Planning Storyboards

Planning Storyboards

A story board is a series of images and drawings which are explained in a lot of detail to create a visual image of what you would like to be created. The series of images could explain a series or sequence, in which we have planned storyboards in order to plan in detail our music video. The story boards help us to plan which particular scene we would like to film, and what the scene will include. Although the storyboards help to plan out what we would like to include in the video this is only our first vision and we can still include other shots if we feel as though we need to include a particular scene in order to enhance or help the audience to understand the narrative. However, this helps us with organisation in regards to what scene we would like to film and what is convenient to film at the same time in order to prevent wasting time when coming to the filming process, this could result in leaving our group with more time to add additional scenes or re film certain scenes if time is managed well.

In the process of creating our music video we carried out primary and secondary research which would help us in the planning process. The first piece of primary research which I carried out was the questionnaire. The questionnaire included several questions which enabled us to evaluate the target audiences answers of what they expect, and like to see in a soul music video. The answers shown revealed what we expected to find out, as most answers were conventional to our chosen genre of music video. Some of the answers included which type of shot the target audience would like to see in the music video, which came back as the shot the audience would like to see most was a close up shot due to the emotion of the artist being more visible and enabling a relationship to build between the artist and audience. Furthermore, we have taken several inspirations from different soul artists music videos which we have tried to incorporate into our music video as many of these aspects are conventional to our genre. 

One inspiration which we would like to try and incorporate into our music video is the use of a black and white filter over certain scenes of the video. We initially wanted to use this filter in scenes where the artist is performing on the piano which would help reiterate to the audience the depressive state in which the artist is currently in, which could allow the audience to sympathise for the audience. However, I think we have chosen to change this idea as this may not be clear to the audience as to why we have used this filter over a particular scene. Instead we want to include this filter over scenes were the artist is reminiscing on her memories, this filter will help to show this is a memory as well as reiterating to the audience the emotion, instability of the artist and how she is feeling. We have taken inspiration for this editing style from artists such as Amy Winehouse, who used this editing style effect in her music video of "Back to Black" as well as the artist Adele who used this technique in her music video of "Make You Feel My Love". We are aiming to incorporate this effect in scenes which are included in our story board such as 3 and 4 which is just a few of the scenes which will include this effect. The black and white filter helps to demonstrate the artists emotion in the scene that the colour black helps to represent the artists depressive state and negative emotions as she is comparing her past to her present. The use of the colour black contrasts with the use of the second colour of white which helps to represent the innocence and happiness of the artist which could also portray her as vulnerable, as most innocent people are seen this way. This helps the audience to sympathise for the audience as they may be able to relate to how they are feeling as she is already feeling low and down. The two colours also help to show that the artist is reflecting and reminiscing on her memories before she found fame. This is conventional to the soul genre which is evident as I have mentioned, artists including Adele have used this technique which helps to portray the narrative clearly. 

Another inspiration that we have taken from analysing secondary information of artists music videos is a close up shot which is stereotypically used in conventional soul music videos. This style of shot is commonly used in artists videos in which we have analysed such as Duffy, Adele and Amy Winehouse. We will use this specific style of shot throughout the music video. This includes our opening shot which will hopefully make an impact to the audience and give them a sense of what they can expect throughout the video. We will also include this style of shot in scenes 16 and 24 which have been included in our storyboard. These shots will be used in particular scenes which will be used when the artist is singing and performing and this helps to display the emotion and passion of the artist. This helps to build a relationship between the artist and audience as they can see the emotion of the artist and how passionate she is about the certain subject, they can see how down to earth the artist is due to her not hiding her true and raw emotion and feel connected in the sense that they felt as though the artist felt as though she could trust the audience. Close up shots are the best way to illustrate this emotion as there is no cover for the artist as all of their genuine emotions are shown on screen. 

Additionally, we have taken inspiration from again, the artist Amy Winehouse in regards to the style of music video. This is because the artists videos usually, like ours include both a narrative and performance style music video, whereas artists like Adele's music videos are mainly narrative based which is quite simplistic. An example could be of Adele's "Someone Like You" where the entire video is based upon the artist singing, whilst walking down the street. It can be seen through our stroyboards that we are going to include both styles of music videos. The beginning scene starts as a performance style music video of the artist performing on stage, and by the 3rd scene shown on the storyboard the narrative is introduced with shots of a London bus to demonstrate that the artist is reminiscing on her memories before she found fame. Another inspiration in which we would like to incorporate into our music video from the artist Amy Winehouse is the use of aspects of colour at certain points of different scenes. It can be seen in Amy's video "You Know I'm No Good" that the artist has mainly used low key lighting, and then a vibrant colour of red is standing out on her nails. We would like to include this editing technique, however when the scenes of memories that are in black and white are displayed. We would like to incorporate the colour red, which could stand out on the lips or nails. Red has connotations of power and willingness. Which could unconventionally represent our artist which may help to engage the target audience as this is something they would usually not expect to see. The artist may feel empowered by the artist as they can see she is feeling low and down, but is trying to find light in the situation and is continuing onward. This is relatable for many members of the audience as this may give them determination also. The colour red is also conventional to the genre as this has connotations with love and danger, which is what most soul artists base their music upon, leaving the audience sympathising for the artist as the two of these connotations combined could leave the artist feeling vulnerable.

