CD Cover; Design

http://emullendermedia.blogspot.com/2010/03/cd-cover-final-design.html

For my final design I used an image of the two characters from the music video, the guy and second girl, walking down a city street together. I wanted to have a close link between my music video and CD cover and thought using the characters would be an effective way of doing so. My original image was quite bland and grey so I tried placing different colour gradients as a underneath and merging them together through the luminosity setting. I found the best colours that worked together were blue and green as it created a cold, urban and quite grungey tone which is what I was after. I used this same effect with all the images, the school clock on the inside cover, the guitar on the back and the band and city pictures of the insert and found it worked well, making the entire album cover and insert consistent. The font I used, Helvetica, is very simple but works well with the images and with the indie pop genre, I used a forward slash to enhance the indie style of it. I think the back cover, is the best composed, as I had a good space to work with next to the image of the guitar and the song titles fitted in well. For the insert, I wanted to use an image of the band, as many CD covers do, to create a personal insight for the audience, discovering who the band are and how they play. Using the instruments in the image also allowed me to reference the music, which should be the focus of many indie-pop/folk bands. The image on the inside cover, of the clock references the music video, using a school clock as seen in the school room setting of the music video where the students are sitting an exam. This again, is made more effective by the colour tone as without it, the image was quite boring.

CD Cover; Research

The Mumford and Sons 'Sigh No More' album gives off a very British, nostalgic feel with the old high street setting, and the band as mannequins in the window. This gives a subtle focus to the artist as well as concentrating on the folk, acoustic genre and style of their music, with the costume (checked shirts, waistcoats, faded jeans) and the references to instruments - banjo, double bass etc. The font is simple yet effective, and captures the laid back, country/bluegrass style of the band.










Metronomy are an English electropop band who not only produce their own tracks but also remix many other artists. This album cover takes a monochrome, minimalistic approach, which fits in well with the electronic genre. The cube, 'nu rave' style font is conventional of the electronic genre and has been used by similar artists such as Klaxons and Hadouken!.

Bloc Party's 'A Weekend In The City' relies on the urban grunge style photo of a highway at night, to carry the genre without showing the artist or any instrumental reference to the music. The colour and lighting create a cold city tone and the simple sharp font focus the attention on the image rather than the band name.

The Kooks 'Inside In Inside Out' album creates a closer, more personal relationship with the audience by showing the artist performing. Like Mumford and Sons it places emphasis on the artist as well as the importance of their musical talent, showing them playing the instruments. The black and white style connotes a raw

I found this album cover really interesting, the way the artists are used as the main image yet the faces are cut out. Only fans would know that they are in fact the producer and vocalist and not random characters used therefore they do not rely on their fame to sell the music. The costume, the white wall and the font show their experimental, urban style in a unique, effective way.

CD Cover; Formats

Most CD's nowadays come in the jewel cd case design, a three-piece plastic case which holds a compact disc along with the liner notes and a back card. Two transparent halves are hinged together to form the casing, the back half holding a tray that grips the disc by its hole. All three parts are made of injection-molded polystyrene. Variations include the Super Jewel Box and the Slimline Jewel Case.

Other formats include:

Digipak - consists of a plastic CD tray glued inside a folding cardboard cover, less common than jewel cases due to higher manufacturing costs and lower resistance to wear, but more environmentally friendly.

Discbox Slider- made of 100% carton board, holds more features of LP style in terms of light weight and printability. One of the most enviromentally friendly.

Paper Sleeve- the simplest, cheapest format, a paper envelope. Transparent window can be added allowing disc label to be seen. More often used in software packages.

JakeBox- a swedish packaging concept with a 'folded claw' which holds the disc.

LP Style Case- a recent trend, packaging CDs in sleeves comparable to LPs.

Snap Case- made of a single piece plastic tray and closure which snaps over the right edge of the front flap.

Gatefold Card Case- a card wallet case, which can have more than one flap.

I have decided to use a gatefold style card case for my CD Cover, with a wallet and one flap which folds over on top. I have chosen this format because it allows room for more artwork and titles, it's more eco friendly, as card can be recycled and I think it fits in well with the genre, going against the conventional jewel plastic case as many mainstream bands do, but promoting them more as an arty, niche band. Bands like Artic Monkeys and Pearl Jam have used this format.

CD Cover; Ideas

For my CD Cover, I want to keep in with the theme of the music video and the song, to show consistency. Originally, I had ideas of using iconic British images to promote the band, like the London underground signs, an old bicycle or a typical English scene. Artists that have taken this approach include Mumford and Sons and Sex Pistols. As Blighters are from London, I was thinking of using the London Underground or a telephone box and taking an photo, perhaps even with a 'band member' in it.

