Digipak in Photoshop

Photoshop used for creating end product:

For the digipak, I painted a wolf using watercolours and scanned it into the computer. After that I manipulated the image using photo editing software. 

Digipak Template

This is the digipak template I am going to use. I will edit this using Photoshop.

'Cry Baby' Music Video Analysis

'Cry Baby' Music Video Anlaysis

Screenshots of the beginning
of video to establish story.

Picture of Melanie as Cry Baby.

Melanie Martinez is the singer, lyricist and director of the 'Cry Baby' music video. She portrays the main character: Cry Baby (keeping within the idea of a 'star image' in music videos). The colour scheme of the video uses pastel tones to convey the childish visuals of the video. Furthermore, keeping a consistent theme across Melanie's videos, a narrative arch is prominent throughout the video. Much like the 'Soap/Training Wheels' double feature, an initial story which does not have the song playing in the background is played to create a story. In the 'Cry Baby' video, this establishes the birth of the character Cry Baby and foreshadows her dysfunctional upbringing.  

Scene where Cry Baby is attacked by her toys.
It is possible that the toys could represent the
people who have bullied her and made her cry.

Scenes such as when Cry Baby spells 'FUCK' with the alphabet blocks or when she holds a real brain/heart to coincide with the lyrics: 'You seem to replace your brain with your heart' add a maturere/disturbing feel to the music video to contrast with the baby aesthetics (showing consistency in Melanie's ceative star image). The


The following video in the story arch is Dollhouse which is why Cry Baby's tears flood the metaphorical dollhouse in the final scene.



By using a realistic brain and a realistic heart adds an element of gore
to the music video.

'FUCK' written with alphabet blocks.

Cry Baby's tears flood her house.

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes (BTS)

'Behind The Scenes' refers to the creative process that goes into creating form of media which is out of the sight of the public. 'Behind The Scenes Videos' are a fairly recent idea which song artists are beginning to adopt. By doing this, they are able to promote their music video which reinforces the hype associated with the release of the video for their fan-base. Furthermore, it allows for an 'inside' look into the creative process to inspire fans and keep up the idea of retaining a 'star image'. There is usually a director who co-ordinates what the song artist should so (just like filming a movie). In some cases (especially when the star image of an artist is to be artistic/creative/personal), then they may direct the video themselves. 

BTS of The 'Cry Baby' Music Video by Melanie Martinez:

(Note: Melanie Martinez also directed this music video)

Props & Costumes

Props & Costumes

For the assassin (portrayed by me) we purchased a wooden bow & arrow from Amazon. Because our video idea is going have dystopian influence for the visuals (fantasy as a more sub-genre), our props are not going to in a large quantity. Our costumes are also going to be clothes that are already in a wardrobe.

Music Labels

Music Label or Record Label

A record label is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Often, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos; conducts talent scouting and development of new artists ("artists and repertoire" or "A&R"); and maintains contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the centred of a vinyl records which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information.

Examples of music labels: Atlantic Records, Young Money, Def Jam, Columbia Record are just a few mainstream record labels who have signed popular mainstream song artists such s Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, Rhianna.

Star Image in Music Videos

Star Image in Music Videos

Richard Dyer: Star Theory:
"Pop performer" and "pop star" are not the same. 
Pop stars have an identity or persona which is not solely to their musicianship. A true pop star has "brand awareness" amongst a wider market over a period time.

Star's image:
A star's image becomes a readily recognised sign that is used in many different media forms. Stars can use the fact that their image has meaning by allowing it to be used for advertising purposes. A pop star is a manufactured image and does not correlate to person's personality behind the image.   

Star's influence onto target audience:
Stars are made to appeal to a specific target audience to generate revenue for record companies. Record companies tend to nurture and shape their stars into an image which they deem to be desired by their demo-graph (hence the almost carbon copied image aligned with boy bands).

Culture:
Stars represent a shared culture due to the globalisation of media. When audiences display interest in a star's values/opinions then this further enhances their "star quality".

Character:
A star often begins as what the media portrays as a "real" human which may result in the transformation process turning them into a construct. Sometimes caricatures/personas are created to make the star stand out from competitors (example: Nicki Minaj had several alter egos to breach the mainstream pop audience before reverting back to her hip hop roots which has inevitably made her the most successful female rapper in history).  

