PLANNING- Digipak Sketches

These are some of my planning ideas for digipak. I have tried to add in all the conventions but still missed a few such as addressing the audience with language such as 'don't miss out', 'available on'. these catchy phreases help to attract the audience to buy the music album. I have ideas for colour and I know what will fit perfectly as I will be experimenting more on photoshop which is why I haven't added any colour as these are only sketches. I have kept the genre and my narrative liked together because I believe that this link will help make my audience recognise my artist along with the music video and digipak.

PLANNING- Conventions of Digipak

1. What is a digipak?
It includes extras and names of tracks allowing its target audience to know more about its overall music video and giving more information on it.

2. What does a digipak net include?
It is a foldable case which contains the music CD, track list, lyric book and the main cover at the front.

3. What do we find on each sides of a digipak?
The front of a digipak includes the name of the artist and album name. The lyric book has lyrics of all the songs from the CD. In the middle is where usually the Cd goes. Finally, the tracks page which has has the names of each song, also the video and any extra website e.g. Facebook, this can be for promoting the album more especially in the modern society where technology can be used in many ways. It also has a record label, barcode and price, in some cases 'Parental Advisory' if the tracks are too explicit.

4. Is it important to have the artist on the front of digipak?
Yes, it is important for the artist's picture to be at the front in order to create their brand image so they can gain recognition.

PLANNING - Initial Ideas

PLANNING - Analysis of similar digipak

the examples below have similar brand identity to mine therefore, I have looked at some of the way the artist is posing, he does not have direct mode of address and the name of the album stands out. Use of the colour yellow is used as it stands out with the White background very well and makes it easy for the audiences to see. The only prop used on this cover is a guitar which may have been used in the main song thus showing this would attract audience and help to tell them more about the song and the personality of the artist which can help to create a brand image. This can also help to attract certain target audiences such as teenage boys.


This digipak is very dark and has a sinister look which is very similar to the type of digipak I want to create. It has used white colour for all the text in contrast to the dark background which makes it look very effective. The picture used on the front cover is off a soilder which helps to connote what the album is about and also helps to address the target audience of men who are interested in historical or old type of music.

PLANNING - Run Boy Run Analysis

In the video, we can see young school boy with lightweight backpack. Holding a wooden shield and a sword. His attitude is very confident like of a leader, but still inexperienced. 

The monster appear later on, the head and face are constructed from the skull of other animals. Its voiceless as we do not get to hear its shouting or roaring. On-screen, they appear violent and dangerous but are devotedly loyal to the Woodkid, in his service they will. 

RESEARCH - Similar Artist Analysis

For our Digipak research/analysis I researched into many different types of Digipaks. Then I researched into this one which is very similar to the theme of my Digipak and I started analysing how they created their Digipak. I looked at James Vincent Mcmorrow and analysed his Digipak of 'We Don't Eat'. I have looked at the colours, layout, font, image, genre, audience and representation of the artist himself. This helped in terms of looking at the techniques used to create a professional Digipak.

PLANNING - Risk Assessment

MUSIC VIDEO - Influential video

Below are the examples of music videos which I have looked at to get ideas of shots and mies-en-scene for my music video.

Bruno Mars - When I was your man
Only one artist, mid-shot, long-shot of the artist lip-syncing

Bruno Mars - Grenade
Locations are inside and outside
Editing is done to match with the music

Calvin Harris - I Need Your Love
Point of view shot from the car showing the road

• The Beach Boys
• The Beatles
• The Zombies
• Pop Tops
• The Rolling Stones 

PLANNING - Shot list

0-15 seconds = Slow music ( close-ups of objects in the café e.g coffee cups)

15-30 seconds = Singing starts ( mid-shot and close-ups of the boy looking around everywhere) 

30-37 seconds = Main beat music ( fast shots of the objects in the café mixed with nature e.g. trees)

37-51 seconds = Singing ( Close-up of the boy walking on the high-street)

52-58 seconds = Main beat music ( fast shots of the high-street mixed with nature e.g. the sun) 

59-1:13 seconds = Slow singing ( close-ups and mid-shots of the boy and his expressions)

