Dear Moderator

This is my G324 Advanced Portfolio for Media Studies. 

Here are a list of links to the different sections of my blog:

• "Whatever Happened To Rock'N'Roll?" by the Mojokings [Final Cut]
• "Whatever Happened To Rock'N'Roll?" by the Mojokings [Rough Cut]
• Ancillary texts, [Poster] and [Digipak]

• Research Posts [Click Here]
• Planning Posts [Click Here]
• Digipak Analyses [Kitty In A Casket - Bittersweet] & [Jack Rabbit Slim - Won't Stay Down]
• Music Video Analyses [The Brains - Misery] & [Graveyard Johnnys - Dead Transmission]

Evaluation Questions:

• Written Blog Post - [Question 1]
• Directors Commentary - [Question 2]
• PowerPoint - [Question 3]
• Poster - [Question 4]

All my other posts that are not listed above can be found under the appropriate section headings to the right.

I hope you enjoy looking through my A2 Media blog and find my posts engaging and informative.

Russell Dewing.

Evaluation Question 4 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Click on the images to enlarge. 

For best quality click on the link to slideshare and view in full screen: http://www.slideshare.net/rdewing4nrs/evaluation-question-4-60408229

Evaluation Question 3 - What have you learned from your audience feedback?

NOTE: FOR BETTER VIEWING QUALITY WATCH IN FULL SCREEN!

External link to my PowerPoint: http://www.slideshare.net/rdewing4nrs/evaluation-question-3-what-have-you-learned-from-your-audience-feedback-59931302

Evaluation Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

External link to my video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCx-RsniUgc

Script:

My Digipak and Poster were the first thing that I created and I wanted there to be links between all three of my products so naturally the themes from these texts influenced the look and style of my music video. I knew that I wanted consistency throughout my media products so that it would be clear that they were all part of one promotional package as opposed to three individual pieces. Whilst keeping the images similar I still wanted it to be easily identifiable as separate pieces of work. By keeping the three pieces to a consistent style it created synergy between the products. It should clear be that all the products were from the same promotion and all for the same artist. If my products weren't linked in terms of style then it may not be clear to audiences that they were promotions from the same artist/ album, additionally it might cause them to be confused as to the image of the band. If they were different then people buying the album would not likely make the connection between that the poster and the music video. It would neither look professional if all the three pieces looked different as it would paint an unclear image of the bands style and would be less memorable to the consumer/ the bands audience. By paying attention to synergy it has helped with the convergence of my media products bringing together the different platforms, for example on my poster it gives a QR code linking to the Mojokings website, it also references other online platforms such as their social media accounts which allows the audience to take their experience of the bands music even further (these links are present on the back of my digipak too).

When creating my products there were a few things which I used and included to make it clear the advertising was for the specific artist and would appeal to wider audience of the Psychobilly genre. The font used in my music video and ancillary texts was consistent throughout. Typography was a key feature that helps link my products together. I used a 1950's movie poster style font called TrueCrimes linking back to the roots of the genre. This font was used as the cover on my digipak and throughout as well as the titles on my advert, this also links to my music video as the same font was used in the television screen at the beginning and end of the video. The text was formatted to appeal like it is coming out at the viewer specifically in my poster in the line "NEW ALBUM OUT NOW!!!". This was also done with the text in the bottom-right-hand-corner "PUNKED UP... JUNKED UP... ROCK 'N' ROLL!" which is one of the Mojokings original slogans referencing their origin. Initially in my rough-cut I had used a different font style but I decided to change this for my final-cut as it looked more typical for the genre plus it was the same as I chose for my poster & digipak. It was important to keep consistent with the fonts in order to keep the product looking professional again this creates the idea of synergy throughout the products.

As my video was a performance based video I wanted to be a bit more creative and concept based for my ancillary products. I decided to use a female character as the icon of the album and advert, creating a star-motif for the album and the band. It is quite common for bands of the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly genre to use women as the brand/ icon for an album for example The Rhythm Shakers album "Voodoo" and Hillbilly Moon Explosion with their first album. The use of the scratches/ scribbles is a reference to a band The Peacocks who used this style for their 2010 album "After All" this element shows off the frantic and 'rough round the edges' style of the Psychobilly genre. The idea of having the torn edges contrasts the main image which is very pure and untouched in terms of overlaying graphics but by having a ripped effect it gives the rough look it contrasts to the clean cut of a normal album cover making it stand out.

