DIGIPAK RESEARCH

Digipaks are a protected style of DVD or Blu-ray disk that are presented in a book style format and is an alternative to the original jewel case which is commonly used for most CDS. They are often used for singles or special editions CD albums and also the tall DVD sets. Digipaks were originally owned by the company, IMPAC Group, INC and than were acquired by MeadWestvaco (MWV). In 2000 the company folded it into its AGI MEDIA division and then the name and designs were licensed to manufacturers around the world. Then in 2010 MWV sold to AGI media to Atlas Holdings where it then purchased Shorewood Packaging from international paper and merged the two companies together to create AGI-Shorewood. Digipaks are made of paperboard or card stock outer binding with either one or more plastic trays that are made to hold a CD which is attached to the inside.

 

As the digipaks often wear easily, a protective UV coating was recommended for the production of the digipaks so that the raw printed paper is more protected from wear. Over the years digipaks have been developed so that environmental impact is reduced and so they now include recycling components. Digipaks are used to promote an artist especially if images of the band or artist are on the digipak as it creates a star image and also a band signature. Their songs can also be promoted because often song lyrics are printed within the digipak so that the consumer can familiarise them self with the song and so this may lead to more exposure to the band. I have found that continuity to also be important within a digipak as the audience and consumers can familiarise themselves with a band or artist’s iconography, signature or star image.

 

Continuity can also be used throughout the digipak and also in the website, this means that all of the distribution methods have some think within them and so this allows consumers and the audience to easily recognise the artist or band. I think that looking at the manufacturing and production of digipaks has proved helpful as it has allowed us to think of different layouts for our digipaks which will make it quite unique and different from other artist or band digipaks. It also matches the indie genre as it will incorporate a star image and a song list which will give an insight into the genre.

SPEED CHANGES

When we came to editing our music video we found that some of the clips played quite fast and were too quick for the pace of the music and so we altered the speed of the clips so that it matched the speed of the music. We thought that this was particularly effective especially at the beginning of the music video where the tempo of the music is quite slow. We also found that some of the clips where Shqipdon is on his own to be quite fast and so we decided to slow these down as well as the tracking shots around Shqipdon and Ella because these shots show Shqipdon’s memories and also these are significant points in the narrative and we wanted to make them prominent within the narrative for the audience so that they fragmented narrative was clear. The slower speed also suggests a sad and lonely atmosphere which makes the audience feel sympathetic towards Shqipdon. Although we slowed down some of the clips we still wanted to maintain the fast pace within the rest of the song and so we cut the clips so that they had a short duration so that the pace of edit still matched the song.

KEYFRAMES

Within our music video there are a range of different shots where the camera is still and so to add a sense of movement we used key frames in motion. We began by selecting the beginning of the clip and then clicking on the ‘keyframe’ button and then selecting the centre of the clip and sliding on the scale option. We then moved the clip to wherever we wanted it within the frame, we thought that we should keep to the rule of thirds when moving and scaling the clip. Using this technique has helped us to edit our clips as there was some unwanted details within the scenes that would distract the viewer from the subject and make our clips appear unprofessional. This technique makes the clips more interesting as it adds the sense of movement and adds pace to the music video which creates a relationship between the visuals and the song as it matches the speed of the song.
 

FILMING FOR OUR NARRATIVE SCENES 2

After we filmed the second half of our narrative section for our music video we found that you can tell that it is filmed in college and so this doesn’t give the professional look that we are trying to achieve. We also couldn’t hire out the lighting and so this really made a difference to the mood and also the effect that we were trying to achieve. Using the music room for the location meant that it didn't look like a bedroom and so this contrasted the standard of shots that we had been shooting in our other filming sessions and so this made our music video appear quite amateurish and less professional. As we reviewed our clips we soon realised that we needed to re-film in an actual bedroom. We used the college as we wanted a basic room that didn't distract you from what was going on, however this location appeared too basic and didn't fit the mood or atmosphere of our music video. These are some screenshots of the scene that we filmed; the shots appear more amateur as you can see that the scene has not been filmed within a bedroom.
 

 

 

 

RISK ASSESSMENT CONTINUED

Location: Suffolk One Music Room

What could cause harm?

Studio lighting wires, unnecessary objects within filming area, broken glass and drawing pins.

What is the likelihood of this happening?

Proper attention must be paid especially in the event of broken glass and could be quite likely if attention is not paid. Likelihood could be minimal especially if footwear is worn and also glass is cleaned up properly. Flying broken glass could go in to someone eye if the photo frame is smashed without care.

Who or what would be harmed?

Anyone that is participating in the production could be harmed.
Flying glass could lead to major injuries.

How much harm?

Dependant on incident, burns could occur if falling on lighting or major to minor injuries could occur through broken glass.

After considering the idea of having the breaking photo frame another risk assessment should be completed as this could avoid accidents and injuries occurring especially as they could be quite serious in this section of the filming process.

EDITING

For the editing process we used ‘Final Cut Pro’ where we dragged our clips onto the timeline. We then cut the clips so that we just had sections of the clips that we could put into our music video. This allowed us to fit the clips together and formed the basis of our music video as we were able to see how we could fit the clips together. In order to help us with rhythmic cutting we counted out the beats of the bar and placed a marker at the beginning of every bar so that we could create the technique of rhythmic cutting. As the song begins at a slow tempo we decided to use fades in and out so that the speed of the editing matches the tempo of the music. We were going to use the desaturation effect and then we decided to use the black and white effect with lots of contrast. The connotations of white are purity and innocence and so the connotations of black contrast these. These connotations juxtapose each other as the female’s actions are not so innocent and so this juxtaposes Shqipdon who is the innocent and vulnerable within the narrative.
 

PHOTOS WITHIN OUR MUSIC VIDEO

As the song is called ‘Photographs’ and the lyrics relate to the song we decided that we would incorporate Goodwin’s theory by creating a relationship between the visuals and the lyrics. We wanted to incorporate the use of photos within our music video so that they would symbolise the character’s relationship. After filming our first shoot of the narrative scene in the music room we decided that we also needed love letters and items that relate to love and relationships because the board appeared quite plain and boring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the planning process we decided that we wanted Shqipdon to rip up the photos and then have a close up of one of the photos ripped up in half so that Shqipdon and Ella we on opposite halves of the ripped photo. This is to suggest that their relationship is over and shows the distance between the characters. It also complements the shot where Shqipdon and Ella separate their hands and walk in opposite directions as the distance between the two has grown so much that have split up.