Final Cut - Darling Are You Gonna Leave Me

Digipak: Final Design: Album Front Cover

Digipak: Final Design - Alternative Front & Back Cover

Digipak: Final Design - Inside Front

Digipak: Final Design - Inside Back

Digipak: Final Design - Back Cover

Digipak: Final Design - Magazine Advert

Digipak: Draft Magazine Advert

Digipak: Advert - Testing Out Alternative Images

Digipack Research: Typography

London Grammar Typography

Regarding the typography for our digipak, we explored a range of fonts that would be suitable for our ancillary task. We tested and experimented with the typefaces which we found, applying the fonts onto existing images to see which ones in particular looked the best. We wanted to construct a similar vibe and representation which linked to the existing London Grammar albums, emphasising their style of graphology. The fonts which were the most effective were found on Photoshop. We wanted a typeface which was simplistic but also had a sharp, bold and broad outline, making it stand out.


These are the four best fonts which we found:

1. Orator Std

2. Blair ITC Light

3. Marquisette BTN Lined

4. Agency FB

I created this exemplar sample of each typeface to visually see which one stands out the most for us, in terms of how it matches and links to our artist [London Grammer]:

In the end, we decided to choose the 2nd font: Blair ITC Light

For the album name, we spaced the letters out to make it look more proportional to the band name which is composed above. In terms of colours, we stuck to our black and white theme, however for the album name we chose a deep shade of red which matches elements of our back cover of the red glass bottle which is also featured in our music video.

Testing Out Typeface.

Digipak Research: Conventions of Album Covers & Magazine Adverts

Conventions of Album Covers:

Front

Peace - Front Album Cover

• The main image on the front cover is usually a photograph of the artist / band or it's an illustrated symbol or image, representing their unique style.
• The name of the artist is often portrayed in a sharp eye catching typeface, making it clear to the audience.
• In terms of colour, for a pop album you would expect bright candy colours whereas for an indie rock album the colours would be particularly dark and dull e.g. black. A simplistic colour scheme is often composed to keep it simple yet effective.
• A bold simplistic font for the album name - the name of the album conventionally has a relation to what the songs are about or the implication / interpretation behind it.
• The font style can also be a representation of the genre of music which the artist or band belongs to.
• Bands often compose an iconic logo on their album to represent them, which they may also use on their promotional material e.g. tour adverts.

Back

Drake - Back Album Cover

• The songs / track list are conventionally listed in a centralised composition.
• Band promotion information e.g. their website.
• The back image typically links to the front image of the album cover.
• Copyright material / issues, to prevent anything be stolen.
• A bar-code is always present on the back cover for purchase and financial purposes.
• The distributor of the album is always listed and commonly have their logo portrayed.
• The year the album was made e.g. 2014.

Inside

• Simplistic image which matches the rest of the album theme.
• Where the CD is placed is often left blank, however some albums have an image or colour shade, which interlaces all of the album together.

Conventions of Magazine Adverts:

• The release date of the album or the phrase "OUT NOW"
• An image of the album cover - promoting it clear to the audience. 
• The name of the band and album are highlighted in a bold font, usually at the top of the page.
• Links to the artist / band social media websites.
• Artist / band website, where the audience can access more information about them.
• Reviews / Ratings of the album, praising it - this encourages the audience to buy it.
• Record label logo.
• Institutional logos of where you will be able to purchase the album (shop/online), for example, iTunes, HMV and Amazon.

Digipak Research: Magazine Advert Information

As London Grammar are an indie band and not recognized globally, the venues they play at are relatively small. They would not be playing at venues like the London O2 Arena, as they are for artists who are more mainstream. We researched where they played at earlier this year around the UK in order to incorporate accurate information onto our magazine advert, as we want to include upcoming tour dates around the UK.

Digipak Research: Magazine Advert - The Black Keys

Digipak Research: Advert - Peace & Wolf Alice

This magazine advert displays how the band's iconic 'peace' logo is used as promotional material and can be seen as a form of iconography. Symbolism is a typical feature which is composed on promotional advertisement for bands as it creates a sense of belonging. In our music video, we captured a range of footage which composed iconic abstract representations which symbolise the feelings of the artist. Personally, I think it would look effective to integrate a sharp photo of e.g. 'the red wine bottle' we used, to represent the artist's deep feelings and emotions which are highlighted throughout the song.

I really love the simplistic approach to this magazine advert, as the thin handwriting styled font is centralised along the top against the pale shade of pink which connotes a subtle feeling. In the centre of the advert, a polaroid image is displayed of the band which expresses a vintage and old fashioned composition. The tour dates are composed in a clear bold font in a linear, centralised layout which I think looks effective. The focal point within this magazine advert is the photograph portrayed and I like how the background creates a border for it to stand out. For my magazine advert, I want to create a similar layout, following the concept of keeping it simplistic, but effective. 

