Digipak research

What is a digipak?

"Digipacks are a type of CD packaging made out of card stock or other heavy paper/cardboard material. Digipacks can flip open like a book, or it can have three parts, so that one portion of the packaging opens to the right and one to the left, with the CD in the center portion. Usually, the portion of the digipack that holds the CD is made of plastic like a traditional jewel case CD - the plastic part is simply attached to the paper background."

 



 

 

I would like my digipak to have some element of continutiy, as I think it looks more appealing to an audience. my bottom three panels representing the back of my digipak will be one image stretched across the three. I would like my top three panels, representing the front of my digipak to have one big bold central image (front cover) with minimal detail on the neighbouring two panels, so as to not distract from the main image, which will the focus point of my whole digipak.

 

Uses & Gratifications

The uses and gratifications theory is an approach that aims to understand mass communication. This theory focuses its attention on the consumer instead of the message and asks the question, what do people do with media, rather than what media does to people. The theory says that audiences are responsible for choosing media that meets their needs (fulfills specific gratifications). This theory can be seen when people are choosing which music videos to watch. There are many different types and we choose a particular one to fill a certain need.

Music videos are primarily used for entertainment factors and this goes for my video as well. Following this basic model of entertainment laid out by U&G theory, my video will enable people to fill time, relax, divert from their problems (allowing some escapism), and hopefully have an emotional release.

I aim to produce a video that is going to allow my target audience to experience all of these things and fulfill their own specific gratifications.

Research methods

There are four main research methods which prove to be useful when finding out about music videos. These are:

• Quantitative
• Qualitative
• Primary
• Secondary

Quantitative

This type of research can be measured because it is numerical information. It usually will consist of a questionnaire that can be distributed to a large sample and in turn gain a lot of information.

Qualitative

This is the opposite to quantitative research. It is descriptive and can not be measured numerically. This type of research is usually conducted through in-depth interviews, focus groups and direct observations. This method is a way of collecting data concerned with meaning. What they lack in reliability they gain in validity as they provide a more informative, rich description. 

Primary

This is data you collect for a specific purpose. The questions are tailored in a way to gain specific information. This works best with small samples and all kinds of practical research methods can be used e.g. questionnaires, interviews, focus groups etc.

Secondary

This is data that already exists. There are a huge amount of ways to gain secondary research, for example, the internet, books, newspapers, libraries etc. This is said to be the easiest way of collecting data as someone has already done it for you. It is also more time/cost effective than primary data collection.

Because of the time limit I am under, I will mainly be gaining information through secondary research methods, and then towards the end of the coursework, quantitative, producing questionnaires for a sample of my target audience to gain feedback form. These are both time and cost effective methods of research and will benefit me greatly when collecting relevant information.

Moodboard

Inspirational videos

I have comprised a list of some dance videos that I am taking some inspiration from for my own video.

The first is Here it goes again by OK Go. This is my personal favourite music video, as it is fun, happy and simple but also really complex. It is a simple wide shot with the subjects filling the frame. At no point do I feel bored when watching this, because the dance moves on the treadmill are so well executed, it is as if I am watching a genuine acrobatics show.

This is also a great video to take inspiration from - Blur, Parklife. It is fun and engaging. There is a lot of lip sinking however which I will not be including in my video but I like the use of close ups, mid shots and singing directly to the camera. The sped up sequences also help give the video an upbeat feel, which I will try to include in my own video.

Push the tempo by Fat Boy Slim is another fantastic video. I love the idea of a concept video, where people are not able to control their bodies, just as the people in this video aren't. It is very interesting to watch and you can't help but want to dance when listening to the song. This kind of content would be perfect for my video. I want to mix chaos and calm, so could have some hyped up dance scenes with my talent going crazy and then some more mellow scenes directly after.   

Initial Ideas for Filming

When thinking about the song lyrics and its encouragement of people to "move your feet", the opening of the film Footloose came to mind. I think it would be a good idea to incorporate this style of just shooting people's feet into my own music video. I would not have the entire film focused on people's feet but I would like it to feature in there somewhere. I like the idea of having the opening few seconds focused on feet, which I could then transfer to my digipak and magazine advert. I could maybe use the pair of feet to carry the talent through the day, almost like a story. They could participate in activities like riding a bike, playing football and wandering up and down stairs. This could be when I shoot all the activities solely at the talents feet making them the focus, and have it timed to the music when the band is singing the chorus.

Unfortunately I could not find the original opening to the 1984 movie, so had to take it from the 2011 remake instead, but it still displays what I am talking about above.

