Final Digipak Design

 Final Digipak Design

Final digipak presentation from wolfgang13

Based teacher feedback I have made a few adjustments to my Digipak design for instance making the text on the back cover much more clearer by firstly removing the scan line overlay on the original image and this time using the original graphic itself rather than imposing it on a computer monitor and taking a picture of the monitor. To make sure the computer theme was still clear throughout my Digipak I edited the original graphic of the title card adding a fish eye lense effect to make it look like it was playing off a screen. I also added the copyright logo and record label name to my digipak as I found that from looking at some Digipak's this was a conventional feature I missed out on, on my previous draft

Original Left - Adjustment Right

Another conventional feature of Digipak's that was missing from my draft but now rectified was the inclusion of text citing were the track was recorded as well as other information such as special thanks and production credits and possible copyright situations. For instance from looking at other digipaks I had found that if a song were to feature samples of another song, the original producer of said song is normally credited. Burnin fever as well as the other songs attatched to this Digipak included samples from songs such as "Equinox 3" by Jean Michel Jarre and thus this was credited to create a conventional and professional look to my Digipak. Below is a transcript of this information surrounding the production of my Digipak which was used as the internal text.

'BURNIN FEVER' was recorded in 2013 at Stoke on Trent

Produced and mixed by David fowl for Eflaure and Meh Rec

BURNIN FEVER contains a sample of "Dreamin'", by Greg Henderson, owned by Greyhound Record Productions and a sample of "Equinox 3", by Jean Michel Jarre, owned by Disques Dreyfus.

The Revenge of The Phantom contains a sample of "Look Up With Your Mind" by Lenny Williams, owned by ABC Records and a sample of "Live In Me" by Rufus and Chaka Khan, owned by MCA Records.  

 PUBLISHED BY ED BANGER RECORDS

PHOTOGRAPHY - CHRIS ANKA

ART DIRECTION - CHRIS ANKA

DESIGN - CHRIS ANKA

Information applied to back panel

In addition I also adjusted some of the text within the insert panels for example "time left 0:18" was turned into "time left 0:20" rectifying an earlier mistake I made when attempting to add in a sort of "Easter egg" for audiences  as mentioned in this previous post in order to push the synergy between my music video and Digipak.

Original left - Adjustment  Right

Additionally to my Digipak I have also designed a digital download cover version of my Digipak since I have found it's quite common for Independent artists to digitally distribute their work. As previously discussed this cover can also serve as a  lenticular  cover version of the Digipak which could possibly include extra content behind the production of the Digipak or possibly extra mixes or versions of Songs attached to the Digipak for instance one of the song edits I produced for the music video. Moreover, this could keep the synergy strong between both Digipak and Music video by having an animated glitch effect on the cover thus continuing the glitch art theme throughout both media products.

Digital Download Edition

Lenticular Edition cover

Before creating the final draft of my Digipak I also produced a survey and asked a set of questions to further understand what I could improve as well as having feedback in general in terms of the Digipak itself.

Below are the set of questions asked

Question 1- On the magazine ad does the QR CODE on the magazine ad work?

Y/N

Question 2 - Do you think this increases synergy between two brands and help with artist promotion?

Y/N

If not why and how could this be improved

Question 3 - Is the subtitle text underneath Burnin Fever stereotypical to magazine ads?

Y/N

Question 4 - Does the subtitle text provide enough information about the product and its availability?

Y/N

Question 5 - Is the main image of the magazine cover similar enough to the front cover of the Digipak to allow you to understand what the Digipak looks like?

Y/N

Digipak questions

Question 6 - Is the text on the track listing clear to read ?

Y/N

Question 7 - Is the theme consistent enough throughout the Digipak ?

Y/N

Question 8 - How similar visually is the Digipak to music video ?

Not sure      A little     Similar     Very Similar

Question 9 - Is the internal text on the CD panel appropriate for a Digipak?

Y/N

Question 10 - Is the text readable?

Y/N

Question 11 - Does the layout of the Digipak read well?

Y/N

Other questions

Question 12 - What type of magazine do you think you would most likely find my magazine ad

Majority of the feedback was positive with people claiming that the QR code attached to my Digipak's  magazine ad not only worked functionally but worked well in increasing synergy between magazine ad and music video. Improvements that were suggested was making the ' Burnin Fever' album subtitle much more clearer by adjusting it more to the right however due to time constraints said adjustments were not possible since I had previously ordered a to scale print out version of my Digipak. I do hope however this larger format will allow the text to be much more readable.

