyrics in the song to consider which would mean that if we decide to create a linear video (story-line based) then we could do it from scratch and with any theme we like.

 

Music Website Research

I have begun to look in to existing music websites to enhance my understanding of necessary content. I'm not in a position where I have begun my own website as yet but I'm looking to utilise the media technologies available to me (current websites) online. This will prove beneficial when I do start creating mine.

During the research time I have currently, I am using a variety of methods to distinguish how our media product should look in a professional light. I have looked through many music websites in order to gage what content has to be included in my own website and what parts can be experimented with. Here are some of the websites, from a broad range of genres, that I have studied and found useful:

Hard-Fi Official Website  – The website is clearly laid out and crammed full of informative content. Online audiences would find it easy to explore the website and pinpoint the pages they want to read. Epitomises the nature of the band as it’s ‘out there’ and full of colour.

Digitalism Official Website - As the band are an electro group that attempt to conceal their personalities until they get on stage, their website gives little away in terms of extra information, unlike Hard-Fi. They are a German group and the text on the site is predominantly German, as you’d expect, but it’s still easy to navigate.

Fenech-Soler Official Website - Fenech-Soler are a unique modern band that are surrounded by a shield of obscurity – fans find that it’s hard to define them specifically as a group. They play on this and make their official website reflect their mysterious nature. It’s a non-standard layout and set-up but it works in tandem with their inimitable style, ensuring that online audiences won’t be disappointed (you have to navigate an interactive pyramid on their home screen in order to find links to other pages within the website).

So, content-wise, it has quickly become apparent exactly what sort of things I’d need to include in my website, overlooking the lack of content on Digitalism’s site; a ‘news & blog’ type page, a photo gallery, a music video section, a podcast page and a link to the dates of our ‘tour’. Aside from these basics the rest of the website can be specifically reflective of our band and as I think we will be a dance/electro group, I can initiate a stylish home page with many different colours. I instantly feel that a black background with bright, neon-like colours such as light blue, green and pink would suit a 21st century electro website. Working in combination with that, I will source new fonts and images to create a webpage that is coherent and modern.

Music Video Technical Analysis; Fenech-Soler - Demons

Music Video Technical Analysis; Daft Punk - Digital Love

To begin my study in to music videos I've written two technical analyses on existing videos. This is designed to greaten my awareness of the features of a professional music video which will help me later when creating my own. I've begun with Daft Punk's 'Digital Love' and in my post above I've studied Fenech-Soler's 'Demons'.

Media A2

Welcome to my 'Media A2' blog as I create a music video, accompanying website and album digipak.

This will chart my progress as I begin the development process from the pre-production stage, all the way through to post-production. All of my research and work in to this will feature on here, including the video itself when it is completed.

Today I start planning and devising ideas in to just what sort of video I'd like to create and who I'd like to do it with.