 Lastly, another inspiration in which we will include in our music video is the use of dull/low key lighting. We have been inspired for this use of lighting through the artists such as Adele, Duffy and Amy Winehouse using it in their music videos which include "Rehab" and "Make You Feel My Love". We have chosen to include this style of lighting because this enables the audience to understand that this is representing the past and the artists memories, reiterating how low the artist is feeling. This type of lighting is conventional to the soul genre as this helps to represent the artists emotion which is her feeling low and down. This enables the music video to be relatable for many of the audience members as this could also reflect their mood or be able to relate to the artists feelings. 

My group planned out our story board onto blank pages with boxes which were located for drawings, with a box beneath which allowed us to describe the certain scene. This included information as what editing techniques, iconography, lighting, the location of the scene and a short narrative description. Our group consists of 4 members, which allowed each of us to take a sheet which includes the storyboards and write out one at a time. This was more effective and useful of our time as this enabled us to finish the process of writing out the storyboards more quickly. We all helped each other with ideas and broadened each others individual ideas of what might fit into a certain scene better than another may have. In total we planned out 36 different shots of storyboarding which took up the space in 9 separate sheets of storyboards. We did not necessarily have to plan this many shots, or could have planned more than we needed to but we created the amount of storyboards in which we are hoping to create, and give us a rough outline of which scenes are going to be in which order. If we did not plan out our storyboards, this would be more time consuming as when it comes to the filming process we would then be discussing which scenes were appropriate to film at that particular time. However, we can have a base of what we are wanting to include which allows room for interpretation and development of the story boards meaning we can include more shots or take away certain shots to create a product which we have envisioned.

In summary, we have began to follow the main guide lines of our story board for our music video. Including certain scenes which we have planned out in the story boards. However, the entire storyboard is not fully followed to the last detail as when it came to filming, particular shots may have not suited the scene and looked better with a different camera technique. Furthermore, some scenes would look better with a longer duration of the scene, instead of quickly changing to the next scene. Therefore, we would increase the duration of the scene if this helped to make the narrative more clear or helped to emphasise a particular part of the video if this was necessary. Storyboarding was essential to the planning of our music video production as this helped us with discussing and broadening our ideas. This allowed all of us to have an input of what we would work well and specific points of the music video. 

Planning Individual Magazine Advert

Planning Individual Magazine Advert

Magazine Adverts are important in relation to promotion and distribution of an artists album. This helps to portray to the audience what genre of music the album is and is easier to distribute the album to the target audience as they will be engaged to the album based on the advert. In addition to this, it allows the audience to have an insight to what the album and lyrics are based upon. For my music video I will be also be creating my individual magazine advert. This important to make my magazine advert effective as this is what will engage our target audience due to conventional aspects which we will use that will draw them in. It is important in the magazine advert to include conventional aspects to the soul genre as this is what the audience will stereotypically look for and helps to represent the artist and her music which will in turn make the audience feel as though they can relate to the artist. We planned our original ideas as a group to ensure that we incorporated similar ideas as each other to show that we had a thought process and had planned out typical conventions that would usually appear in our genre of music video magazine advert.

