Preliminary Task - Front Cover

After recreating the opening minute to a music video, we had produce a digipak for our version of the product.

Our song's genre was Indie Folk and Soul therefore I wanted to incorporate things that we would typically see in them genres.

Indie is a genre in which the artists basically ignore the fame, they focus solely on having fun and their music. Therefore, after producing the video before the summer, I attended various parties and social gatherings in which I decided I could use to take photos to use for my mock digipak.

The photos in the main cover are all from one party. I used these photos because I like how the have turned out; due to them being taken on a disposable camera, the flash gave the images an authentic feel to them, it made them seem very old and worn out. I like this effect as it suggests that the band are very individual and authentic. The photos seem amateurish and therefore original. This is important in relation to Indie due to them putting emphasis of the fact that they are independent.

I called our artist 'Take Two' because of the simple fact that Ed Sheeran's video was the first take of the video, the first version, and ours was the second, hence the name Take Two. It also refers to the fact that no one can perfect something in one go and that it will take several time to get right. At first, I had the original photo as the main feature of the cover but then I had two bars down the left hand side; these bars represented the second take. It also refers to 'pause', which meant that they took their time when producing the final product.

The name, along with it's positioning links back to the film industry. Take two being an order given by the director to film again and the positioning being on a chair like the director/ producers have during filming. This links in the film and music industry together as well as emphasising the fact that indie music videos tend to be a short film in itself. 

After deliberating the design, I decided that there was not enough fun in the cover, which is what Indie is essentially about. Therefore I look for more photos of that specific party to try and incorporate more visual features into the cover.

I like the photos from this party, not only because of the resulting effect on the photos, but because of the setting and the atmosphere. Even though the viewers were not there in person, the photos represent friendship, through the bottom left photos of me and a friend, fun and laughter in the top left photo of me sitting on a friend's knee. This shows that we are all together are a friendship group and that we enjoy each others company which is a common convention used specifically in Indie music videos.

I used the photos of the artist looking away and distracted as the background because I want it seem casual and natural, as if they did not know and therefore, with the character looking away and paying no attention adds to the authenticity but also represents her as a sociable person, and not faking just for the photos, which is metaphorically referring to the fake artists that pretend to be someone they are not for the media. Also, no eye contact in made on the front cover, as essentially the song is about a class A drug and how the character has to take risks to make money to feed her addiction. Hence, the female character making no eye contact suggests she is very secretive and hidden, as if her identity has to remain unknown due to her connection with drugs.

The setting of the party was in a backyard, a very low key and comforting area. The camping chairs and the fire pit give the photos the impression of being in a festival; hence the connections with music, being outdoors and having fun.

I wanted to use a basic and simplistic font because the main features of the front cover are the photos. The are very small and in capitals so that is stands out, the use of monotonal colours emphasises the artists clothing in the background and the flame from the fire pit.