Lighting and Colour

Lighting and Colour

Artists tend to include a number of different lighting techniques and colour styles in their music videos in order to portray a number of different meanings and emotions about the song. Having a variety of lighting techniques and colours in a music video is essential to making a successful and conventional video as certain lighting styles have different meanings and are suited for different elements such as camera shots, the style of the music video and editing techniques. For example, our chosen music genre is indie and indie music videos tend to include lots of natural lighting or black and white lighting scenes that are emphasised and effected through colour and filter tones giving it a more conventional feel and to have a bigger effect on the audience.  

For our first lighting and colour technique, we will use a black and white contrast. This colour technique will be used during the start of our music video when our artist is first introduced and we introduce the main iconography of our narrative the memory box, to our audience. It will also be used during the performance elements of our video when she is sitting in her bedroom to match and support the colour of her pyjamas, therefore we are tieing in other elements of our video with our lighting and colours used to make it more conventional and clear for our audience. These colours are conventional to the indie genre as it is a clear way of portraying the difference between good and bad with the black being a connotation for a bad character or moment in the music video and the white being good. Black and white colours are also a good way of showing a relationship, in particular a narrative where a relationship breaks down as it shows the good and bad times of the relationship respectively, which we are including in our own narrative such as the white when the couple are reminiscing on their fun memories and events and the black to show the break up towards the end. It is also conventional as they are both simplistic colours helping to show the simplistic side to the video and how indie productions are often simple which not much production. This colour technique also helps to represent the artist as it helps to show the two different sides to the artist. The colour white portrays the artist as being innocent and loving in her relationship by wanting to spread a positive message in the video and be a good role model to society and her target audience. It is also a connotation of the purity of the video and the artist as it shows her 'perfect' relationship and happy and natural side of the video. The audience can relate with the artist through this colour technique as they are able to have a positive mind-set and views on the artists character and relationships due to the artist giving off positive and happy vibes in the narrative. The black colour in the video in contrast represents the video and artist as being corrupt as the artist eventually has a dark view on life and her relationships and is the cause for the break up. It is a colour and technique that goes against the mainstream and ideology of relationship are all perfect and supports the theory of good v's evil in a way by changing the outlook of the video for the audience and the whole nature of the narrative. The audience are also able to relate with the artist through this colour as it shows that she has different values and she has a dark side to her character. This is also conventional to the indie genre as indie music videos tend to have a dark twist towards them and aren't all joyful at times.

The next element we will use and our first lighting technique will be natural lighting. Natural lighting will be used as a highly significant part of our narrative with it being used during many of our many memory box and outdoor scenes such as when the couple are over the fields having a picnic and giving each other a piggy back. The main convention of natural lighting is that it shows the world and the video as being natural and in its usual state which indie artists aspire for as they like to share a message and concept in their videos. It is also conventional to the indie genre as indie music videos are often low budget and don't have a lot of production as they go against the mainstream and like to stay natural, hence the use of natural lighting, and down to earth, without the support from major record labels in most cases. This lighting technique is also conventional as it helps to portray happiness and hope through the lighting of the sun and the purity of nature, supporting the happiness of the memories in the narrative and the loving chemistry the couple have during the majority of the video. This lighting technique helps to represent the artist as being honest as she is open about her relationship and her memories aren't extravagant and mainstream and tend to be activates her target audience can also partake in. It also represents her as being a positive character and spirit as she the lighting helps to portray happiness which she aspires to be in the video. It also shows her as being confident as she doesn't mind being shown in natural light, being her natural self in a good position in her life and relationship where she doesn't care about what others think and the main focus is just about the couple on screen. This lighting technique allows the audience to build a relationship with the artist as they see her in her natural form and aspire to be like her in her happier times.

The next lighting and colour technique we will use in our video is green and blue through her clothing and denim. These colours will be used throughout our whole narrative as there will be features of this colouring in the setting and on her clothes for most of the memories such as when she is wearing a green camo coat during the picnic scene and blue denim during the pub scene wear she is wearing ripped jeans and dungarees. These colours are conventional to the indie genre as green is used as a natural connotation to the purpose of our love narrative music video and our natural scenes such as being used when over the fields and in a forest showing the world in its natural form with the support of a lot of green in the setting. It is also a connotation of being down the earth as it shows her as being spiritual, stylish and close to nature, which many indie artists aspire to be. The blue colouring is also conventional to the indie genre as it shows her as being sad and is a sign of the beginning of the break up in the relationship. This is done by where she wears blue when arguing with her boyfriend and the ripped jeans are a connotation of the cracks in their relationship and things are starting to go wrong. This is conventional to the indie genre as it is a common colour used for clothing and to signal the start of a bad moment within a lot of indie music videos. This colour also represents the artist as being edgy and thick skinned as the clothing and colour is rough, much like some aspects of her character, and wears it when coping through the break down of her relationship.

The audience are able to relate to the artist through this as they can see that she is tough and idolise her for what she is going through. This colour also represents her as being sad and independent when she is wearing it when looking through her memory box and reminiscing on the good times. The audience see her as aspiring as she is putting on a brave face yet see the contrast in emotions she conveys by being happy at one point then sad with the support from the connotations of the colour blue.

