Thank You Message For My Digipak

At first I wasn't going to add a thank you message onto the digipak as I didn't want that to detract the main attention of the message I want it to convey. Due to the fact that there are hardly any examples on the internet of Mayday Parade's album covers, I have had to improvise and go with my instinct on typical conventions you would see in a digipak. Therefore, looking inside other digipaks, I have noticed a common them of a thank you message, so I have decided to create my own based on typical conventions and what I have discovered about Mayday Parade themselves.

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Myself, Alex, Jeremy, Jake and Brookes have been doing this for over seven years now and although it seems like yesterday since we started out, it really has been such a long but worthwhile journey. 

 Through the hardship of losing a band member, frustrations with labels and what seems like hardly any breaks, we hope that we have delivered and proven to you, we are dedicated to you, our fans. No matter what, we will always make music and always be on the road. So to those who have been there supporting us from day one and others who have joined along the way, we can't thank you enough for being our pillar to success. Without you there would be no success, no albums, no us. So to you we are eternally grateful.

Another huge thank you to Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount, who both help produced our new album, as you guys have been there since the creation of our first album "A Lesson in Romantics". We really do appreciate the time and effort you have put in to help us produce our third full album. We never expected to get this far, but we know for certain that we will never turn back. 

To Fearless Records who have believed in us from the start, promoted all of our work and for never giving up on us like some others have, we are forever in your debt. We also appreciate the chance that the Independent Label Group took on us in recently signing us up. Many other labels that have let us down in the past may consider us a risk, but we will never let you or our fans down.

Lastly, thank you to all of our friends and family who have encouraged us to keep going and stay strong when we were all afraid everything was falling apart. Your motivation has kept us going, willing us to keep on writing songs, sharing our experiences and messages with you.

Now we have realised we just want to make music for the lovers of our music, we don't mind where we play or how much we sell because at the end of the day, your support will determine our overall success. Our journey as a band is no where near over and on behalf of Mayday Parade, I sincerely hope all of you will stick with us to see this through. Let’s build something beautiful together!

Derek, from Mayday Parade

Audience Feedback On First Draft Of My Digipak

I thought it would be a good idea to ask some students from my media course to ask their opinions on what they thought of my first drafts, ensuring that I am focusing on their desires.

To gain audience feedback, I printed off a questionnaire (including all of my drafts in colour on the piece of paper) asking for my peers to circle their favourite digipak combination and why. When I added up the results, 2 drafts had equal amounts of votes and therefore I thought it would be best to edit both combinations again, rather than pick just 1 out of the two, as my audience could change their minds and prefer a certain one on my next drafts. Here are the two combinations below that they liked:

They overall feedback I got from the questionnaire was that they liked the rose one for it's continuity within each panel and the liked the bottom one, due to the fact it follows typical conventions of Mayday Parade's existing album cover.

Although at first I would have liked to have had bright, bold colours on my digipak, the title of the album "The Memory" is about the past and therefore, I believe my peers are right in choosing the less saturated combinations, as they tie in well. Furthermore, the main themes portrayed on this album are songs about the past, reflecting on how love is a losing game. This is shown on all of the songs in my opinions but especially "The Memory", "Anywhere but here", "Bruised and Scared" and "Kids in Love". I believe the options that I have narrowed it down to, thanks to my target audience are the right choices.

Next Steps:
For my second drafts there are a few alterations that I will need to make in order for my digipak to look more realistic. For instance, I will need to:

• Change the font of "The Memory" on the front cover, as it is not the same as the one I used on my advertisement poster (need to ensure I keep continuity throughout all of my products.
• Add text onto the back cover e.g. song list and references at the bottom.
• Add a barcode onto the back cover and record labels.
• Add a thank you note onto the blank outside cover (on the left) to add more information onto the digipak.

First Draft Of My Digipak

As I have mentioned in my previous "Digipak Research" post, Mayday Parade's existing albums go against particular conventions you would expect from "normal" digipaks. For instance, the most common feature that you would usually see on a digipak is the artists face, however  with all of my band's existing covers this isn't the case. Although I may be going against typical conventions from other artists, I am sticking to Mayday Parade's conventions for their albums.

