digi packs analysis

 Ellie Goulding

Ellie Goulding is an indie pop artist and her album 'Bright Lights' was released on 26th February 2010. Her main target audience is teenagers and young adults.
Front cover

 Ellie Goulding is shown in a way which seems innocent and possibly quite vulnerable which represents her as an artist. The background is blurrred out and the camera focuses on just the artist as she is the main star. The photo is a close up of her face which again draws the audeinces atention to the artist so the main focus is of her. The photo seems as though it is care free, not posed but insteasd an action shot just taken without her knowing. This suggests she isn't bothered too much about her image so adheres to indie conventions. The artists minimal makeup show she is making litle effort and is common with many indie artists. Her clothing also makes her seem care free as she is just wearing a white top and isn't dressed up while the white may also represent purity. Her minimal makeup, efortless hair and casual clothes are a common theme used on many of her albums. This will also appeal to the target audience as it will her seem just like them and so they will be able to relate to her. The photo has been taken outside which is common with many indie artists as it shows she is out exploring and  finding lyrics for her upcoming songs. The title stands out as it is in bright white and yellow and a simple font has been used. This keeps the album cover simple which again adheres to indie conventins. The writing seems as though it is lit up this, along with the lights surrounding the artist, tie in with the album title 'bright lights.'

Back cover

The back cover is very simple, keeping to indie convemtions where the main focus is on the music rather than the image. The blurred background ties in with the blurred background on the front cover keeping the whole album consistent. The lights make the title of the album 'Bright Lights' relevant and again are consistent with the front cover. The song titles are the main focus and these are clear and easy to see as they are in a simple font and a light yellow colour which stand sout against the background. The font used for the track listing is the same font as used on the album cover tying the back cover and the front cover together. Production credits are included in small text at the bottom.

CD

The CD is very simple which is a common theme that runs througout this whole digi pack. This shows Ellie Goulding is indie as the main foucs is on the music. The font used is the same as the font used on the front cover which brings the whole digi pack together. The simplicity of the plain yellow background make the album titile and the artists name stand out to the audience. This, along with the artists name in a larger font, make the main focus on Ellie Goulding as her name is the main thing that can immediately be seen when looking at this CD.

 Rihanna 

Rihanna is a mainstream aritst who's music appeals mainly to older teenagers and young adults. The album 'Loud' was released in November 2010. 

 Other inspiration

Nina Nesbit has used a natural looking, simple photo on a background of an apple tree which fits in with the title of her album. This makes the album cove rmore interesting than just a normal outside background but still keeps it quite simple. 

Feedback

We showed a draft of ou music video to the rest of the class and asked them for feedback on parts they thought were good, parts they thought were bad and ow they could be imprioved and whether hey understood the narrative.
The main comments we recieved were:

Good                           Bad                            How to improve

• The variety of shots are good 
• The shots of the artist singing are nice but they could be used more throughout the video rather than just at the begining 
• The editing is good and yo ucan tell a lot of efort and time has been put into that but a few parts are slightly out of time with the beat of the music.
• Even though there are supposed to be random shots some of them are a bit too random and confuse the audience too much.
• More random shots could be added to make it clear that they are supposed to be random and confusing for the audience 
• The narrative is easy to understand at the beginnig but some people did not get that they were supposed to be arguing and breaking up at the end

editing and effects

We have now got all our filming done and are in the process of editing it all. We wanted to include different effects to make the music video more interesting and to keep the audience interested. We have used time lapsing and sped this up for clouds and a clock to make it look like time is passing fast, we also thought this was more interesting and looked better than just speeding up normal footage as it has a more 'juttery' effect.
Clock and cloud editing:

For some of our performance shots we have added a sepia and grain effect to make it seem quite old. This is quite a common convention used in indie artists videos as it makes the footage seem less clear and as though little budget has been spent on it.
Performance shots:

We are going to make some of the shots reverse, for example the rose, to make it seem as though the girl in the video is trying to repair her love with her boyfriend as she is putting the rose back together. This is also more interesting for the audience than the normal forwards footage.

Shot plan

PERFORMANCE

Laid down sleeping beauty shot

Stage

Cinema           

Time

Driving speed up shot

Clouds

Dance shots

Clock

COUPLE

High angle field

Saddleworth moor

Woods

Beach

PROPS

Lemon

Water Balloons

Paint

Flower

KEY

Beth’s

Joint at school random

After school

Planned at school

Treatment

Our music video will be split into three sections due to the tempo of the song and our narrative. The beginning slow bit of the song will introduce the artist as our aim is to introduce Bliss to her target audience and release her with a song. The mise en scene will be very carefully planned due to fashion trends of the time and to make sure the audience, in particular girls, accept her. The middle section of the song will be where our narrative is introduced, Bliss will be sat watching a cinema screen where memories of her and a boy will be played. The cutting speed and general pace will be significantly increased and fit to the rhythm of the song. The end section will be slowed down and more performance and artist shots will be shown as the narrative draws to a close. Alongside the narrative we will include some slow motion and sped up shots of objects such as flowers and a lemon and we will include shots of crowds and the weather to show the influence of time. 

pre production - lyric analysis

Lyric analysis

"Time" Chase and Status (feat. Delilah)

