Album Artwork and Digipak

The next stage of the process, after having finished editing the music video, is to create the album artwork for the song. The band, who I have chosen to be called Shrouded Violet for reasons previously explained, is mainly focused on its singer who is featured heavily in the video. She is the one who writes the songs and although it is technically a band, the songs are all about her life and her feelings about having children and whether or not to continue making music. The name of the song, I'm Not Done, clearly denotes that her time in the music industry is not yet over and she wants to continue making music. From the lyrics however it is not particularly obvious that this is what the song is about. The lyrics are more akin to that of some kind of fever dream or distorted reality, which fits hand in hand with the music and what kind of environment the writer was in when she wrote them.

With this in mind, I decided that the artwork would need to in some way represent the meaning behind the song and the thoughts of the writer. I started off by taking one of the stills from the video. I chose to take one from when she was running through the woods so I could contrast the singer with the woods behind her.
I started with the image below:

After choosing this particular frame I had to make it fit to the correct size, so I cropped out the left side of the image so it looked like this:

I then used the lasso tool to duplicate her head and put it on a new layer so that it could be independently edited. I darkened her face as a whole to add a more serious tone and acknowledge that the themes in the song are to be taken seriously. I then made the background black and white to give more contrast between the trees and her face. I also added an effect to her face which gave her a slightly blurry look to connote that she is not clearly defined by anyone or anything and she won't do what may be expected of her.

After this I needed to add the name of the band and the name of the single. I thought that this needed to be fairly simple and understated, so I chose a font that resembled a typewriter, Courier New, and positioned the artist name in the top third of the picture and the album name below and slightly to the right.

Happy with the album cover I decided to choose pictures for the back of the digipak and the inside. I chose a picture of a fur tree I took while filming to go inside the digipak and a picture of a clearing in the woods with a tree in the middle for the back cover.

For the picture of the fur tree that was to go inside the digipak, I wanted to the give the picture a gloomier look, so I made the white cloud behind the trees darker to a more grey colour and turned down the brightness of the picture as a whole. I decided not to put lyrics on this inside picture because it is not really a song which you would sing along to at a gig/concert. By this I am essentially saying that it is not the genre of music to have lyrics in the digipak. If it were a full album then there could be a booklet with the lyrics inside, but with the lyrics being easily available online to those who want them there is not much point as it would be an unnecessary expense.

With the picture for the back of the digipak I decided to use the tree trunk as a place to place the names of the songs on the CD. This did mean that I had to resize the image so that a significant portion of the picture was taken up by the trunk. To do this I had to remove parts of the original image and make a section larger, reducing the quality, which is not ideal but it isn't too noticeable. Continuing with the theme of contrasting I decided to use a similar technique to the one I used for the front cover, which was to select the tree trunk and copy it onto a new layer so that it could be different to the scenery behind it. I chose to make the scenery black and white and also give it a filter, which makes it look slightly out of focus and blurry like the background in the front cover image. I made the tree trunk greener and more saturated to give a greater contrast as the original picture had less vibrant colours. As this is a single rather than an album and there are only a few songs - the single itself, a remix of the single and two other B-sides.

Below are five back cover images with different text styles.
I asked a sample of the target age range (15 ~ 40) which design they preferred.

The most popular design was the last one.
Here are some comments regarding the different designs:

"The first design has an interesting effect - it looks as though the words are coming out of the tree, but it does not really fit with the rest of the image and the genre of the music."

"If you look closely at the second design it looks like the words could have been carved in to the tree, but from a distance, where most people would see it, you can't notice this and it gives the words a white glow which makes them slightly harder to read."

"I like that the third design looks fairly understated, but it makes it harder to read, which is not ideal."

"The text in the fourth picture is not particularly aesthetically pleasing as the yellow glow is out of place and doesn't really add to the effect."

"The fifth design is both understated - like the front cover - and fairly simple to read, although there is a mark on the tree near the 'u' in Gui, which might make it hard to read that word. It could do with being a bit clearer and it also needs some copyright information somewhere (probably underneath the barcode)."

I acted on the last comment and made the text slightly clearer and added some copyright information in the bottom right corner.