The way in which the face is partially hidden links to the conventions of the genre. By having the face concealed it adds to the element of mystery which many characters featured on Psychobilly albums have; and you could also say that the unseen face is a metaphor to the genres references of going against society and rebellion, not being confined by convention. The character featured is dressed in a 50's vintage pinup look which is a typical look for Rockabilly/ Psychobilly women. In addition this look references the genres root from 1950's Rock 'N' Roll." We can clearly see the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly style with the bands t-shirt featured again as well as vintage style jeans and 'suicide roll' hairstyle. This is continuing the reference to the look of female Rockabilly/ Psychobilly followers. The background for my poster & digipak is a plain wall which acts as a contrast to the text and the character stood up against it. For the advert the wall was given a patterned background which is in the style of classic 1950's movie/ music posters.

The use of a female character goes against typical representation in the sense of the audience of the band. The main fans of the psychobilly stereotypically tend to be middle-aged men (as gathered from my audience research), so to show a younger female character on the front of my digipak shows a more accurate mixed age and gender fanbase to what is stereotypically a male dominated music scene as oppose to the image of the female character being simply for the pleasure of viewing for men being seen as an object as stated in Mulvey's Male Gaze theory it goes deeper promoting the more diverse music genre of both male and female, old and younger audiences who all identify as Psychobilly.

My ancillary texts do however still reference the music video production with the use of colour. The colour-scheme is different and controversial as I deliberately subverted from the genre convention which typically use warm colours such as red, orange and yellow which is keeping in with connotations of fire. To keep my work the same I went for a blue, black and white colour scheme for my ancillary texts as well as making it the main theme in my music video. For my poster/ advert I have attempted to reflect the same style throughout so that they go together as a whole package, this has proven a successful strategy for other bands such as The Graveyard Johnnys with the release of their album and promotion for Dead Transmission, they also went for an alternative blue poster promotion which is mainly where I took my inspiration for the use of colours. The inside of the digipak links to the video as it was taken from the same performance. Overall through the use of text and filters I have attempted to recreate a vintage-style poster which is the main look for adverts/ promotions for the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly genre. An example of having reference to old style movie posters is an advert for the Psychobilly Mayhem event. My digipak is reflective of the live performance style of the music video which can be seen in the inside cover of CD.The image itself was selected at is is capturing the energy and enthusiasm each member of the band put into their performances. It is a good quality picture which shows all the members individually clear enough as well as an action shot of all three members. The effects used on this image are the same style as the ones used in my music video with the rougher looking blue static filters. Also with my digipak I used another photo which is reflective of my music video, this is on the inside right which is where the CD would be placed. It shows the kick-drum which is featured in my music video frequently as it is a key motif of the bands live performance image. Staying on the use off effects I decided to keep with the idea of using vibrant colours and the rough garage style as it references the bands punk influences. By having the pieces link up this creates a shared-narrative across the work. It is clear that the shots on the inside of my digipak are similar to the music video, and for my ancillary texts while the images are slightly different it is clear the photos on the front & back of my digipak are the same style as the image used as the main feature on my advert creating a split between referencing the video and the concept of star motif with the female character.

Evaluation Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My media product does conform to the genre and image of the band. However in some areas I have tried to play on the norms and challenge some conventions. The idea was to create something that is typical to the Psychobilly music genre but give it a unique edge over current videos. The video style is pretty typical of the genre as seen from my earlier music video analyses the live performance is very popular for the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly genre as watching a band play is a big part of the scene as oppose to just listening to the music they want feel like they are there and get to know the atmosphere is like an artists gig. Since this was a key factor of the genre in terms of music videos I decided to conform to this idea. However since this was the norm for most music videos in this genre I wanted to make sure it stood out; to do this I used special effects and animations. One example of this was the blue filter and static effect used on certain shots to emphasise lyrics and parts of the song.  The use of colour itself was different as most videos (e.g. Graveyard Johnnys - Dead Transmission) tend to stick to using black and red keeping to warm colours which connote energy. This meant that something with the visual effects like my video would stand out as in early research I could not find any music videos or digipak's which mainly are blue. The use of animation was also something a bit different as it isn't commonly used for Psychobilly music videos. This again would make the product stand out by having imagery from the 1950's in terms of the television screen and the use of the old-fashioned static for my transitions between some shots. I believe the use of rougher shots and visual effects also are reflective of the bands distinct sound. The reason I decided to conform to some