If you can find the time
To give your love to me
I will wait for you
If that's all you need
(Time, Time)
If you can find the time
(Time, Time)
If ever you're free
Just drop me a line
And tell me where you'll be
I'll be right here
If you can find the time
Just be sincere.
If you can find the time
I'll wait for you.
But if you can't find the time
(Time, Time, Time)
Then cut me loose.
'Cause I don't have the time
And I don't have the patience
What do you take me for
Why must I wait
'Cause while you decide
I'm fucking suffocating
'Cause if you can't find the time
My bleeding heart won't make it [x2]
If you can find the time
To give your love to me
Just drop me a line
And tell me where you'll be
I'll be right here
If you can find the time
Just be sincere
'Cause I don't have the time
And I don't have the patience
What do you take me for
Why must I wait
'Cause while you decide
I'm fucking suffocating
'Cause if you can't find the time,
My bleeding heart won't make it [x3]
I'll be right here
If you can find the time
Just be sincere
If you can find the time
I'll, I'll wait for you
But if you can't find the time
Then cut me loose.
'Cause I don't have the time
And I don't have the patience
What do you take me for
Why must I wait
'Cause while you decide
I'm fucking suffocating
'Cause if you can't find the time
My bleeding heart won't make it [x3]
'Cause I don't have the time [x6]
My bleeding heart won't make it 

 

The lyrics of this song seem to be about a girl and a boy who's relationship is breaking down. Lyrics such as "and I don't have the patience" suggest the girl is sick of waiting for the boy but the reason she is doing this isn't shown in the lyrics. On the other hand lyrics such as "I will wait for you" show that the girl still wants the bo and will wait for him no matter what. She is almost begging her boyfriend to come back but at the same time saying she can't wait any longer. This song uses a lot of visual imagery such as "bleeding heart" which allows the listener to think deeper into the song and think of a deeper meaning rather than the song just saying exactly what it means. Lines such as "if ou can find the time" seem to show the girl as questioning their love while lines such as "to give your love to me" are quite personal and show that the girl does still love him. The girl is clearly very undecisive about the relationship and the mood and feeling are very clear to the audience. We want to show this through the narrative in our music video.

pre production - Goodwins theory

Goodwins theory

Andrew Goodwin's 5 key aspects:

• Thought beats - seeing the sound
• Narrative and performance
• The star image
• Relation of visuals to song
• Technical aspects of music video

Thought beats

• Look at the music and take into account structure
  we are going to do this by taking into account the slow and fast parts of the song and editing in time to the pace of the music. We will also make sure the structure of our video fits in with the lyrics of the song for example the flash backs to the memories will be in the middle of the song when it speeds up and there will be fast cuts to these. The slow motion and sped up parts will also fit in with the pace of the music.

• The voice - the artists voice is unique
  We will show this by having close ups to the artist singing so the audiences attention is focused on her singing and the lyrics of the song.
• Artists mode of address this can be seen as stories
  We will show memories from the artists past so the audience understand her background and the narrative of the video.

Narrative and performance

• Don't give complete narrative
  Our whole video won't be narrative, we will have performance shots intergrated with narrative to keep the audience interested and entertained. We will also miss parts of the narrative out to keep the audience thinking while also making sure they don't get bored watching just narrative. This will also make sure it looks like a music video and not a film but while also having some narrative in there.
  
• Should ignore common narrative
  We will make the video our own and not use common cliche's used in many music videos such as the fans chasing the artist.
  
• Have a motif that's repeated
  As our song is called time and is about waiting we are going to have an image of a clock repeated throughout the video at dofferent parts. This will link into the lyrics and the narrative of the song.
• The audience need to believe it is real
  We will make the music video believable to the audience by making sure the lyp syncing is in time in the performance shots. We will also make sure the narrative is believable and not too over the top but while also keeping it entertaining for the audience.
  
  
  
  Star image 
  
  
  • Describes the development of the star over time
    This will be shown through her costume and her performance. Her performance will be more rehearsed and the costume will be appropraite for her age and the audience.
  • Personality
    We will show our artists personality throughout the music video. This can be done in the shots of the memories with her boyfriend and also the performance shots. Her personality can also be shown through her costume and outfit choices.
  • Mise en scene
    We will use appropriate clothing and props that fit in with our artists overall image and also the lyrics and overall song. We are using props such as flowers and fruit which symbolise different lyrics and parts of the music video.
    
    
    Relation of visuals to song
  • Illustrate - use a set of images to illustrate the meaning of lyrics and genre.
    We are going to use images such as a flower which will symblise love is teomparary like a flower, a lemon which will show love is bitter sweet and a clock which will sybolise time and waiting. This will fit in with the meaning of the lyrics and help to explain them while also explaining the narrative to the audience.
     
  • Amplify - Meanings are manipulated and constantly shown through the video.
    The clock will be repeated several times throughout the video showing the meaning of the song is about waiting. The memories will also be shown trhoughout the video with an added effect such as black and white or sepia to make it obvious to the audience that they are memories and in the past.
     
  • Disjunctive - where the meaning of the song is completely ignored
    We will nit be using this as we are going to take into account the meaning of the song and our narrative will link in with the lyrics so it makes more sense for the audience when watching our music video.

   
  Technical aspects
   
  • Camera, movement, angle, mise en scene, editing, sound and special effects.
    We are going to use different angles and a range of different shots to add variety to our music video and keep it entertaining so the audience don't get bored watching it. Lots of our mise en scene will symbolise different things for example love and waiting. We will add effects in editing such as slow motion and sped up parts to fit in with the music and also black and white or sepia for the memories.
     
  • Edit to the beat We will edit our shots to the beat of the music to emphasise the important parts. For example at the beginning the song starts slow so the cuts will also be slow but as the song becomes faster there will be more fast paced cuts