After researching digipaks I have now started to develop some ideas for my digipak. Below I have detailed some of my concepts.
Recently I have been reading up on the work of the artist Wes Lang. He produces large scale pieces of work that reference American history and ideology. I really like both his approach to his art and the pieces that his process creates. He has a very loose expressive approach to defining the shapes and adding tone. I also really like the subject matter and the portrayal. For me the association of skulls and reapers is a negative one. Not just because of what they mean but the aesthetic that accompanies them within the culture that surrounds me. To me because Wes Lang operates in America it his drawings of skulls etc don't have the more dark and heavy connotations they do in England. For example in England the iconography that Lang works with is associated with music and culture such as Black Sabbath and Satanism. Not that there is anything wrong with either but they aren't emotions or thoughts that I want to evoke within my work. They also aren't relevant to the genre of music that my track is. Black Sabbath is credited as one of the first Heavy Metal bands. Obviously my track is more jazz based, therefore drawing on the same imagery would be inappropriate. However as I hinted too earlier I feel that Lang manages to reference these darker subjects whilst not referencing the connotations that I want to avoid.
Stylistically I would be referencing the work of the photographer Henrik Purienne. The photo on the right is an example of Purienne's work showing a model in a similar pose to the one I am planning on using. Some of his work can be very NSFW with barely any of the model covered, and in some shots none. However some of his more soft or tame work to me is just beautiful photography artfully depicting the beauty of women, which should be seen as an empowering theme rather than a sexist or sexualised message. Symbols only have the meanings that we attach to them. For example The rapper Tyler The Creator has said he doesn't feel offended when he hears the "N word". In interviews the interviewer often seems puzzled by this concept. However when Tyler goes on to explain how words are just words and there is no point getting offended by them it makes sense in a way that directly relates the criticism and issues I may encounter if I chose to have a model on my digipak. The actress and model Emily Ratajkowski, who most people recognise from the music video for Blurred Lines, has said when questioned on the video that nudity doesn't have to mean anything "exploitative". This is a viewpoint that I strongly agree with. Too often audiences of products view images or symbols in such a conservative manor. When as an audience member you step back and examine what is actually on show there is nothing to be afraid or scared of.
In a general address to the class my teacher spoke about how adult content may not be seen as appropriate in our work and that in some cases the exam board had sent back work because they felt that it crossed the boundary. Obviously this is an issue that I do not want to encounter therefore if I feel there is a high probability of it causing an issue I would remove the model from the shot by replacing the image with a shot without the model in frame. In my eyes that would be a shame because I am eighteen, therefore legally an adult, and provided I had signed consent waivers it seems crazy that given my lengthy discussion and justification my vision would be censored. At the end of the day although A-Levels are qualifications they are there too school students in how to produce or work in a way that will benefit them and society. Therefore by applying censorship and restrictions that don't exist in the outside world it gives a false sense of limitation. To the above right I have included a screenshot from music video for Girls by The 1975. Obviously there are four women in nothing but underwear on a very brightly lit set. This just proves that in reality if its relevant to the creative product there is a place for selective nudity. My project is actually a live brief anyway because the band whose track I am using will be potentially using this once my coursework is completed. Therefore it would be ludicrous to filter out some of the concept. And due to the fact that my concept isn't coming from a gratuitous standpoint I would strongly urge anyone who has any negative thoughts about try to understand the viewpoint I am writing from.
Cover:
Recently I have been reading up on the work of the artist Wes Lang. He produces large scale pieces of work that reference American history and ideology. I really like both his approach to his art and the pieces that his process creates. He has a very loose expressive approach to defining the shapes and adding tone. I also really like the subject matter and the portrayal. For me the association of skulls and reapers is a negative one. Not just because of what they mean but the aesthetic that accompanies them within the culture that surrounds me. To me because Wes Lang operates in America it his drawings of skulls etc don't have the more dark and heavy connotations they do in England. For example in England the iconography that Lang works with is associated with music and culture such as Black Sabbath and Satanism. Not that there is anything wrong with either but they aren't emotions or thoughts that I want to evoke within my work. They also aren't relevant to the genre of music that my track is. Black Sabbath is credited as one of the first Heavy Metal bands. Obviously my track is more jazz based, therefore drawing on the same imagery would be inappropriate. However as I hinted too earlier I feel that Lang manages to reference these darker subjects whilst not referencing the connotations that I want to avoid.
