Analysis Of An Indie DigiPack

I looked at an indie Band called 'Bombay Bicycle Club' to explore the ways in which an indie band has represented themselves on their album cover:

Front:

• Image is eyecatching, portrays a narrative
• The band is absent from the cover and are instead represented through an image which is common to the indie genre.
• Image is black and white, contrast to the blue writing
• The logo of 'Bombay Bicycle Club' is directly centre of the album 
•  Includes a blue sticker with online and additional information
• Consitent colour theme throughout entire album, Black and white images and then blue writting.

Inside left side:

• Writing on the inside 'Insert this disc into your computer to access an exclusive session and films or go to www.bombaybicyleclubmusic.com for further info'. Provides a website link for fans helps to further promotes the band and further showcase their music 
• Image, is abstract, continued black and white theme, gives a dated effect to the image.

 Inside right side:

• Shows a similar image to the front cover
• Plastic holder for CD, placed over back image, can therefore only see the crowds in the image, perhaps representing the fans
• CD design contains a segment of the front cover, of an indivudal, high contrast and predominantly more black over white colour for the image which contrasts with the white disc. CD also contains same logo of 'Bombay Bicyle Club' which is used on the front cover. CD also has the  album covers name 'I had the blues but I shook them loose'
• Suprisingly the writting is not verticle

Back:

• Track listing on left hand side in white
• Bands name as part of the image, appears smudged, looks like a sticker appears to mark the property of the album as belonging to the band
• Again, black and white image and then blue writing
• Provides website link again and link to the bands myspace
• Record Company label mentioned
• Barcode in top centre

Researching Digipacks

What do digipacks include from lucybrenner19

Audience Questionnaire Question 10

What key themes have you picked up from the music video?
Internal conflict, let downs
Sadness, hope, love
Disappointment
Love, heartbreak, unrequited love, obsession
Unrequited love
Distress, anger
Obsession
Reflection, hope, loneliness, distressed
How strong a feeling of love can be
Obsession
Obsession
Love, dating

Any other comments?
Very good video
Saw effort made and loved variety of scenes
Very enjoyable
Very good and well presented
Really good video, great variety of shots, interesting to watch
Very unique and convincing that the man was genuinely upset.
It was very well presented

As a result of our Questionnaire for our music video, we were happy that our audience understood the main story line and also picked up on the key themes that we were trying to convey such as disappointment, obsession and loneliness. Our results suggests that many favored the barbie dolls idea in reflecting the boys change of mood.

Audience Questionnaire Question 9

Do you think that the suburban shots of the boy walking down the street are a cliché? Do you think it should be taken out?
No – they add to the suspense
No – it was interesting and showed the emotions he felt
No, fine
Undecided, I like him sitting at the door though – think it should end there
Didn’t look good quality
No – I liked the shots
Maybe cut some of it out, make it shorter
They worked well but I thought there a tiny bit too much
No, I like them. Evocative
It maybe lasted for slightly too long
No they are effective because it shows how far away he is going
No, they worked well with the story line
No, it is about a middle class boy so it should be suburban

Audience Questionnaire Question 8

Would you watch more of these types of videos by this artist if they were like this?
Maybe
Yes as it was interesting story
Yes
Possibly
Maybe – although don’t like the sound/style of music
Yes, the storyline was interesting and reflected the song
Yes
Yes – it’s very dramatic
Yes, definitely
Yes, I was very entertained
Yes
Yes
Definitely yes, it was very effective
Yes 100%

When showing others our music video before today, we were told that the suburban shots of the boy walking down the street were cliche and therefore we decided to include a question on this in order to see what others thought about the idea.

