Photoshoot

Photoshoot

The purpose of taking pictures throughout our filming process, is so that we can include these images in other tasks of the course. It makes sense to take pictures at the time of filming so that we do not need to go back and take the pictures another time which can be time consuming. Instead, the artist will already be in the correct costume and location which helps to create the desired effect. The images that we took throughout the filming process have been included in our linked tasks to our music video, such as the digipak and our individual magazine advert. It is essential that we take multiple pictures which are varied. This is so that our group members can use different pictures to make the products individual, however all have a similar theme. Additionally to this, varied pictures are engaging for the audience as they do not want to be looking at something too similar throughout every side of the digipak for example. The varied pictures also help to represent the artist and convey different emotions, which may engage the audience as this gives them an insight as to what the albums content may contain. 

One image which I have taken is an image of the artist overlooking scenery of London, more specifically overlooking Tower Bridge. I intend to use this photo on my Digipak. This is because I do not feel as though the image is engaging enough for the audience to use as the main image on my individual magazine advert. However, this is a good image to use on one of the multiple sides of the digipak as this is conventional to the soul genre and allows the audience an insight to what the album may be based on. I think this specific image works well as it helps to build a relationship with the audience through the use of facial expressions and representations of the artist. Within this shot the audience can see the emotionless expression that the artist has, which could suggest how low and vulnerable she is feeling, almost as though she has given up. The audience may be able to relate to this as they may have been in a similar situation at some point, and can sympathise for the artist. The overlooking of the London scenery could suggest that the content could be a mix based on the surroundings, and the artists emotion, which is our aim as our music video to "Hometown Glory" is based on the artists low emotion, and reminiscing on her hometown and past life which is based in London. When I came to the editing phase of this specific picture, I decided to use multiple layers to keep some of the picture remaining in colour, whilst the rest remains in black and white. This suggests to the audience a contrast between positive and negative thoughts which could further suggest that the artist is reminiscing on memories. This also gives a unique edge to the photo as the audience are engaged, questioning why the photo is styled like this. 

The next image is similar to the previous which I have used, as this is overlooking London standing on a bride, however is surrounded by different scenery. I have taken this particular image as the scenery is simplistic, allowing the audiences attention to be focused mainly on the image and not diverted elsewhere. It also allows the audience to focus on the artists facial expression. I intend to use this picture on my digipak on a side where this just has one image on. This is because the image is not suited to the main cover of the digipak/advert as it needs to be mainly focused on the artist. I think that this image is conventional to the soul genre as it captures the emotion of the artist. It almost seems as though she is day dreaming, making the audience sympathize for her as this suggests the artist is trying to escape her surroundings for a short space of time. This could suggest a theme of guilt or unhappiness throughout the album and content of the lyrics, which may in turn build a relationship with the audience as it may seem as though the artist is singing for them, and they can relate as they may have been in this situation themselves. The image presents the artist as down to earth and humble as she is willing to express her natural emotion for the benefit of the audience, to empower them and make them feel as though they are not alone.

Another image that I have used is of the artist standing on a bridge, looking downward. I intend to use this specific picture on my digipak on the track list side. As again as previously mentioned I think that the image I want to use for the main side of the digipak will be a close up shot which represents the artist and the album in a unique way. I have taken this particular image as it has several typical aspects which represent the artist conventionally. The artist is looking downwards, this suggests that the artist could be day dreaming, possibly wanting to escape her thoughts and emotions which she is feeling at the current time or situation that she is in. This can be inferred to the audience that the artist is feeling guilty, possibly based around the subject of love and family. Not only does this make the audience sympathise for the artist, they could possibly relate as they may have been in this situation before and are looking for comfort in music to show that they are not alone. Additionally, the audience may admire the artist as she is willing to show her raw and natural emotion for every body to see in order to comfort others, this enables the audience and artist to begin to build a relationship as they feel as though the artist is humble and down to earth.

