Advert Draft on Photoshop

We used the same image for our advert that we used for the front cover of our digipak but on Photoshop we used a tool called grunge texture which made the advert look cloudy and aged. This fogginess could symbolise the main character's state of mind and it illustrates the dark nature of the CD's content. The black and white colour scheme also reflects this dark mood. We used the usual Killers logo but in white so it stands out from the rest of the text. We wrote 'the trilogy' with a font called 'Times New Yorker' which we downloaded from www.dafont.com, it looks almost typewriter like, which demonstrates the interrogation part of the video's storyline. The text at the bottom of the advert includes the record company logo and release date. All the text on the advert is surrounded by a white shadow this makes it stand out. It looks as though the window is creating light through the centre of the advert which carries on our theme of light sources like the over head projector idea used on our digipak. It should be noted that there is a spelling mistake on this advert 'exclusave' should read 'exclusive' and will be changed when we do the final thing. I also think it would look better if there wasn't a full stop after this piece of text. We used 'The New Album' idea from the draft but also added 'featuring exclusive DVD footage and unheard versions of the tracks' to make this album sound more enticing, unique and a must have for big fans of the band.

Advert Draft

We chose to use the same image as the main one used for the digipak cover. This is because it is a convention often used with Indie bands including The Killers, it also gives buyers a common image to identify the album with. It contains the band logo, album name in the same format as before, the band website and the band's record company (Island Records) logo. We chose to simply use 'The New Album' for the text as it will excite previous fans of the band and make them want to buy, we chose to write it in capital letters to make it stand out.

Digipak Drafts on Photoshop

This is a link to another member of my group's description of this initial digipak draft on photoshop:
http://jesslambert1992-a2musicvideoproject.blogspot.com/2010/10/first-draft-digipack.html

The images used were found on flickr, they aren't ideally what we want but were the best we could find when searching for a prison cell as the interrogation room. When we create our actual digipaks we will use photos from the filming. We used a lot of editing on Photoshop, to create the eerie effect that runs through the mood of our project. One of the main effects used was the over head projector light source that looks as though it is projecting the text on the inner cover and the back. We used the official Killer logo and a dark typewriter style font that symbolises the interrogation that is going on in the song used for our video. The main colour scheme is black, white with the sepia style light source. On the right hand inner cover we used a ghostly image of a girl which is supposed to look like Jenny. An idea we had was taking the images using a polaroid camera, so they are produced immediately and have a slightly aged effect that look like post mortem photos.

Digipak Drafts

Here is an initial draft of a digipak idea.

Back and Front of digipak

Front cover

This is our group's initial idea for the front cover of the digipak. We have used an image that'll be from a scene in the music video of the main character in the corner of the interrogation room. The room will be dark, this dark cover on the digipak will emphasis the theme and mood of the CD's content. The high angle shot used shows he is in a weak and vulnerable state. We have simply used the the killers logo that is conventionally used on the front of their CD covers. Then the font for the CD's name 'The Triology' is in a dark, spooky font that looks typewriter-like so would be used by the police when writing up the interrogation.

Back of Digipak

The back cover of the digipak is the front image carried on to the back, as shown by the image below. We decided to do this as it is quite unique but it could be seen to represent the link between our songs, how they carry on into one another.The back will include a song list, record label logos - Island Records - and the bands website - www.thekillersmusic.com. An idea our group had to illustrate the information on the back, is by using an over head projector effect on photoshop. So it looks like the text is being projected onto the dark wall using an over head projector. This is an effect we wanted to include in the video and thought it would look good to maintain that theme as a motif throughout all the products of the project.

Inside of digipak

For the digipak, that must include both a DVD and CD we decided to make our case two pockets for the CDs to slide into, as demonstrated by the diagram above. On the inside, there will be information explaining the story of the trilogy, again this will be shown using the over head projector idea.

Round Up of Research

After looking at all the research that has been completed by myself and the rest of my group I have come up with some conclusions.

• Artists of the Indie genre can vary a lot, they tend to do whatever they want, eg wear their own clothes like The Drums' video. This links to some of the feedback I received from my audience research, fans of Indie music like to dress independently and create their own sense of style but are often inspired by their favourite artists.
• 
• There is a big difference between American and British artists. American bands tend to have more detailed videos with a storyline for example, The Killers and in particular their Mr Brightside video Whereas British indie bands such as Arctic Monkeys tend to have more performance based videos with little storyline.
• 
  
  Having a storyline within the video is popular with Indie fans as they feel it makes it more interesting to watch, they also like it when the band members have a part to play within the video's story, eg The Killer's Smile Like You Mean It video. These storylines tend to come from the lyrics of the song so keep their relevance, although sometimes there may be videos where the storyline conveys ambiguity for example Foals' Spanish Sahara video where it is very unclear as to what is going on.
• When looking at Indie digipaks, it can be seen that again there is a large range of different styles used, the images and colour schemes used often illustrate the mood and tone of the music it holds. This is shown by the comparison of the Yeasayer digipak to the Bombay Bicycle Club digipak where although they are of the same genre are completely different. When looking at the Indie adverts they are always the digipak cover enlarged so that the album's promotional package is all easily identifiable.