Another lighting technique and the final lighting technique we will use in our music video is low key lighting. This will be used in our video when we will use our iconography such as the fairy lights to create our outdoor, garden cinema scene in the evening to light up the dusk. This lighting is conventional to the indie genre as the low key lighting helps to bring the focus and attention on the love and chemistry the couple in the video. It also helps to create a warm, natural home like feeling and atmosphere amongst the audience and for the people in our narrative as the dim lights and red/orange lighting is a connotation of warmth and gentleness and that is how the couple are feeling at this stage of their relationship. The fairy lights are also a significant part of our narrative and part of our low key lighting as they help to portray the innocence and purity in the relationship as well as signifying how much the couple love each other despite the potential break up as the fairy lights make the audience and the couple forget about that and really allow everyone to capture and get lost in the moment. The audience are able to relate to this and feel like they are apart of the video due to the home like feeling and style it creates. This lighting technique also represents the artist as being friendly and loving due to the warmth of innocence of the fairy lights and the actions the lighting help to show in our narrative with the low key lighting beaming down on the couple sitting down cuddling. This allows the audience to relate with the artist as they see her in her natural and loving form and feel friendly with her themselves. It also represents her as being positive and strong minded despite of her relationship troubles with the lighting conveying that disintegration in the relationship and how it will eventually turn dark.

In conclusion, our target audience are able to build a solid and loving relationship that portrays a number of different emotions through these different lighting and colour techniques as they are able to see how natural our artist and video is and clearly identify all the different scenarios and emotions she is going through and relate to each one. This is because we have made our own indie artist and video as natural and down to earth as possible through scenes and emotions that we feel our target audience can really relate to such as the theme of love and relationships and people of our target audiences age would have once or will eventually gone through. Analysing and identifying these techniques has also helped us with planning our own music video and own lighting and colour techniques as we now have a clear picture of what we can use, when we can use it and what needs to be done in order to make it conventional and relatable to our audience.

Planning artist image

Planning artist image

Artist representation is essential within a music video as the audience are focusing on the actions and performance the artist is carrying out and is accounting for how they present there selves as am artist and to their particular genre. There are many factors that influence the artist image that we as the audience can see including the manor in which they present themselves through their on screen actions and movement; the clothes they are wearing e.g. the costume and iconography of the artist; the narrative, concept or performance element of the music video and the micro elements and techniques of the music video that help to define and represent their character and image. Artist representation also enables the audience to build a relationship with the artist as they are able to draw emotions and experiences from the way they are represented and they can see what the artist likes. It is also essential as it makes the artist conventional to the genre as her representation fits with what is expected of the genre. . 

The next costume we will use for our artist image is a green camo jacket and blue denim jean and dungarees. These pieces of clothing will be used throughout our whole narrative and will be used for most of the memories such as when she is wearing a green camo coat during the picnic scene and blue denim during the pub scene wear she is wearing ripped jeans and dungarees. These costumes are conventional to the indie genre as green is used as a natural connotation to the purpose of our love narrative music video and our natural scenes such as being used when over the fields and in a forest showing the world in its natural form with the support of a lot of green in the setting. It is also a connotation of being down the earth as it shows her as being spiritual, stylish and close to nature, which many indie artists aspire to be. With this green camo coat she also wears denim shorts which I also have analysed along with black tights and brown boots. This costume, along with her natural make up look and wavy style of hair identifies her as edgy, with a unique style of someone who has nothing to hide. The denim clothing is also conventional to the indie genre as it shows her as being sad and is a sign of the beginning of the break up in the relationship. This is done by where she wears blue denim when arguing with her boyfriend and the ripped jeans are a connotation of the cracks in their relationship and things are starting to go wrong. This is conventional to the indie genre as they are both common pieces of clothing that are used to signal the start of a bad moment within a lot of indie music videos. This costume also represents the artist as being edgy and thick skinned as the clothing and colour is rough, much like some aspects of her character, and wears it when coping through the break down of her relationship.

The audience are able to relate to the artist through this as they can see that she is tough and idolise her for what she is going through. This costume also represents her as being sad and independent when she is wearing it when looking through her memory box and reminiscing on the good times. The audience see her as aspiring as she is putting on a brave face yet see the contrast in emotions she conveys by being happy at one point then sad with the support from the connotations of the colour blue.

Another costume that my artist will wear is an oversized jumper and jeans, with plaited hair and flower petals in to give it that extra conventional effect. This costume will be worn during the pub scene towards the end of our narrative which is also the scene where our on screen couple break up and another boy, myself, interferes with their relationship. This costume is conventional to the indie genre as indie artist tend to wear a lot of baggy or oversized clothes as it gives them more comfort and the audience can identify these items of clothing as natural, simple and not extravagant or over the top. It also gives the artist her own identity, away from the mainstream and what we would expect major pop artists to wear.