Phildel's Digipaks

Analyses of Phildel's existing Digipaks:

Since our chosen artist is Phildel, I thought it'd be best to investigate the codes and conventions of a typical Phildel album cover.

Considering there are only 4 collections, the conventions are relatively clear. 

With the anomalous 'Qi' not featuring Phildel, herself and diverging from the typical plain colours of the background in favour of a more ancient look, gives us breathing room creatively.

The typical logo for Phildel is simply her name in thin lettering spaced out or squashed depending on the placement of the central image of the album design.

Noting that we have to use only original material and focusing on the song 'The Wolf' we are currently set on basing the cover of our digipak on said animal. My personal view is that we use 'Qi' as a style model for our work: minimalistic in design yet remaining true to the dream-pop form of being somewhat ethereal. 

A clear nature theme is throughout all of the albums with each containing some form of either bird or tree homage. This could benefit us as we may integrate this into our wolf themes cover perhaps featuring a forest environment while remaining as minimalistic as possible. Furthermore, with the exception of 'The Glass Ghost', the tones of the covers have been all relatively earthy, boasting shades of brown to compliment the naturalistic theme.

Digipak Conventions

Digipak Research

What is on the front cover of album?:

Artwork that is synonymous with the artist. This may include:
- Photo of song artist.
- Colours that have been socially "trademarked" by the song artist (For example - Nicki Minaj's albums follow a cohesive theme of pink - The Pinkprint, Pink Friday, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded).
- Artwork that symbolises the theme of the album.
- Parental Advisory logo if lyrical content may be considered "inappropriate" for children.
- Title of album

What is inside inside a digipak?:

The main content in a digipak is the CD. It can also include:
- Song lyrics.
- Artwork that was conceptual designs for the front cover.
- CD is often patterned or decorated with a theme similar to front cover.

What is on the back cover of album?:

Track listings are the most obvious convention of a back cover. Others include:
- Track listing
- Bar-code.
- Record label

Soap/Training Wheels Collaboration (Melanie Martinez)

Video Analysis of "Soap/Training Wheels Collaboration" (Melanie Martinez)

The visuals of the music video illustrates a cohesive narrative that is connected to the album.

Soap:

"Soap" starts out by showing Melanie (in this case portraying Cry Baby) sitting in a bath tub talking on the phone. She invites a boy called Jonny to come round to her house. To which, he agrees.

There is an extreme close up to establish the scene of Cry Baby's hand submerged in water. Whilst talking on the phone, shots cut to yet another extreme close up of Cry Baby's face to conceal the top half of her face. A lullaby-esque tune is being played alongside the sound of dripping water. The conventions of this suggest a darker/creepy undertone to the feel of the music video which foreshadows the theme of the rest of the video. The use of key lighting further reinforces the creepy theme of the video in a shabby 1960's themed corridor. 

Melanie's hair is coloured with one side being pink whilst the other side is black. The theme of the Cry Baby album uses childish subjects to convey darker/mature matters. Because of this, her choice of hair colour illustrates the conventional use of pink (which symbolises innocence) and black (which is commonly associated with darkness and evil) to convey the meaning behind the album. Furthermore, her outfit is made up of a bib and pink shorts (to symbolise a nappy)  which is universally known as being associated with babies. As a result, manipulating the idea that this song is illustrating that Cry Baby is meant to be a young character. 

As the music video progresses, more supernatural occurrences become prominent. For example, the tap mysteriously turns on to fill the bath, candles begin flickering and curtains begin moving. An old fashioned TV turns on - revealing snippets of Melanie's previous visuals of "Soap" which was originally released several months before this one. 

Cry Baby (Melanie Martinez) aesthetic in Soap. The vintage visuals of her
costume & floral background to show a cohesive theme of
old-fashioned/modern hybrid throughout her videos. This helps to make her
story telling through her album/music video to appear more
professional and remain her style.