Target Audience

My target audience for my video will be females aged from 10 - 25. I have established this as my target audience, as these will be the ages of the people mainly featured in my video. It is happy and carefree as is my prefered reading. It is simply a feel good music video that aims to make people smile and encourage them to dance. I think that my prefered reading is proving to be right as when showing some fellow students in my class my video so far, their reactions have been very positive, with some laughing, singing and dancing along, which is exactly what I want from my audience. They will be attending school, university or working. My target audience will be very active in their spare time, with a positive attitude to life and they will hopefully recognise that my video is trying to portray these kinds of people.

Lyrics and Interpretation

Lyrics for my chosen song - Move Your Feet by Junior Senior

A-Everybody, A-move your feet and feel united
Oh oh oh
A-Everybody, A-move your feet and feel united
Oh oh oh
Yeah
We're going downtown, oh yeah
We're going downtown, oh yeah
We're going downtown, oh yeah
We're going downtown, oh yeah
Don't - don't - don't - don't stop the beat
I can't - can't - can't - can't control my feet
P - p - p - people in the street
C'mon everybody and move your feet
Don't stop (don't stop) don't stop the beat
Can't stop (can't stop) can't stop the beat
Won't stop (won't stop) won't stop the beat, go
A-Everybody, A-move your feet and feel united
Oh oh oh
A-Everybody, A-move your feet and feel united
Oh oh oh
Yeah
We're going downtown, oh yeah
We're going downtown, oh yeah
We're going downtown, oh yeah
We're going downtown, oh yeah
Sing - sing - sing - sing - sing my song
And you - you - you - you - you sing along
Just put - put - put - put my record on
And all of your troubles are dead and gone
Don't stop (don't stop) don't stop the beat
Can't stop (can't stop) can't stop the beat
Won't stop (won't stop) won't stop the beat, go
A-Everybody, A-move your feet and feel united
Oh oh oh
A-Everybody, A-move your feet and feel united
Oh oh oh
Yeah
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
Don't stop (don't stop) don't stop the beat
Can't stop (can't stop) can't stop the beat
Won't stop (won't stop) won't stop the beat, go
A-Everybody, A-move your feet and feel united
Oh oh oh
A-Everybody, A-move your feet and feel united
Oh oh oh
Yeah
A-Everybody, A-move your feet and feel united
Oh oh oh
Yeah! Baby! Comon!

Interpretation

This songs lyrics are very repetitive and are encouraging people to dance. It is upbeat and simple, so I consider it to be more of a dance track that people would enjoy listening to at a party than a song that 'tells a story' with its lyrics. I think it is listened to more for people's physical enjoyment than emotional enjoyment. This could be seen as a very post modern quality, as songs of this generation tend to be more about the physical enjoyment of the listener, essentially body over mind. The singers are having fun and encouraging others to as well.

Conclusion

I want to make a video that is very focused on the physical, it will be visual encouragement for people to dance as well as lyrical. My preferred reading is that it will make people happy, have fun, sing along etc. Also from playing my song in the classroom out loud, I have witnessed my classmates singing along without thinking, or just nodding their heads in time with the beat. This is very good for the outcome of my video, because it is a song that people naturally connect with and enjoy, which will hopefully make my video appeal to all ages.  

Branding

How popular are Junior Senior?
Junior Senior were a pop duo from Denmark, they are most well known for their single released in 2003 named 'Move Your Feet' - the song I have decided to use. This single was well received by critics and was very popular with people of all ages in the UK. It is still heard frequently today in advertisements and a few select films. They gained a lot of credit for this single and were published in well known music magazines such as Rolling Stone and NME (New Musical Express), being named as having one of the "Best Albums Of 2003". However since the release of this hit album they have been almost unheard of in the UK and disbanded in 2008. I think Junior Senior were branded as quite an upbeat and comical band, this is reflected in their album cover and their 'look', it is all bright and colorful and a little bit chaotic. They were present to deliver videos that made people happy and want to dance. They are also viewed by a lot of people in the UK as a 'One Hit Wonder' and Move Your Feet was without a doubt their biggest success story.

My chosen song

After thinking hard about my current song choice, I decided it was not working for me as it was dreary and I was not producing the content I would have liked for it.

This is the new song I have selected to do for my Music Video. It is called Move Your Feet by Junior Senior.

I have selected this song, as it is a dance track and relatively well known and liked by people of all ages. This song is also one of my personal favourites and it should be a lot more fun to get content for.