Finally when asked "What type of magazine do you think you would most likely find my magazine ad" Magazines that were suggested included Mixmag as well as any Dance music focused magazine in order to reach this specific audience of those who consume this sort of music. From doing some research I have managed to find Dj Mag a British Monthly magazine dedicated to EDM music (which is a similar genre to Tropiika's) and DJ's. Since my chosen artist is based in Britain and uses very British samples within his work i.e the sounds of Alan Partridge, I find that it would be more appropriate to feature my ad in a British publication rather than an overseas one in order for my artist to find an audience that would relate more to his works and intertextual references. Additionally, I did however find some overseas Dance magazines my add could possibly feature however only very unlikely and only on the basis of reaching an audience of consumers of dance/electronic related music for example BPM magazine ( (they seem to have discontinued their print publication and since my ad is a print ad this will be very unlikely) and Debug magazine a Berlin based magazine which covers electronic music styles such as techno, electro or house, as well as an technology based subjects. This magazine is still in print and in circulation in other European countries. Although not exactly a British based audience I feel that my Ad  would more likely show up in this publication rather than BPM since Debug is distributed in an area closer both geographically and culturally to our own and thus I feel my ad and my artists references to British texts will be more understandable to said European audience that the proposed US one.

This is England - Social Realism

This is England - Social Realism

DUE TO COPYRIGHT CLAIM I CANNOT HOST THE VIDEO ONLINE BELOW IS A TRANSCRIPT OF THE VIDEO

 What is social realism

Social realism, also known as socio-realism , is an artistic movement , expresseed in the visual and other realist arts, depicting social and racial injustice,economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures of life's struggles;often depicting working class activities as heroic.

Said genre is considered Britian's main form of cinematic cinema. Better than any other genre, social realism has shown us to ourselves, pushing the boundaries in the effort to put the experiences of real Britons on the screen, and shaping our ideas of what British cinema can be.

These texts tend to focus on the type of characters not generally found in mainstream films. Social realist texts follow characters who are found more on the social margins of society in terms of status and power.

Usually a Social realist film deals with issues such as drugs, sex, poverty, class and religious or political issues.

This is england conforms to the social realist genre by dealing with real life issues such as coming off age as well as touching on issues such as the effects of the Falkland wars on British youth and the British family. At the film, our protagonist Shaun has lost his Dad to the Falkland war and we see him disassociated from his classmates and arguably marginalised from society evident earlier on in the film as we see him get banned from the local cornershop. One could argue the effects of his fathers death at such an early age has affected not only Sean's school life which will be discussed later but also causing him to loose a male role model or opinion leader to follow, leaving him lost and causing him to act out as evident in this clip.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAEpJX0Bwt0

Speaking from personal experience what really attracted me to This is England is how the problem Sean goes through earlier on in the film is quite relatable, we see a boy growing up, going through secondary school and is somewhat lacking a role model or opinion leader and at this point doesnt really fit in or relate to his class mates. This is clearly illustrated in the clip above even in the way the mis en scene chosen/organised- everyone is wearing very extravagant clothing such as new wave fashion styles common to that era whereas Sean is wearing something quite normal except for the flaires excluding him from his peers. Sean's lack of fashionable clothing could be evident also of his families issues with finance since he may only be allowed to afford clothing for the purpose of function not whether it looks good thus illustrating a common people many young people face when growing up. Its quite a funny scene as it shows how timeless the idea of "in fashion" and how having the right clothing means your part of a group.


As the scene first opens we see a high angle shot of Sean making him seem quite small in contrast to his surroundings and establishing how intimidating school must seem for him.
 During the clip we also get to understand the emotional affects of Sean's loss on his School life as Havery's comment on Sean's loss clearly aggravate him to act out violently instead of considering what some may call a more sensible option and walk away or possibly call a teacher. We see that such an event taking place in Sean's life is causing school life to become much more of a challenge in terms of fitting in as well as feeling enthusiastic about his school environment. In addition, Sean's troubles as a result would also affect his home life since his mother would want him to do well at School but his behavior at School would serve as some sort of conflict to this ideal.