conventions of the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly music genre was to gain some form of realisation and acceptance from the bands audience. If it did not have any connotations or themes of what was typical for the genre then it would not be recognised by fans nor would it be accepted. On the other hand some boundaries have to be broken and some conventions subverted in order to keep the product fresh and unique which was one of the key things wanted out of a music video by my target audience.

Hidden identity references the
theme of rebellion.

The themes in the Psychobilly genre are very distinct in terms of the sound and how it differs from other genres of music. It incorporates elements from punk/rock with classic 1950's Rock'n'Roll/ Rockabilly with the influences of the standup slap-bass (double bass). The Mojokings embrace this sound and combine it with hints of other genres such as garage to make their sound different. Because of this it was important to show and give reference to the bands diverse sound but most importantly the bands roots which was Rockabilly. Their songs most strongly depict the lifestyle of the 50's and those modern-day fans who live the 1950's Rockabilly/ Psychobilly lifestyle as well as older images of teenage rebellion and standing up against society which are common themes from their vintage punk influence. The audience of the Mojokings are typical to these themes with the music not just being an interest but a lifestyle i.e. it is reflected in the way they look and dress. Their song "Whatever Happened To Rock'n'Roll?" is the best track to sum up the bands sound and it brings out all of their influences in terms of the sound (how they play) and in their lyrics (talking about teenage rebellion against their parents and society and the roots of Rockabilly with the new age of music after Elvis Presley). There are clear references to the idea of rebellion and I attempted to reflect this in terms of having the TV style in the music video which is going out of control with the static and changing colour, it's like the song is breaking out of the boundaries of typical charts music. Since this was a key theme for not only the song but the band in general I continued with it in the digipak and poster featuring a teenage character who is standing in contrast with the Mojokings t-shirt against a plain wall, the idea of rebellion is shown with the typical female Rockabilly clothing and hairstyle which is different to typical modern looks. I also attempted to convey this through the scribbled effect on these other products which hides the characters identity going against the norms of how people are typically shown on these formats (i.e. their identity isn't usually hidden) and it also gives the rougher  punk look of which the band are so heavily influenced by. They also energy and the powerful sound of the music the lyrics "chaos on the airwaves" which I have attempted to reference with fast cut shots and showing the band performing. You could argue that the use of colour in all my products rebellious themes of the band as it is going against the norms of the genre in order to be different and stand out with after all is a key part of the genre. With the music video the use of the visual effects shows the energy of the genre with the effects coming in at specific points where the lyrics are strong or at key sound points in the song for example with the powerful lyrics "Whatever happened to selling your soul? Whatever happened to Rock 'n' Roll?" the timing was so that it emphasises the song at particular points.

There aren't particularly any messages in the video as it could be seen as just a straight forward performance video, there is no narrative as such however the performance itself could be classed at the narrative as you obviously expect there to be a beginning and end to the band performing. It is more realistic than other types of music video as the intention is to captivate the audience with fast unusual shots. The idea is to put the viewer of the video in the perspective that they are at the performance watching the band where the only focus is listening to the music and viewing the members of the band playing the song. The lyrics speak more than the video and the imagery that these lyrics give off are a big part of the song which is why at kay point in the track I focused on the singer of the band so the

audience can see him saying the lyrics. There is however a clear style throughout my video in the terms of the retro 50's TV style and the static cuts in between shots it make it seem like the music video has taken over and is being broadcast to the world. The blue static style shots are highly influenced by my digipak/ poster productions to reflect those and to to give the idea of the TV going out of control, like the energy and style of the music is too much for it to cope with; this is also seen in the more contrasting static shots as transitions between shots as they are deliberately different to the ones at the beginning and end of the video as when the song starts it's like it's affecting the whole TV broadcast. Also the rougher look for the static fits in better with the bands image and the images I was trying to convey in the video. Sticking with the visuals in terms of the TV theme whilst I did not want the footage to be in black and white like early televisions I used colour balance in Final Cut to manipulate the shots so that they looked rougher and slightly faded to still coincide with the vintage style, I did not want to go for black and white for the video parts in between the blue as the colours picked up from the raw footage look so great I did not want to lose them. In addition the vibrant colours like in my video are typically used in psychobilly music videos when looking at live performances. Examples of this can be seen in real media products such as the music video Vienna Calling by The Bloodsucking Zombies From Outerspace.

