SECTION 2

PRINT PRODUCTIONS

Research has allowed me to explore the conventions of advertisements and Digipaks of my genre. Indie is a fairly dominant genre in society which also broadened my influences when it came to making my own prints for my band, Tempesst.in general, to keep my print productions look professional, I chose to conform to many of the characteristics I saw in many ‘real life’ examples. Below I have featured 4 album covers I found when researching the genre. As you can see, all of this album covers are simple, with one main focal point in a fairly abstract style. This was something I wanted to use in my print production, especially something like the ‘The XX’ album cover (features the X) which I later found was more difficult than I had first thought and it also didn't particularly relate to my video or the image I wanted to create for my band.As you can see, the use of patterns are prominent in these album covers which became a trend in my research, with abstract being almost fashionable when it came to recent releases of albums.Similarly, most cd covers tended not to feature band members, although the last photo on this slide shows the opposite of this, I found this was very rare in many other CD covers I had found online. Magazine adverts were harder to find as I personally do not feel they’re as common in todays society as I feel everything to do with music releases are posted online rather than in magazines and newspapers, like they may have been in the past. Below is a screen shot of album promotional posters I found online in a recent search, most of which contain pack shots, where an album cover is seen in the advertisement, which can make the cover more easily identifiable to the consumer. This is something I wanted to use in my production, to keep it simple, identifiable and readable, also allowing me to attempt to create some form of brand identity.

MISE EN SCENE

My digipak and advert were pretty simple in terms of mise en scene, the props I used were the same in each element, they all feature 2 simple parts, the mask and the water (a bath tub, of which cant actually be seen in the images.) thus meaning my productions do not feature things like direct mode of address, as they do not feature a physical person, nor do they feature indirect. There is no costume, again because no one is featured in the pictures, nor is there any use or need for makeup. These were conventions that, whilst researching, I had found and wanted to use in my productions. In many indie digipaks, the artist does not feature but they tend to feature something that could be related to a song or a video that is part of the album. I felt like if I were to conform to these genre characteristics, this would allow my audience to relate more to the music and the CD itself as it makes more of a spectacle of the album itself, making sure I holds attention if seen but also making it similar to other albums in the genre. I took influence from an album by a band called Disclosure who use mask like images in their CDs and adverts promoting their band. The image below shows the bands first album. They have created a visual motif with this as they use similar images on each of their albums that have been released.In terms of strengths and weaknesses of my use of mise en scene, I have managed to create something that could be used as a visual motif for the band but haven't been able to convey anything about the band, or its members by my choice of images used. My use of water in my digipak and advert also allows me to attempt to create a motif as I have named all of the songs on my album water related names, the song is called Tidal Wave and I felt that having the mask suspended in water Created a link between the 3 elements (the video, song title and the album cover.)

LIGHTINGIn my print productions, I took the photos in my bathroom at home, something that probably isn't very conventional of my genre. This meant that I used the lighting that was available to me, this meant using the flash and an indoor light to try to create key lighting on the mask whilst picking up the movements of the water in the bath and the bubbles that had formed under my mask.For this, I took influences from Nirvana’s album, Nevermind. This album cover doesn't necessarily used the manipulation of the water to create a more interesting background by it does use a single subject suspended in water to create a focal point for the album cover. Featured also are albums by Ben Howard and Pendulum which were also water based influences for my print production.My advert for my album is similar to the CD cover in the sense that I used the same image. Thus meaning it contains the same lighting techniques. I wouldn't say my use of lighting has challenged or conformed to genre conventions as I feel like my image in itself is particularly generic of the indie genre. I could be considered generic lighting in the sense that many indie album covers tend to be lit in a key way but not by using the flash on a camera and a bathroom light. I suppose this lack of lighting technique could be a weakness of my print production as it makes it slightly less professional and generic to indie music.

CAMERAWORKI chose to use a high angle shot in my print production as that almost establishes a hierarchy, it also creates a back story that links my mask and the title of the song. Using a high angle shot allowed me to make it seem as though the mask is being looked down on, thus making it seem as though the mask is being belittled by whoever is looking at it. This could also be seen as a point of view shot in the sense that if a person was to fish the mask out of deep water they would be looking at it from the angle seen in the images. I would consider this image to be a close up as the main subject of the image is the mask, which fills the entire frame with limited negative space.I chose not to include any other elements in my work as I thought that would distract from the mask and the meaning behind it. It would also take away from the links I have created between all 3 elements. The image below shows indie album covers that I have found whist researching for my print production. As you can see, these all contain one main element that feature a background that helps to promote the focus of the image, which tends to be central, much like mine is. Similarly, these album covers feature negative space left for placing the name of the artist and the title of the album. By using conventions of the genre, I feel my album cover and advert will appeal to my target audience as, if existing products use the same elements and are successful, mine will fit the criteria

