Costume

The reason that Freya was chosen to wear dresses within the video, is to portray femininity. The song is a summery and feminine so the outfits match the relaxed, frivolity of the music.
Another style of costuming that is commonly used within female music videos, to increase the singers appeal is lingerie and beach wear. This use of female objectification utilises the male gaze and use sexuality as a selling point below is an image Lady Gaga, in her music video poker face; who is known for her extrovert and revealing outfits.The reason we chose not to create Freya into a sexual object is because our target audience is statistically female and we wanted them to feel as though they could connect with her. Also the song is innocent and so we wanted the character to emulate that innocence.

Other commonly used mode of dress is casual wear such as in the picture below of Taylor Swist in her video, teardrops on my guitar. Theses costumes are used to create reality within a character in her song Taylor is singing about unrequented love, she is telling a story and so needs to apper to be normalistic. It also allows her audience to connect with her, and emphsise with the fellings she is vocalising. We decided to use this casual approach within Freya’s costumes to add to our characters likeability.

Character choice

The reason that Julian was substituted for Freya for the new shoot was because we wanted to use a realistic representation of our artist and that meant having a female lead, so that we could lip-sync parts of the song.

I have started off by looking at some Digipak designs online in order to help me decide on my own layout.
I really like the way this packaging opens up as though the person opening it were doing a puzzle. I would like to use the idea of my consumer getting something unexpected from their CD whether that be an individualistic casing, or hidden extras. Such as a poster or lyric sheet. I also like the way that there is a new image on each of the folds so your are always seeing something different, and that the band use their commercial cartoon images, which create anonymous character and make the music less about ideology and looks.

My favourite part about this Digipak is the styling of the case and the way that it mimics a box or an envelope, as though it were designed for another purpose, other than to hold a CD. I want to do something quirky with my design to make my audience want to investigate it.

The reason I have featured this Digipak is because of the way it folds out, and that fact that each different face has a different purpose, yet they all feature the same type of photography adding continuity to the design. With my own design I would like to have a single theme that links all of the artwork together. As otherwise the work will look unprocessed and unplanned.

These are some mock up designs that I have made.
The first one is a small two fold design, which would hold the CD in the centre fold. It would mean that lyrics could be printed on either side of the CD and lots of imagery and artwork could be used. However it also means that any extras such as pull outs would be hard to contain in the case and also that plastic couldn't be used. On the other hand an inner slip could be placed on the case to hold a poster or pictures. This does mean that some sort of seal would have to be placed on the packaging otherwise it could be susceptible to theft of loss.

Another design could be in the shape of a booklet. This would give me the option of adding in as many pages as I wanted. It also follows the idea of the design mimicking something else and adds a fun, childishness to the packaging, which reflects the genre of music that I am representing. This also means that song lyrics could be printed on to each of the pages allowing the user to go through them as though it were a story book.

The third design is shaped like a package. The CD would be on the inside of the packet with the four folds acting as a front cover. They would be sealed together using a tie or something similar as though it were an actual package. This could also mean that on the inside of each fold the lyrics could be printed, and that the back of the casing would act as the main ‘front cover’.
Another design is this clasped, two door, box shape, if make a special edition version of the CD this probably the design that that I will use. The intricacy of the design makes it quirky and appeals to my target audience, also it is decadent and individual. The two doors mimic the opening of a window, or another gateway to the world, which could mean that through looking into the box you, could be seeing into the artist’s world. To portray this behind the scenes photographs of Ruth could be included or special edition footage of her performances. Another option could be to include a DVD copy of the music video within the case; this means that the artwork could all be centred on the music video itself. This would also give the video another medium to be played on instead of the internet and television.

These are some CD and front cover initial designs. The first mimics the patterning used on Sigur Ros's album Takk. Only instead of using woodsy colours it will use blues and white, to represent calming. The image would be of Ruth Bewsey (Freya Manthorpe) walking down the tree line path as she does at the end of the video. Another idea would be to have a transparent image of Ruth's (Freya representing) face on the CD with the song titles etched over the top. This makes a link between the artist and her music. One other design could be Ruth (Freya) on three panels across the CD which links to the visual in the music video when Freya travels across the screen using paneling.



Some front covers- rough ideas.

These are some fonts I am considering for my Digipak.

Paolo Nutini’s album the streets was first released in July 2006. His music genres include Pop-Rock and (Blue eyed Soul). The front cover for his album shows four coloured panels changing from white into red, with individually silhouetted black images of the artist in each pane. This technique could relate well to my Digipak as in the Sail Away with me music video panelling is used within the chorus with Freya Manthorpe moving across the screen in a set of three panes, with her outfits changing in each one. If I was going to release the song as a single or as the top song on an album, or even if the album was going to include an online code to download the video for free via iTunes. Then connecting the album to the video could be a good way to promote the video.
The panes variation of colours from white to red, signify the change of emotions, experienced through listening to the music. Or convey the effect the music has had on Paolo Nutini and his audience, from a white innocence into and aggressive culmination of emotions and passion.
The Digipak has a retro look to it, with the font mimicking that used in the seventies as well as the colours having moulted, faded shading. This is used as it links to the genre of the album and Nutini’s musical influences, which include the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Ray Charles and Van Morrison.
In each of the images Nutini is obscured, the air of mystery relates to the genre of the music. In two of his images he is holding his guitar signifying to his audience which instrument it is that he plays and also relating the cover to, music.
On the back of the CD jewel case there are two more images of Paolo and the same coloured panels are used. The colours also connote warmth, linking him to folk which some of his songs are.