Audience Questionnaire Question 7

What is your favourite part of the video?
The end provides a cliff-hanger, entertaining
The shots with the dolls
The clock
The mix between the Barbie doll being broken apart and him feeling broken
Love the dolls and tea set
Doll house corresponding to actor
The end is very dramatic and effective
Sitting watching the door
Using the dolls to resemble a voodoo doll effect and the red lighting gave a sinister feel
The angles at the end
When the man goes crazy
How he broke the Barbie doll showing his feelings breaking
The way it cuts on the beat in the room when he’s changing
The use of dolls which are constantly being used in comparison with the human story line
When he mushes up the cake

Audience Questionnaire Question 6

Do you think the props and location are convincing in relation to the narrative? Explain
Yes
Yes – explains emotions
Location too ‘posh’, flat better for young single man
Yes they portray the feelings that the character seems to be going through
Love the dolls and tea set
Definitely the doll house – was great
The location is good, I am not sure about the props
Yes the post it notes showed his obsession
Liked props very much and thought they were appropriately suited
Yes, very realistic
Yes, the link with the puppets is very good
Yes the props used to show the anger (Barbie) resembles the girl. The cake when he destroyed it and the photo
Yes
Yes
Yes, very good

Audience Questionnaire Question 5

Please note three words you would link to the character in our video
Insecure, obsessive, controlling
Emotional, love, upset
Nervous, meticulous, angry
Obsessed, angry, possessive
Lonely, mercurial, needy
Obsessive, needy, alone
Upset, angry, disappointed
Obsessive, angry, lonely
Obsessive, committed, sad
Distressed, lonely, aggravated
Distressed, lost, lonely
Anger, betrayal, lonely
Stalker, angry
Creepy, obsessed, angry
Crazy, OCD

Audience Questionnaire Question 4

Are there parts of the narrative that you think don’t belong in our video? Anything we should take out?
No – some not wholly relevant
No
Too much happening maybe. Also, too angry when stood up
The toy dolls
No
None
No
Him about to climb over the balcony
None

Audience Questionnaire Question 3

Do you think the narrative corresponds with the lyrics? Explain
Yes – links up
Yes – tells similar story
Couldn’t make out the lyrics
The video suggests it was a first date but the lyrics suggested a broken love. Regardless he still has a broken heart
Couldn’t hear/understand the lyrics
Not sure – the “sound” of it does (tone). Couldn’t hear the lyrics
Yes – the lyrics are sad and this corresponds with the disappointment of the protagonist. However I couldn’t hear all of the lyrics
Yes, as they showed his anger and frustration
I didn’t really hear the words very well but it worked well with the tune and rhythm
Yes, they went well
Yes, because the lyrics are moody and show anger
Yes – works very well
I didn’t really listen to the lyrics but the music was in good time
Yes definitely

Concerned with the idea that everyone would think that our all narrative would not work for our music video we wanted to ensure that our auidence also liked this and therefore we asked the audience if they thought the narrative corresponds with the lyrics to ensure we had that link. All of our responses were yes suggesting that our storyline amplified the meaning of the song and presented a deeper layer to the song that would perhaps not have been picked up from hearing the song alone.

Audience Questionnaire Question 2

We felt it was important to ask our audience if there were any shots which they did not like. We thought that they could perhaps not like certain shots because they may think it does not fit the storyline. The results we recived which we have particularly taken into consideration is to cut down the walking outside scene. We were also warned by our teacher about this and therefore wanted to see if others did'nt like this shot either.

Are there any shots you don’t like? Please explain
No
No
Dressing scene. Falling over etc. I would have shot it sequentially so that he was only fully dressed at end of scene
No they built up the suspense and there was a good contrast and variety of shots
Some very effective images, perhaps too many iconic/memorable shots
The shots in the street aren’t the best quality
The toy dolls – perhaps it is a bit dark
Cut some of the walking down the road out
I loved all of it
Maybe too long with walking down the road but even that was alright
Where he is making cake
The first shot of him sitting looking at the door – too bright
I really loved all of it
The one in the park, too much light on the actor

As a whole, the feedback, appears positive although one of the participants suggested that the toy doll scenes are perhaps too dark however we wanted this like this to contrast with the previous scenes of the male and also create an eerie mood.

