Front Cover: Conventions - Research Existing Products

Front Cover : Conventions - Research Existing Products 

Front Cover: Cnventions - ResearchFirstly for my research I am going to look at the CD front cover, in order to get a clear idea of how to conventionally create a CD front cover I am looking at existing CD front covers from all different genre backgrounds. The CD front cover is the first thing the likely buyer would see, therefore it is very important in promoting and selling the artist.

From my research I have discovered certain conventions that are included on the majority of CD front covers, here is a list of the conventions.

1. Main Image - either illustrated or photograph of the artist or unique interesting style to represent the artist or band 
2. Artists name - The artists or bands name is appeared on the front cover in a specialised and eye-catching font 
3. Album name - feature used for all albums, gives the audience a feel about what the songs on the album are going to be about
4. Logo - an iconic logo which is associated with a band or artist is used so fans can recognise the artist or band.

I have also noticed from my research that certain artists like to challenge these conventions to stand out from the crowd. For example the famous Beatles album often referred to as ‘the white album’ featured a plain white CD cover just the word ‘The Beatles’ simply featured in the corner of the cover. This is an effective way to grab the audience’s attention. In todays society especially within the indie genre artists and bands will use unconventional fonts and images to attract younger audiences to engage and pick up the CD.

Conclusion

In conclusion from my research of album front cover, I have found that there is a vast diversity in album covers, especially because of all the different genres of music available. For example it have noticed generally with the pop genre the main image is always focused on the artist, however with the indie genre random images or icons associated with the band or their image is used instead. In general the design of the album cover is usually eye catching and simple, and predominantly conventions are usually followed however sometimes these conventions are broken which allows me to play around with my design and see what conventions fit well with my concept as my artist is associated with the sub-genre indie-pop.  

Ancillary Text: CD Cover, Back and Spine

Ancillary Text: CD Cover, Back and Spine 

As part of the digipak I have to create for my ancillary texts, I need to design and produce an album case, which includes the front and back covers, inside sleeves and spine. To do this I will using a template, the template will be useful and helpful as it includes measurements I need to work from when creating. I will need to research and plan from existing products and gather information and inspiration before I start designing for my own texts. Here is the template in which I will use.

Below is an example of an existing digipak from indie pop artist Lana Del Rey; hopefully my final product will follow this professional style and standard.

For the research and planning I will be looking at each element of the album separately, firstly the front cover then the back and spine, etc. When researching I am going to look at all aspects involved such as fonts, colour schemes, artwork, photography elements, and the conventions involved associated with both the artists genre and general conventions connected to album front covers.

Editing Progression

Editing Process

The above screen shots are of my editing progression, there are shots of the various different tools and techniques I have used to create my edit. Also there is screen shots from the beginning of the existing music video ‘I don’t want to’ by HANA. I have taken inspiration from this video, my work is a pastiche of this video, as it imitates the style of the work, unlike a parody, and pastiche celebrates, rather than mocks the work that is being imitated.

I imported all my footage onto final cut pro, where I then began to edit the footage together by using various transitions. Once I selected a part of footage to edit I dragged it down to the timeline and began editing, the first thing I did to each selected piece of footage is stabilize it so that it will run smoothly. From the screen shots below it shows how I edited the effect of black and white onto certain pieces of footage. For transitions between shots the main transition effect I used was ‘Gaussian’ that slowly blurred out of one image to the next making a smooth transition. This transition is easily applied; firstly the footage is selected which the transition is going to be placed on, then from the effects toolbar (shown in the second screen shot) my selected effect is dragged onto the footage and then cropped to the specific duration needed.

For the opening sequence of my video I needed to include a title sequence introducing the artist and song, to do this I simply added text from the ‘Titles’ effect as shown in the screen shot. Then to choose the specific font I went to the effect information which is shown in the top right hand corner and selected font style , which then appeared with a drop down menu of various examples of different fonts available to use.

I also needed to edit the speed of certain clips of footage, as shown in one of my screen shots I customised speed, which allowed me to both set the speed and change direction to either forward of reverse. For my selected to piece of footage I kept the direction as forward but altered the speed to 65% slower than the original piece of footage. These screen shots are just of my opening sequence when I further edit my footage I am going to use more complex editing techniques to create effects such as overlay using footage from the green screen on top of other footage.

music video draft three

2nd Draft of Music Video

This is the 2nd draft of my music video, it is still not completely finished to the standard I want my video to be like, however it is a significant improvement to my first draft. Due to casting difficulties, I had to make slight changes to my opening scene, however I feel it fits better with the narrative of the song. From the mistakes mentioned in my first draft and the problems I had with the camera in which I used, from making certain changes such as using a more reliable camera and using the mac suites to edit, my video has significantly improved. 

Location Shots and Travel

Below is information and images of locations that are needed for my music video. I have described why I have chosen these specific locations and why they are appropriate for my video. As I have used a variety of locations, it adds to the aspect mise en scene that is significantly important within my video and it also keeps the audience interested as there is change in location quite frequently. Before I began filming I visited each location to check they were definitely the ideal locations to use and then I took pictures so I could explain on my blog why I am using these locations

Beverley Train Station 

These images are taken from Beverley train station, this location was easily accessible.
As this location is open to the public there was no need to gain permission to use this location. Me and my actor Dan took the early train from hull to Beverley on a Sunday when the location was liable to be quiet and easy to film without various interruptions or complications with to many people using the train station, for example if we filmed on a Monday morning we would be expected to be interrupted by commuters who the train service to travel to and from work.

Hull City Centre - Hepworth's Arcade

Similarly to Beverly Train Station Hull city centre arcade is a public area therefore no permission was needed before filming, however due to the arcade been so central in the city, I found that shots where taking a long time to get right because of the amount of people walking through the arcade during the day. Also I had to let the shop owners know the reason why I was filming and if they would allow me to shoot my actors in front of their shop windows. Luckily this was not a problem and the shops did not have an issue with videoing in front of their windows. I choose Hull arcade as one of my locations because of the easy access to the location and it fitted well with my urban feel to the video which suited well to my genre. 

Hull Train / Bus Station 

Another location used was Hull's train and bus station, as you can see in the image to the left of my actors, they are in the  middle of an outdoor flower stall which is situated in the middle of Hull's train and bus station. This location was specifically important for my video because there is a running theme of red roses throughout my video and with this location it becomes apparent where the flowers are introduced in the video. For this location I had to gain permission from the flower stall owner to shoot as I was using her stall and flowers within the shot. 

In terms of transport I had no problem getting from one location to the other as I am privileged enough to drive a car, also as all my locations where in Hull's city centre I was able to drive from Willerby, park the car and meet my actors at the bus station with no complications. Adding to this as all the locations where all located in the city centre and within walking distance of each other we had no problem getting from one location to the next and moving about filming equipment.