PHOTOSHOP SESSION 4

PHOTO SHOP PROGRESS from msharrattmedia

PHOTOSHOP SESSION 3 / A NEW IDEA

Digipack final outcome powerpoint re editing from msharrattmedia

PHOTOSHOP SESSION 2 / AN IDEA THAT DIDN'T GO TO PLAN

Second session/An idea that didn't go to plan... from msharrattmedia

POSTER SKETCHING

TRACK LISTING IDEAS

To complete my back cover, I had to construct a track list for the back cover of my digipak. I decided that I wanted to use track names that would reflect the star image of my artist, and the genre of the artist. I researched into existing track listings from band such as the doors, joy division, and David bowie.
I wanted to relate to the strange element of the album, by doing so I want to include the word strange in more than one of my tracks.


TRACK LISTING

1. SANITY OF A DIFFERENT KIND
2. PEOPLE ARE STRANGE
3. ORCHESTRAL HEMO GLOBIN IN MY DREAMS 
4. HOUR OF THE MAD MAN 
5. A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
6. GUILTY ACQUAINTANCE
7. SILENT PRISON 
8. THE OTHER SIDE OF WISDOM
9. JUST ANOTHER PSYCHO
10. HAPPY TENDERNESS WITH OBSTREPEROUS CRUSTEANS
11. PARTIAL ANOMALY 
12. UNWAVERING HALLUCINATIONS
13. STRANGE DAYS 

GAINING FEEDBACK FOR MY FINAL PRODUCT

By using social media sites such as iMessage and WhatsApp, I asked a selected few to give me feedback on my final product by including questions regarding my music video in the message that I sent. Due to the controversy of my music video, I decided only to send the video link to a few people who would appreciate the narrative and take the video seriously. I used my phone to send the message to my target audience.

FEEDACK

 As you can see I have gained some audience feedback form the message that I sent out to my target audience.
From the audience feedback that I have received it is clear to that I have successfully conformed the psychedelic genre and style, which was one of the main goals for my music video.

DIGI PACK SKETCHES AND AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

 Here are the sketches for the digi pack.

 

FEEDBACK VIA MESSAGE GROUP CHAT

RE-THINKING AND CHANGING MY DIGI PACK DESIGN.

After editing my dig pack front cover, I have decided that I do not like my idea. I started to play around with using the retro font, and decided that it was beginning to look dated and very unattractive. I have decided to rethink my idea completely as I do not feel that the cover looks as if it represents my artist in an appropriate way.
So I have decided to go back to basics and re think and re design my ideas for the dig pack and poster. I will be changing the font design of my dig pack and possibly the main image. The overall look of the font was beginning to draw the attention away from the artist, so I have decided that I am going to use a more simpler font, I feel that this will enable the audience to focus on the facial expression of the artist. As you can see I am now debriefing by drawing sketches and referring back to my past blog posts to gain inspiration.

FIRST EDITING SESSION

WHERE AM I AT NOW? RECAPPING...

Now that i have planned what my digi pack is going to look like I am now in the process of creating my digi pack on photoshop. I have used photoshop in AS, however after not using photoshop for almost over a year now I feel that I am out of touch. I will be using youtube videos to help me recap on how to use photoshop in a professional way. In my spare time I frequently use film editing softwares such as final cut and imovie, therefore in the process of my music video I found that I was progressing quickly and in more of an efficient way.
In the next few posts I am going to be posting my progress of editing my digi pack and poster, I will be updating my blog every so often to suggest all the different types of editing techniques that i have ;earnt using photoshop.

FURTHER PLANNING

INITIAL IDEAS FOR MY DIGI PACK

Deciding on a font to use for my Digipack

As the font that I will be using for my digi pack will be playing a huge part on the front cover of the digipack, it is important that I use an appropriate font that will relate to the star image of my artist and attract the attention of the audience.

By using social media sites such as Facebook, i am able to gain feedback efficiently on the font type that i should use. 

FEEDBACK 

From the post that I posted on my facebook, I have received many suggestions regarding which font that I should use for my digi pack. The majority of the feedback suggested that font B was the most successful due to its clarity and boldness. Other feedback suggested that the other fonts did not relate to the style of the artists genre, or other fonts were more difficult to read.
After gaining feedback from face book, I have started to plan on how I can make the font that i am going to be using unique and adapted to my digipak style. Font B shows a psychedelic style which relates to the psychedelic genre of my artist, i have decided that I am going to create a psychedelic style for my digipak front cover. This will be appropriate for my artists genre and style persona, due to the albums name, 'Sanity of A Different Kind', a psychedelic style will suit the star image of the artist, appealing to the target audience. 

PLANNING FOR MY ANCILLARY TASK

When previously filming for my music video, I also took some images of my artist to use for my ancillary task for future use. After looking and reviewing the images that I took I have decided that I am going to use one of the images and create a surreal image to use for my digi pack and poster to relate to the style of the artists and album. 

From the images that I have taken I plan to use for my digi pack and poster. I have taken photos pf my artist in the same setting and location as the music video, wearing the same clothing and make up etc. This will show a link between both my music video and ancillary tasks, which is a typical convention in the music industry including marketisation and advertising.  