Digi Pack Front Cover Ideas

Andy Warhol's

For an inital idea I wanted to experiement with patterning my image to create differences in this way. I therefore duplicated my image so that I had 4 of the origianl and presented the image in a similar style to Andy Warhol. I then boosted the contrasat to each image which also sharpened the colour and then added a colour tone too each image. After reaching this stage I decided that duplicate images made the cover look too crowded, however I finished exploring ideas eventhough I knew I did not want to use this anymore for my cover. As the image is too crowded, a concern I faced was deciding where to have the writting of the band and song name which is vital to include.

For my second idea I therefore knew that a single image would be more effective. Additionally I added a red colour tone to the image to correspond with the red filters we had used in our music video to alert danger. Additionally I used the Avante Guarde font and wrote 'dog is dead' how the band write it themselves on most of their products in lower case. I also added a perspective to the writting of 'Two devils' to also show a transition through distance. This is therefore the image I will be using for my front digipack cover. The image I took is also effective in portraying the duplicity of the character through presenting two different states to a way in which a meal is eaten. After finishing this idea, my back cover came to mind. I wanted to show the end of the meal with both plates empty but left in two different states to further depict the characters transition.

Audience Questionnaire Question 1

Today for our Questionnaire we asked 9 Females 6 Male.

Firstly we wanted to ask our audience to briefly describe what happens in our music video so that we were certain that the story-line is understood. From our results it is evident that everyone picked up on the key idea that we were trying to convey. Here are the responses we recieved:

Can you briefly describe what happens in our music video?
Guy has an obsession with a girl who is coming over supposedly but doesn’t turn up
The boy is getting ready for date, girl doesn’t come, he gets angry and starts breaking things and then goes to her house
Boy makes date with girl, looks for her but she fails to turn up. He goes to find her
The girl stands the boy up. He was very angry as he was obsessed with her
Man is expecting date excitedly – he’s obsessed perhaps – and is stood up and heartbroken
A boy is wanting to meet up with girl, but love seems unrequited – stands him up
Preparing a meal, getting ready for a dinner. The protagonist is angered by the fact his guest doesn’t come – he goes to house of guest
A boy obsessed with a girl who has no interest in him as she stands him up
Man gets stood up for date with girl he stalks so gets upset and angry, ruins the cake, tears down her picture and seeks her out at her house.
Girl doesn’t show up to date
Puppets represent what happens in real life. The guy is being stood up and so he goes crazy
A boy obsessed with a girl who left him and stood him up
Man/stalker of woman. She doesn’t turn up for dinner, he’s angry and goes to her house
A man gets stood up for a date and gets so angry/upset that he tries to kill himself
Girl doesn’t turn up for a date and the man goes crazy

As a result it is therefore clear that our aim was achieved and it appears that everyone picked up on the characters clear character transition as a result of his date not turning up and his somewhat obession with her demonstrated by the mise en scene. We therefore will not be needing to change any areas to our narrative.

Choosing Font Type For Digi Pack And Website

Dog is dead font type:

For my Album cover I desire to use a similar font style, to the way in which my chosen band uses for the majority of their products. I discovered a similar font to their style on Coral photo paint called 'Avante Guard' and therefore this is the font that I intend to use for my digipack. Furthermore, the bands name is almost always written in lowercase for most of their products and therefore I intend to do the same for my website and digipack.







First Draft Of Music Video

Today we finished the first draft of our music video!

Advertising For Students To Watch Our Music Video

The deadline to finish the editing of our music video, before Chirstmas is approaching! We intend to show our video to students in the sixth form this Thursday, (6th December.) We have prepared a questionnaire in order to gather audience feedback and to see if there is anything in particular that our audience doesn’t enjoy in our video. In order to ensure that people will come to our feedback session, we designed a poster and placed the poster in certain areas around the school.