DIGIPAK: Initial Comparison Between Ellie Goulding - Eminem EGs

In this post I will be comparing the two digipak examples Ellie Goulding's 'Halcyon Days: Deluxe Edition' and Eminem's 'Curtain Call: The Hits' based around the following themes:

• Colour Scheme
• Artist Logo/Fonts
• Small Print, Barcodes, Logos
• Lyric Booklet/Booklet
• Inner Panels
• Front Panel (Link with back panel)
• Back Panel (Track-listing)
• Spine
• Edition/Album Info Stickers

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WEBSITE: Initial Comparison Between Dua Lipa - Metallica EGs

In this post I will be comparing the two website examples 'Dua Lipa' and 'Metallica' based around the following themes:

• Top List
• Artist Title/Logo
• Personal Direct Address
• Social Media
• Merch
• Pushing latest album/splash page
• Colour Scheme
• Buttons/URLS/Links to record label

• Fonts  
• Integration of video/YT + other streaming/download
• Format

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VODCAST 3: Website Top Links

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DIGIPAK: Initial Ideas

I took many photos of myself as Astrid S during the summer holidays which you can find here on my previous blog post. I decided to try a bit of experimentation with these images I took, taking advantage of the fact that the images I took were in front of a greenscreen. 

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For these first few images I experimented with space galaxy images because I thought it would create an ethereal, beautiful, unworldly feel. 

Gabriel Gassi - Street Phone

For these next few images, I did not stand in front of a greenscreen but instead, I decided to stand in front of the sky on a beautiful warm sunny day when the sky is a nice bright blue. I really like the effect it has created. I was influenced to do this - the singer/artist stands in front of the sky in a low angle - by the album cover example Gabriel Gassi - Street Phone, from the music video example Kendrick Lamar - ELEMENT and from the music video example Sigrid - Plot Twist.

Kendrick Lamar - ELEMENT.

Kendrick Lamar - ELEMENT.

Sigrid - Plot Twist

Sigrid - Plot Twist

VODCAST 2: General Digipak Conventions

Here is a vodcast I made which summarises general genre digipak conventions. I looked at many examples which helped me to discover what the common conventions were for general digipaks.  
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MVID: Early Idea Evolution

Early Idea Evolution Links List from July 2017

In this post I will be discussing the early idea development of my A2 Coursework (website, digipak, music video) which started in June 2017. As you can see in the image above, I originally created many individual blog posts on each idea development aspect such as possible song options, possible digipak ideas and possible shot ideas. I have decided to get rid of this link list and instead, make one big post on all of these aspects, to make my blog more user friendly and to limit the amount of blog posts on my blog. 

In 'Possible Song Option 1: Sakima' post:
Sakima - What I Know Now

I discussed the artist Sakima and his track that I would have chosen to make a music video for (What I Know Now). I discussed the issues that would arise with the lyrics of this song and the artist in general such as the consistent reference to gay sex (sexual connotations in lyrics) and use of swear words. This, in context of a school setting, made me realise that this artist, Sakima, was not the best artist to choose for my A2 Coursework. Also, since almost all Sakima's songs were about gay sex, this made it very hard to think of a narrative which was not related to this topic. 

In 'Possible Song Option 2: Jakwob' post:
Jakwob - Somebody Else (feat. Tiffani Juno)

I discussed the artist Jakwob and his track that I would have chosen to make a music video for (Somebody New). I decided not to choose this artist because he is not very well-known at all, making it very hard to find enough/any information on him. Also, he is a DJ, so it wouldn't exactly make sense for him to appear in the music video lip syncing. Also, the person who sings in this song is a very very unknown female singer (Tiffani Juno) so it would be hard to create costumes based off her image, find information on her, and find images of her.