To create my individual magazine advert I have decided to use certain elements which has made the advert appeal to our target audience and promote our artist effectively. The first element which I thought of to make conventional to the soul genre is the use of black and white. Although my individual magazine advert is planned and mapped out in colour, I did this as a first draft, I have decided that I would like the advert to be in black and white, with bold aspects of the advert to stand out which are in red, including the lips of the artist and the first letter of the title 'Amy' and the second part of the title which is '18'. I will use black and white as this is a stereotypical convention. The black helps to suggest the artists emotions and state of sadness and depression which connotates this colour. Furthermore, the white used will help to represent the artist as vulnerable and innocent, which is again, conventional to the genre as most of the artists are portrayed this way. Both colours making the audience sympathize for the artist as the emotions are illustrated clearly and they may be able to relate to the artists situation. The black and white colours contrast each other with positivity and negativity help to illustrate the past and the artist reminiscing on memories where she was most happy before she found fame. Red has connotations of being strong willed, and can give confidence to those who are lacking it and are shy, representing the artist as determined as she is willing to get through times were she is feeling low and down, which the audience may see the artist as motivational as she sees the light through the dark and is willing to try and overcome her circumstances which may give the audience motivation to those who can relate to try and do this as well. Additionally, the colour red represents love, passion and emotion which helps to portray to the audience what the content of the album would contain. The image which we will aim to use is a image of the artist looking downwards, heavily made up and central to the advert. Looking down can have connotations of feeling guilty which may suggest to the audience there is a theme of guilt running throughout the album in regards to love, family and personal life which may engage the audience as they could possibly relate to this. This also engages the audience as they could build a relationship with the audience as she is admitting that she may have made a mistake/error in her personal life which is something an famous artist tends not to do, representing her as an ordinary and down to earth person which the audience may admire. We will also make sure that the artist is looking down and slightly to the right. This has connotations of the artist channeling her internal emotions, this is conventional to the soul genre as artist are known for singing about their emotions and personal struggles which they may be going through, this may make the audience sympathize for the artist as they may be able to relate in some way. Furthermore, the lay out of my individual magazine advert will be conventional to the genre, this includes the image being central to the advert so that the attention isn't diverted away from artist and the facial expressions shown of the artist which will help engage the audience and allow them to have an insight to the content of the album. The title will be focused at the top of the page so that this is something that the audience will look at secondly, this is less important than the image because the audience may have already recognized the artist through the use of the layout. The font which I am hoping to include in my individual magazine advert is quite simple, but bold. It will be in capitals to help this stand out to the audience and entice them into wanting to look at the advert, however the simplistic font is conventional to the genre in order not to completely divert the audiences attention away from the focal image. The typography and language used is again left quite simple and tasteful, not bombarding the audience with alot of factual information about the artist which is not relevant when the main focus is on the music and what it is based upon to show to the audience whether or not they would enjoy this album. The line underneath the title states "presents her debut album" which is intriguing to the audience as this suggests she is a new artist which could possibly be undiscovered talent. The line will be in a hand written style font which is conventional also as this again does not divert the audiences attention but is enough to engage the target audience. The handwriting style font also gives a personal feel to the artists album and enables the audience to feel as though this is the artist creating the album for them, and empowering people that are in a similar situation that they are not alone. The hand writing touch to the typography is a welcoming and personal approach to the advert which represents the artist to be humble and has not let fame "get to them" portraying her as down to earth and a relatable girl which is essential for some audience members.


In conclusion, I found planning my individual magazine advert useful in relation to taking pictures for my advert aswell as preparing for using Photoshop. This is because it has allowed me to carefully think out the advert which I would like to create and all the aspects which I will be including. It has allowed me to develop my ideas in which I believe may engage my target audience as this allows them to consider and understand certain connotations which may help to show what the albums content includes and whether this is something that they may enjoy. I also did want to follow stereotypical conventions however I did want to create something which was also unique and had a personal feel to the album which is not usually created by artists and hope to create this through the use of the image which represents the artist emotion portraying her as down to earth and genuine, alongside the typography of hand written font which gives a personal feel for the audience. Not only this but with a visual image of what I would like to create, this allows me to be more focused on what I would like to create and attentive in regards to not wasting time with considering different options. Additionally, I believe that this planning has enabled me to be more time effective in regards to taking the photos for my magazine advert as I know the connotations which will be perceived from the image and the effect which I would like to aim to achieve in order to gain the audiences attention.

Planning Editing Styles

Planning Editing Styles

A variety of editing styles are essential within a music video, which helps to finalize the product. This is because this helps to create different effects when the audience are watching as this may be able to represent how the artist is feeling at that particular moment and may help the audience to understand the narrative more clearly as particular editing styles may help to show a significant part in the scene or a location which may make it easier to differentiate between the different time periods in our music video. 

1) When it will be used

2) Is it conventional to your music genre?
3) How does the editing style help to represent your artist?

Black and White Filter

One editing style in which we will use in our music video is the use of a Black and White Filter. This will mainly be used in the performance scenes of the artist on stage which helps to represent how she feels about her career. The darker black colour used within this filter could suggest to the audience that the artist is feeling so low and in a depressive state of mind which is negative, this could also suggest what the album may contain in regards to lyrical content and what the audience should be expecting. This contrasts from the other representation of this editing style as the other predominate colour used is white, suggesting innocence, this could portray the artist as vulnerable as she is also in a low state, the audience may sympathize for the artist as they may be able to relate to this situation. The black and white colours contrast each other as one represents negativity whilst the white represents positivity this could suggest to the audience that this is the artist looking back on her past and is reiterating the music videos narrative. 

