Dream Pop Digipack Research and Deconstruction

In this post I will be undertaking some research into Dream Pop Digipacks.

Developing some front cover ideas for the digipak I knew I needed to look at some existing examples to distinguish the conventions a dream pop digipak, so that what we produce is  is a successful digipak that will appeal to people who listen to dream pop music. 

MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS

Top Left

On the top left of the digipack we can see that the designer has chosen to go for a white background, this has connotations of simplicity and purity. This could suggest to the buyer that this album is going to be soothing to listen to and gives a sense of reality. The colours of the CD is grey with a handwriting font style which is coloured in black. It almost seems like someone has handwritten the name of the album and could have connotations of reality and not something that has been constructed by technology.

Bottom Left

The bottom left of the digipack is the back of the digipack, we can see this because there is also a barcode on this panel which makes it more clear. The designer has used a close up shot of the protagonist, this shot magnifies the protagonist and shows the importance of her in this album. We can see she is leaning back with a strong expression on her face, this could suggest she is a strong character who doesn't fall for things easily. The other songs in this album have also been curved into her hair which makes the album look attractive and interesting to look out because the buyer will have to turn the album around to read the names. The use of the colour white over a black background helps the audience to read the text easily and also makes the test stand out. The font style is also very unique as it looks like the protagonist may have handwritten it for her buyers. 

Top Right
The front panel has the her stage name and the name of the album The Family Jewels, in the same typography but in a smaller font. this dominates the the cover against the rich gold, green and purple floral background.

Dream Pop Album Cover Research and Deconstruction

In this post I will be deconstructing typical Dream Pop genre Album covers.

As you can see above I have created a selection of Dream Pop album covers arranged into a mood board. Here you can see the colours, textures and styles used to promote products based on the music genre, Dream Pop. We plan to use this as inspiration when designing our own album cover.

Analysing Dream Pop Album Covers

Dream pop is "an atmospheric sub-genre of alternative rock that relies on sonic textures as much as melody". Common characteristics are breathy vocals and use of guitar effects, often producing a "wall of noise".

FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE 'LUNGS'

FISHLIGHTS

FREDERIC DELARUE'S 'REFLECTION'

Ancillary Task 1 Digipack

In addition to our Main task we also have to create: 

A didgipak for the album's release

Digipack

A Digipack is a type of packaging for CDs or DVDs, typically made from cardboard with an internal plastic holder for one or more discs. A Digipak-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums. Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style)paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or moreplastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD.

Here is a template of a digipack:

The front of the digipack will have a image that represents the genre of music. The digipak will embody and theme a message about the artist. The digipak also exemplifies the artistic and creative approach the artist is taking throughout the music. 

The back of the digipack will consist of a different image or even the same and will have a list of all the songs that are included in the album.

25 Word Pitch for our Music Video

This is a short video we created to make clear what our 25 word pitch is to our target audience for our music video.

This is a short video we created to make clear what our 25 word pitch is.

'Finding the real you is difficult. Especially if you are a young female in modern day society'.  [17 words out of 25] 

The second part of the pitch, 'Especially if you are a young female in modern day society' was added so that our target audience (young female students, aged 13+) would identify themselves with this statement and realise that this video is directed towards them.

Despite the screenshot above being based on business, the same rules can be applied here. Language--the words you use in your pitch-- have a profound impact on the reader.

The word 'especially' includes the word 'special', so this counts as another aspect of our pitch that has the power to attract our audience because they would assume they are special (which they are, but in this context, it is not being put forward to them in a clear way and is indirect, so they get an idea).

Other significant words include, 'real', 'young', 'female', 'modern', 'society'.

First Main Task Draft

Here is the draft of main task 

Target Audience for our Music Video

The target audience for our music video is females ages 16-25. The reason for this specific target audience is because our narrative is based around girls who are influenced by society and mostly this age group is affected the most. Also we used a young protagonist in our music video which would make potential target audience even more attracted to our music video because girls would be able to see themselves in the protagonists shoes. 

Location Post

Locations

When we were filming our main task, we also took pictures of each location we used. Below  I have made animated gifs of all the different locations we used because we took a range of pictures at each location. 

Location 1:

This is our first location we used which was south park, we decided to use this location because it has magnificent views overlooking Oxford and it is the largest park within Oxford city limits. This location worked really well with our narrative because we needed   to get a good shot of the sky in order to show the audience what time of day it was. This location was also easily accessible because it was near our school and if we needed to re-film any shots it could be easily done. Also the trees symbolise beauty, strength and wisdom which relates to our protagonist who is portraying how girls in society should be themselves and go against stereotypical views of society. We also decided to use a blurred shot of the sky and then gradually focus into the sun a few seconds later, we did this in order to follow the dream pop genre as codes and conventions include mystical dreamy imagery, which means not being obvious about the location straight away and keeping it a mystery for the audience so they feel surprised.

This is our second location we used which was outside Cheney Schools field. At first we were unsure about where exactly we would find this type of location as we had planned beforehand that we needed a location that had loads of leaves. After walking back from our first location which was south park we found this place and instantly thought that this was the best spot to use. The shot that we did in this location was of our protagonist waking up in a dream in a unusual place full of leaves and greenery, we decided on this because Sugar Maple Leaves symbolise wisdom, connection, unity. And also the colour green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility and has strong emotional correspondence with safety. This links in with our main task because we wanted our audience to feel relaxed and we wanted our protagonist to stand out for the human eye.

Location 3:

This is our third location we used which was again in south park, but more towards the front of the park where the lodges were. We decided to use this location because we needed a continuity shot from the location from where she wakes up. After the frame when she wakes up this shot sets the scene for the audience that she has woken up in a big park and now she is happily walking away to her final destination. This location worked really well with our narrative because we needed  a location that had loads of greenery due to our protagonist waking up in a unusual location and stereotypically big parks have connotations of insecurity and loneliness.

Location 4: 

This is our fourth location, which is Donnington Bridge. It was the next location after the one at South park.
This bridge was key to use in the music video because bridges put forward an idea that there is something else on the other end of the bridge, a goal, a kind of light at the end of the tunnel. We had to use the bridge as it is iconic in Oxford and it also overlooks the River Thames, in addition to the link it has with our narrative that the girl is moving--onwards and upwards to reach her goal of releasing herself from the ties that make up her identity. Donnington Bridge also has great leading lines composition which seems like our protagonist is on a long journey.

Location 5:

This location is below the bridge. We chose to include this because it offered a good opportunity for leading lines to be featured in our music video. These shots were helpful because it was sandwiched between this location and the next one.

Location 6:

This location was in town. These shots did drag a bit and we are working on cutting out bits we don't need, like the part when the camera's at a high angle and she is walking towards the camera and then away from it in the next shot. The problem we had was that the music goes on longer than the video, but we don't need to worry about it because we have sufficient footage and quality in the video to hopefully pass.

Location 7:

This location is shot again, in town. There are leading lines (the rails and the other end of the path) to indicate the direction is which the protagonist will walk.

Location 8:

This location is at the front of the Ashmolean museum. As an iconic building in Oxford, we chose to use it because of its steps in order for the protagonist to roll the ball down it. Advantages of using this location is that it looks old, misty, traditional, ancient and contributes to Dream Pop conventions (when extremes are used--Location 6 in comparison to this one is very different).