The video also is a real media example of how the vintage style filter
look has  been used in contrast with the highly vibrant live performance shots.

The editing is a key part of the process in a Psychobilly video. The music tends to be very fast pace which requires a lot of fast changing short shots. I have attempted to conform to this in my video making sure the pace of the music is reflected in the shots, for example keeping moderately fast throughout and at areas where the music slows down I used longer shots with less cuts in between, and finally towards the end I used lots of short-cuts to make the audience feel more excitement and feel the tension as the music speeds up before it finishes. Some shots were repeated in order to create a norm for the video and helps establish certain shots in the mind of the viewer e.g. the lyric shots were repeated in parts as well as some shots of the double bass as it was more prominent in the sound track. Since it was more noticeable in the song I decided to use that shot so it shows the instrument. Also with the editing I had to use clips from different angles piecing it together, this helped with the pace of the video but also keeps the audience interested in the video as it better than just a continuous shots from straight on. Another part of the editing process which is crucial for live performance video in general as well as Psychobilly is matching the audio (the sound track) to the footage (the performance). Lipsyncing was challenging as of course the performances live can never be identical to the studio recordings, however the band were very good in their performance and with some adjustments to timing in the shots I managed to match up the lyrics as well as all of the instruments being played which was used very effectively in specific parts in accompaniment with the special effects. I also done some audio editing by overlaying old fashioned broadcast style static noise over the "Whatever Happened To Rock'n'Roll?" soundtrack to reference the static theme again and to continue with the retro TV idea. This was faded in at the beginning over the top of the sound track saying "Rock'n'Roll has got to go" and also briefly at the end when the closing title appears and the TV goes to turn off.

Whilst I did not have control of this there was low key lighting used in my video which adds to the contrast to the bright colourful stage lights. In terms of editing and special effects I used the darkness to my advantage and emphasized it by tuning up the contrast in my shots. It is typical to have low key lighting in the videos for the Psychobilly genre as it references a lot of the influences of the genre like old Horror movies or 50's B movies. On the other hand the contrast with bright flashing lights which references the other influences Sci-Fi. Most videos also do this as it helps the audience see the band better as they are the ones who are highlighted by the lights and most live performances at venues use this effects.

The themes of the soundtrack in music video relate to Levi Strauss' theory of Binary Opposites. The most common binary opposites we see are in film and tv shows, typically themes such as Good v Evil/ Hero v Villain. In terms of my music video it references the idea of rebellion which is Young v old or could be seen as children against their parents (teenage rebellion) or the sense of uprising in democracy against politicians. If the Psychobilly genre was to have it's own binary opposite it would likely be Psychobilly v Social Norms as this is the theme most videos and the songs reference i.e. being independent and totally different from other forms of music and genres.

In terms of the digipak and poster you could relate the theory of Mulvey's Male Gaze. This theory concentrates on 1) how men look at women 2) how women view themselves and 3) how women look at other women. It is typical to feature female characters on the advertising and image of the band as it both shows the female support for the Psychobilly scene but also appeals to the mainly male audience in terms of enjoyment to view/ watch. In terms of how women would look at themselves and other women the theory states that they are interested in what the characters look like i.e. their costume which in this form advertises the band. This is typical also of Rockabilly/ Psychobilly bands to have women advertise their products as it both attracts males and females. This use of a female character for the album and poster has also been done by the Mojokings before to promote their first CD; my product therefore conforms to the bands own style as well as that of the genre. The overall idea in terms of how the female character was presented was to give the 50's vintage pinup style look, which is a typical look for Rockabilly/ Psychobilly women. Real media text examples for the use of female characters used in the promotion of posters can be seen in the Live & Jive music weekender poster (see right). In terms of digipak's it can be seen in the album Kiss & Hell by Kitty In A Casket.