In 'Possible Song Option 4: Sigrid' post: 

Sigrid - Plot Twist

I discussed the artist Sigrid and her track that I would have chosen to make a music video for (Plot Twist). I decided not to choose this song because it is quite up-beat which slightly disables me from filming certain visually interesting shots e.g. underwater shots, shots with water in them, shots with dark lighting (low key lighting) or coloured dark lighting etc. and it also disables me from having a sad, dark, cold narrative in my music video (since the narrative of this song is of a strong, confident young female with power over her love life - saying no to her ex who has now come crawling back to her). 

In 'Possible Song Option 4: Astrid S' post:
Astrid S - Bloodstream

I discussed the artist Astrid S and her track that I would have chosen to make a music video for (Bloodstream). I decided to choose this artist out of the other three because I realised the track, Bloodstream, was a really good choice because it has a good variety in pace, is quite fast paced, provides a lot of filming opportunities (e.g. filming underwater, filming a club dancing scene in slow motion, filming interesting shots of people with water on them etc.) and lyrically allows me to have a love/relationship narrative. 

I found lots of inspiring images for my digipak in the digipak ideas post which you can see here below:
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Next to each image in this post, I mentioned things I liked about them and how they would inspire me for my own digipak:

I really like this design. I have always loved the colour lilac. I love the checked lines design. I think the colour really matches Sakima's style and his rnb and electropop genre of music. I would use this image as a background for the digipak. Also, I think this could work as a background because Sakima's original album cover backgrounds are a pastel like colour. 

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This is Harry Styles' (from One Direction) new album cover 2017. I really love the simplicity of this album cover and the pastel and skin colours. I want to portray the beauty of the human body in my digipak through images of parts of the body. Also, since my artist, Sakima, is gay, this would make sense to show a bare male on the digipak for his album. I also like the fact that the male's skin in this image is wet, from water in a bath. I want to incorporate this idea into my image for the digipak somehow too. The original album covers for Sakima's songs have been of just him with a coloured background e.g. green, pink or orange.

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I like the simplicity of this image and the fact that there is a focus on the beauty of the human body. I would like to use this idea of focusing on the beauty of the human body, especially the male body, in my digipak. This image reminds me of Sakima, the artist, he has blonde hair like this. I also like the lighting in this image because it makes the image look pale, and plain.


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In this same post I also went on to look at many different possible fonts I could use for my digipak:

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3.    Summarise, including a list of options you gave serious consideration to, and any BRIEF detail on all/some of this you want to emphasize

5.    You could add a read more link, and copy/paste all of these under it to avoid a huge post unless that’s clicked on (helps to show your original effort on these)

MVID: List Of Vignettes

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1. Girl in a nightclub dancing and sees her ex there.

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2. Girl out on walk in forest or at a lake/stream/pond where she used to go with her ex.

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3. Girl wearing clothes in bath going fully under the water, closing her eyes, then seeing ex in her thoughts which makes her shoot up out of the bath in slow motion.

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5. Girl splashing water on her face in sink trying to get her ex out of her head. 








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6. Girl smashing glass window/something that smashes, in an abandoned building, trying to get her ex out of her head, she is annoyed and frustrated.
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7. Girl walking through park at night.


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8. Girl walking past café the couple used to go to.
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9. Girl alone sitting on bench looking at camera, the ex does the same, sits alone on the same bench.

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10. Girl's face anxious walking down street/path, mascara running down face.

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11. Girl in bedroom taking shirt off and lying on her bed sad. 

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12. Girl sitting alone in room thinking.

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13. Girl walking through city/underground at night. Girl walking alone in the city at night. 

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14. Girl crying in graffitied bathroom/place.