The layout I have chosen for my digipak is to have six panels, where you have the front cover on the right, the back side in the middle and the right outside cover is on the left (so it's a backwards design really!) This was the only way I could visualise the digipak working and I believe it looks best like this.

Now that I have collected my ideas of my digipak from my drawings, I decided to bring them to life by taking pictures of each shots that I scribbled down. I am trying to ensure that I link all of ancillary tasks together with my music video. As my song is called the memory, I believe the pictures I have taken and shots I have edited work well with the theme. Here are my of examples that I have been working on:

Outside Cover:
I ended up creating rather a lot of drafts as I was undecided on which ones I preferred, so I thought I'd make as many as I could (by looking back at my drawings) and ask my peers which ones they like to help my come to a conclusion.

Outside cover (left), Back cover (middle), Front Cover (right)

Outside cover (left), Back cover (middle), Front Cover (right)

I personally like the rose combinations, as for me they tell a story. Although by looking at them you would just see them as having a rose in someones hands or petals blowing away in the wind. However, the message I am trying to convey (represented by the rose in their hands -front cover), how the couple were in control of their relationship at first as well as implying their future is in their hands. Therefore, one decision or wrong move can change everything, which I believe it represented in my music video. The use of the rose petals blowing in the winds, suggests that the memories they once had are disappearing before their eyes and that they are no longer in control of the situation. This again links to to my music video to the part when she gets run over, as there is nothing he can do to bring her back and create anymore memories with her.

Outside cover (left), Back cover (middle), Front Cover (right)

Outside cover (left), Back cover (middle), Front Cover (right)

 Although these drafts look rather similar, I did try to differentiate them by using different images of the dandelions. This was mainly down to the fact I was undecided which looked best. In a way these two drafts represent the same ideas as the rose ones, because it displays their love losing to the hardships of life. In this case the dandelion seeds are losing to nature (the wind) which can occur on any random day. This I believe is represented in my music video as the one argument the couple have, forces her to leave the house out of frustration. This causes her to make a split second decision of whether she should turn back and apologise or go and by her choosing that path she lost her life to the unexpected evident that sometimes occur randomly in life (just like the wind/weather in a way).

Outside cover (left), Back cover (middle), Front Cover (right)

Outside cover (left), Back cover (middle), Front Cover (right)

These two drafts are my memory combinations. As I am aiming to ensure my products link together, I thought it would be a good idea to use some of the props that I used in my music video to feature on my digipak e.g. bubbles and their memories. The use of the pictures being torn up convey how that not all love stories are like fairy tales and have a happy endings; break ups can occur and love is lost. Although my music video takes the losing love to the next extreme, it proves the point that unexpected occurrences can happen and that one decision can change both of their lives. I'm not totally convinced that the combinations still work together and achieve the message I am hoping for, however, I can ask my peers what they think as well as keep experimenting with options if I wish. 

Outside cover (left), Back cover (middle), Front Cover (right)

Outside cover (left), Back cover (middle), Front Cover (right)

These two drafts are yet again rather similar, as I have kept some of the pictures the same. I decided to do this as I was unsure which combination worked the best. The main reason I used these pictures in these drafts is mainly because of the fact the puddle scene is included in my video and I have to keep continuity throughout my products. Linking back to Mayday Parade's existing albums too, they all seem to feature the "umbrella man" or the red umbrella, so I found myself a red umbrella and use my talent to star and recreate the image. By keeping to these conventions, I believe they not only look similar to ones you would find from the band, but also links you to the music video, causing the link, which could enable a bigger promotion of sales. 

Inside Covers:

I only created 2 drafts of my inside cover, as I was more decisive in what I wanted to produce. The main idea I had was to have one picture that I could split into three sections to keep continuity. Like I mentioned in my "Digipak Research" I particularly liked Rihanna's digipak that has a picture of her spread out on the three panels, which I would like to recreate. So this is why I choose these two photos.