This costume therefore shows that the artist is close to nature and is comfterble around her boyfriend and amongst other boys company as she does not have to go all out with her clothing and look. This whole look and costume also helps to represent our artist in the chosen setting as this costume looks relevant and suitable for what we'd expect her to wear in a pub garden as our setting and artist give a very indie and natural feel for the audience. The audience are also able to relate to this artist as her costume is simple and ordinary, much like her on screen actions therefore they may somewhat see themselves in the artist.

My fourth outfit I have chosen to use with my artist is  during the kitchen scene where she will wear a checkered shirt and ripped jeans. During this scene, the artist and her boyfriend will be in her kitchen making cakes and joking and playing around with each other. the iconography used in this scene to help define the narrative and moment is a shape cutter which they will use when making the cakes. The costume she is wearing in this scene is conventional as a checkered shirt is perceived as stylish and natural amongst indie artists and audiences. the ripped jeans are also conventional as the rips in her jeans are a connotation of the cracks in her relationship and how they may soon break up. This costume is also simplistic and she is wearing it during messy activities so she is comfortable with her boyfriend and the costume adds to the fun, loving side to the scene. This is also supported by the cake mixture and flour all over their clothes. This costume is conventional to the indie genre as a lot of indie artists wear checkered clothing as a iconic symbol of their fashion and it is very popular amongst their target audience. Therefore, the audience are able to relate with the artist as they like their clothing and often wear similar clothing. This costume also represents the artist as being edgy as the style and pattern of the clothing is a connotation of mysteriousness and a sign of darkness. The ripped jeans is also a representation of her being broken inside. Her make up in this scene is also natural and her hair plaited which shows that she is down to earth and natural.

Overall, my target audience can build a relationship with my artist through the images and outfits I have selected as they look at my artist as a role model and for inspiration so will therefore like the outfits she is wearing and even go as far as buying and wearing them there selves when they see my artist wearing it. The outfits are also symbols and connotations of my artists character and representation and they are all conventional indie outfits so therefore express my artist as natural, not to extravagant yet stylish and someone who doesn't care to much about her appearance and is more focused on their music and the concept the song expresses, something very common amongst indie artists. Planning my artists outfits and image has helped me and my group to ensure we have created a successful and conventional artist and her image as it allows us to get feedback from our audience as to whether they like it or not and to take their pointers to ensure we relate to them more and also to make sure the outfits match the visuals of the video, the settings and suit the concept of the song and representation of the lyrics if necessary. 

Cinematography

Cinematography



Cinematography is essential when planning for a music video as camera techniques and shots are a key part in making the video both successful and conventional. There are a number of different camera shots and techniques that i can identify with my indie artist and use in my music video, including the most common and popular ones such as close ups, mid shots and ling shots, to the more advanced and technical camera techniques such as tilt shots, panning shots and tracking shots. Cinematography is also essential when making a music video as it way of portraying different connotations of shots and scenes that can not be seen through the narrative or performance itself. It is another way of representing a concept in the video as camera techniques help to give different meanings in a way that the visuals can't. This is because camera techniques and shots allow the audience to relate with the artist more as certain camera shots are used as a way of adding emphasis and effect on the visuals and the artists emotions and image. They are therefore essential in adding the dramatic and conventional effect on the music video and helping to represent the artists image in a number of ways. Cinematography is also one of the most important micro elements that go into making a music video as camera shots and techniques are seen at every given moment of the video and every other micro element such as editing techniques, the setting and iconography and lighting and colour are all portrayed and seen by the audience through cinematography. This therefore shows the sheer importance of cinematography in music videos as it is what the audience are constantly seeing and judging the representation of the video on. 

Shallow Focus

The first camera technique we are using in our own music video is Shallow focus. This is where the camera focuses on one particular person or object in the shot and blurs out and shallows the focus on everything surrounding it, usually in the background, incorporating a small depth of field. This camera technique will be used in my music video during the first memory scene of our narrative when the artist and her boyfriend are having a bonfire. The camera will be positioned as a mid shot with the couple sitting on a log cuddling positioned at the front of the camera whilst their friends and other couples and the bonfire are positioned behind them in a shallow focus. This will be used in order to draw the focus on to the couple to signify there importance and show how it is the end of the scene and how important they are to the narrative in comparison to the extras in the background. The shallow focus of the bonfire also allows the artist to create a warm, loving environment and feel for the audience watching as they get lost in the moment and are enjoying each others company. Their on screen actions of cuddling is also clearly shown through shallow focus and this helps to support the idea of a warm, loving environment as they are keeping each other safe and everything that is important for the time being is them two being together. This technique is also conventional to the indie genre as it highlights the importance of the artist and the moment of their life and narrative and depending on the concept of the video, in this case 'love', the shallow focus helps to identify this. This is conventional to the indie genre indie artists often portray a different number of emotions and concepts in their music videos. This camera technique also represents the artist as a loving person at this stage of the narrative, who cares about her boyfriend showing that she has a nice and cheerful side to her despite being a mysterious artist who is quite dark at times. The audience are able to relate to this as they see our artist as one of their own who is down to earth and just as loving as them, not as someone who is a mainstream pop artist who is stuck up and doesn't care about her relationships. 

