THE FINAL MUSIC VIDEO

THE WEBSITE

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE WEBSITE

THE HOMEPAGE 

• With the intention of portraying colour,joy and youth in my website I ensured that everything on this page was colorful and vibrant. Furthermore, I chose to fill the page with a lot of information so that the young consumers are never bored and can easily access different pages. 
• I also added a link to a Mika doodle competition on facebook as I felt it was age appropriate and also something fun to do whilst socializing with other mika fans 
• There are many social networking hyperlinks on the page as I believe the younger generation are very involved with such sites, thus appealing to their norms. 
• I incorporated a different fan website into mine as I was really attracted to it. 

THE NEWS PAGE 

• After researching about the artist, I felt that it was necessary to make a news page which updates all his fans about Mika’s life and upcoming events. 
• I chose to post his latest gig and the news about him becoming an X factor judge on this page because, as a fan of Mika myself, I found these stories the most exciting and interesting. 

THE PHOTO’S PAGE 

• As a result of viewing many other Mika fan sites, I noticed that they all had at least one page which had a gallery of Mika related pictures in it. Therefore I chose to do the same.
• I also used some of my images that I designed for Mika in the gallery, thus adding originality to this page. 
• (there are more photos on the real website than whats shown above which is just a snapshot) 

THE VIDEO’S PAGE 

• After watching a variety of fan videos on youtube, I thought it would be cool for the young audience to check out some of my favorite ones. 
• Not only is this entertaining but it’s also a way of sharing some amazing video’s which perhaps haven’t got enough credit yet. 

THE FORUM PAGE

• This includes a forum that I created and designed for the fans to talk and socialize with.

THE FINISHED DIGIPACK

This is the final digipack all together. I have written about how i created each side in various posts below this one. Overall, I am pleased with the outcome of the digipack and CD as the sides work well together. Athough they are evidently different with regards to the aspects of the image (e.g. different setting, props and people) they all contain an ever-present theme of colour. This relates to the music video as it is vibrant and energetic. Therefore, when the consumer purchases this digipack they will be prepared for what is to appear in the music video, and furthermore, this may give them some awareness of what type of music to expect (e.g. upbeat pop music aimed at children).

This is the front cover...

These are the middle pages (including the CD itself - the centre picture)

this is the back cover...

MY EVALUATION P1

MY EVALUATION P2

THE DIGIPACK AND CD DESIGN 

I opted for such products to complement the chosen style of youth and colour as I previously discussed. Therefore, in order to do such a thing I used similar elements of production that I used when creating the music video. For example, I used the same mood board that I formed for my music promo video when deciding on how to create a relevant digipack. I also used many of the characters or props that are in the original video in order to heighten the fluency between the synergy. For example, the ‘casanova’ character (the boy with the roses and a moustache) appears in both the video and the digipack inner cover). Furthermore, one of the images in the digipack is in fact a screenshot from the actual video itself, thus having a direct correlation to it, allowing the viewer to immediately recognize that the two are associated with one another. An editing technique which I used in both the video and in the digipack is the adjusting of the colour scheme. For example, almost every image had been saturated completely and increased in contrast and exposure. Therefore, in order to evoke the same feel of brightness I did the same in my digipack. I also decided to include a reoccurring motif in all of my ancillary texts, that being the ‘lollipop’ semiotic. Not only is this the title of the song, but it is also symbolic in many ways (it subliminally represents the notion of youth and how the sweet serenity of life can easily be sucked away, therefore we must embrace it). As a result of this, if the audience are attracted to such a sign they will most probably enjoy the video. 

THE WEBSITE 

The house style is also maintainedin the fan site which promotes the artist and their video.   This platform also contains the lollipop symbol several times throughout the site. I have chosen to do this as I hope that the audience member shall eventually associate the lollipop sign with the Mika’s hit song immediately after viewing it. Similar to the digipack, the website also includes screenshots of pictures from the music video as well as the video itself being embedded into the site so that it’s the first thing the viewer sees when entering the homepage. 

SYNERGY

At first, I found the task of combining various different agents together in order to promote the artist (Mika) and his song (‘Lollipop’) very difficult. However, once I had grasped the ‘feel’ of the song and the and themes it portrays, the direction became more clear. I aimed for all the products to be related through their; characters depicted (the young children); colour scheme (fully saturated); context (the park/ colorful living room/ studio); and the symbols (lollipops, roses, hearts, etc). 

MY EVALUATION P3

MY EVALUATION P4

DIGIPACK BACK COVER

For the back cover of the digipack I decided to use an image i took of several of the actors from the music videos' feet. This is because i felt as if it represented unity and growth which is one of the many themes this song represents. Furthermore, I edited the colour scheme in order to add a funky effect to the picture, thus reinforcing the vibrancy which embodies the music video. 