Overall my media product exploits a variety of forms and conventions of real media products of the genre and the live performance style music video. For example the type of footage and the style is very typical of the Psychobilly genre which is what I intended. I also made the other products clearly part of the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly style but with a twist in terms of how they are presented. Although in some cases my media product subverts from the norms and conventions of the genre as I wanted to make my products different and make them stand out, like breaking from the mould of convention with the unique colour scheme across my video and also my other texts (the digipak and poster). It is up to the audience to see what they take from the video as it is a live performance video they can chose to be active and pick up on the themes of the video and the lyrics of the song or they could be passive and simply enjoy the video for entertainment or escapism. 

Influences for my Music Video

The vintage TV style filters used in-between the brighter live performance shots and close up action shots of the instruments of the band. The flicking between colourful and older looking shots like in my music video between the bright blue shots this goes between colour, vintage colours and black and white effects.



The technical use of the Nikon D3200 to record for this music video showed the capabilities of the camera being able to film in low key lighting to a fast and strenuous pace. Also being able to cope with the live performance element of recording. Also their video Dead Transmission influenced me in the use of the broadcasting old TV/ Radio effects and the use of the static in the background of the performance gave me the idea of having similar effects in my video for some cuts in-between shots.



Gave me ideas for possible shots that could be used for example the close up shot of the singer and the low angle shot of the double bass playing. It again gave me the idea of filming at a live performance as it gave across the energy and the bright colours of the stage lights. Also gave the initial idea of filming from the point of view from the audience (however in the final cut I decided against this as I did not have enough necessary footage).



Having the manual focus option to be able to blur and focus shots quickly for effect. Also this video is partially performance which further showed how typical it is for the genre. This video gave me the main inspiration for the distorted shots.

Final Production [Music Video]

This is my final production for the Mojokings track "Whatever Happened To Rock 'N' Roll?"

From my rough cut I have improved the visuals in the shots to make them look more vintage as well as attempting to control certain aspects from the lighting in specific shots to again enhance the shots so they look more professional. To link in with my other products I have used visual effects to tint the shots and added static to make them look like a vintage TV screen. Additionally I have used the image from the beginning of the video again to give the video a distinct end with the shot looking like an old-fashioned television turning off.

A post from the Mojokings Facebook page sharing/ promoting my music video!!!

Magazine Advert/ Poster

For my magazine advert/ poster idea I have continued with the blue theme from my Digipak. I have attempted to reflect the style of the album in this so that they go together as a whole package which has proven a successful strategy for other bands such as The Graveyard Johnnys with the release of their album and promotion for Dead Transmission, they also went for an alternative blue poster promotion which is mainly where I took my inspiration for the use of colours. The advert reflects the new CD (my digipak) which it is promoting as well as the band in general. The image used was taken at the same time as my digipak featuring the same Mojokings fan/ pin-up style female character as the front and back cover of the CD. Like my other images it was taken using my Nikon D3200 camera and edited mainly on PIXLR.

This is the unedited original photo used for the poster above.
Taken on my Nikon  D3200 DSLR camera.

To create the edited image I went on PIXLR.com and used their tools (which are similar to that of Photoshop) to take out the colour of the origonal image. Next I tinted the photo blue and used the colour tool to make it more vibrant. To get the t-shirt looking dark to the same extent as the CD cover I turned up the contrast also bringing out the roughness of the wall in background (adding texture). Finally I then applied a filter effect which gives the starburst lines effect and turned that up to make it more visible. I then used PowerPoint to collect all the images together for the advert using it mainly to be able add the text which conforms to the style I set out in the digipak "True Crimes". After that I used a pen tool to give the scratches/ scribbles look for the eyes and the background of the text. The text was formatted to appeal like it is coming out at the viewer in the line "NEW ALBUM OUT NOW!!!". This was also done with the text in the bottom-right-hand-corner "PUNKED UP... JUNKED UP... ROCK 'N' ROLL!" which is one of the Mojokings original slogans referencing their origin. The logo of in the top-left-hand-corner is that of the Mojokings which is featured on all their merchandise as well as their drum. This logo was manipulated to fit in with the theme of the poster whereby I gave it a blue outline (using Photoshop) and then adding the scribbles effect to the background of it.