Concept:
Art:
On the right is a sketch of my cover art concept. To briefly explain it, there is a large piece of paper with a Lang inspired painting/drawing hanging on a white brick wall. It is down lit by a ceiling light. Obviously that couldn't just be the artwork. I would have to actually capture the scene somehow. To do this I would use my DSLR shooting in a RAW .NEF file format to capture the most information so that I could then edit the image in Photoshop to give it a vintage 35mm look. This would make it look like Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey, one of the digipak's that I analysed.Text:
The bands name would be painted on the bottom with the paint left to drip so that it had a very loose expressive feel. Music is all about expression and emotion and for me I think to put the name in Arial Black over the top would look inappropriate.Model:
As I was developing my concept I had another idea. Instead of just having the painting/drawing hanging up I would have a female model standing in front of it to the left looking at the painting and away from the camera. The model would would be topless, but due to her looking away the audience would only see her bare back. This would add a human element to my design. Both female and male bodies are beautiful and so to compliment the artwork having a stunning example of the human form on the cover could really enhance my design. Also I would want my model to be standing holding a dripping paintbrush. By doing this it would appear as though they had just painted this large piece on the wall in a very expressive way. Within my art I am conscious of the fact that so much of it revolves around me being sat at a desk working on A4 white paper. By having the artwork big, hanging up and presented as though it had been produced in a fit of emotional release it would represent the music which was an improvised jam that occurred at a rehearsal. Another connotation of having the model topless is freedom. Freedom to express themself how they choose and in this case the freedom to produce art in a way that they feel comfortable. This links with the American ideology that I am subliminally linking throughout all of the products.
Stylistically I would be referencing the work of the photographer Henrik Purienne. The photo on the right is an example of Purienne's work showing a model in a similar pose to the one I am planning on using. Some of his work can be very NSFW with barely any of the model covered, and in some shots none. However some of his more soft or tame work to me is just beautiful photography artfully depicting the beauty of women, which should be seen as an empowering theme rather than a sexist or sexualised message. Symbols only have the meanings that we attach to them. For example The rapper Tyler The Creator has said he doesn't feel offended when he hears the "N word". In interviews the interviewer often seems puzzled by this concept. However when Tyler goes on to explain how words are just words and there is no point getting offended by them it makes sense in a way that directly relates the criticism and issues I may encounter if I chose to have a model on my digipak. The actress and model Emily Ratajkowski, who most people recognise from the music video for Blurred Lines, has said when questioned on the video that nudity doesn't have to mean anything "exploitative". This is a viewpoint that I strongly agree with. Too often audiences of products view images or symbols in such a conservative manor. When as an audience member you step back and examine what is actually on show there is nothing to be afraid or scared of.
Because of the angle of camera in relation to the model it wouldn't have a trashy glamour photography style. Not that glamour photography is inherently trashy, but often the famous examples of it are unadulterated eroticism, ninety percent of which is aimed at a male market. Because of this any nudity in photography tends to have negative connotations amongst those who can't look at it from an artistic stand point. Therefore by having my model face away from the camera the sexual element has been removed and instead it has become an artistic statement. Obviously to some it still may seem sexual, however at that point there will be less of the models body visible than the majority of beach goers in hot countries. Also I would focus my camera so that the artwork is in focus and the model would be slightly out of focus.