Zoom 

The next camera technique we will use is zoom. Zoom is where the camera begins as an ordinary shot of the visuals on screen before panning inwards towards the relevant object, character or setting. I will use zoom in in my music video when the artist is looking directly at the souvenirs in the memory box through a POV shot before the camera then zooms into the memory. For example, the shot will start with an ordinary mid shot of the artist sitting on the bed before the camera cuts away and zooms into the picture of the couple taking a selfie over the fields playing before it plays the scene of this memory. The zoom in element will be an indication of when the memory is about to play as whatever the camera zooms into is the corresponding and opening shot of the next scene. The zoom camera technique is conventional to the indie genre as it adds more weight and meaning to the iconography that is being zoomed in on. It adds a deeper and more sentimental value to the camera technique and the scene which is being zoomed in on and creates the overall feeling of reflectiveness as the artist is reflecting and looking back on a past memory and a happier time in her life. We would expect this from indie artists as they tend to show a lot od dramatic emotion in their videos with hidden connotations and concepts behind there shots and whatever is being filmed, mine for example being the difference in good and bad in a relationship. The audience can relate to me artist and video through this camera technique as it portrays how important her boyfriend was in her life and represents her as a down to earth and emotional person.


Overall, my target audience can build a relationship with my artist through my camera shots and techniques selected as they help to portray and highlight different aspects of my narrative such as when the artist and her boyfriend are experiencing happier times to the filler memories and scenes of the relationship breaking down due to the boys alcohol problem. My camera techniques also build conventional representations of my artist such as how she is a reflective, thoughtful and emotional person, as well as further developing my concept of good and bad between relationships and how everything in the indie genre isn't always as bright and happy as it seems and there's a darker side to artists and their videos, challenging conventions and revealing a deeper meaning to my audience for them to engage further with the music. Planning my camera techniques and shots has helped me with to ensure that my music video appeals to my target audience as from taking primary research of questionnaires to find out what types of camera shots and techniques they expect and want to find in my video, I make it more conventional and appealing as I am meeting there demands and preferences to ultimately make it more enjoyable and successful



Setting and Iconography

Setting and Iconography

Location and iconography elements are important when planning to create a music video as they are highly important features of mis en scene and are required in order to make the music video look professional, realistic and to make the conventions of the video make sense. When planning a setting for a music video I have to make sure it is relevant to the narrative and concept of the video, as well as having many different genre conventions with it in order to make our video successful and appeal to audiences. They are also important in making the music video because it is a main focus of the video for audiences and what they can constantly see and focus on so it therefore has to match the purpose of the song and on screen visuals and actions. Iconography is also very important when planning a music video as they are the main features and connotations that are seen as genre conventions in the music video. For example, any piece of iconography used in the video will be used or seen for a specific purpose which makes the video conventional and builds up to the narrative of the song making it a key element. I took inspiration from music video narratives and ideas I liked when planning my settings and iconography and then put in place how and when they will be used and for what specific purpose they have and representation they create. 

The first location I have chosen for the planning of my music video is a kitchen. The reason I have chosen to film in a kitchen as a scene for my music video will be to show the couple making cakes in there and it will be one of the artists loving memories with her boyfriend and a key feature of our narrative. It helps to convey the idea of innocence and love on the video and narrative as it shows the couple in a happier time when they were together and creates an emotional feeling on the audience being able to relate to the couples experiences and memories so overall, it creates a dramatic and emotional effect. The actions that will take place in this setting are cake making and the couple simply messing around lovingly and playfully whilst throwing flour on each other to create a happy and playful atmosphere and help portray how its a happier memory. The main limitation we have with filming in the kitchen is that it will be hard to use the services of someone in our groups kitchen when its not in use or whenever someones not busy and also a key limitation in terms of genre conventions, the decor and style of the kitchen. We will therefore have to ensure that the kitchen we use is suitable for what we plan on doing in terms of action and it looks appropriate to our concept and conventional to the indie genre. There are no real health and safety risks with the kitchen setting itself but the actions may be an health and safety risk however as kitchen utensils, ovens etc will be used and have to be used properly for our safety and for the good of the outcome of the video. As well as this, weather will not be a problem for us in terms of filming and whatever the conditions, will not effect the setting. 

Another setting we plan on using for our music video is a garden. We want to film in a garden for a key filler memory for the music video and some performance elements so it is a key setting and feature for us and as well as this, it creates a natural and pure representation of the video and an innocent representation of the artist and song in terms of when it will be seen and the actions our artist will take place in when in the garden. The actions that will take place in the garden scene are creating a bonfire and fort. We want to do this as the bonfire will be used for the artist to throw photographs and bottles on to and it creates a warm and loving yet dark feeling for the audience as they see her in two different minds. The limitations we have when creating the bonfire and filming in the garden are that it will be hard to make a good and well lit bonfire and film around it. It will also be a limitation to film certain shots around it as it could be deemed as dangerous or unsafe and we have to film close ups of the fire and other aspects of the video with this setting. Weather could also effect us when filming with this setting and bonfire as we can't film if it is raining or damp as we won't be able to complete the actions we want too and we can't do it to close to winter time or if its to cold as it wont create the warm, loving atmosphere we aim to create and this will cause for a different impact and effect on our audience. 