I decided to include a QR Code on my advert so that people with smartphones can simply scan  it and they will be directed to the Mojokings merchandise website, this is much quicker than having to type a URL or memorize it for later on. I have however included the web-address as well so that people who cant scan the code still have the link to the site. I chose the QR Code as it is something relatively new and modern which was something people in my audience research wanted to see (new and innovative ideas).

Staying on the promotion of the band I have used the logos of Facebook, Instagram and SoundCloud which are all social media platforms used by the band. This is so that people interested in looking at other songs, videos or tour dates can easily find more information by searching for the Mojokings on those websites. People know by seeing those icons that it symbolises that the band are on those forms of media. Also with the logos I have used the available on "iTunes" and "Google Play Store" to let people know that the new album can be bought on digital format from those online shops however with fans of the band and the genre of Rockabilly/ Psychobilly this may not be the most popular format which is why I have included a piece about vinyl which is extremely popular for bands to produce alongside with the digipaks. The reason for popularity of the 'older formats' of listening to music is due to the origins of the genre which was always on the classic records and in later years the CD, the overall piece was bought as a form of art as well as showing support to the band (buying their album from a gig) not purely music online.

Overall through the use of text and filters I have attempted to recreate a vintage-style poster which is the main look for adverts/ promotions for the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly genre. An example of having reference to old style movie posters is an advert for the Psychobilly Mayhem event. A good example of the advert reflecting the CD cover is the Kitty In A Casket poster for the album "Bittersweet".

Digipak

With my CD Digipak I have taken inspiration from pre-existing Rockabilly & Psychobilly artists which have influenced the outcome of my overall digipak. As was required all of the images used in my digipak have been taken and edited by me. For the photos I used my Nikon D3200 DSLR camera and its capabilities for both light and dark settings. Some of these images were taken on the night of recording the Mojokings (on the 21st of November 2015); these images make-up the inside of the digipak with the left hand side being a group photo mid-song. The other two images were taken after filming the Mojokings and these are photographs featuring a female character up against a plain wall wearing the bands t-shirt.

First of all the colour-scheme is different and controversial as I have deliberately subverted from the genre convention which typically use warm colours such as red, orange and yellow which is keeping in with connotations of fire. I decided to go with a blue theme to make the CD cover and overall product stand out from other albums. On a shelf it would more prominent as very few bands use the blue theme and also the black & white idea work well as a contrast to the predominantly blue album. The colour blue connotates depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence and truth. Things such as trust and loyalty are something which is desirable in a audience for a band. The contrasting colours black and white gives a connotation of mystery but also light or goodness. The overall idea was to replicate a mixture of a 50's Rockabilly pinup look and also a energetic capture of the band live at a gig.

Front Cover: The front of my digipak depicts a female character leaning up against a wall and she is wearing the bands t-shirt. The idea behind the image is that it is typical of the Psychobilly & Rockabilly genre to have a female character promoting the album, this shows a mixed fanbase to what is stereotypically a male dominated music scene.

I edited the original image using online professional editing software called PIXLR. With this I drained the colour from the image to make it black and white, then I used a filter to give a blue tint to the whole image. After it was tinted I then emphasised this by increasing the vibrancy of the blue while also turning up the contrast to make the black shadows stand out (this also made the text and sleeves on the t-shirt appear the pure contrasting black). Finally I used a whitening tool to change the t-shirt from blue to a bright pure white colour. I finally used a border tool to create a ripped-paper edge to the image. Then continuing on PowerPoint I used the text tool to make the title of the album "Whatever Happened To Rock 'N' Roll?". The font used is 'TrueCrimes' which is a 1950's poster/ comic style font which links back to the roots of the genre. The text was then manipulated to make it central and emphasise the middle of the sentence. There was no need to have the bands logo as a separate graphic as it has been incorporated into the original image by way of costume. The costume itself was the Mojokings navy blue baseball-tee.

Continuing looking at the female character, I have used this idea by having the female character as the icon of the album, it is like creating your own iconography for the album and the band (this style also continues over to the poster). It is quite common for bands of the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly genre to use women as a brand/ icon for an album for example The Rhythm Shakers album "Voodoo" and Hillbilly Moon Explosion with their first album. It is not entirely clear from the front cover but the character featured has the 50's vintage pinup look which is a typical look for Rockabilly/ Psychobilly women. In addition this look references the genres root from 1950's Rock 'N' Roll.