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15. Flashback of couple walking together laughing in city at night.
16. Flashback of couple in café/chip shop/kebab shop together laughing throwing chips at each others faces.
17. Flashback of couple pushing each other into a pool with clothes on, then when underwater, they make out touching each others faces. 
18. Flashback of the couple sitting at bench at train station looking at each other intimately, sadly. 
19. Flashback of couple walking at train station while one arm around the other jumping on each other. 
20. Flashback of ex stroking girl's face and tucks her hair behind her ear. 
21. Flashback of ex and girl arguing in small room then ex walks out leaving girl crying. 
22. Flashback of ex and girl in lift together far apart then they get out of the lift giving each other bad looks - girl leaves lift first. 
23. Flashback of girl and ex arguing pushing each other. 
24. Girl alone in bar sipping drink. She is slightly crying then she wipes her eyes. 
25. Girl floating in water underwater (in pool) with clothes on. 
26. Girl underwater silent screaming as if drowning. a
27. Flashback of couple standing outside café looking into camera. 
28. Flashback of couple sitting at table across from each other in restaurant sad. 
29. Flashback of couple dancing in nightclub together. 
30. Flashback of ex leaning in to kiss girl. 
31. Flashback of couple laughing crazily together. 

DIGIPAK: Tracks Chosen

I have done research into the common amount of tracks that you will see on an album in the electropop genre. I looked at Halsey's 'Hopeless Fountain Kingdom' and 'Badlands'. Also, I looked at Melanie Martinez' 'Cry Baby' and Ryn Weaver's 'The Fool'.
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Halsey's 'Hopeless Fountain Kingdom' album

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Halsey's 'Badlands' album

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Melanie Martinez' 'Cry Baby' album

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Ryn Weaver's 'The Fool' album

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Most of the electropop artists I looked at had only EP's with 1-6 tracks on it. The artist I have chosen has several EP's but no full proper albums just yet as you can see here:
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Astrid S's 'Bloodstream' EP

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Astrid S's 'Party's Over' EP

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Astrid S's '2AM' EP

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Astrid S's 'Hyde' EP

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I also noticed that the 'Deluxe' versions of the album had a lot more tracks than the originals. 

I have decided on which tracks to include in my digipak for my artist, Astrid S. I picked my own personal favourite tracks of hers and a lot of her greatest hits. I haven't decided on the order of the tracks just yet but these are the tracks I have chosen:

1. Hurts So Good
2. Bloodstream
3. Does She Know
4. Hyde
5. 2AM
6. Breathe
7. Think Before I Talk
8. Such A Boy
9. Paper Thin
10. Party's Over
11. Jump
12. Atic
13. I Don't Wanna Know

3 Bonus Live Tracks 
14. Hyde (Live From Studio)
15. Paper Thin (Live From Studio)
16. Hurts So Good (Live From Studio)

MVid EG1: Astrid S - Such A Boy

POSSIBLE INFLUENCES:
1. The excessive use of colour correction and colour gels (for lighting - colourful lighting). 
3. The locations e.g. indoor in a bathroom, in a bowling alley, in a bedroom, at a party full of people.

Act: Astrid S
Track: Such A Boy
Year: 2017
Director: 
Genre: Electropop
Main Audience: Females (15-24)

There are 18 shots in the first 30 seconds. That estimates that each shot lasts 1.6 seconds. 
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There is frequent use of colour correction and colourful lighting (created with colour gels) in this music video. I am really inspired to use this for my music video, I really like it. 

Andrew Goodwin's '6 conventions of music videos' can apply to this music video. There are frequent close up shots used of the singer, Astrid S lip syncing. There are also frequent electro pop genre signifiers used such as the excessive colour correction/colourful lighting (created with colour gels). 

Laura Mulvey's 'male gaze' can be somewhat exploited in this video because of how the artist is glamourised throughout with either pink lipstick or lipgloss, lilac nail varnish, black mascara, either silver earrings studs or bangles, foundation, blusher and black eyeshadow. You can denote that her eyebrows are plucked and shaped nicely also. The pink lighting on her for example at the start as you can see in the image on the left, helps to further glamorise her and make her appear very feminine. The shot on the left is of a boy about to kiss the artist's neck which is not something which would attract a young tween audience but instead, an older teen audience aged 16-25.

