Blog 15- Digipack

A Digipack is a compact disk or DVD packaging which consists of a front and back cover, a spine and one or more plastic trays inside, capable of holding the disks. I firstly created a whole Digipack based on the Florence and the Machine soundtrack we have choosen for our video. I created this Cover to specifically link to the video 'My Boy Builds Coffins'. The coffin, hammer and nails relate directly to the name of the video. I have then included a floral pattern at the bottom of the cover to create a feminim feel and the images are set in a natural envionment like most of Florence and the machine's videos are set in. On the front cover I have tried to put across a slightly abstract look by having people on the hills in the distance and having bright flowers against a night sky with a perfect moon and lots of stars spilling onto the ground; along with the hammer and nails on the opposite side. I have used a stricking colour for the sans serif styled writing on the front cover which says the name of the band and the album name. I used this colour because it is bold and querky like Florence herself and it also matches her hair colour. This colour could also be linked with the coffin as a symbol of death. On the back cover i have used a similar style of serif font but i have used the colour blue to match the stars and moon colours on the opposite page. On the inside of the Digipack i have used a simple format diplaying the one disk on the right hand side with a similar image as the front cover as the background. On the Left hand side I have written the lyrics to the featuring video 'My Boy Builds Coffins' as this is something fans may like to read along to when listening to the music.

I then analysed 2 Florence and the Machine album covers to compare them to my own, and make any improvements or changes which would make my Digipack fit in more with the style and genre of the artist. This album cover has a very simple yet abstract look it it. The Font is displayed above the image allowing the artist name to jump out from the rest of the image which may catch the audiences eye first. In my first Digipack I used a similar serif font showing this album cover has a similar theme to my own. The main focus is on Florence with an abstact picture being created around her. I also used an abstract look in my digipack however i have not used the artist to be the main focus on the cover which could be a negative factor because fans may be more interested to see their style icons on the front of the album they are buying.

The second Florence and the machine album cover I am analysing is Rabbit Heart. I have noticed how in both Covers florence appears on the cover and is dressed in past time clothing. She also continues to have an abstract background which is a theme and idea I need to follow to link my own Digipack to the style of Florence and the Machine. A serif font is used in this image which is a more old style of writting. After analysing both existing album covers I have had the chance to compare these to my own and have decided that I need to put the artist on the cover surrounded by an abstract background. I will continue using a serif font as this style has appeared on both the existing covers.

This is my second digipack front cover. After analysing previous florence and the machine Album covers I then went away with new ideas of how to incorporate the artists usual style into my own work, therefore, my album cover will fit the genre of the band. I have put the lead female artist (Florence) as the main focus on the page which will catch an audiences eye, as a familiar icon, which could draw them into buying it. I have continued an abstract theme by having only half her face showing, focusing on her features yet hiding the other half to crteate a mysterious feel. The background of the front and back cover will be the same as on my previous digipack as the background on this fits in well with the natural and feminim style of the artist. The Font will be displayed at the top in a sans serif font (which is a modernised style of writting) and in a bold blue colour (Not red as previous- so it does not contrast with her hair). I think this cover will be more appealling to fans than my preious cover because it is similar to other albums that have been released and has the main artist on the front, who can be seen as a style icon; therefore can influence and interest fans more.

My third digipack cover is similar to the image above, however the whole of the artists face is showing which gives a less abstract or mysterious feel as the last image does, but the flowers around her head show a more feminin and natural image which fits in with the stereotypical genre of the band and their music. The font is again in a bold blue colour contrasting with the colour of the the artists hair to make colours leap off of the page creating a floral and feminin look.
I have comnpared the last two of my digipack flat plans to choose which one I am going to use for the final image on the front of the digipack.
I have decided to use the previous image where only half the artists face is showing because i think this will look more interesting and individual to fans because the image gives off a mysterious feel pulling in the target audiences interest.


On one of the days of filming, myself and my group took many still images of the setting we were shooting our video in and images we planned to use for our digipack and adverts.

