Digipak Design Ideas #2: Album Cover/Photos

The album cover is probably the most important part of the digipak as it is the first thing people will see and gives the viewer a general idea of what genre it is. It will also need other pictures for the rest of it, so I have taken some photos and will decide which ones would be most appropriate for the digipak.

These are some album covers that use photography, many folk-punk albums are only drawings and graphic designs however, I want to use photography so it betters conveys the genre of the album.

Possible Photos

Lists

Below is everything needed for the scenes in the music video:

Equipment:

•   Camera - I will probably use a Nikon camera as it can shoot in HD, if I can't get access to it I'll use a friends iPhone.
• Tripod - there will be various shots some will need to just be still and some shots are panning so I can use this to get a smooth panning shot.
• Lens cap

Props:

• Guitar - the main focus will be on the subject and their guitar so it is key to get good shots of them

• Pick - the artist is known for their purple pick so there will be at least one or two shots of the picking strumming the guitar
• Green jacket - suits the style of clothing the artist wears/is known for      
•   Duct tape - this is the USP and will make the video stand out. I'm also using it for synergy as the duct tape will be used as main imagery for the artist
•    Bible - at one point in the video the artist will pick up a bible as it relates to the lyrics

Location(s):

• Church - the main performance parts of the video will be in a church
• Drama studio - there will be performance and some acting at this location
• Dark room - for the scene with the duct tape I need good lighting so shooting in a dark room is ideal

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Digipak Design Ideas #1: Fonts

I will name the album "Playing with Guns" as it directly relates to 

the lyrics and song title. 

Fonts are an important element for a digipak as it conveys what kind of genre the album is which is key for the target audience. Many famous albums that have text in them have very recognisable fonts such as American Idiot, Thriller, London Calling/Elvis Presley et

These are some of the font designs I have in mind for the album cover and digipak:

Playing with Guns 

I like this as it is clear and minimalistic but also seems quite smart/professional which wouldn't suit the genre of folk-punk and may not go with the album cover. It also seems like it would be used more for a pop album than anything else.

Playing with Guns 

This one is very good as it looks like it would be used for a quirky kind of album and has disorganised look to it which would be perfect for a folk-punk genre album.

Playing with Guns

The philosophy of folk-punk is to bring things down to the bare essentials and make it as raw as possible such as not having a highly produced album, only real instruments on the tracks. Therefore, this font is very suitable as it's an old typewriter style which is basic and clear yet gives off an old-ish feel to it.

Playing with Guns 

It seems like this gives off a very angry, violent, punk look which is perfect for the punk element of the album so I think this would work quite well. It is, however, quite hard to read so this wouldn't be good for the viewer.

Playing with Guns 

I like this font a lot, however, it is not appropriate for the digipak or the style of music at all and it would be hard to get a picture that it would go with.




In terms of the industry I want the typography to be recognisable as it will be used for the digipak so I need to consider the record label and distributer's logo as well. They will be different to the album title font and probably be put on the pages of the digipak but not the album cover because since there's an element of punk, fans probably don't want to see a corporate logo.

Folk-Punk Timeline

Matt Wells: Artist Interview

 

Artist Planning

Artist Profile
Name: Matt Wells
Age: 21
Genre: Folk-punk
Apparel: grey jeans, hoodie/jacket
Hobbies: Writing, singing


Considering my target audience is young, my artist will be quite young as well, so I think 21 would be a good age for my artist to be. They will have an acoustic guitar as they are obviously known for their music and folk-punk is synonymous with acoustic guitars so it's a good match. Since there needs to be synergy with the digipak my artist will have duct tape covering their mouth because this is the image set for them.
 They are known for being a virtuoso of guitarist, mainly electric but is going for a more acoustic sound with their new album.
The back story of Matt Wells is he has come from a broken home but has been persistent in getting a career in music. He has two successful albums under his belt and is now releasing a highly anticipated album with a softer sound to it. "Getting Naked and Playing with Guns" is the second single off of it.

Matt Wells performing in April 2008
Born	Matthew James Wells, 30th August Reading, England
	(2016-04-21)
Other names	As a performer: ·         Matty Boiii ·         The Big Daddy ·         Deep Wells ·         As a songwriter: ·         Mathew Wells
Occupation	·         Singer ·         songwriter ·         multi-instrumentalist
Years active	2012–present
Spouse(s)	N/A
Children
Relatives	·         Cheryl Wells (Mother) ·         Nick Wells (Father)
Musical career
Genres	·         Punk Folk ·         Blues ·         Soul ·         Folk-Punk
Instruments	·         Vocals ·         guitar ·         bass ·         drums
Labels	·         Warner Bros. SideOneDummy Independent
Associated acts	·         Jack Schlark ·         Sam B ·         Micheal Fahrenheit ·         Full Metal Repertoire ·         Benny Bee

Music Script

Music Video Treatment

Title project: Getting Naked and Playing with Guns
Director and Producer: Ben Baker

Song length: 3:22

Target Audience: male or female, people aged 14-23

Techniques used: black and white, long cuts, fast paced editing, performance, imagery linking to the lyrics, abstract imagery, a time-lapse of something

Music Video Synopsis: It opens with an establishing shot of the artist playing guitar in a church and outside, the camera will focus on the chords and cut between shots of the two locations. There's will be various shots of different things throughout relating to the lyrics. Some shots will be of duct being placed and ripped off someone’s mouth with the lyrics written on it. During the video there will be imagery of a gun, maybe knives. There will be different shots of different people singing in front of a blank screen. Other shots will include a lighter burning things, and shots on a bible. The main artist will use a gun and aim it at one point when it's the appropriate lyrics.
Throughout the video there will be shots of a stick being sharpened and card being set alight. On every shot it will show them more sharpened/burnt than the previous shot.

Mise En Scene
Guitar - for the artist to play
Bible - to focus on for certain lyrics in the song.
Casual clothes - simple hoodie/jacket, jeans, simple shirt, glasses
Duct Tape - for the artists image and synergy for the digipak.


Location - Church, churchyard. People may associate different meanings to this so it will keep the video quite ambiguous and open to interpretation.


Representations
Gender - the video will not use any stereotypes, it won't focus or linger on body parts to sexualise it.
Stereotypes - The video doesn't really use stereotypes. However, it is in a church so people might associate Christian stereotypes to it especially with the lyrics.


Uses and Gratifications
The main things from it that the audience will get should be entertainment and some kind of emotional response whether it's positive or negative since the main gratifications people get from media. The video will also aim to get people talking about with their friends because this is another theory as to why people consume media and it will share the video by word of mouth which has proven to be effective with films like Gravity. 

Storyboard