Training Wheels:

Follows the relationship stage between Cry Baby & Johnny which was established in "Soap". The overall visuals of "Training Wheels" follow conventional romance themes such as holding hands, flowers, two-shot camera angles, bright lighting and playful body language. "Training Wheels" symbolises the bike's training wheels as a metaphor for a relationship. To communicate this in the video, two separate scenes transition between one another: Cry Baby teaching Johnny to ride a bike without the need for training wheels and a literal visual of Cry Baby and Johnny doing couples/relationship activities. 

The visuals for this music video is a marginally less dark/creepy than "Soap"; to keep the close link between the two songs apparent, things such as the large eyes to represent falling in love are kept in both songs. Interestingly, "Soap" depicts Cry Baby as creepily appearing then disappearing in the bath tub before sharing a kiss with Johnny (which then leads to the giant "love" eyes). However, in "Training Wheels" it is Johnny who disappears as he is riding towards Cry Baby after learning to ride the bike which results in Cry Baby "love" eyes returning back to normal as he has abandoned her. "Soap" follows a creepy visual to illustrate the idea of the fear of saying something you probably shouldn't have (in Cry Baby's case, telling Johnny that her mum killed her dad and that she loves him). On the other hand, "Training Wheels" (being the only romance/love song on the album) conveys the the idea of love can result in sadness. As a result, both videos are able to keep within the theme of the album to show child-like subjects with mature meanings.  

Cry Baby (Melanie Martinez) costume for "Training Wheels".
Pink flower crown symbolises the romance theme of the song.

Songs Are Often Used For TV Shows & Movie Trailers

Often, existing songs are used for upcoming television shows or movies as they suit the theme of the story arch. Here is an example of Melanie Martinez's "Carousel" being used for the hit TV show "American Horror Story: Freakshow" trailer:

Original Melanie Martinez "Carousel"music video:

 

American Horror Story: Freakshow trailer:

This is a good example of how to recreate an existing music video whilst retaing creativity & the cohesive themes of a song artist's style.

Existing A2 Media Studies Music Video

A Different A2 Media Studies Student's Music Video

This idea essentially follows the same premise. A chase of some sort across a field or through a forest or some people having fun around town and getting into trouble.

The video will be light-hearted. Colourful and fun. This will not have a serious undertone.

Another idea I have been considering is people playing around and throwing water balloons then one accidentally miss fires and hits someone. This then leads to the person being angry and chasing the people with the balloons. The entire video will show the chase in a humorous way inspired by this video:




We could also be inspired by this video and show a robbery and a policeman attempting to get it back. Following this, I believe the idea of two people angering another and leading to a chase would be a great idea for the video and be entertaining to create.

Fantasy Story Board

Storyboard to give a brief overview of expected result of music video. We decided to use a natural setting such as the sky & a forest to establish the fantasy scene. The narrative of the video to visualise an assassin stalking his target with a bow and arrow. By doing this we are able to establish key conventions of assassins and are able to make a link to the lyrics of "The Wolf" by creating a predator/prey feel to it. Furthermore, this idea is within our budget and could be successfully executed to not appear tacky whilst staying stay true to conventions that align with the fantasy genre. the final scene we are planning to show the a close up of an arrow being knocked back and for the music video to end on the final beat of the song - therefore making the audience wonder whether or not the assassin killed the mysterious figure.

Tag, You're It Lyrics

"Tag, You're It"

Looking at me through your window
Boy, you had your eye out for a little
"I'll cut you up and make you dinner
You've reached the end, you are the winner"

Rolling down your tinted window
Driving next to me real slow, he said
"Let me take you for a joyride
I've got some candy for you inside"

Running through the parking lot
He chased me and he wouldn't stop
Tag, you're it, tag, tag, you're it
Grabbed my hand, pushed me down
Took the words right out my mouth
Tag, you're it, tag, tag, you're it
Can anybody hear me when I'm hidden under ground?
Can anybody hear me? Am I talking to myself?
Saying, "tag, you're it, tag, tag, you're it"
He's saying, "tag, you're it, tag, tag, you're it"

Little bit of poison in me
I can taste your skin in my teeth
"I love it when I hear you breathing
I hope to God you're never leaving"

