FILMING

 Yesterday we got our filming done! The picture to the right shows where we decided to film the indoor shots of our artist performing. As he talks about home in the song it could either be read as his actual home or the place he feels at home when he is with the girl. This could act as both. We decorated the walls with picture frames to relate to the lyrics 'pictures still hung up' and the cameras hanging from the ceiling were also put there because of this as they take pictures. The use of The Beatles poster and sign were put on the walls to show not only that he likes them but his audience will too as indie bands and artists get a lot of influence from past musicians, and as a band they are popular within our artists audience whether it be through listening to their music or just wearing clothes with the signature name on. Other little items were put around the chair as they were retro pieces and would fit into that vintage style indie artists give the impression of. The old telephone was in there to represent the relation to calling her and use of phone lyrics in the song. Over all I think the use of props in this location was effective.

OVERLAY EDITING

To experiment with the photos that we have taken, I developed them further by overlaying photos to add extra depth. The result of this editing has produced some really different and unique outcomes.

ANALYSIS OF INDIE DIGIPACKS 4

These three back covers are for indie artists. They all contain have a bar code and links to the record company, and artist website as well as copy right text and company logos.

Fonts: Only three different fonts used, the 'Kate Nash' logo font as it's the artists name and the font for the title of the album and song list, then the font used for all the important text at the bottom.
Colours: Black and pink colour scheme used.
Composition: Everything is centered apart from the bar code which is oddly placed in the top right corner.
Content: No pictures, just a plain colour and text.

Fonts: Again, three different fonts used in four different sizes. The artist name is in her recognised font and the largest out of them all, then the album name is below in capital lettering, this is probably the same as it is on the front cover. The song titles are bold and in lowercase. The last font is for the important legal information at the bottom.
Composition: Everything is centered.
Colours: Black and white, monochrome colour scheme.
Content: No pictures, just all the necessary content and even a logo.



Fonts: Handwritten song titles and then two other fonts for the artist website links and important information.
Colours: Red and white.
Composition: Song titles are to the left, the rest of the text is centered to the left. Then the bar code is in the top right corner.
Content: Just a plain background and text with scribbles.

Fonts: A hand written style font for the song titles and small text font for the important info.
Colours: White and sky/sea blue.
Composition: Everything is centered.
Content: Just the song names, artist name, bar code and information on legal parts behind the album.










Fonts: The name of the Artist is in their signature font with the rest of the text in the same font. Lungs, the title of the album is in capital letters.
Colours: Black and white.
Composition: Everything is centered on the page with the bar code placed at the bottom right.
Content: Diagram of lungs and text, the background also looks textured.

Fonts: Same font used on the front and have been made smaller or bigger to contrast them. Simple font for the rest of the text. Bold, capitalised artist name.
Colours: Sky blue, pinks, black and white.
Composition: All centered. Then the barcode is on the right side centered.
Content: Picture of the artist, song titles and relevant text.

ANALYSIS OF DIGIPACKS 3

Artist: Ben Howard

Album: Every Kingdom

Colours: Blues and whites

Font: Large, simple, capitals. Artists name takes up a quarter of the album compared to the album name which is much smaller.

Editing: It looks as if it's been painted with watercolours which is significant as the image on the album is of a diver in the water.

Symbolism: By diving underwater it looks like Ben is travelling to another kingdom which relates to the album title 'Every Kingdom'.

Connotation: The image looks like he could be drowning or sinking or perhaps going to find something.

Composition: He is at the bottom of the image but in the centre. Even though he's not in the light he's still the focus.

Lighting: The top of the image is very light as it shows that he is diving down away from the sunlight.

Location: The location is underwater in the ocean.

INDIE DIGIPACKS.. FRONT COVERS

AUDIENCE RESEARCH RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS

We carried out an online survey in order to collect data from audience online and as we are aged in the average audience age groups of indie artists our friends on social networks are essentially our desired audience therefore we shared the link to our survey on twitter, facebook and tumblr.

1. How old are you?

2. Do you listen to music from the indie genre?

3. Define what you think the indie genre is.

• independence
• a genre full of music which can't be described solely as rock for example
• chilled/arty
• a genre which chooses to be against the mainstream. They usually create music which is not altered by a computer and the sounds usually come straight from the instrument. 
• a diverse genre that combines aspects from rock, acoustic and country.
• music that is not part of the mainstream conventions
• experimental music

4. What do you expect to see in a indie music video?

• vintage
• nothing specific
• orange tints, an individual artist and conceptual imagery
• lots of 'indie' clothing, for example casual attire 
• the artist playing/performing
• acoustic instruments, big emphasis on guitars
• outside setting, either in a little town or at  the countryside/beach
• unique concepts
• give of a retro feel, look as if it was filmed back in the 60's on film reel

5. How do you get your music?

From looking at the results we have collected, it is clear that the optimum age is between 18-24 however there is still a high interest with 15-17 year old. This correlates with our artist demographics research. Therefore, this age range is our target audience. As we asked the audience what they thought expected to see in an indie music video, we wanted to find out what they believe the indie conventions in a music video are so we can cater our music video to their needs. The most popular way our audience get their music is from Itunes and CD's, therefore we will have to offer bonus features for our digipack to be a success. Doing this gave us an insight to our audience and what we have to do to meet their criteria.