Then, through researching images of other digipack back covers I decided to make a list of some of Mika's tracks which would hypothetically be on this CD. Then i created the black border on the right hand side with the artist's name and album name on it as I noticed that this was a reoccuring element of many digipacks and thus, to maintain an authentic looking digipack, i followed this convention. Furthermore, I added a barcode as well as a number of music company logos that Mika is signed to, whilst also adding in my own logo which i created ('JB Productions). 

Here's an example of some of the digipack back covers which influenced the creation of my own one...

 

Here is the final product...

MAKING THE PROPS

In order to create a set as close to the 'imagined', synaesthetic one as possible, Lauren and I decided that it would be best to create as much of our own props as we could do so. The video below depicts this process....

GAINING AUTHORISATION

As Mika is owned by Universal studios, in order to gain authorisation we had to get in touch with this record label. Here is the email we received...

THE CD DESIGN

The photo below is of the cd I designed for the music (‘lollipop’) to be played through. 

In order to achieve this, I initially increased the saturation, hue, brightness and contrast of sweetie canvas image (as shown below). Then I created the shape of a circle with the tool key and used the ‘magic wand’ to merge the image into the round shape. I then used the tool key to create another, smaller, circle. This time I filled it white and placed it in the centre of the image, thus forming a CD look. I also added some images of placards that I had created on to this image to add to the funky effect (as shown below).

As a result of erasing the backgrounds of the placards, adjusting its brightness and contrast, and rotating them to align with the edges of the circle, the placards became incorporated into this design. 

When deciding on how to approach designing my CD, I had a look at some of Mika’s existing digipacks and CDs. This was very helpful as I understood the artistic pathway Mika intended for his fans to decipher through his creative work. He tended to be fond of colour and pop art. Therefore, I felt that it was essential to follow this convention of his. 

However, what makes our CD style differ to his is the   notion of youth and innocence it portrays rather than (as Mika does) ambition and freedom. 

THE INNER COVERS OF THE DIGIPAK

Seeing as my front and back covers are extremely colourful and vibrant, i decided that it would be nice to create a subtle contrast with the inside covers. Therefore, i chose to use one image, rather than many, and edit this effectively yet not to much...

For the left side of the cover I edited the photo of one of my actors holding roses (as shown below) simply by adding the sketch effect. 

This is what makes the image look graining and gives it a drawn on effect. In order to highlight some of the boys significant aspects (e.g. moustache and sunflowers on hat), i adjusted the contrast levels. Through using the rubber and changing it's effect to a smooth edged one, i  smudged the bottom area of the picture and filled the remaining parts of the square black so i could add the lyrics, "oh love's going to get you down..." in white font. 

 

For this photo I felt that, as there was so much already going on in the frame, abstract editing techniques weren't necessary this time. Instead, i increased the contrast, hue, saturation and definition and i also posterised the font on the placard (SING IT) which is why it looks somewhat shimmery. Furthermore, i created a lens flare in order to make the atmosphere seem warmer and happier. The glare starts in the left hand corner and there are 8 pink rays which, although difficult to see, added to the vibrant feel of this image. 

As a result of placing the two inner covers next to one another and observing how well the two looked next to eachother, I came to the conclusion that the images juxtaposed one another and therefore one of them had to be changed. Seeing as the front and back covers are extremely vibrant and colourfully edited, I decided that it would be nice if the inner covers were more simplistic (thus lacking abstract effects and font). Therefore, I chose to change the first image as it didn't fit this criteria. In order to do this I undid the effects and deleted the font. Instead I just increased the contrast, sharpened the image more and adjusted the hue, saturation and brightness. I ended up having created this...

DIGIPACK COVER

The video below depicts the process of how i developed a single image that i took of some lollipops to the final digipack cover....

This image is my final piece for the front cover of my digipack...

DECIDING ON WETHER TO USE THE ANIMATION

Having watched the raw footage of our animation and experimenting with it in our music video, Lauren and I concluded that it would be better off without this aspect. This is because of many reasons. For example, the lack of clarity and quality of this clip alone acted as a hindrance which would’ve broken the stream of well defined footage and moreover interrupt the audience’s concentration. Also, the position of the camera was slightly different each second, therefore making the animation appear unprofessional, which is not what we intended to do. Lastly, the animation itself lacked a clear correlation with the piece of music and thus, inevitably, we had to exclude this element of our planning from our final piece.

FILMING THE ANIMATION

In order to film the animation at a professional standard, an art a level student and friend of mine named Laura Imzayin kindly offered to participate in this process. She became the artist for our animated images. We filmed this over a two hour time slot in our school media suite, which provided us with high quality lighting and a convenient amount of space The camera was placed on the highest level of our tripod in order to create a birds eye view effect. In order to make the image seem animated, we filmed each item that Laura had drawn in separate frames, after she had drawn them, thus creating the illusion that the images were appearing on the screen without any reason. 

Here are some photos of the filming process...