After the back cover there was one more image that was needed to complete the digipak. I decided to take another still from the music video, this time from a shot through the tops of trees.

I decided not to alter this image too much as it already showed a contrast of colour between the sky and the woods. I turned down the intensity of the blue in the sky a little and increased the brightness a small amount.

After this final panel I put them together into the digipak format. down the middle there is a spine, which I decided to fill with black and the name of the artist and single between the front and back panels. The same font was used to give some continuity to the digipak.

This is the template design for a digipak from a manufacturer's website and below it you can see the final digipak design in the same layout.

Props/Equipment

To film the music video I used several key pieces of equipment:

This is the Canon Powershot A1100IS, which I used to film the music video. Although it is not an HD video camera, which would have been ideal, there was not one available. This is a 12.1 megapixel camera, meaning that the video quality is still of an acceptable standard and it didn't limit my ability to edit the footage.

This is a gorillapod, which is a flexible mini tripod that can be used to wrap around trees (as shown). Filming in the woods proved to be awkward as there was not always enough space for a normal size tripod, so it was more practical to wrap the gorillapod around a nearby branch and film from there.

These are Sennheiser HD 201 Over-Ear Heaphones, which I used during filming to listen to the song and make sure my actor was miming the correct lyrics in time with the music. I had to use headphones rather than a speaker because I was filming in a public place, so I had to be considerate of others and it also would have been hard to hear over the sound of the trees rustling in the wind. 

I also used these headphones during the editing process to ensure I was fully absorbed by my work and could listen to the song close enough to make fine adjustments to the editing.

This is the HTC desire, a smartphone that I used as my primary method of communication with my actor. I could also use it check other things such as weather forecasts (as I was filming outside) and Facebook if my actor was unable to contact me via her phone for some reason.

This is an IMac, which I used to edit the footage and create special effects. It was very useful as it specialises in media specific software and the programs provided are both professional and relatively straightforward to use.

Actors & Costume

I have decided that I will only use one actor in my music video, which will be Anna Jones. She is currently studying drama at university and has been in countless musicals, so is familiar with acting while singing. She has also recently done the choreography for a production of Cabaret (a musical) so is well suited for playing the lead (and only) role in my music video.

After discussion with my actor we have decided that the best thing for her to wear is a flowery strapless dress, with a fur gilet and boots. The flowery dress is to show her femininity, which is partly covered by the fur gilet (an example of which is shown below)

 and keeps with the name of the artist - Shrouded Violet - as it represents some of her emotions being repressed by external factors, in this case the people around her which is why she is in a forest with nature rather than the emotional oppression she faces from society.

I also thought that it would be a good idea to have her wear black mascara around her eyes that was slightly smudged to reinforce the wild look and to make her look more emotional.

Location Permission

My music video will be filmed entirely in one location - Banstead Woods.

I e-mailed the reigate and banstead council and they forwarded my e-mail to the parks and countryside Officer. They allowed me to film on the premise that I did not disturb the users of the site or drive a vehicle past the public car park.

A screen shot of the commuication can be seen below:

Location Ideas

I have come up with several different ideas for locations to film my music video.

The meaning behind the song as well as the overall feel of it suggest to me that there should be elements of contrast between the artist and her surroundings. Because of this I have decided to put the artist in a rural environment that reflects her need to be free from the constraints of society.

Location idea 1: Farthing Downs, Coulsdon. This is a hilly area near where I live that offers a mix of woodland and fields.

Location idea 2: Banstead Woods, Banstead. This is a comparatively flat area that is mainly woodland, with a sloping field at the base of the woods.

Location idea 3: Headley Heath, Surrey. This is a heath with lots of dense shrubland and some woodland.

Out of these three locations I think that the most suitable is Location 2 (Banstead Woods) as it is fairly close to where I live so I could go back and film without having to worry too much about getting there. There is also enough of a variety of scenery inside the wood to not have lots of similar looking scenery.