This (to the left) is the original image that I choose for the front cover of my final digipack. To match the image of the flat plan i cropped this image in half like shown in the image below.

I found that this image did not fit across the whole front page without ruining the quality of it, therefore i choose a background that would fit in behind the artist, on the front page, and also spread across the back page. (Image shown below).

I like this image because it shows a natural environment which links in with the genre of our video and the genre of the style of the band.
I placed the image of the artist over (the right hand side of) the choosen background image. This made them look very obviously like seperate images and I needed to get the artist to look as though she is in the background. Therefore, using the magic tool I selected and rounded off the corners of the image and the outlines of her hair then rubbed out these selected parts leaving the image to look more realistic. However, the images were very different in contract and brightness therefore I altered the image of the artist to match exactly the lighting of the background to create a final, and much more realistic, image, (shown below).



I then added bold red writing which contrast with the natural colours already in the image. I was originally going to use the font colour blue to contrast with the artists red hair, but this model has nutral coloured hair therefore I have used a red font which I think represents the original colours of Florence herself to link in with the band. I used the same sans serif font throughout the whole digipack allowing a continuing theme. I also wrote '(video)' next to the names of three of the songs to define which song titles you could also watch the video to within the digipack. To finish off the digipack I have written the usual smallprint at the bottom explaining copyright conditions which can be found on any DVD or CD. I have then inserted a bar code, a copyright symbol and the logo of the record company- island records- along with other legal symbols which are, again, found on the back of most DVD and CDs.


For the inside of the digipack i have used a similar image as on the back of the outside cover. I like this image because it shows a continuing theme of the outside/natural environment. This is also one of the settings in out video therefore it links in nicely with our producation. The CD/DVD will sit in a plastic case on the right hand side then on the left hand side is the lyrics to the song 'My boy builds coffins' which is the name of the digipack and also the name of the song we are using in our music video; so it links in well again. I have used the same font here as i have on the front so a continuing theme occurs throughout the digipack which looks more sophisticated and classic which will fit in the the general style of our target audience.

Feedback

I posted the cover and inside of my digipack onto facebook and asked for some feedback. These are the comments I received...

Comment on Digipack- back and front
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxNDQ4OTljNDgtMWMxNi00MmU0LTg4MWItZjY5YWQ5MmM3YTk3&hl=en

Front- The respondant says how she likes the use of editing the colour of her lips to look pink which contrasts effectively with the red writing. She also states that the close up works well. I think the close up works better than a midshot because it is focusing on her features without giving away her identity giving a mysterious hidden look. A midshot would be less interesting because it gives away the identity of the character which is less interesting to look at. The half hidden face could persuade people to want to find out more.
Inside- The respondant like how the trees show the setting of the music video. I think this is an important aspect because the digipack and video combine together to make a pack.

Cover of Digipack
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxMzdmZGJiOWQtOWFmYy00NWY3LTlkZjgtNmI5NTlmYjQ3NTgz&hl=en

This respondant states how the close up makes the image look mysterious and intriguing which backs up my theory that this close up works well to hook the audiences interest.

Inside of Digipack
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxNzQ3MWQxMmEtNTBlMy00ZGNlLWJjNmUtZmE3M2QxZWNiYTNm&hl=en

This comment talks about how the sun coming through the trees looks sinister which goes well with the old styles writing. I like how the respondant has made a link between the font and the image because they link very well together in term of style and age.

Overall, I am pleased with the comments people have written as they have picked up on key aspects of the images such as location and text; The location is the same as in the video and the text looks sinister which matches the look of the tall towering trees which makes the audience feel over powered. Also the text through out the Digipack remains the same to continue a themed look of death. I think that the fact the text doesnt change all the time looks more sophisticated aiming away from children who would have less taste in the style of the band.