Inside left cover (left), Inside middle cover (middle), Inside right Cover (right)

Although dandelions don't feature in my music video, this does convey the messages of their memories fading away which is portrayed in the song. Also the album I am recreating "anywhere but here", which features "the memory" in, has a common theme of losing to love or an end to something. So I thought by having a dandelion full of seeds, shows the start of love and by it being bare at the end, leaves the idea that the characters are left with nothing and their love is now gone. 

Inside left cover (left), Inside middle cover (middle), Inside right Cover (right)

I decided to create this draft, as this picture happened to be one of the images that I put in my scrapbook and also them departing from each other is included in my music video as well. I also believe this is the clear picture that displays the aim I am trying to convey. As they are literally separating from each other, shows they are walking away from their chances of love to continue. Additionally, this is a perfect example of a image I could use and split into three sections to encapsulate my idea with.

Conclusion:

I would say that the drafts that I have produced, link well with my music video as puddles, rain, pictures, memories, bubbles etc do feature in my final product. Although I do believe that all of my drafts are able to convey the message I am hoping for, so are more effective than others. At the end of the day, I need to think about my target audience, as they would be the ones who initially buy my end product, so I need my ideas to appeal to my peers. Therefore, I think my next steps will be to ask people to look at my blog and say which ones appeal to them most so I can add text onto my next drafts. 

Representations My Music Video Produces

Throughout my music video I tried to keep to the true representations and ideologies of how couple act when in a relationship. In my video there are two characters, one boy and one girl, who are in a relationship, however, it hits breaking point with an arguments resulting her leaving the house.

The girl: 
During the happy memories of their relationship she is represented as a bubbly and happy individual spending time with her boyfriend. However, as they get into an argument, she shows a different side by standing her ground and not being perceived as weak and vulnerable woman which many people would have stereotypically thought her to be (throughout history). I think if I had stuck to the stereotypical woman I wouldn't be display a true representation of women from this current day.

The boy: 
Throughout their happy memories he is perceived as a "loved-up" teenager whose girlfriend is his world. This is particularly shown when he is left on his own to carry on life without her, as he can't seem to cope (due to the fact he is constantly looking back at the past). Additionally, this is displayed mainly when he looks for comfort in the scrapbook and constantly reminiscing of the happy times they once shared together. The scene where he has his head in his hands, portrays him as heartbroken and I believe this is how a guy would act if he had lost his first love.

The couple:

The boy and girl together, are represented as a stereotypical couple who are "lovey dovey" during the happy memory moments. Like the majority of couples, they have arguments and make up. However, they don't get the chance as she gets run over, which in a way is an unstereotypical representation of a "break up".

Representations:
By sticking to true representations of both of the characters, I believe that my target audience where able to emphasise with the storyline I created. Although it is not an everyday occurrence to have your loved one get run over, the message I am trying to perceive is how one decision can have an huge impact on someones life. Not only this, but couples who have gone through arguments and feel similar regret like in the video, understand how the protagonist wishes he could take things back that were said between them. However, as showed in this video, it is not always easy to do, as people can leave your life as quickly as they entered. The use of argument scene especially, helps creates a "likability" from the audience for the characters as they maybe able to relate to this regretful situation, which I believe provokes emotion while watching the video. The audience feel sympathy for both character, but more so the male, as the song is sung from his perspective and point of view.

Relating back to my video, I believe that I used most of the uses and gratifications that I mentioned earlier in my previous post. Firstly, I ensured that I linked my music video into informing a hidden message of "how one decision can change the rest of your life ", so that satisfied my audience "seeking advice on practical matters or opinions and decision choices". Although  though the music video doesn't entirely tell people what to do in these sort of situations, but shows that life is unexpected and that anything can happen. In a way it also reinforces the idea that there are a variety of choices in life you can make just be careful on which one you choose as it could change both you and others lives forever, which I think it was Mayday Parade were trying to convey in the lyric of this song.


I would say that my audience were able to gain personal identity from my video, as they can relate to how either character was feeling if they have lost a loved one before. Although this situation doesn't occur everyday it does suggest that people can lose love at any point in their life, whether they are young or old. I believe the title itself "memory" has a strong message that works well with the lyrics and this is why I represented my music video in this way. Additionally, my peers could even feel a sense of satisfaction knowing that someone is going through the same emotions as they are (losing someone dear to them). It may be a storyline and a fictional music video in a sense, but people have a tendency to use music video as a form of escapism of their lives.