The main piece of iconography we plan to use for our music video is a memory box. This memory box will be used throughout the music video and will be a key feature in terms of creating the impact on our audience for our narrative, concept of the video and at time when the artist is preforming the song with the memory box in hand or with an item from inside it. We chose to use a memory box as I am aim to name the title of the album 'memory lane' so it has a similar correlation and it fits well with the narrative of the video as she is picking memories she has with her boyfriend out of the box, e.g. a shape cutter for when she is making cakes with her boyfriend in the kitchen scene or the picture memory for when they were once happy but she later throws it into the bonfire, so every memory seen pulled out of the box then shows a scene which involves it. It will be seen at the start of the video with the artist alone in her room and at the end when the song and narrative takes a darker turn therefore helping to create a loving atmosphere and feel for the audience and artist, as well as a dark and horrible one. 

Another feature of iconography we will use in the music video is a picnic basket and blanket. This will be used when the couple are over the fields with each other, walking the dog and having picnic. The scene it will feature in will come at the beginning of the video when it shows the couple in a happier and more loving memory therefore helping to create a natural and innocent feeling and the audience will be able to relate with this iconography and scene as the narrative is during happier and mire relevant times. The picnic basket is also a conventional piece of iconography to the indie genre as it is rather basic and ordinary but however portrays a deeper meaning and has a number of connotations behind it that we often relate with indie artists and there videos. The picnic basket will also be used in a filler memory shot to highlight its importance in the music video and to show that despite how simple it is, how much it and the memory meant to the couple. 



In conclusion, pre planning our settings and iconography has helped us for when we create our music video as we are now aware of what we need to to get ready and prepared to film our scenes, how everything will be used and when it will and also how we can prevent any complications. It has made me more aware for when we are filming, how we can stick to our plan of settings and iconography but still make it conventional to the indie genre and look realistic and helped me to make any changes when filming if necessary. 

Digipak analysis

Digipak Analysis

Gabrielle Aplin- English Rain

Digipak's are deluxe and bigger versions of an artists CD that cost more and give more content for consumers and audiences. It is a special style of packaging that is used for single CD's or albums and they typically consist of a gate fold (a book style), paperboard or card stock outer binding with or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside generic. It is different to a generic, jewel CD case as CD cases are three piece plastic cases with the artists liner notes and a simple back card. They are constructed into 4 sides where the information about the CD and songs is on either the front of the back, whereas with Digipak's, the information is displayed on lots of different sides as is a lot more detailed and useful for the artist. Jewel CD cases have been used ever since 1982 and are what we think off and expect to see when buying a CD. However Digipak style cases were introduced and became very popular in the early 2000's amongst record labels and recording artists. This is because Digipak's allows the artist more opportunities to show off their artwork, information such as lyrics and their promotions. This way the artist has more chance of appealing to potential buyers as they see the digipak's as collectable items, in comparison to the classic jewel CD's which are seen as very basic and contain less information. However, Jewel CD's will often contain lyrics of the artists so that the buyers know what they are getting and have an insight to the type off songs and content they will listen to and relate to the artist more. The artist also benefits the artist as the digipak will often have content that relates the the artists character and what they represent, as well as their predominate genre. It will likely embody a message or theme that the artist is trying to show and what they represent, increasing their image for audiences allowing them to increase their popularity. The digipak also exemplifies the artistic and creative approach is artist is taking and showing throughout his music. All aspects of the digipak, brand image and music video all interwoven together so that they all share a similar theme and share the same objectives as to how they make the audience feel and how they want to perceive themselves. They also benefit the artist as their music as digipak's are promotional aspects of the music industry that help to bring awareness to the artist by selling the artists representations and encouraging consumers to buy and listen to all their music. By buying a digipak, consumers and audiences are almost pledging their loyalty to that artist as they are paying more for more content in order to get as much as they can from that artist. 

I have chosen to analyse the digipak for Gabrielle Aplin's album, 'English Rain' as Gabrielle Aplin is my chosen artist for when creating my own music video. The song we have chosen to use as inspiration and a template for our video is Gabrielle Aplins 'Panic cord' which is included in this digipak as one of her most popular songs. The song panic cord is heavily promoted on this digipak as well, giving us a greater insight into the conventions of the song and digipak and some representations we could include in our own video. This digipak from Gabrielle Aplin is her debut digipak from her debut album and is currently her only digipak available. It contains a cardboard, narrative style, cover which expands to over 3 sides which are all made up to contain the same image and promotional information about Aplin. It also includes a deluxe edition of her CD with bonus tracks, information and hardback, cardboard style CD cover to give more back to the Aplins fans and consumers of the album. 