I have taken an image throughout the filming process of a candle holder, which has many different warm tone colours, which I intend to use on my digipak, more specifically on the message to the audience. I have taken this image as I feel as though this is a unique image to use on my digipak. Most of the sides on my digipak include some picture of the artist mainly a close up or her looking somewhere else as though she is day dreaming. I feel as though this image is both conventional and subversive to the soul music genre. It is subversive due to the fact that not many artists have chosen to do something like this before, because as previously mentioned most digipak are kept quite simple with a black, or dark background or with a picture of the artist to show the emotion and passion in the lyrics. However, I do believe that this is conventional to the genre due to the colours that are used. Pinks and red symbolize love and romance which is what the album is based upon, giving the audience an insight to what they can expect. Furthermore, the orange tones used throughout suggest positivity, which gives an insight to the artists personality as even though she is clearly in a depressive state and feeling low, she is still trying to remain positive in hope for the "light at the end of the tunnel". This shows the artist as strong willed, which the audience may begin to build a relationship with the artist as this is something that they admire her for.

Another image which I have included on my digipak is shown on the main, front slide. This is of the artist looking downwards. I have chosen this image as it again represents the artist stereotypically. It seems as though the artist is upset and down about a particular subject, which could suggest the themes which run throughout the album. This may interest and engage the audience as they may gain an insight to the humbleness and how down to earth the artist is. Additionally, may make the audience build a relationship with the artist as they feel as though they are not going through the situation alone, as though they have someone else who is also going through the similar situation. of the artist trying to forget about something she feels guilty about, by staring into space. Furthermore the picture is conventional to the soul genre through the representation of the artist. It could be portrayed to the audience that the artist is staring into space. This is where it is known to have "zoned out" of the current time not being intact and forgetting about their inner emotion. Inferring guilt which could be a possible insight to a theme which occurs throughout the album.

Lastly, I have taken this particular image to be the main image for my individual magazine advert. This particular image is conventional to my chosen genre of soul due to a number of conventional aspects. Firstly, the use of colour is conventional to my individual magazine advert through the main use of the colour black and white as this is the effect of the whole advert. The effect helps to represent the artist stereotypically. Black suggests the artists depressive state and emotions swell as the colour white contrasting this with connotations of innocence and vulnerability. The two colours combined allow the audience to sympathise for the artist as feeling both vulnerable and depressed must be difficult to cope with. Allowing the audience to build a relationship with the artist as they can empathise with her, or may have been in this particular situation themselves. This presents the artist as down to earth and ordinary which the audience can relate to as she is similar to the audience, just like a regular person. The use of black and white could also suggest to the audience how the artist is reflecting on her past life and reminiscing on happier times before she found fame, which could lead to an insight of what the audience can expect from the album. Another conventional aspect of the image i have chosen for my individual magazine advert is the positioning and facial expressions of the artist. The artist is seen to be looking down in the image, with an expression which makes her look fed up and upset. It appears as though the artist is day dreaming, which she is possibly trying to escape her current thoughts of guilt and inner emotion. This could be family or love based which makes this more relatable for the audience. In turn, this could begin to build a relationship between the artist and audience as it seems as though the artist is able to trust them with how she is feeling, this also may feel to the audience that they have somebody to talk to about a situation almost like the artist is the audiences friend, which may be comforting to them. 

In conclusion, I found taking pictures for the photo shoot an enjoyable and easy task to complete. This is because all we had to do was take several photographs of the artist in which she was already in the clothing from filming previous to this. We had taken photos even in natural states and random places to capture what may work well on our digipak. The more images that we had taken, the more chance we had of finding an image which would work well with our theme. We felt that the shots that we took worked well as we took images that helped to portray to the audience what our music video was based upon, this could be seen through scenery and facial expression of the artist which gives an insight to themes which occur. One problem which our group encountered with picture taking is that the majority of our group liked the same picture in which one would want to have for a specific reason. Looking back, we could have taken even more shots to avoid this problem and have planned out specific images we needed to take rather than the artist posing naturally as we had multiple shots which looked similar. 

