As part of my ancillary tasks, I will be creating the album art for a deluxe edition CD/DVD bundle. As my research I have looked at some examples of digipaks. A digipak is a patented style of CD disk or DVD packaging and is a trademark of AGI media inc. Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside.
The above templates are examples of plans for a digipak, to give me an idea of how the finished product will look when I have made it. Digipaks are made either with 4 or 6 panels, however the 6 panel digipak is the one most commonly seen.
" Life on the Murder Scene" by My Chemical Romance: A 3 disk CD/Live DVD of the best tracks from "I Brought You My Bullets" plus exclusive demo tracks. The DVDs feature live performances on the bands previous tour and extra interviews with the band. The digipak cover is extremely conventional for an early 2000s 'emo' band, due to the dark mysterious colours used (red, black and white to signify a contrast between purity, danger and death, this could signify a change in the characters lives which could lead to their demise) and the blood splattered on the characters faces and hands to further signify death and destruction. Models Jamisin Matthews and Jaime Andrews have been made up to portray the "demolition couple", mentioned in the MCR song 'demolition lovers', the cover has also been made up as a 'live version' of the Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge album, which is also called 'demolition lovers 2'.The mise en scene of the stark white background against the blood dripping off the female hand makes the image stand out to possible audience members in the shop, similarly the paleness of the model's faces on the front stand away from the black background behind them and imediately catch your eye. The camera angle used on the models is a medium shot, which is effective because it allows you to see the whole of the models faces, so you get the full effect of the blood being splashed across them. You are also able to see the costumes used in this photo, this is interesting because it seems as though the female is wearing what looks like a white lacy wedding dress and the male is wearing a suit. The cover could be portraying the tragic idea of the bride being killed on her wedding day, hence the blood dripping down over the lace on her hand.
I have also looked at a more 'indie' digipak, as the song I have chosen to make a video for has more of a gentle, guitar feel to it. This digipak is Deaf Havana's 'Fools and Worthless Liars' the album from which my chosen song is featured.
The picture on the cover is a large image of a young boy sat on a step, dressed in smart attire. This image in itself is juxtapostition, as it seems as though the young boy is dressed for work. This image may be portraying the idea that though we grow up, the best stay young at heart.The image has been printed in sepia tones, implying to the viewer that this photo is an old polaroid, showcasing a feel of nostalgia, as if the band are looking back on their lives. The text is a simple, block text with similar colouring to the album art, which may be so the text does not distract from the main picture. Within the album, the background is a brick wall pattern, which may have been chosen to reflect the realism and grittyness of the front cover. The brown bricks also match very well with the sepia picture.
A little less Sixteen Candles, A little more Touch Me, features the band members acting as a team of vampire hunters trying to fend off a gang of vampires attacking their town. It ends with a climactic showdown between the band and the vampires, resulting in Wentz being arrested and his subsequent realization that all the police officers are also vampires. It has been suggested that the video is a theatrical look on corruption around us in modern society, although the song is seemingly unrelated to that idea.
The music video, originally called "A little less Molly Ringwald, A little More Samantha Fox" plays upon many 1940's and 50's horror films that the band enjoyed when they were teenagers.For instance the opening scene is a take-off from the cult-classic film, 'The Lost Boys'. Director Alan Ferguson was also influenced by the 'Blade' trilogy, 'The Blob' and 'Dracula' when creating the video.There are also visual references to 'A Clockwork Orange' during the fight scene with the 'Dandies.' I believe that the 'retro' attributes of the video, such as the cadilac and "drive in movie font" in the opening scene, and the costumes of the dandy vampires act as a sharp contrast to the thoroughly modern research lab and the band's image, creating a fantasy world where nothing is quite as it should be. We can clearly see the bands horror influence at the start of the film, where Andy and his girlfriend are interrupted by vampires on the car. The screaming over the music may shock some viewers and force them to pay attention to what is happening on screen.
(examples of the diferent eras presented in the video)
The video uses quick cuts, especially in the fight scenes to emphasise the vampires 'powers'. This creates a tense atmosphere, which could be highlighting the animosity between Pete and the other vampires. The main camera angles used throughout are medium or long angle shots,
in order for the viewer to see all the action happening at once. However, some less conventional shots are also used throughout. For instance, the car driving into the battle is filmed from above, in order to show the fall out boy symbol on the bonnet. The leader of the Dandies is also usually shot from below, in order to emphasise his power (despite his feminine appearance) and clearly show the viewer who is in charge.
The video also showcases lots of juxtaposition during the fight scenes. For instance, as the Dandies seduce their prey by dancing with them, the lead singer is fighting off Punk vampires in a seedy alley. The red lighting in the alley further enhances the idea that this place is dangerous, as we see when Patrick is fooled, and is bitten by the same women he tried to protect. Similarly, the almost cheerful guitar in the song is a stark contrast to the bloody battle scene going on in front of it.
As mentioned before, the lyrics seem to be unrelated to the video itself, something extremely unconventional in mainstream music videos, but more widely accepted in the alternative or rock genre. The lyrics paint a picture of unrequited love, and the singers efforts to get the object of his affections to notice him.
I confess, I messed up
dropping "I'm sorry" like you're still around
And I know you dressed up
"hey kid you'll never live this down"
'Cause you're just the girl all the boys want to dance with
And I'm just the boy who's had too many chances
I'm sleeping on your folk's porch again, dreaming
She said, she said, she said, "Why don't you just drop dead?"
I don't blame you for being you
But you can't blame me for hating it
So say, what are you waiting for?
Kiss her, kiss her
I set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late
Write me off, give up on me
Cause darling, what did you expect
I'm just off a lost cause
a long shot, don't even take this bet
You can make all the moves, you can aim all the spotlights
Get all the sighs and the moans just right
I'm sleeping on your folk's porch again, dreaming
She said, she said, she said, "Why don't you just drop dead?"
I don't blame you for being you
But you can't blame me for hating it
So say, what are you waiting for?
Kiss her, kiss her
I set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late
(always on, always on)
You said you'd keep me honest
(always on, always on)
But I won't call you on it
(always on, always on)
I don't blame you for being you
But you can't blame me for hating it
So say, what are you waiting for?
Kiss her, kiss her
I set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late
The one direct link between the video and lyrics is a scene where Pete is being goaded to bite a young woman, and the vampires around him are chanting 'kiss her, kiss her' (what are you waiting for/ kiss her kiss her). However, the nature of this 'kiss' has changed, going from a naieve attempt to win a females affection to an act that will inevitably kill her.
For my A2 media studies project, I have decided to create a music video, as I wanted to develop skills I learned at AS level, to hopefully use in my future at university. I decided to work alone, but before making this choice I considered the pros and cons of each situation.
advantages of group work:
ability to bounce ideas off other people
possibly more ideas as there are more people
workload is shared so you have less to do personally
advantages of individual work:
final decision on everything
ability to change the project at will and not have to worry about what other people do
work is guarenteed as you do it yourself
high levels of control in the project.
The ancillary tasks I have decided on are a digipak for the CD and a magazine advert, due to the skills learned in my magazine task at GCSE. I did not choose the webpage as I have little experience in that area and I believe I could create the other tasks to a higher standard.