I also considered using the image of a cassette tape, to emphasise the 80's sound and influence of the band. Maybe even with the tape writing the name of the band, like this, but better:

However, I wanted the album/single cover to link in with the video, so I decided to use a chalkboard theme. I thought I could also use this inside, to write the lyrics or any information, and I have a few ideas for the front cover.

One idea would be to draw something in chalk/pastel on a blackboard and take a photograph of it. I would either draw, a typical classroom scene, a bit like that or a scene from the narrative, like the couple holding hands.

I also had an idea to use the chalkboard theme, taking a picture of the couple with a board that you'd find outside shops or restaurants and use Photoshop to write the band name and album name on.


My final idea was to use one of the pictures I had taken of the 'couple' and edit it using Photoshop to make it look more indie and slightly 'grunge'. I played around with it and tryed putting it into grayscale then applying a coloured gradient, like green and blue, as a layer and merging the two layers through the luminosity setting. The pictures came out as seen in post titled CD Cover; Images.

Analysis of The Veronicas - 4ever

The Veronicas are an electro-pop-rock duo from Australia. Although they have a very different genre to our unsigned band, they use techniques and editing in a way we wanted to for our music video. The video also shows a strong representation of two modern, young females living a crazy party lifestyle, this is made clear through the mise-en-scene, costume, lighting, performance and effects used throughout the video.

The camera work and editing in the video play an important part in setting the pace matching the level of energy in the song. The camera is constantly kept moving, an abundance of fast zooms in and out and shaky panning. This not only shows the liveliness of the song, but also could portray a drunken/slightly disorientated point of view of the party. This voyeuristic view is also shown as people or objects pass in front of the camera from time to time, out of focus, making the audience feel as though they are a part of the crazy party.
The zooms are mainly of the two lead female singers, allowing them to stand still for their performance as the camera provides the movement and energy.
Fast cuts are also used for this same reason, to create a fast paced movement in sync with the beat of the song.
Close ups of the two singers are master shots used throughout the video, the camera explores the party, people dancing, instruments being played, but always returns to a shot of the two females. This shows a focus on their identity and fame, rather than the music performance or any narrative/story. This is conventional of female rock artists, focusing on their identity to appeal to an aspirational, mostly teenage, female audience.
At the start of the video, close ups of instruments being picked up/plugged in, are used. This introduces the rock 'n' roll genre of the song, and provides a slight focus on the music before the singers are brought in. We have used this technique in our own music video, to introduce the genre and the focus on the music rather than the band.

The artists are represented as the young party girl stereotypes, with glamorous yet quite rock costume/outfits, bright lipstick and plenty of emphasised make-up. The mise-en-scene of the house party, with drinking, dancing, things being smashed, flashing lights and people stumbling around and lying on the floor lends itself to the younger female rock genre, much like artists such as Kesha and Pink. Shots of the artists lying on the floor, grabbing drinks and having a pillow fight towards the end reinforce this modern representation and help sell the track to a teenage audience. The disorientation and constant dancing promote the party setting, which is why i would place the target audience for this track within the demographic of 16-25 year olds, mostly females who aspire to be like the artists.

Analysis of Jack Peñate

Another artist with a genre reasonably similar to The Blighters, is Jack Peñate,
an English singer-songwriter signed to XL Recordings. Two of Jack's videos particularly stood out in terms of editing, structure and representation within the same genre as my unsigned artist. The first, Spit at Stars is totally performance based and consists of Jack and his band playing, singing and dancing in an orange room. The editing and stop-motion animation techniques used add a quirky, lively feel to the song, keeping in with his style of music and performance. The second video, Have I Been A Fool?, is narrative based although does in fact interweave a performance element towards the end as our own music video does. This music video follows the main character, Jack himself, through a number of dates with different girls, through a park, at the cafe etc and ends up with him performing for the girl at the pub. The video shows a stereotypical representation of males as promiscious and cheaters, as is also told by the lyrics, tied in with the narrative.

Spit at Stars


This video uses various techniques to create an offbeat, quirky style like that of the song. Although the setting is simple and the same master shot is returned to throughout, the energy comes from the animation of the singer and then the seperate instruments appearing as the song begins, and also from the dancing of the singer. The camera work consists of long shots, medium close ups, a few close ups of the instruments and several sharp zooms. Fast cuts are used in sync with the beat to create the jolted pace, like the stop-motion animation. The emphasis in this video is placed on the performance aspect and the song, rather than any narrative structure. The video is shot in one location, keeping it simple and centering the action around the performance of the artist, relying also on the identity and genre of Jack Peñate even though he is not very well known, which is a risk to take. The choice of images and mise-en-scene defines the alternative, punk-like genre, with bright colours, checked shirts and hi-top trainers as costume and the emphasis on the instruments of bass guitar, drums, guitar, xylophone and several speakers.
A similar video to this is A Punk by Vampire Weekend, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XC2mqcMMGQ which uses the same kind of techniques, a simple location, instruments and bright colours to bring the audience's focus to the talent of the band and the artists themselves.