COMPOSITIONIn my print production, I aimed to apply the rule of thirds in an effort to make my mask the focal point of my production. I tried to keep the ‘eyes’ of the mask on the line of the top middle third in an effort to keep them as a focal point of the image. I wasn't so successful when it came to keeping the ‘lips’ of the mask in the central third or on the lines of any of the thirds, as the image below shows. Similarly, I tried to keep the type in the album cover in the rule of thirds which I thought would look professional. The eyes and the type on the mask could be said to be the focus of the album cover as they are the areas that will draw in the audience's attention. In my advert, this was slightly less successful as it kept the album cover as the focal point of the image, which was good, but the logo for my band just falls central and redundant. The release date is placed perfectly along the lines which is great for drawing in attention and would be good for creating hype around the release date of the album. The album and poster I have included highlight what I was trying to achieve with my print productions. For my productions, I tried to keep a shallow depth of field to keep the focus on the mask which is again the focus of my print production, personally, I don’t think I did this as well as I could've but I think it is fairly obvious that the mask is the focus.In terms of audience appeal, I think the composition of my images is accurate of the indie genre which would appeal to the audience as it follows conventions of many other indie album covers.

LANGUAGE FEATURES

On the back panel of my album cover, I have chosen the names for my songs on the album, of which are all water related. As the band is called Tempesst, I researched to see if that had a meaning, which it did. A tempest is a storm of which I used as a buzzword for my entire production. I chose to use some weather related words as well as ones that were just to do with water. I also put the song that was related to my music video as the first track on the album. I also named the album waves which again was a play on the meaning tempest.When creating my logo I wanted to create something different. In this sense, something generic of the genre but not just typing the band’s name in a text box. I chose to translate “A storm is coming” into Chinese. Essentially, my whole production is a play on the idea of a storm.This isn't something that I have seen prominently in indie album covers and adverts but I think its effective in making the album appeal to the audience.My advert, obviously, doesn't feature all of these reference to weather.Instead I chose t feature reviews of my band and the album which I felt were effective inmaking the advert look more legitimate and generic of the genre as many CD promotions feature reviews in an effort to promote their album release further.Again I think this is a lot more generic of the genre as pretty much every advert I have seen for Indie albums contain at least one review of the album. I think this makes it more appealing to my audience as if an audience member can see it has been positively reviewed by a big name brand like NME, it is more likely to appeal to them.

DESIGN,LAYOUT &EDITING

When it came to choosing fonts for my print production, I used a font called ‘Aliens And Cows’ throughout. I chose to introduce ‘Bebas Nueue’ in my advert. Using one font that was distinctive allowed to to attempt to create a visual motif. This was a bold sans serif font with wide kerning that allowed me to manipulated the space in between each letter allowing me to place the name of the album between the letters of the band’s name which could be repeated, again, to create a visual motif for the band. I used a varying point size of my font which meant that by making the size of the band's name larger, it made that seem like it had relative importance and helped to establish the band. I chose to use reverse type in the sense that I put white writing on a much darker background for the bands name, again this would help to draw attention to the band’s name which then contrasted with the black I used for the album title, making them both stand out as they contrasted with each other. When it came to designing my logo, I wanted to do something relatively simplistic. I used a black circle with white background which then has a Chinese translation featured centrally. The translation I used related to the same of the band and the meaning of the word tempest. The use of colour in my print productions held strong connotations to the idea of a storm. Deep red, dull blue, grey, black and white are all colours that to me link to stormy weather. These may also be considered to be mysterious colour which can intrigue audience members. I chose to make my album cover in a minimalist yet abstract style. I used minimalist style in the sense that I only used one focal element of my print production. It is abstract in the sense that I tried to capture the movement of the water whereas if I had kept it entirely in a minimalist style, I would have made sure the water was still and settled. I found it difficult to balance the text with my image as it was difficult to negotiate what was negative space as I wanted the water movement to also be part of my production rather than it just being the background. In the end I was for 60/40 image/text as there were images of water throughout which all feature text but were not completely equal. Making my print productions consistent was something that I felt would have more audience appeal as it makes the band’s brand more identifiable. As for being related to the indie genre, creating a visual motif is common in album cover especially when they feature in a pack shot in an advertise

NARRATIVEI don’t particularly feel as though my print productions hold an form of narrative which I think is particularly common of the indie genre as much of the research I have done had lead me to artists just using images that relate to specific songs or elements in a music video.I spent time thinking of potential narratives that I thought I could apply to my print productions but none of them seemed to fit as I felt they didn't hold any particular meaning. I don’t think this really affects audience appeal as I do not think that having a narrative behind a CD cover is something that is part of the indie genre.

REPRESENTATIONIn terms in representation of my artist, there is none so it creates an absent representation that also could be considered as mysterious as they do not appear in and of my final productions. This could be linked to the idea of a construction of reality, as if the band are attempting to do so by not being present. In terms of representations of locations, my print productions also haven't created any particular representation. The depth of the water featured in my images could be said to create a representation of dangerous but this isn't something that I think is particularly strong. When it comes to representing people, I think my print productions highlight an issue of two faced-ness or double identities. In a more sinister sense it could be linked to the idea of drowning or being drowned. The issues it highlights could be said to be to do with the idea of people that a person may not be familiar with as they do not know who is behind the mask and that you may be unaware of the person you surround yourself with. I feel as though many of these representations are not generic of the indie genre as I feel like other bands may at least hint at their appearances or have some form of more obvious message behind their music.