Slow Timing of Shots

Another editing style which we aim to incorporate into our music video is the use of slow timing of shots. This will mainly be used in the performance scenes of the artist singing or playing the piano. This is conventional to the soul music genre as it allows the audience to see the emotion in more detail of how the artist is feeling. The slowness of the shots allows more time for the audience to analyse and think deeply and empathize around how they would be feeling too. This technique also helps to again help the audience to understand the narrative more clearly as it is predominately based around the artists feelings and emotion as she is referring back to her childhood before she found fame. This is conventional to our music genre as predominately they like to convey the emotion of the artist to help the audience understand and be able to build a relationship. This does help to show and represent the artist as negative, however can show a different side as a down to earth artist as she is willing to show herself in an emotional state for the benefit of the audience with her natural emotions being shown without being able to try and hide them, this takes a lot for a person so the audience may be able to sympathize and relate to the artist more than they originally would have.

Fast Paced Editing


Another style of shot which we would like to include in our music video is the use of fast paced editing. This style of editing will mainly be used in the scenes in and around London. We aim to use this technique when we have shots of public transport such as buses or when people are walking around the streets. This helps to create a busy and chaotic atmosphere to the music video. This use of editing technique is not conventional to the soul music genre as this does not allow for enough detail of the shot to be shown, for example this does not allow the audience to see the emotion of the artist being portrayed as there is not given enough time to focus on this. However, this technique does help to portray a chaotic scene which could illustrate the state of the artists mind aiming for the audience to think she has a lot going on her head and has a mix of emotion. This however is conventional to the soul genre, a range of varied emotions relating to a specific subject which the audience may be able to relate to, and is a stereotypical representation for the artist as this can help them to be seen as vulnerable, which is understandable and relatable for many, and is also what the audience may expect to see in a soul music video as they are able to sympathize for the artist. 

Overlapping of Shots

The next editing style which we would like to include in our music video is the use of overlapping of shots. This certain editing style will be used when the performance and narrative styles are being used in the music video. Which includes when the artist is wandering in and around London, and whilst she is playing the piano. This is conventional to the soul genre as it again helps to display the chaotic lifestyle which could be interpreted as busy mind and thoughts. This helps to suggest that the artist has many different, and mixed emotions which she is not on top of, helping to show to the audience the extent of her emotions. This in turn, represents the artist as vulnerable as she has many different thoughts and feelings which has left her confused and down. This is a stereotypical convention as most artists in the soul genre are left with unanswered questions and feeling quite vulnerable which helps for the audience and artist to build a relationship as they may be able to relate to this particular situation.

In summary, the editing styles we have selected will in turn allow the target audience to build a relationship. This is because we have thought out and planned the techniques which we will be using in order to appeal to our target audience and create something which we know that they will enjoy, and expect to see. The styles which we have selected also help to portray and represent the artist conventionally which the target audience will be able to see more clearly through the representations of these editing styles and will make them sympathize for the artist more.

Lyric Analysis

Lyric Analysis

Our task was to analyse the song lyrics from our chosen song for our music video. The lyrics in which we had to analyse were from Adele's song "Hometown Glory" which was released from her album "19" in 2007. The purpose of analyzing our artists lyrics to the song is so that we can look for hidden and deeper meaning to the lyrics. This helps us with certain planning techniques as we will be able to incorporate certain aspects of the video which relate to the lyrics of the song and will help the audience to not only understand the lyrics but also the narrative which we have created. By conforming certain parts of our music video with the lyrics this makes it engaging for the audience as they can relate and realise the relevance of specific points of the music video.