Running through the parking lot
He chased me and he wouldn't stop
Tag, you're it, tag, tag, you're it
Grabbed my hand, pushed me down
Took the words right out my mouth
Tag, you're it, tag, tag, you're it
Can anybody hear me when I'm hidden under ground?
Can anybody hear me? Am I talking to myself?
Saying, "tag, you're it, tag, tag, you're it"
He's saying, "tag, you're it, tag, tag, you're it"

Eenie meenie miny mo
Get your lady by her toes
If she squeals, don't let her go
Eenie meenie miny mo
Your mother said to pick the very best girl
And I am

Running through the parking lot
He chased me and he wouldn't stop
Tag, you're it, tag, tag, you're it
Grabbed my hand, pushed me down
Took the words right out my mouth
Tag, you're it, tag, tag, you're it
Running through the parking lot
He chased me and he wouldn't stop
Tag, you're it, tag, you're it
Grab my hand, push me down
Take the words right out my mouth
Tag, you're it, tag, tag, you're it

Gods And Monsters - Lana Del Ray

Lana Del Rey's 'God's and Monsters' used for 'American Horror Story: Freakshow'.

Props/Costume

Costume & Props [SCRAPED IDEA]

Melanie Martinez - Tag, You're It (Possible Idea)

Melanie Martinez - Tag, You're It (Possible Idea) 

Extract from the Cry Baby book that comes with the album.

Tag, You're It is about Cry Baby being kidnapped by a strange man and sexually assaulted.

Lines like "Let me take you for a joyride//I've got some candy for you inside" are sung from the perspective of her attacker or "the wolf". The distortion of her voice lends a sense of sinister intentions as that is a stereotypical convention of a deep/distorted voice - it also links to the idea "the wolf" being male as a male's voice is usually deeper than a female's. "Candy" and "joyride" are typical attributes associated with paedophiles (since Cry Baby is still a adolescent at this moment in time of the story).  

Throughout the chorus, "Tag" is used a metaphor for sexual assault. The repetition of "Tag, you're it, tag, tag, you're it" shows that this traumatic event has taken a toll on Cry Baby - forcing her to replay the scenario over and over again in her mind. "Running through the parking lot, he chased me and her wouldn't stop//Tag, you're it, tag, tag, you're it"  

The following song is called "Milk and Cookies" where Cry Baby poisons her attacker with melatonin filled cookies. Due to the meaning behind this song being maybe the deepest/darkest track on the album, it would allow us to explore mature themes. However, in the Cry Baby story book; the man is represented as a wolf who is an ice cream man - playing on the child-like dark concept of the album. Because of this, we could approach the song as being hunted in the woods by someone.

Melanie Martinez Dollhouse

Dollhouse video - Possible song to choose?


 

Our Initial Group Idea

The Wolf/fantasy themed story arc

Characters:

• Keenan (Warlock)
• Kieran (Rogue)
• Harry (Warrior)

Location: 

• Broken castle
• Large fields.

Song: The Wolf

1st Scene	Fade into knight with sword almost impaled into the ground, slow Mo of knight standing up and standing with sword getting ready to fight.
2nd Scene	Switch to knight over shoulder shot to show an approaching person, thief looking person that is wielding a sword also.
3rd Scene	Slow Mo walk around anticipating battle. Shots on both of the people and their points of views.
4th Scene	Knight swings his sword at the rogue but the rogue dodges and the way. This then leads into a flashback to give the story some back-story.
CHORUS	This will continue the fight scene with slow motion being the main feature in this fight to fit the theme and pace of it.
5th Scene	The general idea at this point onwards is to introduce backstory and not have the entire video a fight scene but only leave that at the chorus.

The general plan is to add a side story involving another character maybe a seller or a merchant. The idea would be the warrior character would start making a friendship with this character from selling him new things and the warrior going out and using these maybe tools to do things etc.

This will then lead on to the thief holding up the shop to steal money or killing the shop keeper.

 

Dark Wave Genre

Dark Wave Genre

Dark wave or darkwave is a music genre that began in the late 1970s, coinciding with the popularity of new wave and post-punk. Building on those basic principles, dark wave added dark, introspective lyrics and an undertone of sorrow for some bands. Recently dark wave has become blended with the pop genre which has caused it to rise in popularity. Song artists who are considered dark wave/pop artists include Melanie Martinez & Lana Del Rey.

1.