Ancillary Task Two - Digipak Magazine Advertisement

The second of my chosen ancillary tasks is to create a magazine advertisement for my digipak.
In order to give me some inspiration I looked at magazine advertisements for albums that are already on the market.

This advertisement is for Arctic Monkeys new album, Suck It And See, and their concert at the Hollywood Bowl on 25th September, and was published inside NME. 
The design is very simple with a plain black background, which allows for the more exciting font. They've stayed their house style and used their logo, but instead of having black font on a white background, they've chosen to have a sunset and palm trees, which contrasts vastly against the black background. This implies that their new album is laid-back and relaxing, similar to the feeling of being on a beach.
The first thing that you notice when you look at the advertisement is "ARCTIC MONKEYS", which intrigues the audience to find out more as it is bold and eye-catching and stands out against the background. Underneath this it says "SUCK IT AND SEE", also in capitals but in a smaller font and in a colour which fits in with the colours in the band name. The fact the album name is less obvious than the band name suggests that the band name will gain enough interest, regardless of what the advertisement is actually about.
The advertisement isn't overcrowded with information, which connotes a laid-back band with similar fans, who will find out more if they want to. It's simple design conveys the band's style, and possibly the band members themselves. The colours and fonts are very well chosen and positioned and I feel it would be a successful advertisement for Arctic Monkeys.

Ancillary Task One - Digipak

One of my two chosen ancillary tasks is to create a digipak for the album's release. I've never heard of a digipak before so my first thing to do is research what they are.

A digipak is a patent style of CD or DVD packaging. 

They typically consist of gatefold binding with one or more plastic trays inside to hold the disc. Digipak-style packaging is typically used for CD singles or special editions of CDs. The packaging is less abrasive than jewel cases and so it tends to wear relatively quickly. Licensed digipak manufacturers recommend coating the raw printed paper with a protective UV coating in order to prevent this. 

Manufacturers have sought to reduce environmental impact by introducing recycled components into the trays. One manufacturer announced a 100% post-consumer PET tray made from recycled bottles and another removed the plastic tray completely, replacing it with a paper tray made from sugarcane and egg carton.

 In order to create my digipak I need 6 photos, one of which will have the song names on. Therefore, I need to chose my best 6 photos I took during filming and then upload and edit them. I want to make my digipak stand out against others on the market and so I will be creative with my editing.

The first thing I notice when I look at the digipak for Rihanna's album Loud is the colour. The main colour is red, which could be due to the fact she had recently dyed her hair and was trying to create a new image for herself. The use of red roses to contrast against her skin tone makes it bold and eye catching, allowing it to stand out to potential buyers which is key when trying to sell and album. The colour red connotes love and passion, both strong emotions, and could give an indication of what to expect from the album itself. The fact that the artist is looking down and not straight at the camera implies she is deep in thought, highlighting that this could be a very meaningful album.

The title itself, "Loud", implies that the album may be very upbeat. There is no clear indication of the genre of the album. "Loud" connotes R'n'B, but the use of thin white font, instead of something bolder, refutes this and could present something more emotional and meaningful.

The spacing of the title gives the digipak a unique look, and therefore suggests that the artist is different and unique in her style. Her name is at the top of the digipak, in a very small font, conveying that artist is already popular enough for people to recognise her without having to see her name.

Song Lyrics

R U Mine was released for digital download on 27th February 2012. On 21st April 2012 it was released again on a limited edition double A-side purple 7" vinyl along with new song "Electricity". There were only 1750 vinyls available for purchase.

When questioned about their inspiration for "R U Mine" Alex Turner said that the band drew it from Drake and Lil Wayne, "There's a few references for people to pick up on in  there - 'Some Velvet Morning', Tracy Island. Those references are just me being a smartarse... That particular bit is like the thing Lil Wayne and Drake do. We've been listening to a lot of their stuff recently. I like that thing they do where they talk about something backwards, so they talk about it but then say what it actually is on the next line. It's hard to explain but I guess it's just a little nod to that idea. So I say 'I'm a puppet on a string', just before mentioning Tracy Island. That's what it's about - uncertainty."

I'm a puppet on a string
Tracy Island, time-traveling diamond
Coulda shaped heartaches
Come to find ya fall in some velvet morning
Years too late
She's a silver lining lone ranger riding
Through an open space
In my mind when she's not there right beside me

I go crazy 'cause here isn't where I wanna be 
And satisfaction feels like a distant memory 
And I can't help myself
All I wanna hear her say is "Are you mine?"