We have categorized our annotations into different, and specific points. The separate points which we have analysed in the lyrics are, hidden meanings which are meanings which are not necessarily seen at a first glance but when are thought about in detail make sense and are an in depth analysis of the lyrics. Another point which we have analysed in the lyrics are how the artist is represented. This is what is mentioned in the lyrics and how this may represent and portray the artist in regards to feelings and emotions. Additionally we have annotated ideas of mise en scene styling as certain sentences within the lyrics could relate to a specific scene which helps the audience to understand the narrative more clearly. Lastly, we have annotated points in which will help to build a relationship between the artist and the audience members as this may make them feel a certain way towards the artist as they may be able to relate to the situation which is mentioned in the lyrics. The hidden meanings of our song Hometown Glory include the artist and how she feels about the way her life has changed and how she felt about the people which were included in her life before she found fame also. The annotations will assist with planning our soul music video through the codes and conventions in the lyrics. Firstly, the line "missing out the cracks" referring to cracks in the pavement as she is walking down a street. This line has connotations of possibly the artist being superstitious which can therefore represent her as weary and paranoid. From these representations the audience can also infer a sense of self-consciousness which the artist feels about herself. This is conventional to the soul music genre as the artist conventionally lacks self confidence possibly due to the subjects that they are singing about. This also represents the artist as relatable as many members of the audience may be able to relate to the lack of self confidence portrayed by the artist, aswell as they may also follow these rules of "missing cracks" in the pavement as this is a common thing to do, showing the artist as down to earth and ordinary creating a relationship between the artist and audience. Furthermore, "air so thick and opaque" suggests a hidden meaning that the artist feels a sense of entrapment and that there is no way out of the current situation she is in. This could also possibly mean that there is no escape from the way that she is feeling, the low and depressive emotions have submerged her and their is no way out. Conventionally to the soul genre, feeling trapped is a common topic which is included in the artists lyrics, suggesting how lonely and vulnerable they are feeling. Audiences may be able to relate to this situation as they may have been in a similar situation where they feel there is no way of escaping their low emotions. Annotations of the lyrics also help in assisting the cinematography of the music video. A certain line in the lyrics is where the artist is repeating her words which do not mean anything which could suggest humming. This could represent to the audience as though the audience is bored which could suggest of her life and how she has nothing going on and is feeling quite down and lonely in which she needs to fill up her time. At this particular part of the song we will include a close up shot to show clearly the facial expressions and body language of the artist which can help the audience to see and understand how upset and lost she is in regards to the direction of her life and how she wants to go back to how it was before she found fame. Additionally to this the line "people I've met are the wonders of my world" the wonders of the world are regarding to  places and buildings which are seen as magnificent and significant, this could help to represent and emphasize the fact that she misses the people which she used to surround her self with and helps to demonstrate to the audience how lonely she is now. This could be shown through the use of a mid shot which shows her reminiscing on memories of her surrounded by her family and friends. Furthermore, annotating the lyrics from our chosen artist helps us with planning editing styles. The line "Round my hometown" could be used in conjunction with a panning shot of the City of London, which helps to re-literate the narrative towards the audience which helps them to understand that the music video is based upon the artists journey to fame. Also in regards to the same line in the lyrics "Round my hometown" an editing style which we could also include is filters, which at this particular scene which would include memories of the artist before she found fame could be in black and white. This colour helps to portray to the audience that this is the artist lowest moments of reminiscing. Black could help to represent the artists depressive emotions and negativity about finding fame as she is reminiscing. White however, has opposite connotations of black which helps to display happiness and innocence which could help to suggest how happy the artist was again, before fame. The two colours contrast each other as one has positive connotations whereas the colour black has negative connotations. This could suggest to the audience that the artist is reflecting and reminiscing on her memories before fame. Annotating the lyrics also helps to assist my group when discussing mise-en-scene. The line, "Everybody's taking different sides" could help to suggest the artists different emotions, about how she felt before and after fame.This could be represented through different uses of lighting. For example, high key, natural lighting may be used when the artist is reminiscing on the past of fond memories of herself surrounded by friends and family. Whereas, the darker, low key lighting could be used when the artist is in the present day and there are multiple close up shots which helps to express the artists emotions and helps to convey how low and depressed she is feeling. Additionally, "and tutting my heel and strutting my feet" could be shown in conjunction with a close up shot of the heels which the artist will be wearing. This reiterates the point of the artist being represented as weak and fragile. The close up shot used at the particular scene helps to portray the instability of the artists feelings and emotions which could infer to the audience possibly that she needs somebody of something to help her and hold her own on her journey through fame. This could help to represent the artist as weak and vulnerable as she requires assistance due to her unstable emotional state. Additionally "Is there anyone I could call?" could be used at the same time as the artist being seen in a telephone box in London. This may emphasize to the audience the sense of the artist feeling lonely as she is asking the audience for somebody to call, which makes them sympathize for her. Furthermore this helps to demonstrate to the audience the location of the scene which is in London which can additionally help for the audience to understand the narrative more clearly. Annotating the lyrics helps to establish the music video style more clearly in which we have discussed which style would most suit the lyrics and the hidden meanings. Our music video is mainly based on narrative and performance. This is because the lyrics are relating back to where the artist originated before fame and her journey towards where she is today and throughout fame. We wanted to include this style as it helps to engage the audience and gives them a better understanding of the lyrics and what the could mean and how they should be interpreted. Furthermore, we will additionally use the performance music video style  as this is conventional to the soul music genre as this helps to display the artists emotion and passion towards the music and lyrics than a different style of music video usually would. This helps to build a relationship between the artist and the audience as the lyrics which help to plan the different elements of the music video enable the audience to relate to the artist in some way. An example could be the camera shots used, and editing styles used help to portray the artists emotions because of the subjects which her lyrics include, the audience may be able to relate to this in some way and sympathize for the artist. Additionally, by analyzing our chosen music video lyrics this enables us to think of different techniques and uses that we could include in our music video which will help to engage our target audience. This could include certain shots which help to explain and for the audience to understand the lyrics more easily which could in turn, engage them as they may be able to relate in some way.

