Research and Planning: Fonts for my Digipak

 

I have chosen a few fonts from the website 'Da Font' to use for my digipak. Da Font has hundreds of fonts and themes to choose from, but I chose these as I thought they suited my genre best. The 'Birth of a Hero' font is unsuitable for my digipak as it resembles a rock/metal genre more than it does an indie/alternative. The 'Moon Flower' font I likes as it was simple with a little style to it. However, I'm not sure yet as to whether it may appear to feminine. The font beneath the previous two may be a bit too fancy for the front cover. It may be hard for the audience to read what the textual information says. Also if the digipak is on a music stand or shelf of some kind, you'd want to be able to read it instantaneously, rather than having to glance back more than once.

 

Two of my favourites are the 'Edmundsbury' and the 'Impact Level' fonts as they are bold and clearly readable. They are relatively simple, but I believe that fits in more with my chosen genre. Also the font will need to represent my target age group; therefore, I think these two are appropriate. The 'Alphabits' font may not target my audience due to the higher age range and the genre of the music. The audience would expect a down-to-earth, more naturalistic approach, rather than focusing too much on the styling (like in pop music).

 

I think I will use the 'Impact Level' font for the main title and the 'Edmundsbury' font for the track listing on the back of my digipak.

Research and Planning: Colour Palette for my Digipak

I have decided to use a range of neutral colours in my colour scheme ideas as the song/artist will appeal to both male and female audiences. I have chosen to use an array of red and orange palettes as the colours both connote a sense of warmth, love and comfort. I thought that this would be fitting with our chosen song for the music video 'comfort you'. Hopefully the colour would illustrate the title and lyrics of the song. However, I think the all red palettes may appear quite dull and could possibly merge into one. I'd rather use the reds with a contrasting colour in order to make the textual information stick out and be bold. The blue palettes may not be suitable for my digipak as blue is a colder colour which doesn't really fit in with the main song on the album.

 

After researching other CDs and Digipaks of artists who are of a similar genre to mine, I have decided to choose a colour palette of just one or two colours, rather than three of four. For example, Ed Sheeran's album uses orange, whereas Ben Howard's majority colour is blue. I will also need to make sure that the colours resemble the colours within the digipak front cover photo in order to ensure consistency within the digipak. The palette in the left hand corner, is too wishy-washy for what I want to create - I need stronger colours that will make my text stand out and will fit in with my chosen image.

Here is an example of Ben Howard's album. The album cover has only used two main colours, which are blue and white. However, the blue colour palette does incorporate different shades.  

 

Ed Sheeran mainly uses just orange and black for the album title. There is a small white cross in the right hand corner.

Progress Update

I have finished the research and planning task on print adverts and digipaks. I have analysed three of each by using different technologies; such as: webcam, PowerPoint and blog post. We also managed to finish filming the performance section of our music video, all we need to do now is fill the performance section around the narrative and make sure we edit it to at least 30fps. We still need to gather feedback on our rough cut; however, we are having trouble finding people who fit our target audience.

Analysis of Abba Digipak

Analysis of John Butler's Trio Album

The digipak features three CDs and a couple of leaflets, it opens up  into three segments, which each feature one of the three CDs.

 

 

The colour of the digipak is black which is quite unusual for an indie/alternative genre. Black connotes power, edge and darkness which would stereotypically be associated with a rock or heavy metal genre. Black is the majority colour on the digipak - the fact that it is a block colour is quite redundant as the audience wouldn't be shocked by it; it's what they would expect. The three arrows symbolise the name 'Trio', therefore, that also makes the digipak quite redundant as the feature is predictable. The other colours used are red and white which create a juxtaposition with the black. Red connotes danger and fire, which gives the digipak and album feeling an edge.

 

The trio are featured on the left hand side in black and white. The use of black and white is quite an entropic feature as you would expect most images of artist's to be illustrated in colour. The central man is larger than the other two which suggests that he is more important as he is the lead singer.

 

The digipak features the track listing on the back which is also a redundant feature as it is a common feature among albums and digipaks. The lion on the front cover is quite entropic as the audience may not have expected to see it. Lions are viewed as the 'Kings of the Jungle' which suggests that's what they want for their brand identity and star quality. However, it is also entropic that the artist's are not featured on the front of the digipak. This could suggest that they are more interested in their music, rather than their brand identity - which is a common feature within this genre.

The digipak features different coloured discs, which is entropic as most CDs would have the same design with the feature of 'Disc 1, Disc 2' etc. It also features a leaflet for the audience.

