'Does it offend you, yeah?' and 'Sam's town' digipak ideas

This album cover from the band ‘Does it offend you, yeah?’ is a good example of a similar effect to the one I shall be trying to achieve with my own design. With this artwork it is mainly the graffiti effect of the writing that I am focussing on. The use of a graffiti styled font presents an urban theme and connotes youth culture within the genre. As the target audience of my own digipak will be an urban, youth culture, I see this to be a good example of the style of writing I will be using on my own digipak.

The style of this graffiti does not so much connote the ska genre of my own productions, and instead works very effectively with bright, bold colours and a scruffy font against a dark background to present the electro/alternative genre of the band them self, as they too much like my own band have a youthful, urban target audience. For this reason, a graffiti style font (though likely to be a much bolder, clear font typical of the ska genre) is what I want to use for my own digipak.

I will be using this graffiti design on both the front and back of my digipak. On the back to present the track titles of the E.P., and on the front to use for the E.P’s name (Moneygrabber) up against an urban background, written on the wall of the background much like the style used on the next album cover...

... ‘Sam’s Town’ is an album by the alternative rock band ‘The Killers’. As you can see from the album artwork, there is a person in the foreground, with the name of the band and album appearing as if it has been painted on the wall of the urban background. It is a combination of these two album covers that I want to use for my own work. Like Sam’s town, I want to have the actors (as band members) in the foreground of the shot, with an urban graffiti wall as the background. Then I want the name of my E.P. to appear on the wall in the background as if it has been painted on like graffiti. As explained previously in this post, the graffiti and urban mise-en-scene is a typical convention of the ska genre and connotes the youthful target audience of which I am aiming it at.

Responsibilities

Our group for the planning and shooting of the music video consists of four members – Myself, Lizzie, Andy and Harley, however this group will be split into two sub groups for the editing of the videos to produce two differently edited videos. This will ensure that each member gets a larger input to the editing process and are taking up larger roles in it’s production. The majority of research has been conducted individually, though ideas have been shared within the group.

The group will be equally responsible for organising between ourselves, convenient times for shooting and getting actors/props together for shooting. We will all also be responsible for the care of the recording equipment (camera and tripod) during various stages of the shooting process.

Me

With regards to the production of our music video, I will be solely responsible for my own research and input to conventions of the genre to be included in the video. I will also be involved as an actor in some performance and concept aspects of the video, acting briefly as the trumpet player of the band. I will have a large input into the filming of the majority of shots and directing of the video. I will take my turn to be responsible for the looking after of camera and tripod to be brought to school each day and to shoots. Lizzie and I shall take equal responsibility with the editing of our video, using our own knowledge of both genre conventions and the editing programme itself to complete the production.

Lizzie

Will be responsible for both her own, and group input to research into conventions of the genre. She will take up largely a directing role within the group, and be in charge of ordering the actors to perform as looks best on the camera, however Andy, Harley and myself will also have large input into this also. Lizzie will most likely be taking the largest shooting role of the group, as the rest of us act as band members, jointly direct, and film during other shoots where we are not the focus of the camera. She will also be responsible for the looking after of the recording equipment, and have equal input with myself into the editing of the footage.

Andy

Will be responsible for both his own, and group input to research into conventions of the genre. Andy will be one of the main actors in the video, featuring prominently as the band’s guitarist. However he will be contributing as a joint director with the rest of the group, mainly from the lens end of the camera. When we as a group are conducting a shoot that is not focused on Andy, he will be equally taking responsibility for filming shots and directing. He too will have be looking after the equipment, and between Harley and himself will have equal responsibility for the editing of their own video.

Harley

Will be responsible for both his own, and group input to research into conventions of the genre. Harley will feature briefly as an actor as the band’s drummer. He will be equally responsible for the directing and shooting of the production when not the focus of the camera, whilst inputting ideas and thoughts towards shots and concept/genre conventions throughout the shooting and planning process. Between Andy and himself, equal responsibility will be shared for the editing of their own video, with constant input from both members on opinions and physical processes (the actual editing through Adobe Elements).

The Skanx - Moneygrabber: Final Cut

Narcissism

Narcissism is the personality trait of egotism, vanity, conceit, or simple selfishness. Applied to a social group, it is sometimes used to denote elitism or an indifference to the plight of others.

The name "narcissism" was coined by Freud after Narcissus who in Greek myth was a pathologically self-absorbed young man who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. Freud believed that some narcissism is an essential part of all of us from birth. Andrew P. Morrison claims that, in adults, a reasonable amount of healthy narcissism allows the individual's perception of his needs to be balanced in relation to others.

• In the film Iron Man 2, Nick Fury tells Stark he cannot be a part of the Avengers Initiative because of his compulsive self-destructive behaviour, textbook narcissism and greed.
• In the film To Die For, Nicole Kidman's character wants to appear on television at all costs, even if this involves murdering her husband. A psychiatric assessment of her character noted that she "was seen as a prototypical narcissistic person by the raters: on average, she satisfied 8 of 9 criteria for narcissistic personality disorder... had she been evaluated for personality disorders, she would receive a diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder."