In conclusion, the annotations which we have included on the lyrics to our chosen music video will help my group to start preparing and planning our music video in more detail. This is because this helps us plan conventional aspects of the video which help the audience to infer the lyrics and what they may mean. This could result in the audience being able to understand the lyrics and therefore understand the narrative of the music video more clearly due to well thought of references which also makes the music video more engaging as the audience may be able to relate and hasn't referenced to scenes which are nothing to do with the music video.

Planning Lighting and Colour

Planning Lighting and Colour

It is essential within a music video to use a varied range of different lighting styles and colours. The use of different lighting styles and colours engages the audience as this allows them to infer the video based on connotations of the colours which can be inferred to represent the artist. For example, the different lighting styles used help to represent the artists mood in the music video which will be evident to the audience, such as black which is used frequently in our music video to suggest the artists depressive and emotional state. This engages the audience as they may be able to relate to how the artist. The use of different lighting and colour styles help to engage the audience as this is interesting for them to see due to contrasts used, which also give them a clear grasp of the narrative as this could represent different locations or emotions.  

The first choice of lighting style in which we will use in our music video is high key lighting. This is a style of lighting for film or television which helps to suggest and create an upbeat mood. This lighting will predominately be used throughout the scenes were the artist is reminiscing on happier times were she was with her friends, enjoying herself. The specific scenes will possibly be when she is with her friends at the park, shopping centre or at each others houses in each others company.  This is not necessarily conventional of the soul genre as the mood within the video is usually sad and emotional due to the topics and the lyrics which the artist is singing. This lighting helps to create a positive scene which is not conventional due to the topics which the artist is singing about. However this type of lighting helps to illustrate our narrative to the target audience and makes it easier to understand that these specific scenes are of the artist reminiscing on memories which made her happier, before she found fame. However, within the soul genre light is conventional when the artist is singing about a positive message. As most soul singers tend to sing about love, usually this is a past, bad experience. Light is often synonymous with love and the overwhelming power of emotion. This could represent the artist being blinded by love and how this can leave the artist to feel vulnerable. This could build a relationship between the audience and artist as the audience may be able to relate to the emotion that the artist is portraying. Additionally, it could help to show the artist showing themselves as down to earth, allowing the audience to have an insight to their private life and to see their true, raw emotion.

The next effect which we will be using throughout our music video is the use of colour. More specifically a black and white filter over certain scenes of the music video. We will use this filter when she is thinking about her lowest moments as an artist, predominately over scenes where she is performing either on the piano or on the stage. The use of the colour black helps to represent the artists depressive emotions and negative thoughts around the subject of finding fame, as she is no longer happy as she compares her past. With this, this could reflect what the artists music contains and what the audience can expect the music video to portray. The colour black contrasts with the second use of colour white, which helps to portray happiness and innocence which could help to represent the artists life before fame to the audience and help to reiterate that these are times when she was most happy. White also represents the artist as vulnerable due to the connotations of innocence. It is clear that the artist is already feeling low and down, so a sense of vulnerability will build a relationship between the artist and audience as they begin to sympathise for her. Furthermore, the use of the colours black and white together contrast each other in regards to black representing negativity and white representing positivity. This could suggest to the audience that the artist is reflecting and reminiscing on her memories before she found fame. This is conventional to the soul music genre as the colours used help to portray the narrative clearly to the audience and help them to understand that the artist is looking back on times which she was most happy.

Another use of lighting which will be included in our music video is the style of low key lighting. This will be used throughout the entire music video, except for scenes with high key lighting which the artist is trying to represent happier memories. This type of lighting is conventional to the soul genre as this helps to represent the artists emotion which is her feeling low and down. This enables the music video to be relatable for many of the audience members as this could also reflect their mood or be able to relate to the artists feelings. Furthermore, the contrast between the high key lighting and the low key lighting could help to reiterate the narrative to the audience of how the artist is reminiscing on memories, similar to the use of the black and white filter. The dark, low key lighting scenes help to portray the scene negatively as the artist is not singing positively about the situation she is currently in. The audience may be able to relate to the artist as they may feel as though she is being presented as strong throughout the scenes of low key lighting as the artist is continuing on with being unhappy, this also helps to represent the artist as down to earth as she is not trying to cover up her true, raw emotion which the audience may respect her for as it is comforting to know that somebody else has been in a similar situation that they can relate to.