CONSIDERING THE LIGHTING 

From the images I have taken, I like the way the lighting enables the audience to focus on the artist. The black background and harsh lighting focusing on the artists reflects the importance oif the artists and the significance that they have according to the record. It is clear to see that the images i have taken are low-key lighting images, as they show high contrasts, which means a good white as well as plenty of blacks. Low key refers ri a style of photography that utilizes predominantly dark tones to create a dramatic looking image, which i have achieved in the images shown. To create these images i have used the same lighting and setting that I used in my music video, in the process of taking the photos i had to consider shadows as the primary element of the composition, one that defines the mood of the entire photograph. Then manipulating the lighting and positioning of the artist, this way the shadows fall in the right places, creating a main focus being the artist.  

The low-key lighting relies on shadows, deep blacks and darker tones, with very few whites and middle tones, creating a mysterious and moody tone, dramatic or even ominous, identifying the artists face and no other objects or setting. 

As the back ground of the images are of a solid black colour, I feel that I could take advantage of this and create a piece of artwork or illustrations that I could place on the digipack, ultimately creating a piece of art that my target audience will be interested in. By including illustrations and symbols as well as the artist combines the two main conventions of a digipack, as shown in my previous research studies on digipacks. 

THE ARTIST PERSONA AND STAR IMAGE

In my music video the artist shows a distinctive star image and persona of insanity and madness. When I taking photos for my ancillary task I wanted to also show this particular persona. I made my artist act reflect their persona to me and began to take images. The artist, sometimes shows a black expression reflecting his feeling of insanity and numbness. The artist shows direct eye contact with the camera which will effectively have an affect on the audience, as they will feel more connected whilst helping the audience to concentrate on the significance of the artist. The artist therefore, is directly addressing the audience creating an impact on both, the audience and the digi pack's significance.
The shadows of the image help to contribute to the artists persona. The shadows covering half of the artists face suggests a secret or hidden identity, relating to the meaning of the album and the tracks on the record. This term is often referred to as, 'chiaroscuro', an italian artistic term to describe the dramatic effect of contrasting areas of light and dark in an artwork, particularly in paintings.

 However this technique can be used in film and media to connote a sense of secrecy and mystery. The face half covered by a shadow, is a good way to emphasize a character's sinister side, this can also overlap with hidden eyes which is seen in some of the images that I have taken.

In the image where the artist has his hands held out in front of him, directly addresses the audience whilst portraying a sense of hysteria and madness. I feel that this image could bring up a lot of questions as to why he is 

holding his hands in a certain way, whether it may have some significant or just solely due to the fact that the artist portrays an insane star image. Half of the artists face is completely covered in this image which, as i have just discussed represents a sense of secrecy creating a sinister atmosphere. 

I have taken the images as profile shots as i feel that this enables the audience to focus on the character of the artist, allowing the audience to understand the importance of the star image and personality. It is also important to note that my artists main feature is not only their music but their star image and personality which helps to intrigue audience's into purchasing and investing in the artists work. 

In this image the artist appears in a very sinister, and almost freakish way. I feel that this image could be a very promising image for my poster, as I have shot the image as a portrait shot, enabling me to have more flexibility when editing my poster for the ancillary task. The image also, i feel portrays the artists star persona very successfully.

It is clear to see from this particular image that I had to play around with the camera settings and lighting to achieve an effective image, regarding colour and lighting.

ARTWORK INSPIRATION

Created with Padlet

Artwork inspiration.

I would like to carry out the artists strange persona through out the digi pack and poster, in a dark surreal way. I have decided that I would like to create a front cover that not only represents the artists and their star mage but also provides the audience with a piece of artwork that appears strange and different. This way i am combining the two ideas of abstracts artwork with an image of the artist.

BRAIN STORMING IDEAS

ANALYSING DATA

Analysing questionnairre data from msharrattmedia

CURRENT IDEAS FOR DIGIPACK FRONT COVER

Whilst researching into solo artists it is clear to see that an image of the artist is usually portrayed on the front cover of the digipack. For example artists such as David Bowie and Iggy Pop are usually presented on their digipack's to present their certain star image and persona. I feel that this could be relevant if used for my digipack and poster, as my artists star image and persona is presented as strange and peculiar in my music video. In my music video shots of the artists are used frequently through out to present his strange and outsider persona. At the beginning of the video a poem is recited by the artists suggesting his poetic nature and understanding of the song, 'People Are Strange'. I would like to recapture this essence of strange that I was able to portray in the music video on the digipack, creating a sense of fluidity across all products.

PLANNING FOR MY DIGIPACK | Album name ideas and research

Creating a logo from msharrattmedia

ORGANISING FOR MY ANCILLARY TASK/SCHEDULE

AN UPDATE 

Monday 4th January 2016

I have completed the music video for my track and I am currently in the process of researching for my ancillary task, creating a digipack and poster. In order to do this successfully i will need to create a schedule planning when i will complete certain tasks in order to stay on track so I do not run out of time. I find that by creating a schedule this enables me to stay on track and complete tasks mre efficiently. 

SCHEDULE

Date to be completed	Task
5/01/16	Hand out questionnaires to target audience, to find out what my target audience will prefer to see.
7/01/16	Collect information from target audience and analyse carefully. From this information start to plan for digi pack and poster – thinking about presenting star image – font – colour
8/01/16	Design initial logo ideas for artist ‘Tim Starr’. These can be drawn or typed – use font websites or photo shop
9/01/16	Start designing digi pack ideas – receive audience feedback and act upon the audience feedback given
11/01/16	Arrange times and dates with actor to take pictures for website, poster and digi pack

Now that I have created a schedule predicting the dates and times that I need to complete certain tasks by, I can now follow this schedule as a rough guide line to ensure that i stay on track whilst creating my poster and digipack.