Mumford and Sons - Babel Digipak Deconstruction

I am using the site http://www.allcdcovers.com/ to find different indie genre digipaks to deconstruct. This site is very useful as it displays several different aspects of the digipack such as the front back, the inlay and CD. However not all of these sections are available for every digipak and every artist so it can be a hit and miss website.

Mumford & Sons - Babel

    Mumford & Sons are a successful British indie band whose singles make it into the top 40 on a regular base when they are released. The album I am using to deconstruct the digipak from is called Babel. It was released on the 24th of September 2012. It became the fastest selling album of 2012 in the United Kingdom selling over 150,000 copies in the first week of its release. Because of their popularity as a indie band who have extended their popularity across the world and to the USA, I am going to deconstruct their digipak.

    Above is the CD for the Mumford & Sons Babel album. The house style has been kept in the CD. The band name and album name are in the same font as they were on the spine and front cover of the digipak. The use of lines to create 'bricks' has been replicated on the CD from the back cover too. The use of white on all text and on the production/distribution symbols of the companies that helped to make this album are all in white once again keeping to the house style. At the bottom of the CD is the exact same copyright warning that was located on the back cover of the digipak. This is once again in small text because it is not of urgent importance the target audience read it but it does need to be there to protect the music and artwork of the album. The one thing that subverts the house style of this CD is the colour. The bright blue colour has not been featured in the rest of the digipak I have deconstructed making this CD stand out. One reason why it might stand out is because it is the most important part of any album. To discover is this is a generic convention, I am going to have to deconstruct more digipaks and CDs.

 

Above is the music video for the song: " I Will Wait" from the above album Babel. This is currently the only music video from the album Babel that has been released. However, generally more than one music video is released for the songs on the album. Since the album has just been released there is a large possibility that there will be more music videos released in the future. There is a generic convention that the digipak will relate to a music video by the artist/band. This is to help the target audience recognise all the different forms of advertising and link them back to the same band. This music video does not follow this convention. Instead it is a live performance of the band singing "I Will Wait". The band is still relatively new so therefore they might not need to follow the marketing conventions. However as they gain popularity, they may be marketed more as a brand.

Digipack Introduction

Digipak!

    While I am waiting for my filming to be completed so I can edit my final music video together, to make best use of my time, I am going to start my first subsidiary task of creating a digipak.

     This means creating my own digipak for my new artist. I will need to discover the generic conventions of digipaks within the indie genre so I can apply them to my digipak. There are several templates which digipaks come in. Some with a booklet, some without and some which fold out to create a shape. I will then have to decide which template is best fitting with my digipak and use it. The next step will be to plan what images I am going to take for my digipak. Test shots will be important to this step as i can then experiment with lighting and position of the camera. The last step will then be constructing my final digipak using the best images I have taken and uploading it online.  

Actor Release Forms

Actor Release Forms

Because I have intentions to upload my completed music video to YouTube for public viewing to recieve post production feedback, I need my artists permission. Therefore, I have created some artist release forms which I have got the lead female and lead male to sign.

 

Filming Practises

Filming Practises

For the chorus of my music video, I wanted my artist 'creating' lyrics with her hands. Therefore, I needed to have a clear set of movements which I could teach my artist and also some idea how to frame the shot so it looks effective when lyrics are added in the editing process. Below are several of my practise pieces of filming

Practise Number 1

I started off using a mid shot so there was lots of space for my hands to move. However, this isn't effective as my hands weren't stretching to use the whole of the shot meaning there was empty space around me.  After re-watching this segment I also didn't like how on the lyrics "But now we're not sticking" my hands where stuck together. This looked like a religious symbol which wasn't the connotation I wanted.

Practise Number 2

This pratcise is similar to the one before in terms of shot length. I am slightly off centre which I need to make sure doesn't happen when I am filming my real artist.  This time I changed my movements for the lyrics "But now we're not sticking". Instead I lowered my hands and then raised them again for Glue. However, I wasn't a fan of my movements for "Dry".

Practise Number 3

For this practise I changed the type of shot from a mid shot to a medium close up. This was effective as it made use of the space. it also meant when the lyrics were added in the editing process they would be larger and help convey the point of these shots to the target audience. I changed my movements and these are the final movements I have chosen to use.

Practise Number 4

This practise is the one I chose to use to edit. This is because all of the movements were near perfect, the type of shot was correct and I was almost framed perfectly centre.