I feel the front of this digipak gives the best representation of artist and her music in comparison to all of the other sides of the digipak and the artwork on the CD. It includes details on her new and latest work therefore it gives a representation on her as an artist now and her current music meaning none of the analysis or conventions of the advert our outdated or on her previous character and music. The lighting used on this digipak cover is dull and somewhat low key with a black and white effect. This could connote that the background doesn't particularly matter to her and that she wants to be the centre of attention and wants the audience to focus more on her actions and the representation of her character. The black and white filter on it is used to match the dim, isolated background to create a mysterious and conventional feel and setting towards the poster and as a representation of some of her music as it is quite depressing and meaningful. This also helps when linking in with the her choice and genre in music as her indie, acoustic style is seen as quite subtle and not out there, giving an insight to her as an artist and possibly what to expect from album she is advertising. Gabrielle's positioning in the album cover gives us a representation of her character. We see a long shot of Aplin which is unusual as we cant see her face. This subverts the stereotypes of indie artists that we can always see their emotions and close ups of music artists however it shows Aplin is independent and unique. You can also apply the male gaze as she is showing some of her body. She is not using direct gaze which also subverts her genre stereotypes. This also connotes that she is secretive and has a sense of mystery about her. The location and setting of the poster is also a very secluded and lonely environment, much like herself in the poster. It looks very vintage and old fashioned which is a connotation of acoustic music and the indie genre. The iconography in the poster such as the colourful umbrella signifies whatever she touches gets better and brightens up. It also symbolises she's a fun, loving character and has many different characteristics. This allows the audience to relate to Aplin and find her conventional as she can get across to a variety of people and show true emotion in whatever she makes or does. The font and typography in the tour poster looks sophisticated and the English rain title appears to be in a handwritten font which is common in the indie genre. The name of the album is also the name of her main selling tour and  a song in her album therefore it doesn't draw attention to itself with a quirky and irrelevant title that a lot of pop artists whose titles have nothing to do with their songs. It is also a good promotional way of getting their song ore album names across to their target and the mainstream audience. There are connotations of the advert that the artist is promoting her album as well lots of different tour dates and information displayed across the bottom of the poster. This advert promotes her by showing her as bright and colourful compared to the rest of the world, which could be implied as other artists showing that she is influential and her music stands out compared to the mainstream genres such as pop because she stands out in the picture of her on the advert. These connotations would make the audience relate to the artist as they will see her as an idol because she is different from others so the audience will want to listen and follow her songs and what she says. The back of the actual album in the digipak is very similar to 

the front cover of the album with the main signified difference being there is more information about the album displayed on the back. This includes, songs, producers and developers company names, a barcode for retail and marketing purposes and codes and conducts about the album displayed at the bottom of the screen. The purpose of this is to show that it is a well developed and genuine album that fans can take pride in purchasing and hopefully enjoy the music and Gabrielle Aplins style. The font of the song names in the middle of the cover is the most important information displayed on screen as it is the element of the back cover that draws the most conventions, relates to the audience the most and tells consumers and her target audience what songs are included in the digipak and the sort of music that it includes. From the text, we see that digipak's over bonus features and songs as they offer more quality and content for loyal fans who have payed more and the font helps to give a representation of her Aplin's character and the style of music. The font of the song titles appears to be handwritten and this is a popular convention amongst a lot of indie artists. This is because it gives it that old-fashioned, genuine feel about the album that we often associate with a lot of indie artists music and voice. It shows it as simplistic and it suits the background and setting of the image as the colours are miserable and give off a sense of horror, even though its the exact opposite and it looks like a really old photograph creating a sense of mystery and curiosity amongst the audience and digipak consumers. 