The use of the scratches/ scribbles is a reference to a band The Peacocks who used this style for their 2010 album "After All" this element shows off the frantic and 'rough round the edges' style of the Psychobilly genre. The idea of having the torn edges is for the same reason having the image which is very pure and untouched in terms of overlaying graphics by having a ripped effect it gives the the rough look it contrasts to the clean cut of a normal album cover making it stand out.

Inside Left: For the inside of my digipak I have chosen to use an image of the band, this is quite a common feature of most albums in general giving some information about the band i.e. as I have done the name of the band members and what they play.

With the image I have continued with the blue theme. This was again achieved using PIXLR photo editor and with the image similarly I took out the colour from the original image and gave it a blue tint, then saturated the blue so it was more vibrant. Additionally the contrast was enhanced and I used a similar ripped border effect with a worn/ rough overlay to the image to give it texture and this adds with the sides to give the album a used effect.

The image itself  was selected at is is capturing the energy and enthusiasm each member of the band put into their performances. It is a good picture which shows all the members individually clear enough as well as an action shot of all three members. The text used for the word graphics on this part of the digipak is consistent with the front cover (True Crimes) for the same reasons of carrying over a vintage 1950's/ comic book style look and it has been manipulated to fit around the band members.

Inside Right: Note: This is the side where the CD is placed so just to show this I have drawn the outline of it on. there is a lack of text and other graphics on this side deliberately since it mostly will be hidden by the CD making it even when it's off rather hard to read anyway.

 On the right hand side there is a photo of the band's drum bass which is one of the main icons of the Mojokings in their performance as it illuminates when they play it is big part of their unique overall image. This image like the others was edited to be blue and also used the whitening tool (like the front cover) to bring out the whiteness of the front of the drum and then the contrast was altered on top of that to make the bands logo stand out. The border is also parallel with the main front cover with the ripped white edges which is giving reference to the Kitty In A Casket album "BitterSweet" one of the most popular covers in my audience research.

The use of this image also comes from my continuation of the music video by using an image taken from when I saw the Mojokings for recording it gives the effect of what it would be like to be in the audience seeing the image.

Back Cover: For the back of my CD I have continued with the female character and pinup look again using the scribbles to cover her eyes adding an element of curiosity and mystery to the image. It is like the image on the back is the full picture of the cover. I have done it so it is like the female character is looking at the track listings to draw attention and emphasise those. From this picture it is clear to see the person on the back cover here as mentioned above we can clearly see the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly style with the bands t-shirt featured again as well as 'Freddie's' vintage style jeans and 'suicide roll' hairstyle. This is continuing the reference to the look of female Rockabilly/ Psychobilly followers.

In the editing process there were very similar techniques as used for the front cover. I used PIXLR to make the image black and white, then tinting it and enhancing the blue to give the vibrant colour. From using this similar method it has given the same effect to the t-shirt making it go a dark colour, this was enhanced further by turning up the contrast making not only the t-shirt but also the bottom of the wall which contrasts the blue and also complements the outline of the track listings.

To keep in-line with the theme for the album I decided to continue using the same font throughout "True Crimes" this on the back however is a white text with a black outline to go with the contrasting  colours of the edited t-shirt, jeans of the character and also the wall. It is important to keep consistent with the fonts in order to keep the product looking professional.

At the bottom of the image there are logos of social media account which the Mojokings are on so that people who like and have bought the album can further their enjoyment of the product and keep up to date with the bands latest news about other albums, merchandise or tour dates. Finally at the bottom is the bar-code which is essential for the product when if being sold in music shops.


The Spine: This is the final piece to my digipak which connects the different sections together. With this I have used the same font as with the rest of this production and gone with a simple black and white colour scheme. The background colour is white as it goes with the white ripped effect edges of the front and back cover. In addition it will help to identify the CD when on a shelf with other products as the white will stand out. I have also used the bands logo on the spine again to help people identify album. I have deliberately gone simplistic for this section as it is the smallest part of the digipak and having too much detail on it will make the text hard to read and would be too busy to concentrate on. The purpose is to be simple to it can be easily identified when stacked up, by going with a font and colour theme which reflect this and the style of the album it should stand out and look unique (comparing to other Rockabilly/ Psychobilly albums which generally keep with the theme of red on a black background for this section of the CD).

