Drafting & Planning: New footage.

Although I like my first music video draft, some parts needed to be improved. One part was 'Champs Elysees', as the video that went with the lyric was irrelevant. To improve this, I have taken some new footage:

I chose to use a cigarette to link to the French avenue, to use the stereotype of a single main character smoking a cigarette in French films. I used a space in a computer classroom in my sixth form, as I still wanted an aspect of technology to remain in the background.

I feel as though the plain white of the walls contrasts well with the stereotypes about Paris and love, as mentions of Paris bring up the idea of natural romance, yet my video is about the darker side of romantic attraction.

Research into similar products & Drafting and Planning of the magazine advert:

Research into similar products:

I decided to look into many different genres of music magazine adverts to evaluate whether alternative / indie rock albums have different conventions. I have found that the conventions remain very similar, even in sou music advertisements.

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I decided to compare it to the CD that goes with this advert, to see whether it is holistic, or different. This is the enlarged version of the CD cover featured on the advertisement:

This CD has similar colour tones as its advert, with a red-white block colour, which fades into a very soft pink colour in the advert. The image in the back of the advert is the pink-tinted version of the clear image on the CD cover. I really like this effect as it gives synergy to the advertisement campaign while still easily catching a magazine reader's attention.

2:

This advert is similar to the above and below adverts as it also features a weblink. As well as this, the colour scheme is exactly the same as the album cover, along with the unusual use of large amounts of text. This advert also features ratings and an 'out now' which replaces the 'The Vaccines' release date.

3:

Similarly to the adverts above, this advert has the exact same colour tones as the CD cover. As well as this, like the 'The Vaccines' advert, a smaller version of the CD features on the advertisement, as well as many ratings and a web link.

Drafting & Planning:

I have developed  a draft advert out of combined elements of the similar products which were analysed above:

Drafting & Planning: Digipak photoshoot results.

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I will use either 2 or 5 in my digipak tray. If possible, I will add both, with the plain ashtray at the bottom of the tray and the ashtray with the fake cigarette as the disk, so as a fan you will be placing the cigarette into the tray.

Organisation: Digipak photo plan.

Firstly, as I have chosen the top shot of the ashtray to be my CD base, I will take photos of the fake cigarette's I purchased in the ashtray. The photos will then later be manipulated, such as blurring the image or setting it to grey scale.

Secondly, although I like the vodka bottle in-tray, this will be too repetitive, as I have also chosen a vodka bottle to feature on the back cover of the CD. I currently have not decided on what my in-tray will be like, although I have considered a block colour, such as grey or black, similarly to the in-tray of Arctic Monkeys AM album.


My photography will take place on the 22nd of February, and should be complete by the 23rd.

Drafting & planning: Digipaks drafts 2

Drafting & Planning: Digipak drafts 1

Research into similar products: Digi pak trays

The Pale Emperor:

The Pale Emperor is  rare example of an alternative / indie CD disk in which there is a character as the main image. However, this still conforms to the conventions of alt rock CDs as the character in the main image is still not using direct mode of address.

This differs largely to more mainstream CD disks such as products by Nicki Minaj, in which the contact between the artist and the audience is very direct:

 Meds:

This CD by Placebo is normal for the band, as many of their CD disks have been extremely plain and minimalist:

However, the track "Too Many Friends" is from a CD disk that is much more explosive in colour:

Although it retains all of the record label details, the design is much more innovative than their previous CDs.

Rosenrot (Rose-Red in English)

For bands such as Rammstein, edgy, ambiguous designs are the norm:

The disks from Rammstein differ from Placebo as despite the metallic appeals, the CDs are still quite plain in colour and leave much to the imagination,

Transit of Venus:

Similarly to the Foo Fighters Wasting Light disk (below), Three Days Grace's transit of venus disk continues Placebo's pattern of minimalism. The disk is holistic with the front and back cover of Transit of Venus as the red-orange hue remains. It also has the convention of aspects of alternative rock products having hidden meanings. For example, the transit of venus is in the shape of a CD:

Wasting Light:

Although the disk appears quite plain at first, it is one of the only alternative rock CD disks I have found that feature an instrument that a band member plays. Using props is usually put aside for the front covers of alt rock CDs.

Research Conclusion:

I like the minimalism of the Placebo CDs, as they conform to the conventions of having (few or) no characters in the main image. However, I also like the subtle use of props from the Foo Fighters disk, so I plan to incorporate both of these into my draft.

Drafting & planning: First full draft of music video.

For a clearer version:

Target Audience: Which album title is best for an alternative rock album?

Now I have taken photos for my front cover, I decided to conduct a poll on twitter to make a final decision on my album title. I made the decision to ask my target audience instead of deciding on my own in order to ensure I was reaching the audiences adequately.

Text:

33% Preserve

33% Self Medication

34% Anesthetic 

The results were very close, but Anesthetic won, meaning this is the title I will use for my CD. I am glad that my target audience chose this title, as it was also my personal favorite. This title fits in with the idea of numbing your emotions with alcohol and nicotine, which is a theme that runs through the album and album art.

Organisation: CD front Photo Results

Front Cover images:

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Conclusion:

I am going to use number 5 for my front cover image, as it gives the best angle to my face and the placing of my hand makes the photo very naturalistic.

Organisation - CD cover photoshoot plan.

Now that my target audience have picked the very best drafts, I now need to organise my photoshoot.

The first image, which is the front cover will need to be photographed at a later date as I have purchased a cigarette prop from Ebay, as I am a non smoker, and a cigarette that isn't actually burning allows me to take as much time as I need to get the best shots.

This shot will be photographed when the order arrives, in the grass area of my sixth form.

The second image, the back cover, will be photographed in my own home on the 6th of February, and uploaded on the 7th of February.

Target Audience: Which of these two drafts is more suited to the track 'Too Many Friends' - Facebook

Now that my audience from Tumblr and my audience from Twitter have picked their favourite front cover and back cover from both the 1st and 2nd set of drafts, I used Facebook to ask a wider audience which cover is more suited to Too Many Friends. This will ensure that not only will my cover look realistic and attract my audience, but it will also be holistic with my music video.

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Results:

(On both Google Chrome and Internet Explorer the text was bad quality, so I have typed out the responses in case they are unclear.)

Text - I prefer the set with the vodka bottle and the woman smoking as it fits well with your chosen track and is more consistent with the whole album set too!

Text - I prefer the one covering her ear and the vodka bottle as it fits with the song and shares the struggle the person is having.

Test - The set with the cigarette and ashtray, think a longer shot looks better for the front.

Conclusion: 

Out of the best drafts, my target audience has decided that they prefer the conventions-focused cover (set 2) rather than the track-focused cover (set 1).