Furthermore, I would say that my music video links well to social interaction and integration. This is mainly down to the fact I tried to gain an insight into unexpected circumstances that could happen to others during their lifetime, which I feel evoked empathy for others. I think I was able to gain empathy for the characters in my music video, as a variety of people did cry towards the end, implying they felt it was a realistic situation. I also believe my music video identified with others, as if people had gone through this situation or whether they had just lost to love they would be able to  gain a sense of belonging. Due to the fact, my music video has a touching twist to the end, no one really expected it as they assumed it would be your "typical" break up video. However, once they had discovered this, I overheard a variety of people talking to their friends about it, heightening the fact word of mouth was present here and they did enjoy watching it.


Lastly, as music video are primarily used for entertainment purposes, I would like to think that I didn't disappoint on this factor. I also think I achieved ritual pleasures, with the shots that I used in my music video. This means that people recognised typical conventions you would see in music video like the lip syncing involved in mine. Overall, I feel this I was able to create a successful music video that people enjoyed watching, as well as ensuring they appreciated the message behind the lyrics.

Audience Feedback On My Final Music Video

As I am making my music video to appeal to my desired target audience, I thought what better way to see what they thought of my coursework than to ask them 3 questions on what they thought about my video, once they had watched the final product. Here are their feedback below:

I also decided to film Tom and Sam's (my talent) opinion on what they liked and enjoyed performing in my music video. I was intrigued to discover if my audience (that I had already asked) enjoyed watching the same bits of my music, that my talent's did too when performing the scenes out. Here are their responses:

On reflection to my audience feedback:
Although no-one particularly said they could personally relate to this story, I do know of many relationships that have broken down and due to that one decision things have change dramatically, which was what I was aiming to create in my music video. Referring back to the uses and gratifications theory by Blumler and Katz, I would say that my music video purpose was for the audience's entertainment, as well as creating a diversion from their everyday lives and maybe even people occasionally finding themselves reflected in the text (personal identity).

Overall, I had to take into the consideration of everyone's reception of my music video. According to the reception theory (based on Stuart Hall's work) the text (produced by myself) can be decoded by my  audience in different ways. Therefore, I had to use recognisible codes and conventions to ensure my audience understood the music video and what message I was conveying. On reflection to my audience feedback (above), I believe that all of them decoded it in the way I wanted them to, which was a sad break up music video with a traumatic, yet shocking twist. I don't think that my text was aberrantly decoded as no one didn't understand the concept of my music video, so in conclusion, I would say I created a text which a preferred reading.

My Final Music Video

In comparison to the previous full music video (Fourth Draft) I believe the transition from the protagonist pressing the remote to control the projections on the wall, is a lot more obvious for the viewer, as they can tell where the memories are coming from. I think this is a big improvement compared to my last draft, because if my target audience did not know the storyline, they may not of understood the projection scene, but now that I have re-filmed it, I believe it is easier to follow. Here is my final draft of my music video!:)

Photos For The Digipak

Today in my free study periods I thought it would be the best oportunity to start taking my digipak photos. I asked one of my friends who also had the same study periods as me so I was able to director her in what I needed doing whilst I took the pictures. I also needed my talent Tom to come over so I was able to take the second half of the photos with him in (e.g. the reflection in the puddle and walking in the rain with the umbrella etc). Here is a slide show of all the original photos that I took:

After looking at Mayday Parade's existing albums and single covers, I thought it would be best to edit the original photographs in a cartoon styled fashion on www.picmonkey.com. Here are my chosen images that turned out the best in this style and the possible pictures that I will most probably use for my digipak.

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I thought it would be a good idea to show how I created the cartoon/animated feel to the picture from the original photos.

Here is one of the original picture of the rose I took in my garden. I decided to have a look at all of the effects you get on the picmonkey website and see if they had any cartoon/animated style. I came across the "posterize" effect on the left had side.

Once I had messed around with the levels of colours, amount of detail and how much to fade the pictures by, I ended up with this (above) as the final product.