 However as the film progresses Sean is introduced to a group of Skinheads who take him in and serve as his opinion leaders giving the character confidence and a sense of belonging.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS5g3xLCrGo

In the beginning of the scene we see Sean miserable even when initially introduced to Woody the diagetic sounds of Sean's mumbling clearly show that he isn't a very confident or happy child. As the sequence progresses we see a two shot of Sean's and Woody in which we clearly see Sean's unconformable demeanor illustrated by how he holds himself closed off from the others as well as looking down in contrast to Woody's more energetic and relaxed mood. Such a composition of a shot mainly focusing on the two could perhaps significant how already Woody serves as the "Sean" who Sean wants to be by placing Woody in front of Sean  and have him sit in a similar way  like some sort of "future version of the protagonist.

The scene features various close up shots of Sean's face to convey the change in his attitude and emotion as a result of Woody and we even cut back to the two shot of Woody and Sean, this time with Sean looking towards Woody signifying how he is becoming this role model to the character.  Additionally, when the character Gadget is introduced and he ask Sean to move, Sean intitally turns to Wood asking "shall I move?" which one could argue evidences how Woody has become this now opinion leader to Sean as the character confidently seeks and trusts the advice of Woody even though someone else has asked to to do something else.

This is England however touches on political issues that surronded the 1980's as seen in the early opening credits of the film which features a montage of scenes from significant events from the decade such as the Miners Strike, the Greenham Common Protests against the siting of American Cruise Missiles as well as the Falklands war.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBpJ4ZuFP8E

The opening sequence represents the social and historical context of the film by featuirng trival clips of 80's culture such as roland rat, knight rider, the hair and fashion styles of the decade to serious social events of the decade such as the miners strike and news clips of the  horrors of the Falkland wars. All this with a late 70's SKA soundtrack which reflects the skinhead culture who adopted this type of music. In addition to this the opening features Stencil based type referring to the army and the war. It is believed that Director Shane Meadows many references to the war also served as a way for him to comment on the patriotic yet xenophopic celebration of the Falkland victory which Meadows saw as hiding the fact that British forces overwhelming untrained and unprepared Argentinian troops. One could argue by featuring clips of civil unrest of the British public Meadows is illustrating how strange it was at the time to be celebrating the greatness of Britain at the time and attacking foreigners and migrants when the country was in such a bad state suffering from high unemployment and disruption in  home life as a result of the Thatcherite government clearly shown here by the former prime ministers presence throughout the opening.

What does it mean to be British?

Britishness is the state or quality of being British, or of embodying British characteristics for instance a stiff upper lip, the love for a good cup of tea, sarcasm or most commonly fish and chips.

Although these things are quintessentially British tropes and stereotypes I think being British is about being part of a multicultural society in which ideally no culture's voice is looked down upon in comparison to others.

Magazine ad final draft

Magazine ad final draft

Changes made

Adjusted the text and register below Burnin Fever to make it more appropriate for a music magazine and to help motivate viewers to purchase the product. I also added in a quote from house artist Tensnake (a similar and credible artist) to help with the promotion of the product and artist

Lessened the vintage effect as it started to distort the main image of the album cover making it hard to promote and sell the product attached.

Added a QR code which I created via QR code generator. This code should hopefully link to my music video thus improving synergy between texts as well as adding for more artist promotion.

Where the magazine will be featured

When discussing in what magazine I think my ad would be found, I believe that my ad would most likely feature in Mixmag. Mixmag is a British magazine which specialises in dance and club music a genre to which my chosen artist is works in. Since the magazine is so specialist this should allow my chosen artist access to an appropriate audience to expose themselves to.

London riots: teenagers lack hope notes

London riots: teenagers lack hope notes

"Young people are bored and feel they have nothing to lose" - former gang member Kim Gardener

Young people are rioting because "the system is flawed" - Nevil Fenton 17

"There is fear, uncertainty, less jobs, less opportunity and university is harder to get into"

Many Gang members who were spoken to felt that they were disattached from there communities

according to Mrs Gardner "Underprivileged youths have told me they feel that no one cares any more,"

EPHIBPHOBIA + UNDERPRIVILEGED YOUTH = LACK OF OPPORTUNITIES GIVEN

"Many youth clubs have had their funding taken away and there haven't been many activities organised for children this summer," she added.

This bordem and the spark of the riots would have served as an excuse for youth to lash out like this as well as opportunists. What this does however is cause a violent circle of youth being involved in and in turn representing themselves as violent and as a result these opportunities taken away out by living up to these stereotypes