Blog 14- Shooting Diaries

6th February 2011

Our first filming of the music video took place on the 6th of february 2011 in friston forest which gave us the perfect location for our music video because we planned to have most the video in a woodland area similar to most florence and the machine themes in existing videos. We decided to begin shooting at 12pm as the midday sun would give us the best quality of lighting as well as being able to continue filming through out the day untill we began to lose the day light. As we arrived to the location we were concerned because the weather was a bit drizzly therefore we had to think about maybe postponing our filming for another day as the drizzle could damage the camera as well as not being able to film all the ideas for the video that we had such as logs being dangerous fot the actors to clime on or lying on the damp floor. However, as we walked into the forest contenplating wheather to continue filming the weather seemed to clear up, although the lighting wasnt as good as we wanted it to be therefore we overcame this by adjusting the lighting and contrast on the camera to look like it was a brighter day than in reality. In the end the shooting went very well dispite the fact only 2 out of the 6 actors/dancers, who originally said they could make it, were able to come. We managed this fine by instead shooting shots of just the girl playing florence and also shooting scenes of the settings that could be used in the video, therefore in the next shooting slot we could concerntrate more on the dancing and routines when more people could make the filming time. We used just the main character to start our original idea of having her young at the begining then as they day goes on we could show her as an old person using make up and clothing. We later decided not to use this idea as it did not fit properly with the rest of the video. We also experimented more with the camera by trying different shots such as close, mid and long shots as well as using different camera angles of the same shot so when editing we could switch the angles to make it look more interesting and show we have experimented more with different camera uses.

<<< This image shows the use of make up to show an older person who is clearly young underneath to create an abstract image.













20th March 2011

We continued the forest scenes on this later date. The weather was a lot nicer on this day allowing us to use the lighting effectively and also film the sunset as the day got later. All the dancers turned up for this date which meant we could now shoot the dancing sequences and film the main character with the dancers in the background to make a more interesting image with more than one focal point. These shots worked well with the filming we did on the previous date because we now had single shots of just the main character as well as dance shots which we could use well to break up the music video. We made all the characters in the video wear all black clothing which contrasted nicely with the bight colours of the forest showing an interesting mis en scene.

We decided to also give the main character a band of leaves round her head to look more natural and show she stands out from the other characters. Again we filmed dancing shots from different angles so when editing, for example, we could have a shot of the dancers from the front then switch to them doing the same movement from a long side shot so the two shots link together. This shows us developing new ideas with how we can use different camera angles to create more interesting idea. We also used shots looking down onto the main character on the floor. As well as lots of dancing shots we also decided to get the main character to sing the whole song in lots of different locations and angles. We filmed her by the river from the side, on a boat from the side, on the floor from above and sitting between two trees from the front. This was we could use many shots in the video of her singing various parts of the song in different locations as well as switching back to the same locations.

<<< This image shows the mis en scene of the black clothing against the bright colours of the forest.











<<< The band we created to make the main character stand out from the dancers













<<< Showing the use of different angles














Lastly, later on in the evening we filmed the sun going down which we would later speed up during editing so we could use for the ending and reverse the shot for the begining symbolising the begining and ending of the video. It was very important that the camera was not moved during this time therefore we secured it to the tripod and left it for around an hour as the sun went down. Unfortunately the battery ran out just at the end of the sun set therefore we could not get complete darkness as we wanted however we edited this so the last bit of the sunset faded therefore it had the same effect of complete darkness. We used the fade effect to do this.


<<< The camera on the tripod filming the sun set.



















15th Feb 2011

This filming slot was dont in a studio at college allowing us to film our sencond location of the boy building the coffin in a shed like surrounding. Luckily one of the walls in the studio was brick which was a perfect background to film against as it showed a work place effect. We used close ups of a hammer hitting a nail repeatitively which we would put in time with the music. We also did lots of close ups of features of the boy such as eyes and mouth and also filmed his shadow, but never filmed the whole of him to make the boy a mystery so the audience can never see his whole identity throught out the video creating a more interesting look. We used a studio spot light and angled it to the side of the character creating his shadow next to him on the wall. We then shot him hammering again in the shadow which we could again put in time with the music. I think this is an interesting affect because we thought about other ways of filming the boy in the work shed rather than just simply filming him working.
The filming went really well in the studio as the lighting worked well to create shadows on the wall which we captured at a good angle on film.