Are you mine?
Are you mine?
Are you mine?

I guess what I'm trying to say is I need the deep end 
Keep imaging meeting, wished away entire lifetimes
Unfair we're not somewhere misbehaving for days
Great escape lost track of time and space
She's a silver lining climbing on my desire

And I go crazy 'cause here isn't where I wanna be
And satisfaction feels like a distant memory
And I can't help myself
All I wanna hear her say is "Are you mine?"

Well, are you mine? Are you mine tomorrow?
Are you mine? Or just mine tonight?
Are you mine? Are you mine? Mine?

And the thrill of the chase moves in mysterious ways
So in case I'm mistaken,
I just wanna hear you say you got me baby
Are you mine?

She's a silver lining lone ranger riding
Through an open space
In my mind when she's not there right beside me

I go crazy 'cause here isn't where I wanna be
And satisfaction feels like a distant memory
And I can't help myself
All I wanna hear her say is "Are you mine?"

Well, are you mine? Are you mine tomorrow?
Are you mine? Or just mine tonight?
Are you mine? Are you mine tomorrow, or just mine tonight?

Due to the fast tempo of the song I am planning on using fast cut edits, despite the fact the song is about uncertainty. For example, on the line "Coulda shaped heartaches" instead of having just one piece of footage for that line, I want to break it up using the four pauses and two drum beats, and include four pieces of footage, which all come in very quickly. I'm not planning on using any of my footage for particularly long in my video, as I want as many cuts as I can that will work effectively. The exceptions will be if the footage is very effective, or if it gets to the break, "And the thrill of the chase", as I will slow that whole section down slightly as a contrast. I need to be careful when it comes to including cuts as if I use too many it will make my video look tacky and hurriedly put together. I want people to enjoy watching my video and tell other people about it, and I want it to look effective and fitting for the genre and my target audience. I feel that faster cuts will appeal to my target audience better than long pieces of footage will, as they will find it more interesting to watch if it's not continually the same footage.

Editing So Far

Now that all my footage has been uploaded it's really important that I get on with my editing in order to ensure that my video is completed on time. 

As I've said a few times I really want to use split screens, either in two, three of four, as I feel it will look really effective given the genre and tempo of my song choice. I chose to use coloured lights when I filmed my video as I liked the edgy interesting effect it had in the Apple advert and so wanted to recreate it. In order to create my split screens effectively I have to cut my footage into smaller sections. Therefore I had to go through my 3 and a half minute footage on Final Cut Pro and use the blade tool to cut it every time the colour changed. I didn't realise how many times I changed the colour! I had to watch each section about 5 times to make sure I cut it at the precise point and it took me an hour! Thankfully I will now be able to create effective split screens once I have continued to cut the other 9 pieces of footage that involve the colour changing. Below is a picture showing how it looks now it has been cut. The footage at the top also shows some of the different colours I used and how the lights and silhouettes worked together to create an effect I'm rather proud of.

Editing Inspiration

Now that all my footage is uploaded I need to focus on my editing in order to get my video complete for the deadline. As my song has a fast tempo I need fast pace editing to make my video interesting and effective. As I have already posted before I want split screens, not necessarily into two but into three or four as well. Another idea I have is one that I used in my A Day In The Life Of in which I reversed one the dance sequence so it played backwards.




I really like the effect it has as it was only noticeable that it was reversed at certain points, such as when she flipped her hair to the side.
I researched into it in more detail which led me to Red Hot Chilli Peppers Give It Away as in the solo in the middle the clip is reversed. 



It is very subtle and only noticeable at certain points. It is definitely something that I would like to use in my final piece and so I am going to find a big movement section to reverse as I feel it would add a new dimension to my video and make it more appealing and intriguing to my target audience. 

Guitarist Swap

2 hours before I was due to film yesterday there was a bit of a dilemma. The guitarist in the band I'm using had something else come up and was so unable to make it. 

Originally I considered cancelling my booking and waiting for another day when I could have all four, but I reminded myself how hard it was booking the theatre in the first place, and there's no guarantee that I could get it anytime soon. 

Thankfully, the band's technician can play the guitar and knew the song really well! So he was willing to step in and help me out. Amazingly the band looked a lot more comfortable on stage performing with their technician, and so I'm actually quite lucky and grateful that the original guitarist couldn't make it!