There are also many shots of the artist showing her shoulders in thin strapped tops/dresses. She is also a white caucasian blonde female so this is a normative representation of females. She also has mid-length long hair which further enforces this normative representation. Later on in the video you see a close up two shot high angled shallow field of focus shot of Astrid S looking in direct audience address with the boy in the background out of focus. In this shot she is wearing a thin strapped pink ribbed tight dress which shows her cleavage - this is clear evidence of the 'male gaze' theory being exploited. 

She is also eating candy floss at the same time - the fact that she is looking in direct address while biting into something has sexual connotations, therefore glamourising and sexualising Astrid S which can attract a male audience. It also signifies that her audience are not young (e.g. tweens aged 10-13) but instead they are young adults aged 16-25. However, the candyfloss element could be considered as an attempt to create a playful vibe to the music video which could therefore attract a younger audience (aged 13-15).

You could say the 'female gaze' is also being exploited in this video due to the high key colourful lighting clearly glamorising the male character as you can see in this image below.

The boy is sucking on something or has something slightly in his mouth in the lower image, the female gaze being exploited because this is a sexualised pose that you see male models do for modelling images - as you can see here in this example on the right for this 'Spicebomb' perfume. There is lighting coming from many different angles in this image on the lower right, to create a glamourised effect on the facial features and skin. For example you can see some sections of the face are dark blue and some are pink. The jaw/neck, which is a glamorised feature of the male face, has clearly been purposely lighted a different colour to the rest of the face. 
This boy character is being glamorised and sexualised by being in this pose which connotes that the Astrid S's (the artist) audience is not young but instead is older teens (aged 16-25). 




There is also use of direct personal address in the video from the singer, Astrid S. This creates a personal connection between the artist and audience/fans. This is a common convention of music videos of any genre. While she is with her lover character in the video she is looking at the audience while the lover character is looking at her or doing something to her like kiss her neck. 

I also noticed this technique/effect was used in Astrid S's music video for 'bloodstream'. This makes the audience really empathise with her and relate to what is going on in the video, this can be tied nicely with Dennis McQuail's 'Uses and Gratifications theory' - the personal identity gratification is relevant here - the female audience members at a similar age to Astrid S (aged 20) or younger (aged 16-18) can relate and identify with Astrid S. 

MVid EG3: The 1975 - Sex

POSSIBLE POINTS OF INFLUENCE FOR MY MUSIC VIDEO:
1. The trippy colours used. 
2. The use of naturalistic locations. 
3. The footage of the teen characters doing naturalistic teenage activities.
4. The footage of the teen couple kissing, touching each other and on top of each other. 
5. The performance footage of the band. 

Adam Powell (2013)
Act: The 1975
Track: Sex
Genre: indie rock
Main Audience: Females and Males (16-24)

The first 30 seconds consists of dialogue with 4 shots. From 0:30 to 1:00, there are 19 shots. This estimates that each shot lasts 1.6 seconds. 
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There narrative to this music video is non-linear, the end is at the start where the male character gets caught by the police. 

There is a mix of narrative and performance footage in this video, so, Simon Perth's performance, concept and narrative theory can be applied here. There are shots of the band performing with instruments such as electric guitar, drum kit, this all creates verisimilitude for the video. The narrative footage blurs with the performance footage at points for example when the band perform around the couple having sex/on top of each other kissing on a worn out discoloured mattress. 

There is very naturalistic colour correction to almost no colour correction used at all in this music video with a slightly grainy effect on all the footage. This effect has been used to connote the naturalistic and gritty side of the video. The 1975 band has an already existing branding which consists of the colours black and white, smoking cigarettes, wearing black dark clothing, having tattoos, wearing doc martens etc. They have quite a grungy, dark, gritty style, similar to Arctic Monkeys. 

There is also a lot of nudity (female nudity) within this video and mature, explicit inappropriate behaviour such as smoking weed and having sex. 