1:14-1:27 = Main beat music ( Close-ups of his feet getting faster and running)

1:28-1:42 = Singing fast ( The boy through the trees in Alexandra palace)

1:43-1:56 = Main beat music ( Mid-shots and long-shots of Alexandra palace)

1:57-2:10 = Slow singing (Overview of London and the boy looking at it)

2:11-2:24 = Fast singing ( close-ups of eyes, jumping and singing)

2:25-2:32 = Main beat music fading ( Overview of London fading)


Here I have created a shot list which explains about the performance and time duration of my music video. This will help me to be organised and film everything according to my shot list which will not be time consuming and everything will go according to how I have planned it. I have carefully thought about every shot to show a variety of shot types. Also, this helped me in terms of my time management of the music video as my teacher had informed me that the music video should not be too long therefore I managed it well and also included everything which I wanted to hence I am satisfied with my final music video.

PLANNING - Storyboard

This is my storyboard, there are many other shots which I want to include in my music video however, due to my poor drawing skills I cannot draw all those thus I have written all the types of shots which I want to include on my shot list.

However I still was not very satisfied with my storyboard sketch and the shot sheet is helpful but not visually interesting to see thus, my friend suggested me to try another way to create my storyboard on storyboardthat.com and this website has helped me a lot to make my ideas more creative and present them in an innovative manner. Below is my improved storyboard with types of shots and explanation of what occurs in each scene.

PLANNING - Possible Locations (Google maps)

These are the possible locations I may be using for my music video. I have used different locations to create the contrast according to my storyboard and the lyrics of the song. The song is about 'Golden Age', therefore my concept is mainly showing the difference between urban and rural life by showing urban locations (Café and high-street) at the start and then moving towards the nature (Alexandra palace) by showing the trees and lots of greenery. The locations help me to show the concept of 'Golden Age' very well which is why the boy is running away from the urban society and wants to be more close to the nature. On the Google Maps, you can clearly see how massive the park is at Alexandra Palace, this makes my life very easy as it provides me with a huge amount of space to do my filming and show my artist's connection with the nature.

27/12/14
Today I have finished all my filming and editing. There have been many changes in my locations throughout my journey of filming. I did filming at Alexandra Palace and got some beautiful views of the palace, greenery surrounding the palace and the buildings of London which helped me to show the dichotomy between the urban and rural (natural) sides.
I also did some filming on the high-street and at Starbucks cafe but I did not take as many shots as I had planned due to odd timings and unexpected situations. I used all the shots from all the locations in my video therefore overall I am happy with my video in terms of showing the different locations and, using them in the correct manner as it matches with my genre along with the narrative of my music video.

PLANNING - Target Audience

The target audience which I choose for my music video are people aged 18+ which are mainly teenagers and young adults. People who are unemployed or depressed for any reason. This video explains how to find peace and joy in-spite of having extreme mental problems. However, in my music album he is running towards a place which he thinks is correct or the right environment for him - I have shown this to match with the genre and title of my music video 'Golden Age'. To explain the view point of greek poet, Hesiod, that people of urban yearn for arcadia (Golden Age), a place where everyone can spend time carelessly and the idea of shepherds and shepherdess living close to nature.

My target audience should be the people who are finding something positive in everything. Who's ambitions are to make something nice out of every opportunity they can get and in every community we can find such people for example, people who think more about the environment, help volunteer in their communities such as working for charities or giving money to charities, recycling things for the environment and future generations. In a nutshell, people who look after the society and care more about the nature rather than enjoying the leisures of urban world and not think about future generations due to the loss and wastage which we are making right now due to industrialisation and the affect of global warming which we will be facing in the later years.

PLANNING - Lyric Moodboard

                                                            "Run Boy Run"

                   Run boy run! This world is not made for you
                     Run boy run! They’re trying to catch you
                        Run boy run! Running is a victory
                             Run boy run! Beauty lays behind the hills

Run boy run! The sun will be guiding you
Run boy run! They’re dying to stop you
Run boy run! This race is a prophecy
Run boy run! Break out from society

Tomorrow is another day
And you won’t have to hide away
You’ll be a man, boy!
                                      But for now it’s time to run, it’s time to run!

