Inside cover research.

My group and I decided that we wanted to design the inside of the CD cover and below are different conventional ways that CD cover s are designed.

Inside this cover is a quick signed message from the singer directly aimed at  connecting with the fans.This  simple design could be incorporated into our own digi-pack  as the heart drawing in the inside cover above appropriately relates   tot he heart necklace iconography used representing   heart ache,loss and pain.

Inside this CD cover includes
a list of people that the band  giving thanks to on the album release  this a fairly boring and plain inside cover design and my group and I do not particularly  like it.

My group liked this design idea best as it included a photograph of the singer and we like the idea  of including a singer in the inside cover in that we we can include iconography and relate the black and white photography to the other elements of the digi -pack.

Extra photography research.

Zainab and I experimented with different shots and poses so that we would be able to  give Niamh our model and fellow team member good direction so that we could produce good photographs that related to our research and evoked the some level of emotion depicted in our music video.

Font research.

Firstly we researched a range of different fonts  for inspiration for our CD case, and poster, as we decided that the fonts used would be the same on both as we found this quite common whilst researching, as well as it making us easier to edit and enforce continuity between our products.All the fonts above are stylish which advertises the singer's name as brand making the singer's name   memorable; promoting  the singer.After researching into different types of music albums that had various fonts, we came to the conclusion that simple fonts San serif fonts  would be suitable for our product as it would look more effective and would not distract the audience from the emotion message we wanted to convey through the photograph of our singer. As a group we  wanted the text to be  red and white  in order to portray the innocence and sexuality  of the singer's character  Contrasting against the black and white photo to show the contrast between the two colours  conveying her being influenced by  drugs, against the white font portraying her innocence and vulnerabiltiy.

In the diagram below demonstrates   how our research influenced our choice of font:

How the digi-pack relates to the poster research.

Specific CD Cover analysis.

All of the CD covers are taken in black in white or used in a heavy colour filter that represents black and white like the Arctic Monkeys album cover which appears as if it has been taken in black and white but in ports the production that the photograph has been manipulated and a blue colour filter has been added which gives it an original vintage look. The CD covers are all mid shots or close up of the face.On our CD cover we would like to take a photograph taken in black and white in order to relate to our black and white music video.They all have simplistic designs with the upper torso of the human figure or a close up of the face, covering the entire  front cover.The lighting on the photographs featured on each CD cover, like on Birdy the photograph is taken outside so it is lighted naturally.The Maverick Sabre  album has used studio lighting; a studio light has been shone on the right hand side of the face causing the other half to be heavily concealed with shadow. This distinct contrast in shading has caused the singer to look mysterious as if he is deliberately hiding.The Emeli Sande album front cover has used artificial studio lighting and perhaps a flash on the camera since her face looks very bright in contrast to the various hues of grey that feature in the background.All the CD covers feature the singers' face on them, promoting the singer and connecting the singer with the fans.The Adele 19 album is the only CD cover taken in colour but her black shadow conceals half of her face and her face is settled against a black background which contrasts against her pale white skin, which in a sense creates a black and white photo effect.The singer's name and album title as a trend is usually located on the top of the photograph in exception of the Birdy and Rihanna cover. Duffy's album cover however breaks this trend since the singer's name is located at the top and the album title is located at the bottom.

What I have learnt from this research is that:

Black and white photographs used for the front cover of the album  cover generally have a black and white colour scheme regarding the colour of font used.

The album cover layout has to be fairly simple in order for  it to look stylish and sleek.

When taking the photograph  for the front cover, the lighting has to be carefully done in order to get a contrast between black and white.

The photograph we used for the front cover should whether be a close up of the singer's face or a photograph featuring their upper torso (shoulders up to face).

Initial anciallry research-Digi Pack Covers.

 

For our ancillary task we are making digi packs is the packaging that a CD is encased in and a magazine poster that would be used to promote the CD which is designed to boost the sales of the artists album.

 

Above are CD covers what they all have in common is that they all feature images that are placed in the centre of the CD cover.Most of the images on the front cover  are photographs of the artist but there are images that are featured on other CD Covers that are not of the artist most represent  the artists brand.For example with the foster the people album cover  features quirky cartoons.This is associated with the bands quirky indie alternative music.The most commercial artists feature images of themselves because they promote themselves to their fans whereas with artist like Ben Howard,Jason Mraz and Foster the People who are more alternative indie artists  promote themselves and connect with their fans more or less solely with the use of their music.Florence and the machine are an alternative band that have recently become commercial so they have featured a photograph of the lead singer but has manipulated using photo shop and has been stylised to look like an illustration the colour has been muted and images of animated flowers have been added.This associates well with the bands folk alternative type music.All the CD covers feature the artists name on the cover horizontally the artists name is in bold upper case.Ben Howard,Lana Del Rey and Birdy feature San serif font that is quite plain and bold that stands out on the cover.Florence and the machine feature serif stylised swirly font that links with the sleek design  on the front cover.Ellie Goulding cover the font is stylised and has been manipulated to look like bright lights which relates to the bright natural light featured on the cover photograph and the tittle of the album.

Ancillary task photoshoot (practice shots).

Below are examples of poses that show experimentation with different shots and compositions theses pictures were taken while filming the prostitution scene.Everyone in the group initially taken there own set of practise shots so that we could generate ideas and then take the best of each and combine them.Individually  I wanted to capture the same tone of the characters life being difficult and hard as it is portrayed in the music video.We as a group decided that we wanted that we wanted the heart necklace to feature in both the ancillary task photos and the music video as it would represent the icognographic element that symbolises  heart break and pain.These photos were taken as a brain storming starting point but careful focused ideas have derived from this as we were able to generate research that linked with our theme.

 

We decided(what we have learnt):

• We wanted to take the photograph in black and white so that it would capture the melancholy tone that is featured in our music video.
• We want our actress' makeup to be simple in the photographs because research sows that even if the actress is playing a troubled rough looking character in order to promote the song commercially we have to present the actress in a more stylised  presentable way on our digi pack and magazine promotional poster.For example  she has to appear pretty with simple makeup opposed to the rough shabby looking smeared makeup and scruffy clothes that she is wearing in the video.
• We also decided to take future photographs in a studio type setting against a plain white background using studio lights so that we could appropriately control and manipulate the light while taking the photographs in black and white.
   

• We also decided to use a tripod to take the photographs  like we did when filming so that we could control the focus of the camera so that our photographs look clearer and more focused.

 

 

Mid close up.



Close up with the neckalce full visible.

Slight high angle.

Mid close up.

Mid low angle shot.

Mid close up low angle shot.

Mid close up high angle shot.

High amgle close up.

High angle .

Slight high angle zoomed in.

Low angle.

Low angle slightly zoomed out shot.

Research into costume.

Out door scene costume reserach

Research  accquired from music  videos,artic monkeys'When the sun Goes Down' and Ed Sheerans 'Ateam' and I reserched Kesha a pop star who dress relates to my research.

Examples of outdoor costume:

Our actress wearing costume for outdoor scenes. 

 Prostituion costume research

Research acquired from films and music videos:'Pretty Woman',Lily Allen'At First When I See You Smile'and Lindsy Lohan(actress) we felt her make-up application related well to my research.

Our actress wearing make up for prostitution scenes. 

Our actress wearing costume for prostitution scenes.

Props(clothing)

 

                                     

This is the grey jumper used the actress wears whilst being a tramp.

This is the short black skirt the actress wear whilst a tramp.

This is the symbolic iconographic  necklace used throughout the music video and even in the ancillary task.

This is the sports jacket used as a pull over whilst the actress is a tramp.