Editing Number 1

This is my first practise at editing where I added lyrics into the shot. While editing I was glad I had taken the time to practise this sequence as it allowed me to learn the processes needed in the editing process. It also enhanced my knowledge on how to frame this shot when filming my final music video so I get the best shots possible. I tried black text in a bold font to start with. I thought this looked smart and effective but possibly a little boring.  

Editing Number 2

This is my second practise at editing. I changed the font to a more dynamic font. However after viewing both together I decided I prefered the first font that I used. Ideally I would like a font that was similar to the stop motion lettering that I used at the start of my music video.  I changed the font text to red. Even though it brightened up the shot and made it look more dramatic, I wasn't a fan of the colour. When I edit my real music video I will experiment with font colours more to find the perfect balance between colours and shot dynamics. 

Filming Delay

Due to bad weather conditions and the unavailability of my artists, I shall now have to film the majority of my music video next week. However, I can start filming on Wednesday the 26th. On this day I shall create the animation sequence which creates the opening for my music video. I shall be doing this in my triple media lesson as the animation equitment takes a significant amount of time to set up and dismantle.

Artist Name

Artist Name

For my first shot sequence in my music video, I am using stop-go animation. This technique will be used to display my new artists name and the song name at the beginning of the music video so the target audience clearly know when they watch the music video, from any medium what they are listening too.

Therefore, before I film this opening sequence, I need to come up with my artists name. The name I have chosen is Tempany. I have chosen this name as it is unique reflecting the unique, quirky nature of the target audience. Also, in recent years most artist names are a single word and a name. For example:

• Beyoncé
• Tulisa
• Eminem
• Rihanna
• Adele
• Cheryl
• P!nk
• Dappy

I have chosen to follow this popular new convention of artist name and go with Tempany.

After I had chosen my artist name, I had to re-experiment with the 3D letters which I experimented with when creating my photographic storyboard. I was missing the letter Y and the letter E with the 3D letters. Therefore I have decided to use flat felt letters for my artists name Tempany. The different colours they are in still work to create a fun opening to my music video to help attract my target audience. I am still going to use light to create a shadow with the 3D letters to create a extra dimension with the shot.  Below is a picture of my experiment with the new felt letters.

 

Filming Calender

Filming Calender 

    Now I have completed my pre-production planning for my music video, the next step is to film my music video. I need to arrange time to travel to different locations with the video camera and tripod where I can film with my artists. Because of the several locations I am using in my music video, the times I am filming need to be planned at times where both me and my actors are free.

I will not be filming my music video in chronological order. I will instead be filming bits which are at the same location at the same time. The shots on the beach need to be shot before the shots at the home location due to the graphic match of the photograph.

24TH SEPTEMBER 2012

On this day I am planning to shoot the opening sequence where the artist name is brought on screen using stop motion animation in my media studies lesson. After this lesson I have free periods for the rest of the day so I am planning to shoot the shots in the bishops palace gardens locations during the day to minimise the amount of people walking past the shots. On the 23rd of September I am buying the 3D letters I need for the bishops palace garden shots from Hobbycraft. Therefore I will be ready to take the shots on Monday in the 'bishops' location. The shots at the end of the music video would also be filmed on this day.

I need both the lead female and male for the bishop palace gardens shots.

25TH SEPTEMBER 2012

On this day I would like to try capture the shots I need at Bognor Beach. For this I need the lead female and briefly the lead male for the photograph. These shots depend on the weather conditions as I am not using any artificial lighting so if it is not a bright day, these shots may have to take place another day.

26TH SEPTEMBER 2012

On this day I have a triple media lesson. Therefore, all the shots that have the location at the school apart from the opening sequence I am going to try film. I only need the lead female for these shots.

27TH SEPTEMBER 2012

I would like to shoot the shots in the cafe location on this day. For these shots I need both the lead female and male. I would have to film after 3 O'clock on this day because that's when the cafe closes.

29TH SEPTEMBER 2012

Finally, on this day I would like to shoot the shots at my house on the sofa. By doing these shots last, it gives me time to sort out and print out the photo prop taken on the beach location earlier. I have arranged travel for both the lead female and male to my artist  and back to Chichester already.

This would be my ideal filming schedule. However, all of these proposed dates depend on the availability of my two actors, as well as the weather for some of the shots.