NARRATIVE WITHIN THE INDIE GENRE

In indie music videos there is a mixture of performance and narrative and the narrative is usually filmed in a different and somewhat contrasting location to the performance based footage. The narrative tends to link to a personal issue such as relationship problems rather than a widespread issue such as global warming as this makes the young audience able to relate to both the video and lyrics.

To be able to apply the concept of narrative theory to videos within my genre I'm going to look at a couple of indie music videos to gain a better understanding on how the narrative is portrayed and how the audience is positioned to identify with.

Kate Nash - Foundations

The video for the song shows the day 'and I know that I should let go but I can't..' They're holding hands just before these lyrics and then they stop holding hands during the words let go. There is also aspects of stop motion editing effect in the video as well which is relevant to us as as it is a technique we are thinking about using. The narrative is structured to be a casual, average day showing the relationship of the pair which relates to the lyrics as the artist talks about the 'cracks in our foundations'. Another reference to the lyrics is when she opens the fridge which is full of beer, and sings the lyrics 'have another beer then..' and where she says about being wound up, there is a footage of a toy being winded up. She's singing to the camera while still interacting and doing other things during the video. The conflict is basically about their relationship not going so well which is slightly reflected in the video when the socks separate and when they stop holding hands.

SIMILAR ARTIST DEMOGRAPHICS

Artists similar to our chosen songs artists genre and sound are Ben Howard, Paolo Nutini, Ed Sheeran, Jack Johnson, Bobby Long, Damien Rice, Jake Bugg, John Mayer, Benjamin Francis Leftwich and Jason Mraz. To have a look at  the different audiences that listen to artists similar I've looked at YouTube videos and Facebook pages in order to see the ages and sex of online audiences.

Ben Howard

I decided to look at the statistics of his song Keep Your Head Up which has nearly 5 million views, with the most popular places of viewing are in the  UK, Netherlands and Jersey with females aged between 13 to 24 years old being at the top of the demographics and also males aged between 18 and 24. Most of his views are referred from other videos of his or from his facebook page.  I think that he appeals to these age ranges especially because of the content of his songs, about relationships, break ups and tough times.

To back up these demographics I looked at his facebook like page on which the most popular age group was 18-24 which links in well with the top demographics from his   youtube songs.

He has well over 260 thousand likes on facebook with lots of people talking about him and people are able to keep up to date with gigs, new releases and any personal updates. A lot of the younger generations use these social networks so it makes a lot of sense to use them to stay in touch with the audience.

I also had a quick look at his twitter followers with near 170 thousand he doesn't have as many followers as likes on facebook but I think that is because the majority of his audience are aged between 18-24 so they are more likely to use facebook to keep updated about his music. There is also a clear mixture of males and females within his followers which shows he appeals to a mixed audience.

Damien Rice

Damien Rice, a slightly more established indie acoustic artist who sings and writes his own songs. Some of his most known songs are Cannonball, Blower's Daughter and Delicate each with over 2 million views.  

Damien Rice's video for Delicate on YouTube which has over 2 million views. His music is popular within the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland with the top demographics showing that females aged between 13-24 and males aged between 25-34 view him and his songs the most. To confirm this research statistics, we looked at Damien's Facebook like page where he has received 938,269 likes with the most popular age group being 18-24 years old.

Benjamin Francis Leftwich

The next artist we decided to research into the demographics of is Benjamin Francis Leftwich who is an indie acoustic artist as well. However he is less established and well known then Damien Rice yet this makes more similar to Lewis Watson, our chosen artist and fit in with the indie scene better.

Benjamin's YouTube video on the left for his song Atlas Hands received 1,322,917 views which is a fair amount less than Damien Rice but still more than Lewis Watson. Therefore this shows that he is an up and coming artist. His top locations in which he is popular in is United Kingdom, Jersey and Ireland. His top demographics are females aged between 13-24 and males between 18-24. These statistics are very similar if not exactly the same as both Damien Rice and Lewis Watson. However he differs from Damien Rice as he has only received 49,752 likes on Facebook which shows how he is less popular, as of present, than Damien.