The CD included in this digipak comes as a bonus feature for this digipak, with the ordinary CD in the album having no or little artwork. This CD was given to fans who purchased the digipak as extra content and aside from its conventional representation of the album name artwork for the album, it includes a number of different bonus tracks for audiences to listen to. These are displayed along the bottom of the CD and give fans a small introduction into the sort of content they can expect and as a reward and thank you for from Aplin to her most loyal fans. Some of these songs included acoustic versions of some of her biggest hits including, home, please don't say you love me and most importantly, the name of the album 'english rain'. The CD was created as a homage and solid representation of the title 'english rain' through her CD artwork and the content it provides. The most visible and conventional feature of this CD cover is the colourful umbrella displayed around the title 'Gabrielle Aplin- English rain' as each colour gives a representation and indication into her character. At the top of the CD we see the colours, white, purple and pink all behind the writing as these colours are not very powerful or bright and the audience are able to clearly focus on the text so it stands out to them and they can remember the name. These colours are also connotations of innocence and purity and these pastel colours help to express the femininity and playfulness of the album and in particular, Aplins character and representation as an artist. The umbrella as a whole and its colour is meant as a connotation as to how happy her music can make her feel, no matter the situation in their life (explaining why there a number of different colours to identify different meanings and situations). The umbrella is also a clear iconic and global symbol of 'rain', hence the title 'English Rain' and why the umbrella is used. The typography of the album shows Gabrielle Aplin's name shown in bold stand out font, whilst the album name 'english rain' appears to be handwritten. This is because in the artist and producers eyes, getting the artists name across is the most important thing about digipak as indie artists and many mainstream music artists as a whole care a lot about getting their name and image across whilst promoting their music to show that stubbornness and star quality in their character. The handwritten font of the 'english rain' is a conventional element of the indie genre as it shows the purity and simple touches to the digipak that portray Gabrielle Aplin for who she really is. It shows that she is a down to earth and innocent artist and the font is an example of this as it defines both herself and the music. The audience are also able to relate to this as it doesn't look spectacular or that it was thought about much and is just seen to them as a nice, small touch to show Aplin's character. This digipak helps to promote the indie music genre as it shows many different codes and conventions in its illustrations that we as an audience relate back to Gabrielle Aplin's music. Each cover and aspect of the digipak shows has the same style of background and setting and displays a expanded image across all three sides to give the whole digipak that same indie, conventional feel. This image has a black and white filter on the whole digipak with Aplin positioned in the centre of the camera as mentioned earlier in the post. The black and white filter each side is relatable to the indie genre as it gives it a depressing and mysterious feel for the audience that we often associate in indie music videos. One of the most popular filters or colour tones expressed in indie music videos is either black and white or a brown grayscale as it is a way of helping to add emphasis on a down, depressive moment or to add effect on the artists emotions. This is also used throughout the digipak for the same effect and for the people buying the digipak to focus on the shot of Gabrielle Aplin. This is also a way of allowing the record label to promote the artist through the digipak by having a number of different shots of Aplin across different elements. These shots show Aplin dead centre in the middle of the shot as mentioned before, holding either colourful umbrellas or balloons to show different sides to her music and character. This shows her as pure and innocent, as well using the colour of the balloons to define her creativity and energetic side in her music and character when away from the spotlight. This digipak is also used to attract an audience by giving fans extra content and expressing a more creative aspect within the pack and her music. 

In conclusion, I will use the research i have taken and include it in to my planning by implying the colour schemes, elements of mis en scene, cinematography and all the other micro elements identified in my Gabrielle Aplin digipak  in to my own ideas and images. For example, I have researched the black and white grayscale background and song lyrics typogoprgy and font surrounded in and know now that is is conventional to the indie genre as it helps to add emphasis on a down, depressive moment or image to add effect on the artists emotions. I will therefore use this in my own back picture and back of the CD album in my digipak but with a picture of my own artist and the fonts i have chosen and feel as suitable to represent my artist and conventions of my digipak and the indie genre. I will also use my research to inform my planning by identifying the knowledge i have of digipaks and the difference between them and a normal CD and following the same structure as the digipak and what i can add to it to make it look professional and suited to my own artist. 

Music video inspirations

Music video inspirations

In order to plan and makes our own music video, I have taken different inspirations and ideas from other music videos from a variety of different genres in order to find out what suits my initial ideas best and where we could use it. These inspirations are taken from the different micro elements of the video, the music video style e.g. whether it will be performance, narrative and concept based, the music video genre, theory and our choice of song. Each of these elements all have different codes and conventions that are essential in making the video successful and are what makes these popular, mainstream artists who they are today, something we will aspire to recreate and copy as part of making our music video as popular and conventional as we can. 

The first music video I have chosen to take inspiration and ideas from is Justin Bieber's 'sorry' lyric video. This song is the lyric and narrative style music video which differs from the original dance and performance style video for the song that is the originally produced video for the song. Where the dance music video is more conventional in terms of matching the visuals on screen and the tempo and genre of the song, this lyric video both converts and subverts the indie genre with its concept and narrative based video that can be suited towards a pop or indie song, not just for a dance track like Sorry. This song helped to provide me with inspiration to create my own music video as although it belongs to a very different genre to indie rock in 'dance', it contains many different ideas, scenes and elements of production that help to represent the artist as having star quality with his creativity and talent yet controversial side towards him, and through the use of mis en scene. One inspiration i have taken from this music video is where the girl in the narrative is on the computer and looking at her notepad with the lyrics appearing on the iconography of the video as they are sung in the song by Justin Bieber. The lyrics are a plot by Justin Bieber to attempt to win the girl back and they girl is constantly seeing the lyrics as an apology, hence the name of the song 'Sorry', and it shows a effective form of the use of iconography through the use of mise en scene as setting and iconography is used to help define the concept of the video. This is conventional as it shows how the song and video is well produced it follows many codes and conventions of a strong narrative based video, despite being subversive to a typical upbeat and lively dance video that contains performance based elements. This however helps to represent the artist as it shows although he is a dance and pop artist, he is able to create a different style video which shows him as having a softer and more personal side to him and how his star quality helps him to become more versatile and successful in creating hit after hit. The audience are able to relate to him through this as it shows him as more down to earth and natural as he can create a good and simple video and not just highly produced and financed videos. I will incorporate this inspiration into my own music video through my performance based shots as these will be used to match the visuals of my music video with the lyrics.I will use a variety of different performance based shots that I will then edit to match the lyrics of the song and will make sure the conventions of the shot I filmed match the tempo and concept of the song and lyrics. For example, I will use a performance shot of the girl screaming and looking angry and frustrated whilst looking at the camera in the form of a mid shot for the high tempo parts off the song and a close up one of her looking calm and happy for the slow tempo happy parts of the song. My audience will be able to relate to this and engage further with my artist as they can clearly see the emotions she is feeling. 