Here are the before and after editing pictures, the ones on the left are the unedited originals taken straight from my camera.

Music Video Rough Cut

Here is my rough cut of the Mojokings song 'Whatever Happened To Rock 'N' Roll?'



This is the rough cut edition of my A2 Media project. The music video is of the Mojokings and their song "Whatever Happened To Rock 'N' Roll?" filmed on location at The Voodoo Lounge in Stamford. This work is a first draft and will be changed and edited further with special effects later on.

Thank you to the Mojokings for letting me use them for my project and allowing me to film them for this video.

Question 1a - Creativity

To what extent has your creativity developed during the course?

I believe that throughout the course my creativity has developed and as a result it has improved my eye for design and the level of detail and complexity of my work.

One way my creativity has improved is through the use of technology. During the course my knowledge of the technology I was using became more in-depth and I knew how to work things quicker and get a better result out of the programs. An example of this was Final Cut which was new to me last year and still a bit unfamiliar to begin with in Year 13; however by being able to 'play around' with it and the clips I recorded with the piece of software I soon picked up how it was used, and most importantly, used to effect creatively by adding filters and editing clips so that my music video looked professional. By having better knowledge and also professional technology it allowed me to be more creative. Another example of this would be the technology used to film my music video (the Nikon D3200) which was more advanced technology used to film than previous things recorded, it allowed me to be more creative in being able to change the quality of shots and also take artistic/ effective shots with the manual focus on the lens. When it came to making my digipak the creative software was useful and my use and knowledge again developed as I used it more frequently and to greater effect being able to alter and adjust portions of an image and enhance it so it looked more professional and also creative (making it seem like a package all as one by having it similar to my poster).

Another way my creativity developed was through problem solving and planning techniques. First of all I used creative ways to plan recording my music video by getting together a mood board to inspire ideas for the themes of my music genre (Psychobilly). Using shot lists it allowed me to plan and think of shots which would work for the video i.e. what shots I wanted/ needed to get when filming. Next stage of planing I used storyboards to visualise the shots and allowed me to think in depth which camera angles are typical for the genre and how creatively I could use them to make the video stand out and unique. In terms of planning for my digipak and poster I used the idea of creating concept posters and covers etc. to see what looked good and experiment with different layouts to see what looks good. I had to get creative with problem solving as when it came to recording I only had one camera which is difficult when filming a live performance, this was done in the editing process post filming as I used effects to make the shots look different as well as cutting from shots of other songs edited to look like it goes with the song.

A third thing which developed my creativity during the course was having to work without a budget. This meant that everything I did had to be free or minimal cost as I had no money to work with. To make sure I could get the video complete without a budget I asked favours from the band for example being able to get into the venue for free when recording them as it was a long way from home. Equipment like my camera and tripod were Christmas presents which meant I had no cost for getting a professional camera in order to record the band. With recording I asked the band to perform their song twice so that I had enough footage and it ensured I had a greater number of shots/ camera angles to successfully edit the video later on. Finally the software used for editing was provided by the Sixth-form which was useful as it was a professional program which would normally cost a lot of money.

Lastly research techniques allowed me to develop my creativity over the course. The key way of researching my band and the genre of Psychobilly was through social media like their Facebook page as well as looking at other more known artists videos on YouTube and generally online through their own websites. I also got in contact with members from these other bands to find out informations and feedback on work I had done to see if it was up to a professional standard. Through YouTube it was my own research into the genre conventions and what is typical for a Psychobilly video to see if there were any key elements that I could incorporate into my own production. I then thought about different creative ways I could get these conventions across in both my video and other pieces of work. For my audience research I identified what kind of information I wanted to collect first and then found ways that I could interestingly ask it, this was done through an online questionnaire with interactive questions and I think the most creative way of finding out information about what makes a good digipak was through the use of a star based rating system where people rated the CD covers out of 5 stars depending on how much they liked each individual one, i could then analyse the most successful covers and see which is most popular e.g. scenery or ones featuring the band on the front. This means I could then emulate or take inspiration from those covers which were most popular to ensure it would be successful with my target audience.