Another style of lighting which we would like to incorporate into our music video is the use of back lighting, this will be mainly used at certain points when the artist is performing on the stage. The use of back lighting will create a silhouette effect of a shadow of the artist on a backdrop or wall with the lighting at the back of the scene unfocused so that the main focus in on the silhouette of the artist. This creates an enigma and presents the artist as mysterious as the audience as they have previously seen the artist quite open around sharing her emotions and true feelings to the audience. However, this could represent another side to the artist which is conventional to the soul genre of the artist being quite timid and shy, not wanting herself to be seen, which makes the audience sympathise for the artist as this could make them question is the situation that the artist is in, made her feel so low in herself that its causing her to have a lack of self confidence and is not wanting anybody else to see her in a low state. This could also be beneficial as the artist will be able to sing the lyrics with true passion as nobody is watching her. 

Throughout our music video we will also use varied colours which have connotations which help to represent the music video and the artist conventionally. One of the colours which we will be using is the colour red. The colour red has connotations with being fiery and strong willed, which is not really conventional to the artist within a soul music genre as previously mentioned they are quite timid and shy. However, this could represent our artist as brave and admirable as she is feeling low and down about the situation she is in, but willing to fight through her bad times to come out at the other side and become happy again. This is relatable for many audience members as they may understand the feeling of wanting to give up, so this may give them hope and determination like the artist is showing. Furthermore, the colour red is conventional to the soul music genre as this has connotations with love and romance which most soul artists music is based upon. The red could suggest danger also which may suggest to the audience that the love that the artist is singing about could have put her in danger or left her feeling vulnerable which is stereotypical of a soul genre narrative. 

Overall, the target audience will be able to build a relationship with the artist through the lighting and colours which we have selected and planned out. Firstly, through the silhouette image as they have respect for the shy artist, which is replacing the performance with the passion in her singing voice which not only engages the audience but leaves them with respect for her as she is continuing on. Additionally, this is because the varied uses of lighting and colours have several connotations which help to represent that artist in certain ways in which the audience may be able to relate to. An example of this is, the low key lighting which helps to present the artists depressive and emotional state which the audience may sympathise for her as they may possibly understand how low and upset she is feeling. Planning in regards to lighting and colour has helped to ensure that we create a successful music video because it has enabled us to have the time to plan our ideas thoroughly and think of why this is conventional to the genre and how this will represent the artist in a way that the audience will be able to engage the audience and enable them to relate to the artist. 

Digipak Analysis

Digipak Analysis

A digipak is typically a book style with a paperboard or cardboard outer binding, with one or more plastic trays for the CD. Digipak style cases grew popularity among record labels and recording artists in the early 2000's. Digipak style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums. A Jewel CD case is the compact disc which it originally comes in since first being released in 1982. This case was a three piece plastic case which contained the actual CD swell as a back card and liner notes. This type of CD is constructed into 4 sides, where most of the detail is located on the front and back. in comparison, the Jewel CD case is plastic which means the paper inside is protected and will last much longer. Most of the detail is mainly on the front and back of the case meaning that its more likely to grab peoples attention and make them want to purchase the album. The Jewel CD case will often contain lyrics of the songs, so people who buy the album will be able to learn the songs in turn means that they feel as though they can relate to the artist more. The Digipak, which is basically a special edition CD, contains higher quality images and helps to display the meaning behind them. Furthermore, Digipaks usually contain a letter/note from the artist which is directly to the fans which helps to give the CD a more personal approach and feel, which could help the audience to relate to the artist as they feel as though they have a glimpse of them and as though they know them slightly. Sometimes Digipaks contain a bonus track to the album, whereas a CD version 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 their preferred artist.The Digipak has 6 sides to it, so there is more opportunity for visible artwork to be seen, aswell as information or promotions. This way the artist has a better chance at attacking potential buyers, for example fans as they will see the Digipak as more than just an ordinary disc of music, as this can be seen as a collectable item as well. In comparison to the Jewel CD, the Digipak case is not easily ripped, whereas the Jewel CD case is when removed or put back into the plastic grips making the audience not want to remove it. Lastly, on a Digipak, all information is very easily accessible, which overall makes the CD more appealing and long lasting.