• Of the three videos I analysed, a common theme of returning home and looking back at the past. This is especially obvious in The Killers video where the primary theme of the video's storyline is someone (who is possibly dead) looking back at significant events in their life. In The Drums video they seem to be looking back at by gone era, the 80s, and their image revolves around this past time. In the White Lies video, the name 'Farewell to the Fairground' already gives a direction to something that is gone and the video's theme seems to be people leaving and then returning home and their roots. This theme could show a convention in Indie music is the importance of having roots and having a home.

Audience Research

For my audience research, I created a questionnaire and asked it to a friend that is a big Killers fan. I wanted to get an overview of opinions on the Killers and indie music with reference to videos, digipaks and adverts as this is what I am essentially interested in.


What do you like about the Killers in general?

I really like the Killers because they consistently write really good songs. I'm a big fan of Indie music in general but the Killers is one of my favourite bands, they're great performers and Brandon Flowers is a really good singer. The songs are always really well written and the lyrics often tell a story.

What do you like about Killers music videos?
They always have a storyline making them interesting to watch and I like the performers part within the video. A personal favourite is 'Smile Like You Mean It', this has a very clear storyline that is relevant to the lyrics, this is an older video by the Killers which i prefer to their newer ones like 'Human' where there isn't much of a story.

What do you like about Killers album art?

They are always creative, high quality images. They often link to nature and it's relationship with humans which again is relevant to the music. I really like the 'Sawdust' cover.

What attracts you to Indie music?

The artists always write and perform their own music, unlike mainstream, pop artists that come off shows like the X Factor that aren't real musicians.

 



Indie bands

What other Indie artists do you like?

Everything Everything, The Maccabees, Bombay Bicycle Club, Hurts, Mumford and Sons, Arcade Fire.

How does Indie music influence you? (eg dress sense)

I dress independently to others and create my own sense of style. I am often inspired by my favourite artists when i see them in magazines that I read like NME.

Video Analysis - White Lies - Farewell to the Fairground

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ0AFriC7ZM

Information on the band White Lies from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Lies_(band)

Location

The main location in this video looks to be snowey Russia. It looks like it was once an industrialised town but it has now become run down and looks even more miserable because of the bland white landscape. It gives it a very cold feel obviously due to the snow, this links with several lyrics, 'until the ice begins to thaw' and 'a dream thats growing cold' in particular. The initial mood is set by this location and suggests it to be a dark and foreboding story. This illustrates the song and White Lies music in general.

Storyline

The storyline has several different parts to it, the factory scene, the horse, the man working out with the medal, the children exploring the landscape, the dogs, the man and woman at the house and the lead singer of the band walking through the bleak snowey landscape. I believe the whole storyline to be revolved around the lyric 'there's no place like home'. Many cars are driving home in the town from work at the factory, the man is leaving his wife at their house in the town to go to the army, the dogs find their owner, whereas the horse seems to be looking for one, the an in the gym is back home training after it looks like hes won some sort of medal. These various storylines work together amongst the flashes of shots of the band playing in what looks to be a sports hall. Probably a location within the town emphasising further the run down nature of the town. The lights continue to flash throughout the performance.

Costumes

The band are wearing dark clothing, Harry, the lead singer, in particular is wearing all black with a military style, this is a typical convention of Indie music videos, especially The Killers. The other characters in the video are all wearing very working class, cheap looking clothes. This illustrates the run down nature of the town and gives examples of the sorts of people that live there and shows the culture in which they live in.

Colour

The predominant colour in the video is white from all the snow. This would usually suggest a pure connotation, but I think in this instance the white has been used to give a bleak feel where it is a run down place amongst the industrialisation that occupies it. The white background, both land and sky, makes all things in the video look like black silhouettes. The whiteness also gives the town a feel of isolation.

Performance

The band is playing in a sports hall location, this is the opening scene. There are lots of cuts to this throughout the video and particular emphasis is put upon the drummer. All the band are wearing dark clothing, the lights flash on and off all giving a sense of light and dark. The lead singer, Harry McVeigh, is walking down a road it looks to be from the factory back to the town, where he finishes. The cold nature of the town's inhabitants is suggested here as they simply overtake him when he is walking through the snow not offering a lift. Harry mimes the lyrics as he walks, this is a typical convention of Indie music videos.