In a general address to the class my teacher spoke about how adult content may not be seen as appropriate in our work and that in some cases the exam board had sent back work because they felt that it crossed the boundary. Obviously this is an issue that I do not want to encounter therefore if I feel there is a high probability of it causing an issue I would remove the model from the shot by replacing the image with a shot without the model in frame. In my eyes that would be a shame because I am eighteen, therefore legally an adult, and provided I had signed consent waivers it seems crazy that given my lengthy discussion and justification my vision would be censored. At the end of the day although A-Levels are qualifications they are there too school students in how to produce or work in a way that will benefit them and society. Therefore by applying censorship and restrictions that don't exist in the outside world it gives a false sense of limitation. To the above right I have included a screenshot from music video for Girls by The 1975. Obviously there are four women in nothing but underwear on a very brightly lit set. This just proves that in reality if its relevant to the creative product there is a place for selective nudity. My project is actually a live brief anyway because the band whose track I am using will be potentially using this once my coursework is completed. Therefore it would be ludicrous to filter out some of the concept. And due to the fact that my concept isn't coming from a gratuitous standpoint I would strongly urge anyone who has any negative thoughts about try to understand the viewpoint I am writing from.Centerfold:
I am currently working as a freelance photographer specialising in live music photography. Recently I shot an indie band called Peace. When I was editing the shots one of them struck me as a perfect example of how I could put together the centerfold. It is a shot of the guitarist Douglas Castle leaning forward to edit the settings on his effects pedals. Because he is focusing on the pedals he doesn't directly address the audience, therefore the fourth wall remains in contact. This is how I would get my actors to pose. Because Douglas hasn't addressed the audience it presents the idea that he doesn't care about their presence and is instead focused on the music in his world. These connotations are ones that I want to imply because, as stated numerous times throughout this blog, the genre doesn't require my stars to take the pop star approach. Instead they should appear to be operating within their world. This means that the digipak is like a piece of the the secretive world that they live in. This therefore makes the presentation more enticing to the audience because it acts as a souvenir from a place that they cant visit. To achieve this effect colour wise I had to use the colour balance tool on photoshop and up the red channels. This is a technique I am thinking of using on the video. By doing this on the video and digipak I would be creating a certain level of continuity within my products.
For my photo I intend to capture the main guitarist on the track, Youness Elharrak, in the same pose. To make sure he doesn't feel at all awkward, and to therefore avoid having a contrived looking shot I will intentionally change the settings on his effects pedals and then bring my camera out under the proviso that I'm just taking test shots. Therefore I should be able to capture Youness in action in a way that wont feel contrived or fake.
Originally my intention was to have the photo spread across the centerfold. After some thought about how it would follow after the cover I decided that it would look better if it was printed of and taped onto one of the white walls in the same room that the cover art would be set in. Therefore there would be continuity like with Ultraviolence. Also by taping it to the wall it has a slightly more organic feel.
For my photo I intend to capture the main guitarist on the track, Youness Elharrak, in the same pose. To make sure he doesn't feel at all awkward, and to therefore avoid having a contrived looking shot I will intentionally change the settings on his effects pedals and then bring my camera out under the proviso that I'm just taking test shots. Therefore I should be able to capture Youness in action in a way that wont feel contrived or fake.
Text:
Because I want to focus on the photography and the overall art created I wont be having any text over the top of the picture. In my mind that would detract from the impact of the shot.
Rearcover:
For the rearcover I want to keep up the continuity by photographing it on the same set as the front and the centerfold. For this it will be the same wall as the front however this time the painting/drawing wont be hanging on the wall. Instead of having paint bottles and cans along the bottom of the wall like on the front cover I would have them all in a cardboard box in the center of the frame. I haven't decided as to weather the model would be in the shot yet. There are two options and at this point I haven't yet decided. They are, to have the model not in the shot and to have the model in the shot, but presented in a different way to the cover. My idea is that the model would be seen fully clothed in this shot looking at the camera whilst running her hand through her hair. I would have her wearing mostly black and wearing a leather jacket. This would reference the heritage of the leather jacket which has a lot of embedded iconography. It would also reveal the mysterious cover star. By having her fully clothed it would also go along with the idea of having the wall clear and the paints tidied away. It would give the whole piece a feel of being temporary. Everything in life is temporary and on one hand music lasts for eternity but on the other once a note is played it is never played the same way again.
Text:
Because of how simple the image would be I would paint the track names and either have them taped to the wall on a piece of paper or I would use a scanner and add them using Photoshop. Either way they would be in keeping with the font on the front cover whilst also not detracting from the scene being portrayed in the photograph.
Barcode:
The barcode would be small like the one on Ultraviolence. I wouldn't want it detracting from the art.
Conclusion:
Overall I feel conceptually my ideas are coherent and consistent. I think that if I can pull it off and convey the concept that is in my head the digipak would really aid the music and the music video.