When carrying out research of trying to find a digipak to analyse for our chosen artist Adele, we could not find a digipak which she has used. Instead, our group has chosen to analyse a digipak from the artist Duffy which could be considered as a soul artist. The digipak by Duffy has several connotations. The first connotation of this is the way in which the artist is looking. The audience can infer from the facial expressions and body language that the artist is feeling down and can be perceived as vulnerable. It can be seen through the mid shot used on one of the covers that the artist Duffy is crossing her arms across her body which suggests that she is feeling insecure. This is conventional of the soul music genre as the artists generally tend to sing about topics which are personal to them. In addition to this the eyes of the artist are looking downwards which is a natural expression for somebody who is feeling low or upset. The artist looking down and not looking at the camera suggests that the artist has a lack of confidence as she is not able to look into the camera, which most artists like to do as it helps the audience to connect to the artist as they can see the true, raw emotion of the artist through the close ups which helps to convey their facial expression. This could also be seen as though the artist would like to not have to face their current problems or issues in which they would rather avoid and seems as though they are almost looking 'into space' as though they are day dreaming. Day dreaming is short term detachment from their surroundings and replaced with fantasy. This could help the audience to build a relationship with the artist as they may be able to relate to this of wanting to escape their surroundings for a short space of time to forget what they are going through. Furthermore the colours used in the digipak are conventional to the soul genre. There are few colours used in this digipak, which has kept the entire theme quite simple. The predominant colours used are black and white. The black is used throughout all sides of the Digipak helps to symbolize the artists negative thoughts and depressive state. With this, this could help the artist to recognise that be suggesting that this could represent the artist's music and the content which the lyrics contain. The colour white usually suggests positivity which contrasts from the black and negative image which this creates. This could suggest to the artist that this is the artist reflecting on her memories of the topic which she is singing about. This is conventional to the soul genre as for our groups Artist Adele, this colour scheme will work well as this is the subject which relates to our song of the artist reflecting on her memories before she found fame and the times in which she enjoyed. Additionally, the digipak as well as being mainly in black and white seems as though it has sepia undertones to it. This could have further connotations of the album relating to memories and past events as this is the colour you would expect to see an olden day picture in, helping to reillustrate to the audience that the artist is reminiscing. The artist is positioned centrally in the middle of the album cover. This allows the audience to recognise the artist straight away, immediately engaging them as this may be an artist that they have listened to before. Additionally to this, it helps to keep the artist as the main focal point of the album and does not divert the audience's attention elsewhere on the cover as this is  the main part. Generally, an image is more enticing and interesting to look at as opposed to writing and typography as this is recognisable and relatable for the artist as they can grasp what the album's music may be based upon due to the facial expressions and body language used. Whereas information and the artists name is information which the audience will observe next as they may have already recognised the artist from the image this does not need to be the focal point of the album. The typography used positions the title of the album to the bottom left. The reasoning behind this is as mentioned previously it is most important to have the image of the artist central to the album as this is what will draw the audiences attention in first. However, the title is in a bold font which is in capital letters as this may be significant to the album. It can be seen in the background of the main image on the album that there is a particular location which has clearly been thought about by the artist. When researching "Rockferry" this is a location, in which could be important and significant place for the artist. This possibly could suggest that events that are written about in the artists lyrics could have occurred in this particular location. Furthermore, this helps the audience to relate to the artist as they feel as though they have an insight to her life as she has taken them to somewhere personal were she has experiences which are clearly important and are emotional for the artist. In addition, the artists name is also effortlessly written on the top left hand side of the Digipak. The font used her is simple and looks as though it is hand written. This is conventional of the soul music genre as the artist styles their album cover in a simplistic way to not divert attention of the image which has connotations with the music which helps to engage the target audience. The handwriting font gives a more personal touch to the album cover and helps the artist to build a relationship with the audience as they feel as though the artist is signing this album personally to them. With this personal touch, it also shows that the artist is signing the album to the audience but also letting them have an insight to their music and life as it is almost welcoming. This presents the artist as down to earth and relatable as she is willing to show and let the audience hear her true emotions which the audience may find relatable. In regards to the styling of language on the Digipak for the artist Duffy, there isn't any wording, instead is replaced with multiple images of the artist, helping to illustrate the feeling and emotion of the artist as well as enabling the audience to familiarize themselves with the artist which may enable them to build a relationship as they can relate to the artist more. This is conventional to the soul artist genre as the advertising of the artist is kept quite simple so that the image used can demonstrate the type of music and emotion which the audience can expect.  

Overall, researching Digipaks from similar artists has been beneficial in the process of my groups planning and has provided inspiration for what we would like to include our own digipak for our artist. One of the main inspirations I would like to include in our own digipak is the use of the black and white colouring due to the connotations which this has with negative and positive thoughts which help to illustrate the artist reflecting and reminiscing on her past and memories, which will help to illustrate to our audience what the song is about and will also help them to understand the narrative more clearly. Another aspect which we would like to include in our digipak is the idea of the artist being central of the image. This allows the audience to focus on the artist which may make them easier to recognise. This highlights to the audience the importance of the artist and additionally represents the artist conventionally and their emotions which gives them an insight of content in which the digipak will contain. Lastly, I will consider the typography used in the digipak as I feel as though the hand written signature from the artist gives a more personal approach to the digipak and allows the audience to feel as though they have an insight to the artist. This is also a unique touch to the digipak as not many artist have incorporated this into their album/digipak. Additionally to this, when considering the font of the title/name of artist, we will also consider the colour of the font which has not been displayed in the digipak for Duffy as it remains similar with the theme of black and white. I would like to include a colour which has connotations of conventional emotions portrayed by the artist in their music.