Analysis of Florence and the Machine Print Advert

 

Time Management: Update

Unfortunately filming didn't happen on Monday evening as some of the group couldn't make it. However, we have re booked it for Thursday night between 5.30 - 8. We will make sure to use all the time to ensure that we are able to capture enough footage needed for our performance section. The filming will definitely happen as this will be our last chance. 

Research and Planning: Print Advert 2

The images of the artist's challenge most genres as the artist doesn't immediately catch the audience's eye. They have also been placed at the bottom of the advert which suggests the album is more important than the band. Also one of the band members is holding a picture of the album, which reinforces this. The fact that the artist's are looking away causes the audience to feel disengaged from them. It also suggests that they don't really feel the need to make contact with the audience; a belief that they are already popular with a large following. The majority of artist's are facing straight on, which suggests that this chosen image is an entropic feature. Entropy has also been used in the form of pop art - the image resembles pop art due to the bold and contrasting use of colours.

The clothing which is a part of mise-en-scene is laid back and casual which supports an alternative/indie genre. The artist on the left seems to be more formal as he is wearing what looks like a suit jacket. The others are just in a t-shirt and a vest-top. This may emphasise the fact that he is the lead singer of the band, which is reinforced by him holding the album and the others looking directly at him. There is a distinct juxtaposition of colours as blue connotes: tranquillity, naturalism and peace, where as black connotes power and domination. Their body language is also relaxed and casual which supports their genre. It also makes the audience feel as though they could be accepted by the band as the gestures connote friendliness.

The advert is quite creative as it resembles a film poster. It also features reviews in the form of stars which may increase the sales of the album as the audience can see that others have thought it was good. Due to the creativity and the use of bold colours, it makes it stand out amongst other adverts as it immediately catches the audiences eye. The colour yellow connotes happiness and fun (which is also the name of the band), the colour is also associated with the sun and the beach, which would help the advert appeal to a wider target audience.

The font is large, black and bold, therefore, it is clearly readable and helps it to stand out.The fact that the font decreases in size as you read down, suggests that the information has been put in order of importance. The name of the band contradicts the image as it suggests that the brand identity is important to them as it has been placed centrally on the advert and is at the top. Then it is followed by the name of the album and the hit singles. Also the font is all in uppercase which makes it stand out and will easily catch the audience's eye. The title of the album has also been repeated twice which is quite an entropic feature. It has been written on the album and centrally on the advert.

For the target audience, it looks as though it would appeal to a creative audience due to the pop art element. Females may be more interested as three men are featured on the advert. The colour palette used is unisex; therefore, the target audience may include: males and females from the age range of 20-25.

Research and Planning: Print Advert 1

I have analysed a print advert for Ben Howard as it is similar to my chosen genre. I have also included a video of one of Ben Howard's songs.

Video Feedback for Rough Cut

Focus Group Feedback 1 

Feedback 2 

The overall feedback for the rough cut was positive. The feedback we got for the narrative was good as they said it was clear; however, they did say that it was made better by the ending shot of them coming together, which established the connection clearly. Also the genre was clear for the audience as Kirsty said that due to the mise-en-scene, it appeared very realistic and simplistic and is therefore a generic convention. However, an improvement that we need to work on is the lip synching as it isn't clear in some places what he is exactly singing. Therefore, I think we need to re film the last 30 seconds of the artist lip synching in order to boost the quality.

Feedback on Rough Cut

Rough Cut

Rough Cut of Narrative Footage

So far we have managed to create a rough cut for our narrative section. We have removed the performance footage as we are re-filming it tonight; we decided we needed more close up shots of the performer and a clearer vision of the lip syncing. We have now managed to stretch some of our footage that were surrounded by black borders, however, we would like some opinions on whether the story of our narrative is clear. We are anxious as to whether we have conveyed it clearly to the audience, therefore, we have created some questions that will hopefully gain us useful feedback. 

Research and Planning: Locations

Tonight we are re-filming the performance footage; however, we have had to use a different location. Instead of using Ludlow Assembly Rooms, we are using the Drama Studio at Ludlow College. This will be beneficial to us as it's spacious, and we have the ability to use spotlights. By using the spotlight it will improve our footage compared to our last footage, which was far too dark to use. This time, as well as using fairy lights we will have a spotlight on the performer. 

Health and Safety:

• Being aware of lighting cables on the floor as it could result in a trip hazard or an electric shock. To minimise the risk we could tie the cables up with gaffa tape.
• The fairy-lights may be a hazard if they overheat; it could result in a fire, therefore we need to be careful and observe them.

Overall the location of the Drama Studio is safe to use and doesn't highlight many dangers. 

Here is an image of the drama studio we are going to use, the seating will have all been removed and the lighting will be ready for us to use. 

Time Management: Calendar