I believe this video would get an 18 age rating from the BBFC. When you watch this video on YouTube, the vevo age verification screen comes up where you have to confirm that you are 18 years old or older.  

MVid EG2: Halsey - Ghost

POSSIBLE POINTS OF INFLUENCES FOR MY MUSIC VIDEO:
1. The coloured lighting, neon colours, pastel colours 
2. The slow motion effect on the characters moving. 
3. The costumes used in the video e.g. the blue bob wig, pink bob wig, red lipstick, choker, black eyeshadow, black eyeliner etc. 

Malia James (2015)
Act: Halsey
Track: Ghost
Genre: electropop 
Main Audience: Females (13-24)

There are 11 shots in the first 30 seconds. This estimates that each shot lasts 2.7 seconds.
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At the start of the video, there is a medium long shot/long shot of a city with high skyscrapers and lots of banners everywhere with Chinese writing on. This denotes the setting to be urban and a 'big city' perhaps in the country of China or Japan. However, the location hasn't been intentionally anchored, it has been left as polysemic with asian signifiers through chinese script. The issue here is globalisation - where is this city - this is a city anywhere - not western or eastern which is an aspect of representation and post modernism, a refusal to accept a certain reality - any place any reality. 

There is use of a diegetic title at the start of the video. This title is the track title. There is also another title which is the track title 'Ghost' translated in Chinese. 

Andrew Goodwin argued that there are 6 features of music videos, these can be seen in this video. These are: frequent close ups of artist, genre characteristics, relationship between lyrics and visuals, relationship between music and visuals, the notion of looking and intertextual references. First of all, there is frequent use of close ups of the artist, Halsey in this video. 

There are electropop genre characteristics in this video such as the use of bright neon, primary colours throughout (created through colour gel lighting and colour correction) and the iconic, flamboyant costumes seen which are a light blue wig, a light pink wig, a choker, bright red lipstick and heavy black eye make-up.



Laura Mulvey's male gaze' is somewhat exploited in this music video through the close ups and medium close up shots at the start of the video of Halsey and another girl's body. They are heavily glamourised through the use of high key lighting, sometimes with the use of colour gels and also colour correction. This is one of the key conventions of the electropop genre (colour correction, SFX, use of colour gels). I am influenced by this video to use colour gels for lighting in my music video on the lip syncing footage of the singer and on some of the narrative shots. 

In terms of the Uses and Gratifications theory (Dennis McQuail), 3 of the gratifications apply here. Personal identity, personal relationship and diversion. Females aged 15-24 are able to identify with the female main protagonist, Halsey, in this music video. The same gratifications will apply to my music video. 

There is a playful post modern deconstructionist pomo aspect to this video due to the fact that the two female main protagonists look very similar because of the wig 'bobs' they are wearing, one is wearing a short bob pink wig, the other is wearing a short bob light blue wig. The first scene is where this is most evident. The editing choice of this first scene tricks/challenges the viewer and gets them confused as to which female is Halsey (the singer/artist). At one point Halsey is on the right while kissing and touching the other girl and then at another point Halsey is on the left side instead. This confusion is also created through the shot choices - through, for example the side on close up two shots of the two female characters, it is very hard to distinguish which female protagonist/character is Halsey. 

Also, it is clearly denoted that the narrative and performance have been blurred. Halsey is blurring the narrative and performance. The same colour correction is used on the lip syncing footage of the singer and the narrative footage of Halsey with the other female character. However, in the narrative shots, Halsey has a short light blue bob but in the performance shots, has significantly longer light blue hair. Halsey's bob hair in the narrative shots matches the hair of the other female character in the video intentionally.

In terms of editing style, a slow motion effect has been used on all of the footage. This creates a flowing effect. 

Information on electropop genre music video conventions gathered:
1. Use of colour correction, colour gels in lighting to look colourful 
2. Flamboyant costumes - colourful, vibrant costumes