Planning Individual Digipak

Planning Individual Digipak

A digipak is a paperboard or cardboard binded book style which contains one or more plastic trays within. Digipak style cases were not used until the popularity grew when artists began using them in the early 2000's. They are often used for special editions of CD albums. This is in comparison to a Jewel CD case first released in 1982 which is a compact disc which was a three piece plastic case which contained the CD and a back card with liner notes also. This type of CD is constructed into 4 sides, with most detail located on the front and back which means that this is most likely to grab peoples attention and make them want to purchase the album. The Jewel CD case is plastic which means all paper and contents inside of the case is protected and would last much longer than a different material would. Additionally, the Jewel CD case contains lyrics of the song in case the audience may want to learn the lyrics to feel closer and more relatable to the artist. In comparison the Digipak is a special edition CD containing higher quality images and helps to display further meaning. The Digipak will contain a letter or a note from the artist which is directed to the audience from the artist which helps to give a personal feel for the audience and they feel as though they get to know the artists personality. The digipak occasionally contains a bonus track to the album whereas a CD may not include this, therefore it is more beneficial for the audience to purchase this version instead of the original as they can hear more music from the artist which they like. The digipak also has 6 sides to it, this allows opportunity for the visible artwork to be seen more clearly and engage the target audience, as well as leaving room for information or promotions of the artist. The digipak is not easily ripped when compared to the Jewel CD case as when the case is removed it may cause damage. Lastly, on a digipak all information is easily seen and very easy to access which makes this more appealing for the audience to purchase.