Digipak Research: Magazine Advert - Noah & The Whale

Digipak Research: Magazine Advert - Bastille

Digipak Research: Magazine Advert - Arctic Monkeys

Digipak Research: Magazine Advert - Lana Del Rey

Digipak Research: Album Cover - Imagine Dragons

Digipak Research: Album Cover - Bastille

Digipak Research: Album Cover - HAIM

Digipak Research: Symbolic Album Covers: The Neighbourhood - I Love You

Digipak Research: Symbolic Album Covers: Bad Suns - Language & Perspective

These album covers consist of symbols and imagery which represent the band's image through iconography. The reason I decided to analyse these type of albums was purely due to the idea of constructing an alternative option to having the artist on the front cover. For example, our music video consists of various props which are significant to the visuals which were composed and hold a lot of meaning. We have ideas surrounding the notion of using a prop from our music video to be displayed on the front cover or the back of the cover - where the track listing appears.

Editing: Titles

Colour corrector tool.

This is the template which we chose.

In terms of adding the titles to our music video, we used a master template within final cut pro, which allowed us to choose from a varied selection. Personally, I really liked the one we chose, as it works well with the way it displays on our music video. Once I had imported the template into a separate layer on the time line, I replaced it and positioned it along the bottom of the screen fading it out at the beginning and the ending of our music video. One problem which we overcome was the colour of the template as it was a bright orange colour, looking out of place against our black and white format. Therefore, I researched various way we could adjust the colour on the template and couldn't find any solution. However, after I looked through a few sections within final cut pro, regarding the appearance of what's shown, I tested the colour corrector on the template to see if there was any change, as a result it worked and I turned the saturation down and amended the tone of shade. As a conclusion, it appeared in black and white, fitting well within the appearance of our music video.

Positioning titles along the bottom.

The titles appearing at the beginning.

Editing: Sound & Matching Visuals

For a clearer visualisation in terms of helping us choose how to position our footage on the time line, we created a tempo graph which allowed us to match certain visuals with the beat and rhythm of the song. For example, when the chorus comes there is a consistent fast paced beat and we decided to create a montage composed with a selection of fast cuts which we placed together during this duration. This is also another one of Andrew Goodwin's theories we followed, conforming the conventional elements within a music video.

Rough tempo graph I created to give a brief insight towards our music video.

Editing: Logo For TV

Original MTV logo.

Existing MTV music channels.

Logo pasted onto timeline.

In the finishing stages of our music video, we needed to apply an MTV logo which would run all the way through our music video, as it would be appearing on a music channel on TV. We decided to choose the original MTV logo, as we couldn't fit the genre of our song within the alternative existing MTV channels.

However, it worked well because the original logo was already composed in a black and white format, which makes it look aesthetically pleasing placed onto our music video. We had to find the MTV logo in a HQ form in order for the image not to pixelate when shown on a large screen. In terms of adding the logo, I pasted the image onto a separate layer above our footage on the timeline and then dragged it along the full duration of our music video. Next, I made sure the size of the logo was adjusted to an accurate measure and placed it in the top left corner, which is expected.

The MTV logo on our music video.

Editing: Layering Footage Together

In today's lesson, I learnt how to do a simple, yet visually striking effect on Final Cut Pro. It involved layering two sets of footage over each other, which composes an outstanding outcome. In order to carry out this effect, you must layer the two clips on top of each other, as shown in the photo above and then you have to highlight them both.

Once you have got to this stage, you must left click on the selected area and go to 'composite mode', where you will be given the option of "Overlay" which will layer the footage over one another. We decided to use this effect throughout our music video, to compose a clear flow and portray continuity within the cuts.



We used the overlay effect in a range of areas throughout our music video, to show a sense of flow. Here are some of the other overlays which we created:

Editing: Letter Boxing

Most music videos include letter boxing, composing a widescreen professional look and it's also seen as a characteristic convention. We had to make sure every frame and cut was under the same size of 2:35:1 throughout the video. Letter boxing also makes sure your shot is in an accurate composition on the screen, making it look visually appealing for the audience.

Applying the letterbox to our footage.

This video explains how to apply the letter box to your footage:

Research & Planning: Target Audience

London Grammar are categorised as an alternative indie pop group as their music is not widely known, given their unique and distinctive sound. Due to this, the target audience is mostly aimed upon teenagers and young adults who enjoy music within the indie pop genre. Our music video needs to match the similar codes and conventions in order to grant the aesthetic appeal from the target audience. This style of indie music would often be played on BBC Radio 1, where the targeted audience for the people who generally tune in revolves around the 15 - 25 age range.

BBC Radio 1