Have I Been A Fool? by Jack Peñate





The video for this song imitates the style of a 90's American romcom film, as it follows the character through dates with several different girls, constantly changing, through locations like the park, sitting on a park bench in Autumn and sitting in a cafe drinking tea. This video follows a standard linea narrative, a guy going on dates with various different girls. It links with the lyrics of 'Have I been a fool, just say..I lead you on, leading's wrong' and the action also has a close link with the music, the cuts well in sync with the beat and the lip-syncing of the artist. At the end, as in our own music video, there is a collaboration of narrative and performance, as on one of the 'dates', Jack get's up on stage and begins playing guitar and singing to the girl. Having only found this after creating our own music video, I found it very effective to see a video which this idea worked well within.
The video has a close focus on the artist, making him the lead role whereas some bands may use actors/actresses and simply be shown through their performance talent. This follows the conventions of a music video, with the demands of the record label (XL Recordings in this case) meaning a focus on the artist, with many close ups, creating a closer, more personal relationship between artist and audience.

Analysis of Golden Silvers - Arrows of Eros

Golden Silvers are an independently signed band with a similar style and genre to the unsigned band we are using for our music video. Their video uses different editing techniques and a new romantic, late 70's/early 80’s style to create a mise-en-scene, fitting to the genre and the tone of the song.

Golden Silver's genre is described as indie pop/electronic/new wave. Conventions of this genre would include an 80's style tone or mise-en-scene- quite bright and colourful, lively, old wallpaper/furniture/features, emphasis on bass guitar and keyboard and focus on the band and their style. The 'Arrows of Eros' video is performance based. It lacks a narrative structure, which is conventional of this genre, it also confirms conventions of costume, with the New Romantic fashion style worn by the three members of the band. New Romanticism was a 'youth fashion movement from the 1980's' associated with the electronic/synthpop music scene, to artists like David Bowie and Duran Duran. The fashion entailed androgenous and totally unique clothing and the quiff was a common hairstyle. It is clear in the video that Golden Silvers have taken influence from this fashion movement, as seen in their shirts and the lead singers purple flairs and hairstyle. The wallpaper and props like the lamp, microphone and sofa also reflect the 80's feel of the song. The band's performance and dancing shows the liveliness of the genre and of their songs.











Most of the video, uses the effect of boxes/frames (?) on the screen, multiple or single, and it constantly changes with the beat. The edges are rounded, reflecting the style of an old photograph. This technique reverses conventions of most mainstream music videos and sets it apart as perhaps a more niche, independent band or song. Other techniques are used later, as they play around with animation, giving the lead singer wings and an arrow through his head to fit in with the lyrics. This holds the audiences attention and makes the video more aesthetically pleasing, showing off their animation skills and reinforcing the significance of the lyrics.










Close ups of the instruments are used at the start of the video, introducing the main instruments they use and emphasising that this consists of keyboard, guitar and drums as is conventional in electronic pop music. Editing skills are also later proven as the screen is split into three frames, the middle of the master shot, of the lead singer playing the keyboard and the frames on either side showing close ups of the keyboard being played, in sync with the central frame.



And again, this shot shows the drums/cowbell being played in a close up and from two different angles, at the same time.


Towards the end of the video, the screen is entirely split into square frames. This could be showing fragmentation, of the relationship talked about in the lyrics. 'Wouldn't it be sweet if you could die from a broken heart?'



Although the Golden Silvers are not mainstream, and not very well known they rely mostly on image in this video, focusing on their performance and including few shots of other characters dancing or acting. This again, confirms the conventions of the genre, drawing in an audience through their unique style, inviting the audience to perhaps copy their style or aspire to have an individual style themselves. It could also bring in a nostalgic audience, those still attached to 80's pop music and scenes. I think the video successfully captures it's audience through it's mise-en-scene and style and it's reliance on performance.

Genre Theory

'Every genre positions those who participate in a text of that kind: as interviewer or interviewee, as listener or storyteller, as a reader or a writer, as a person interested in political matters, as someone to be instructed or as someone who instructs; each of these positionings implies different possibilities for response and for action. Each written text provides a 'reading position' for readers, a position constructed by the writer for the 'ideal reader' of the text. (Kress 1988, 107)'

Genre theory is used in the study of films in order to facilitate the categorisation of films. Genre are dependent on various factors such as story line, whom the director is, what are the audience expectations etc... In using genre theory we create a shortcut in how we describe films.
In order to understand Genre we may look at several examples. When we speak of the western we know that within this collection of films we may expect to find gun fights, horses and indians, the solitary cowboy and to some degree the actors and directors of such films. Another example would be when looking at the horror film where we know everyone will die except one. The audience whom go to those films expect to see zombie, were wolves,werewolves and more. They also expect certain content and a certain style of film making.