My task after analyzing Digipak from an artist from our chosen music genre was to create our own individual Digipak for our music video. The digipak contains a front cover, a track list of the artists album and songs that the audience can expect to hear when they listen. The CD that of the chosen artist, after this a note is included from our music artist which is written from the artist, to the audience which are her fans. The last two sections of the digipak and pictures that we will have taken before hand and used on Photoshop. The two pictures relate to the music video and may be recognizable to the audience from the music video. The first element of my digipak which I thought about were the colours which I was going to include. The main conventional aspect shown in my individual digipak is the representation of the artist. This is because through the use of imagery the artist is seen to be sad, and feeling down about her current situation. Furthermore, My digipak will be mostly in black and white, however I could not show this through my drawings as there was no way to illustrate this. These particular colours help to suggest and portray to the audience the artists emotion, how low and depressed she is currently feeling. This representation of the artist could illustrate to the audience that how she is feeling may reflect in her music content, so they may now know what they can expect. Contrasting this, the colour white is used additionally to create the black and white filtered effect. The colour white usually suggest innocence, which immediately makes the audience sympathize for the artist because when they compare the innocence to how low she is feeling, the artist can be represented as vulnerable and may not know what she is thinking due to mixed emotions. The two colours contrasting each other could also suggest that she is reflecting on her past, the black and white suggesting positivity and negativity which could remind her of her life before fame and after, giving the audience a taste of what they can expect to see within the music video as well as the digipak. The use of these two colours are stereotypical of the soul music genre because it helps to show the artists feelings which they are commonly seen to feel low and down, this also presents the artist as down to earth as she is willing to show the audience her true, raw emotion that she may not necessarily want to be seen. Furthermore, I will also use a variation of colour within my music video which have connotations to help represent the artist stereo typically and subversively. Aspects of red will be used throughout my digipak, this helps to portray the artist as a strong willed and fiery character, which is not stereotypical of a soul music artist as they are usually quiet due to their low emotion and vulnerable state, this could gain the artist respect and be seen as admirable from the audience as they see how she is trying, and is determined to make a change to how she is feeling, and not letting her situation get the better of her and may understand the feeling of not wanting to give up on something. However, in contrast to this representation is stereotypical to the soul music genre because it suggest what the audience can expect the artists music to be based on, love and romance. The re occurrence of the colour red could also suggest an issue that keeps arising in the artists life which she can't seem to forget. This could reiterate to the audience the narrative of the song which we have chosen in regards to the artist keep thinking about her past life before she found fame and how much happier she was previously. Additionally, I have used several different images throughout my digipak which help to represent our music artist. The main image in which I will be using on the front of my digipak is the artist looking downwards, which from this the audience can infer that the artist is feeling low and vulnerable as this is a natural expression for somebody who is upset. This could be due to the topics which the artist is addressing in her lyrics. Connotations of looking downwards also can be seen as somebody feeling guilty, which the audience could infer that a theme of guilt runs throughout the album when the album addresses family, love and her personal life, the audience could relate to this in some way as they also may have own personal regrets involving their personal life which relieves them of guilt as it is comforting for the audience to know somebody else is also feeling this way which helps to build a relationship between the two of them as the artist is represented as a down to earth, ordinary girl as she is willing to show her own emotion in order to comfort her audience. Furthermore, the artist not being able to look at the camera and instead is looking downwards suggest that the artist has a low and and lack of confidence. This helps to build a relationship between the artist and the audience as they can see that she is struggling to handle her emotion, as the artist seems as though she is "staring into space" to avoid her emotions so she does not have to constantly think about this, this suggests to the audience that the artist is weak and vulnerable as she is wanting to escape her surroundings for a short space of time to forget what she is thinking and going through currently in her mind. Another image that I will include on my digipak is one of the artist playing the piano from a sideways view. This helps to suggest that the artist is multi-talented an can do more to engage her audience than just sing like a lot of artists do currently. This helps to gain respect from her audience as they can she the passion she is putting into her music from performing the instrument herself and from the facial expressions which can be seen slightly from the angle that is used. Most of the images used are set out conventionally to the soul music genre in a simplistic way which does not distract the audiences attention from un-focusing them of the image which has several connotations which helps to represent the artist. The image is laid out central to the layout as this will be the main focus for the audience as they are most likely to recognize the artist first which will immediately draw their attention in. The second part of the digipak the audience are most likely to focus on next is the use of typography. The way I have set out my digipak uses minimal typography due to the conventional aspect of simplicity and not wanting to draw away the audiences attention. The main title is in a bold font, but will be centered behind the main, focal image as this is what I would like the audience to focus on last, however make it known who the artist is and intrigue the audience. Below this, I will also include a slogan for the artist which helps to present the album, which I hope to use an italic, handwritten font. The use of this particular font gives a personal touch to the album and makes the audience feel as though the album is creating for them only, which possibly makes them feel happier and empowered as they may feel if they are in a similar situation or can relate to the artists songs that they are no longer alone. The style of the writing helps to present the artist as humble and down to earth as it is clear that thought and effort may have gone into this album and is wanting to produce something that the audience will want, in comparison to many artists who have let fame "get to them" and are interested in the profit of their album. Lastly, the language which I have used has again remained simple on the front cover of the album as I am not wanting to divert the audiences attention. However, the use of the term "presents" in the slogan which I will include makes the album more personal to the audience, as though the artist has created this album for the audience and giving it to them personally. This helps to represent the artist as unique and down to earth as it comes across that she has taken time to create something that she hopes will be personal for the audience. Following on from this point, the letter to the audience also helps to create a personal approach due to the unique and quirkiness of the letter of the artist including her own songs to create a message. This also helps to build a relationship between the artist and the audience as they get to see a glimpse of the artists personality and how she is trying to interact and engage with her audience and not remain ordinary like other artists.

In conclusion, I feel that researching and planning my individual digipak is beneficial as it allowed me to think about conventional aspects which I would like to include in my own digipak in order to gain attention and engage my target audience. Additionally, I found that planning my individual digipak has been useful in regards for preparing me to decide what pictures I would like to use when we come to the stage of using Photoshop. This is because I have set out my Digipak in the structure it is usually set out in, and have drawn pictures which I would like to include. I now know when taking pictures for my Digipak what i need to take. This is beneficial of my time as I can try to get an accurate shot as possible to the ones that I have drawn as I feel as though these shots are the most recognizable for the audience as these shots are seen frequently throughout our music video. Furthermore, If I then if I have time left take several different shots in case I do not like the originals that I had taken to try and improve my Digipak.