Run boy run! This ride is a journey to
Run boy run! The secret inside of you
Run boy run! This race is a prophec
Run boy run! And disappear in the trees

Tomorrow is another day
And you won’t have to hide away
You’ll be a man, boy!
But for now it’s time to run, it’s time to run!


                                               Tomorrow is another day         
And when the night fades away
You’ll be a man, boy!
But for now it’s time to run, it’s time to run!

The highlighted lyrics in red are the important words by which my story of the music video is based around. 

Although the song is about running, my music video will be presented slightly differently which involves much more than just running or a chase sequence.
The highlighted words and sentences also helped me to come up with my narrative as they talk about the rural and urban side and its contrast. This idea is from the greek poet, Hesiod and I thought if i could take the basic concept of his idea and apply it to my narrative. I also had to think about the brand image of my artist hence I decided to show him as a person who is paranoid by all the noise and stress of the urban world and thus wants to move away from all this to a peaceful place and he finds this peace by being close to nature. Such pastoral idea has been very popular especially in English Literature. Therefore, I will be showing the artist surrounded within urban locations and then running towards the nature. 

PLANNING - Filming Timetable

This is the filming timetable which I created after discussing with my artist according to the times when we both are free. This time slot fitted really well and we were able to stick to it. Some changes occurred for example, on the first day when filming did not go as planned but still we managed to pull together everything and film all the things which were important.

PLANNING - Fimling Schdule

Camera booking

Filming on 30th November 2014

Filming on 5th-8th December 2014

Filming on the 15th-16th December 2014


These are screenshots of the permission requested for equipment booking. Throughout my filming process, I made many changes along with mistakes! Kindly, I got chances to improve my filming and learn from my mistakes to make my music video look better and improvise more.

The first filming did not go well because I went to film at Alexandra Palace, however there were fireworks going on which is why I did not get to film much on that weekend. This further delayed my filming and I had to rebook the equipments again.

PLANNING - Cast

I have only one person in my music video and all the narrative and performance revolves around him. Down below is the picture of my artist - Vishal

 He is a university student and a very great friend of mine. When I first explained him the idea and narrative of my music video he became more and more interested in it and started suggesting ideas of how I can improve my music video further. Some of the shots such as the last sucidical shot was suggested by Vishal and I liked it very much therefore, I added that in right at the very end as it also fits perfectly with my narrative and concept of the song itself too.
Vishal is an outdoor person and is very good with animals especially dogs. Having studied English literalture at A-levels, towards nature he has a very emotional connection and understands the importance of nature a lot. This embeds very well into my narrative thus I thought that he would be the perfect person for my music video as his expressions will come across being very realistic hence making my music video look much more authentic.

PLANNING - Music Video Pitch

Overall idea and Concept - A boy, running away from the urban lifestyle and finding life in the countryside close to nature. He believes that the city is very corrupt and a hard place compared to the beauty and easy life in the countryside. The idea of 'Golden Age', presented by Hesiod (Greek poet) symbolising the countryside as a place of peace and harmony.

Performance - The main artist in my music video is presented as very depressed and paranoid due to the urbanisation surrounding him. The song is called 'Run Boy Run', therefore his main performance is running, being isolated from the rest and finding peace in nature. There are no dance performances because I wanted to focus more on his character to reflect upon the idea of Golden Age.

Narrative - From the start, I have shown the artist being at an urban location (cafe) and then running off to somewhere far away where he can be close to nature (Alexandra Palace). I have used these locations to show the strong contrast between modern and natural places and this reinforces his changed feelings in bo9th places. In the cafe, he is just sitting almost being numb whereas in the park he is running and is more active - nature providing him energy.

Locations - I wanted locations which can reflect the song and its main idea of Golden Age. Therefore, I want to show the dichotomy between urban and country life. I am thinking of filming in cafe and on the high-street of Barnet to show the urban lifestyle. Also, to reflect on the countryside, I am thinking of filming in Hamstead  Heath park or Alexandra Palace which both are very rich in  natural beauty surrounding in those two locations.