Initial digipak design sketches

Front (right) and back (left) cover

This is the initial sketch idea for the outside covers of my digipak. The front cover, shown on the right hand side, will most likely feature a shot of the band and Jack (who was initially in the band, though over the shooting period has taken up more of a 'friend of the band' role). It will work well as being a generic image to represent the genre, and also instantly establish the band (actors in this instance) and genre. I will use large, bold lettering that is iconic of ska, to present the name of the band in the bottom corner. The track name will also featuer on the front cover being formed by monopoly money to spell out the word 'moneygrabber', which is strongly referencing our video as we used monopoly money in this way in the form of stop motion, and establishes the theme of the song as being about a money-grabbing woman. I am likely to include a chequered black and white border which is also iconic of the two-tone sub genre. I will also experiment with different image effects, such as adjusting the saturation, to improve the appeal of the image.

For the back cover of the CD case, i will be using a large image of a news bulletin board (more zoomed than in the illustration, shown by the arrows!) where on the board there will be a news headline referencing a contemporary money-related political issue such as the education cuts or banking disaster. This would again be relevant to the theme of the song (money-grabbing!) as the bankers of recent times have been publicised as being overly greedy with the administering of bonuses, causing drastic negative effects on the economy. This lack of money and jobs within society is also a large issue raised in This is England, which would be a good intertextual reference. On the reverse of the news board, which will be presented at an angle to the page to connote the quirky, fun nature of The Skanx and ska genre, will be the track listings and any other information necessary to the EP. I again adjust effects to make it more appealing.

Middle inserts

For the CD insert i am contemplating the idea of using close-up shots of the actors' faces, dressed in ska costume, facing the camera whilst looking at each other across a quartered page in an almost pop art style, not dissimilar to that of the Blur album cover 'Best of Blur' analysed in a previous post. this would establish the band members themselves, as well as presenting them in an interesting, quirky way that is fitting of the genre. i will most likely be using diagonally relative black and white colouring for the boxes in which the faces will be, as it is a simple iconographic of the two-tone genre.

Finally, for the face on which the CD itself will sit, i will be using a simple image of scattered monopoly money, which will be the sole focus of the page. This will again be referencing the stop motion sections of our video, as well as the song title itself. I feel that this will work effectively as it will be a bold design, typical of the genre, that will grasp the audience's attention upon opening the case. The bright primary colours of the money will represent the fun nature of all of the ska genre, it's carefree target audience, and the song itself. The connotations of freeness that this bright colour brings are in a sense ironic, as the audience of the song living amongst contemporary political issues are anything but free.

Reverse of album cover - news board

For the reverse cover of my digipak, one idea that I am highly considering is the use of the image of a news board, such like one you would find outside a local corner shop. It would feature a close-up image of the front of the board, highlighting a contemporary political issue such as the recession or banking disaster of moderm times (to be focussed on further on a future blog post).

The image will be zoomed in at a slight angle to fill the entirety of the panel, which means the reverse side of the news board image will be able to be seen. I will take advantage of this by potentially using it as an area on which to write the track listings. I’ve used an image off of google to roughly present this idea rather than trying to make sense of my poor description! Pictured below.

This is a relevant idea that is fitting of the genre as it references a shot from our own video where there is a short shot of a graffiti man on a wall holding a news board. The writing on the front of the board when finished will also be strongly referencing an economic related, contemporary issue such as the recession, which is very much reminiscent of the issues raised in This is England, a typical ska text. It will be relating to the issues undergone by both the youth of the modern day and youth in the prime of the ska/punk era, highlighting financial struggle and political controversy. For this reason it is an appropriate image idea for an EP album cover of this genre.

Album cover - The Best of Blur

For the front cover of my digipak, one idea I was considering is a style very similar to the one shown here on Blur’s album ‘The Best of Blur’.

It features the four band members’ faces on a very minimalist, basic design in each coloured quarter of the face of the front panel. This basic design is one that I find to be, eye-catching, quirky and bold, much like the genre of ska itself. For my own digipak cover, I was toying with the idea of having a similar format to this, using the faces of our own actors as the band members.

The bold, block colours used create a sense of fun and playfulness, which I think is the kind of image a band like Blur are trying to put across about themselves. The colours play an effective role in bringing about a vibrant contrast across the image as opposed to more faded shades that would give a hazy effect, not at all what Blur’s Britpop/rock genre is trying to present. It’s very similar to some forms of pop art, such as this one pictured below, which also is heavily based around very block colours and ease of expression through bold lines and colour whilst focussing on contemporary themes. For my own design I have contemplated using block colours such as these ones as they are in-fitting with the quirky youth side of the ska genre and bring about connotations of fun and enjoyment such to metaphorically present the carefree nature of teenage ska fans. However, if I am to follow this idea for my digipak, I would most likely go down the root of a more two-tone ska black and white chequered colour effect that is so iconic of the genre, seeing as our band are most in-fitting with the two-tone sub genre.

The faces on the album cover are illustrated as opposed to photographs. This too is something I would consider when producing my own. Although I would be initially starting with photographs of the actors’ faces, I will be editing them a considerable amount with various effects to transform the photos into a cartoon-esque image such as the ones on this Blur album. Rather than the bland image effect using just photographs in this case would give, the use of cartoon illustrations also adds a quirky, fun element to the images that is in-keeping with the genre. This is something I shall consider with my own production.