Blog 13- Shooting Schedual

I have created a table of all of our plans for filming our music video. https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxOWIxMWVkMzAtOWQ0Yy00NWZjLWEzN2EtYjRhYTE3ODExZTkx&hl=en We have decided to film for 2 days in a forest which should give us around 4 hours of footage to select what we can use in our video. We are then booking time in a studio room at college, on the 15th of february, which will be used to film our idea of changing the location from having dancers in the forst to the boy building coffins in a work shed. This scene of the boy in the work shed will link in well with the lyrics to the song and also show we have used two locations.

Blog 12- Health and Safety

During the production of our Florence and the Machine music video, I have understood all about the precautions needed to ensure the cast and crew are safe when filming the video.

Each time before shooting we have been givin a health and safety sheet to fill in which allows us to think about what hazards may occur during production. The first time we went out to film was going to be in a forest therefore there were lots of factors to consider before we went into the outdoor environment and how we would overcome these factors.
We had to consider that if the weather was bad we would have to re organise filming as the camera could become damaged in wet and windy conditions. We were going to have the cast standing and dancing on logs and on trees which could potentially be a hazard for them, therefore we had to check that the surfaces they stood on were not slippery and make sure that they were aware of any hazards around them. Also, the camera would be on a tripod for the duration of this filming time so we had to make sure that the tripod was on a stable surface and would not tip or collapse potentially damaging the camera.
We went out into the forest a few times for filiming production and each time we filled in a new health and safety sheet so we were continuously aware and thinking of the dangers.

The second part of out filming was done in a studio where there were more dangers to consider. We used lighting therefore there were lots of wires around the room which we had to be careful of and make sure that the cast were aware of. It was also in a very confined space so we decided that only four people could be in the room at one time to ensure there was less chance of anyone tripping or damaging equipment. As the shooting was done inside we did not have to consider re organising it as there was no danger of bad weather.

The health and safety section of this course has helped me to realise that filming is not only about the filming itself but that I also need to consider safety issues beforehand to assure there is less chance of anything going wrong before filming.

Blog 11- Storyboard

Myself and my group together went to the location where we would be filming our video (in the forest) and took many images of the shots we planned to use in our video. We have used drawn pictures and photo images to put the story board together. I then scanned in the storyboard and created a powerpoint presentation. Below is each slide of the powerpoint presentation, in order of the storyboard we created.

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxNjMzYWRlZjItYjA2Ny00MzE0LTk2ZjUtYTlmNDYwZjg4YTg4&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxZTQ2ZDRlYjItMjBhMC00ODUxLWFkNzEtYTU4M2RhN2U0NGFi&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxOWUzNDdkNjAtMTE2YS00NGY2LWIzYzAtMTdlNzljZjFmNTA1&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxMjE3NzRkNGYtZDhiNC00Njg0LTgyMTEtNmNkMDM2NDRjNzU4&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxMDQ1MzdkY2QtMmM5NS00YjYxLThhZjktMjAxYTEyMjE5ZjMw&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxYzE2ZDllMmQtYzFkOC00MzhjLWFjYzEtYjM1OGY3ZjQ1Nzcx&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxMmNjYzBlMjAtOGM1Zi00NTI3LTkyN2UtYTdiZDhmZWFlMzYx&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxMjdhZTgyNmQtMTYxMi00MTc5LWJhODItNGE1YWVhODcxY2Ni&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxZmU4YTQ5MTItYjk2Mi00MWI1LWI2N2UtOTFkZjM2NmE2MmU5&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxNWE2ZDcwODQtZjVlNy00MDc0LTk2YzUtMzBjYzdmMGViOTNk&hl=en

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B20gzrmLsLdxM2Q1NWM0MzItMzI4Zi00ZDUyLTg0YjEtYmE1ZDhlMzFhODM1&hl=en