One video I have chosen to take as inspiration for creating my own music video is Ed Sheeran's 'Give me Love'. This song helped to provide me with inspiration to create my own music video as it is an already existing, extremely popular indie music video with a variety of codes and conventions that relate to my chosen target audience and that help to portray Ed Sheeran as an artist, someone who's work is very similar to Gabrielle Aplins. Ed Sheerans video contains many elements of theories such as goodwins theory, codes and conventions off the indie genre and conventional camera and editing techniques throughout. There are many conventional micro elements in this song with one key micro element I have identified and taken inspiration from is the mis- en scene of the song. This applies to the different settings the video for 'Give me Love' is filmed at and the costume and iconography the girl in the video wears and uses for the narrative and concept of the video. Indie music videos are known the be quite low budget and the main settings of the video are in the studios, cities, parks and tunnels. These and places that can accessed easily can they can create lots of mysteries. These settings are kept simple because it is typical of the indie rock genre and their music videos in order to focus more on the concept or narrative of the video or the artist performing, in this case the concept of love. All of the video for Give me Love is also shot during the night time in order to bring out the best of the setting by having the city lights of London pictured in the background and in order to add a mysterious feeling for the audience, an inspiration i will again take into my own video. It is also filmed in many dark alleys or tunnels around London and quiet places to both support the narrative by adding emphasis to it and  to add a creepy, mysterious feel for the audience in the right ways in order too keep them engaged. We also see shots of the girl sitting in her dark lit, small apartment room lying on a single mattress with tools and arrows lying around to to add to the narrative of her being an possessed angel obsessed with love. We will use these micro elements of mise en scene and setting for inspiration into our own video as we are focusing on the theme of love and these settings are a perfect example of helping to portray that and our storyline, with scenes of our girl and boy reminiscing past experiences of love and trips to London being key for this setting. The plain and simple brick wall laying and fairy light setting of the room and two ideas we also liked and have taken inspiration from and will use to show as the girl in our videos room. 


Another inspiration I will take into my own music video is from pop video 'story of my life' by One Direction. For this video, I will use take the inspiration from the idea where the band members are looking at memories from their childhood or past experiences, both good and bad, and printing them out in water and pinning them up on the wall whilst looking at them deep in thought and signing. This inspiration shows a number of different conventions with them showing a narrative, performance and concept based video at the same time and in the same shot and the use of the photos playing a big part of mis en scene with iconography and setting being in place. The three elements of the video show there creativity and star quality of how they are able to do three things at the same time and still create an emotional and deep effect on the video for both their characters and the audience, something that makes it very successful. The photographs are also symbols of their life's showing that they are down to earth and natural and not afraid to open up about their personal life and experiences. The audience are able to relate to this and see them as more thoughtful and emotional individuals who want to engage with their fans and music. This is something I can create in my own music video with the similar narrative of the memories in the memory box which she pulls out and sings with and it will create the same emotional effect as in story of my life. My video also has a similar concept of love and past experiences which the artists have learnt from giving me inspiration for the structure and style of my own music video.

One other inspiration I will take from existing music videos is from the rap song 'Take care' by Drake and Rhianna. The inspiration I will take from this video is the editing styles of slow cut and motion style transitions (slow motion editng style). This takes place in the start of the video where slow motion editing is used to show the transition of shots and to add extra dramatic element and effect when showing a new part of the song and its setting. Slow motion editing is used as although it is a rap song, it is a low tempo and depressing song that's tone and lyrics give it a more dramatic and deep and meaningful feel for the audience rather then a conventional upbeat song and video that we would expect from artists such as Drake and Rhianna and the rap genre and the slow motion editing helps to support this. It gives it a dramatic and mysterious feel towards the video and visuals on screen for the audience and the audience are able to relate to it as they feel engaged with the video and are able to focus on the lyrics and setting of the video. I will make use of this in my own music video when we see the artist on a date or memory with her boyfriend so the audience can capture the moment and see the emotion in the shot and dramatic effect we aspire to create.

These inspirations I have taken from already existing and professional music videos will help to make my music video a more successful product as it means I will have taken inspiration and examples from conventions of different genres and developed or challenged them in my own way to make my video more conventional. This makes my video more successful as the conventions I have taken have already been proven and effective in the music industry and will be used to portray my concept of the video and my narrative. For example, I took inspiration of conventions that have been identified in micro elements so a close up would be an convention of the indie genre as it is used to identify and show the artists emotions. This will also make my video more successful as the audience will be able to identify with my video more and be more engaged with it as they familiar with the conventions and the video has been produced to and edited to a professional and successful standard. 




You need to:
1) Explain how you will incorporate each inspiration into your music video, with an analysis of what this creates for the audience and how it is conventional or not of the indie genre
2) Include an example of camera 
3) Include an example of artist rep
4) Include screen shots to support points made