Song permission

I have e-mailed rabid records, the record label who have Fever Ray signed to them. They referred me to this company:   http://www.d-e-f.com/ (which is an artist management company who mange artists like The Knife, Robyn, Moby and M83), who I then forwarded my previous e-mail to and they replied saying that I could use the song I had chosen as long as there was no commercial use. Below is the e-mail of the two correspondences.

Animatic

This is the animatic for my music video. There is a brief description of the action/movement of the actress underneath each

Storyboard

This the storyboard for my music video

Song Lyrics

So, I lost my head a while ago

But you've seem to done no better

We set fire in the snow

It ain't over, I'm not done


Some do magic and some do harm

I'm holding on, holding on

I'm holding on to a straw


Who is the Alpha and What is made of cloth?

How do you say you're sorry?

And there's nothing to be afraid of


Is it dark already? How light is a light?

Do you laugh while screaming?

Is it cold outside?


One thing I know for certain

Ohhhhh I'm pretty sure,

It ain't over I'm not done.

Song for music video

I have been listening to several different artists including TV On The Radio, Radiohead, Beirut and Battles. I have decided upon a song by Fever Ray called I'm Not Done.

Here is some information about the song,  I'm Not Done, which i have chosen to create a music video for:

Writer: Karin Dreijer Andersson
Producer: Fever Ray, Van Rivers & The Subliminal Kid
Distributor: Rabid
Performers:
Vocals - Karin Dreijer Andersson


The song does not already have a video for it, which means that I will be able to have more freedom in the making of without having to worry about it being too much like the existing video. I have linked two videos below, one of which is one of her songs which does have a video (the other is the actual song). The music video for the song which is not the one I will be doing is called When I Grow Up and I will take inspiration from her movement and appearance in my video.

When I Grow Up:




I'm Not Done (This is the song I will be making a music video for):

Below is also the artwork of the album, which the song is on (Fever Ray)

Fever Ray is the solo work of Karin Dreijer Andersson, who is part of the swedish brother-sister duo, The Knife. Her self titled solo début, Fever Ray, was released in 2009 under the Rabid label. Rabid was formed by the members of Honey Is Cool in 1998 of which Karin was a member. After the success of The Knife's most recent album, Silent Shout, Karin took time out to have her third child and it was during this post natal period where she wrote the album Fever Ray. She composed the songs in a state that is common among new parents - "awake, but exhausted, where reality blurs into imagination and ideas flutter in and out." Taken from a biography about Fever Ray by Steve Yates.  Much of the album is stark, moody and occasionally sombre and I'm Not Done is one of the more upbeat songs on the album and the title is "a gesture of defiance against Karin's own thoughts of retirement." This is what she had to say about this song:


“That was the last song I wrote and in contrast to many tracks that are more about anxiety and depression, that one is very full of life,” she says. “Sometimes, when you’re as old as I am now, you think you’re going to quit, and people around you think you’re going to quit. But then you have days when you realise how good music can be, there’s so much left to explore and so much left to do. That’s why I sometimes feel I’ll never quit.”

To reflect the more upbeat nature of the song (in comparison with the others on the album), I will add more colour to the video and include a feeling of freedom to reflect the meaning behind the title of the song.

A2 Specification

Here are the relevant aspects of the A2 Media coursework specification: 

This is a coursework unit. Centres must set the brief from the menu below, though they may define more precise details in negotiation with candidates. From this brief, candidates will produce:

• a media portfolio, comprising a main and ancillary texts; 
• a presentation of their research, planning and evaluation in digital format(s).

The media portfolio will be produced through a combination of two or more of the following media:

• Video 
• Print 
• Web-based 
• Audio 
• Games software

Each candidate will evaluate and reflect upon the creative process and their experience of it. Candidates will evaluate their work digitally, this evaluation being guided by the set of key questions below. This evaluation may be done collectively for a group production or individually. Examples of suitable formats for the evaluation are:

• A blog DVD extras
• A podcast 
• A powerpoint 
• A Website 
• Or a combination of two or more of the above

In the evaluation the following four questions must be addressed: 

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
• How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? 
• What have you learned from your audience feedback?
• How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

• a website homepage for the band; 
• a digipak for the album’s release; 
• a magazine advertisement for the digipak.