Task 1 In what ways do your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Image 1: Digipak



It is clear that from the two album covers presented here we were inspired by luminous lighting and a dance/alternative look. Our main idealistic artist for this is a pop group called 'The Land' which I have previously presented in my blog.
We wanted to keep the background dark to contrast the luminous colours such as pink, purple, orange and green. This also greatly flatters our artist as much as it does the girl on the covour of the 'The Land'.
The two girls are very differently lit. 'The Land' has chosen to light their model in a brighter, more exposing light. However we have chosen to show our artist more concealed and shadowed. She also blends in with the colours more as all she has for lighting is the inflatables.
Both digipaks example edgy and fun scenery. 'The Land' have chosen to use small houses to create a circle around their model which is intrigueing and unconventional. She is also dressed and surrounded by white which symbolises purity and innocence. Our girl is surrounded by dark colours through her hair and clothes giving her an element of mystery and seduction.


Image 2: Digipak Back Cover

The back cover of our digipak is simple, interesting and mirrors the artists image well through the inflatable on the side and the visually luminous colours. We looked at other artists who's back cover of their album similarly mirrored this; simplistic labelling of the song title and subtle art work.

 

 

Image 3: Still From Video

When comparing these two stills, one being Cleo Ida lip syncing from our music video, the other Rihanna from her video 'Diamonds', we recognise that both the artists have been highlighted as the main attraction due to the darkness surrounding them. The low key lighting adds tones of uncertainty, rebellion and mirrors their star image and the song.

This low key lighting exemplifies the convention of darkness that the artists wished to convey.

 

 

Image 4: Stil From Video

 Because our video is very unconventional due to the fact that it openly discusses the topic of lesbianism, we didn't want to outrageously flaunt the subject by making it raunchy and innaproprite. Instead we tried to make it as suggestive as possible by making the audience aware of the situation rather than taccily displaying homosexuality in a desireable and sexually based way.

This is well portrayed in Christina Aguilera's 'Beautiful' when we see a suggestive scene between to homosexual men.

 

 



Merchandise

We have drafted up some merchandise of which we think will look really good for our website but also will hopefully help to promote her but also personalise her with her fans more. Selling merchandise highlights her stardom and allows fans to have a piece of her and share her fame. We also have been experimenting with it by using range of colours and fonts to give the artist variety and versatility.

Website Update

We are still in the middle of editing our website. Today we focused on the 'tour' section and posted some of the places she would be touring next. We also added in a button with a link attached to it, so the 'BUY NOW' allows fans to go to ticket master to purchase tickets instantly.

Decision Making

Some of the crucial decisions made:

• To cut the song down in order to allow a narrative to be successfully told without drawing it out so much that it takes too long and becomes boring
• to show the opening story in one sequence of shots rather than splitting it up with studio shots
• We made important decisions about the order of events occurring.
• When to introduce the main characters. The second girl is introduced about a 3rd in to the video before we are shown the couple meeting with friends and the narrative starting to unfurl
• We tried our best to get camera time of certain characters more than others in order to portray they importance.
• A contrast between the heterosexual relationships and the homosexual relationships. The anger, violence and fear of the couple together juxtaposed with the happiness than ensues once the two girls hook up.
• Similarly while the girls are starting to become closer and closer through the video we've added heterosexual couples becoming involved and sexual with one another.

CD Digipak Mock up

To go along with our website we had to create a mock up of a CD Digipak of 4 inlay photos. It's mainly made up of the photos which were taken on the day of the shoot.

We came up with some random song titles such as Down to the Corn Field and Yay ayaya. The back is very realistic due tot he barcode and the copyright signs. I think it's a very good mock up of a digipak. The only this which will need changing are the pictures of the actors from the music video as although they are in her top hit, they can be replaced with more relevent images to the artist.

When thinking about colours for the digipak we knew we wanted to go with girly, fun colours such as pink and purple. My favourite part of the digipak is the back because it has a clear picture of part of an inflatable and in the background there's out of focus inflatables.

I think it works really really well.

CD Mock up

This flattering and sultry photograph of her combined with the use of glowing colours creates a cute and quirky image for her.

The Website

We are in the middle of creating our website for Cleo Ida. So far we have uploaded pictures of the music video I Follow Rivers along with a few tour dates, and a bio.

This is the website: the picture of her dancing in the background conotes a fun, energetic and vibrant artist as she looks happy alongside the visually interesting inflatables. This automatically is captivating.

This bio includes a beautiful black and white picture of her, so that the audience are aware of her image and what she stands for. Here she looks serene and calm which contrasts to the site, allowing the audience to see she is versatile.

Here is the gallery which still needs some adjusting as the photos which are on here are just the ones from the day of the shoot.