2. Panel 1
For my first panel, I decided to utilize a starkly
contrasting and macabre color palette consisting of
purely white and black in a silhouette-portraiture
style to emphasize the mood and themes of Elle
Mary's music. I decided to use the graphic of the
protagonist with a blindfold, as it acts as an
interesting and unusual image to pique the
audience's attention. This also follows a resurgence
in more unorthodox art styles (such as silhouette
portraiture, minimalism etc.) in modern album art,
as seen in album covers such as Royal Blood's
album of the same name (2014), and Lorde's Pure
Heroin (2014) - the latter of which provided
inspiration for the text choice, alongside Florence
and the Machine's Shake It Out and Spectrum.
3. Panels 2 and 3
With my panels two and three I used the conventions of
digipaks. Panel three is where the CD is placed, I chose the
photo I did so that when the CD was placed over panel 3 it
wouldn't cover my album artwork, the image itself is from my
video and the panel 2 used the continuing motif of the
blindfold. Another convention which we used was to include
the photo of the actor from the video (which is usually the
artist themselves) in the digipak.
4. Panel 4
For the final panel, I decided to mimic the effect that
had been given in the first panel by recreating the
silhouette effect. A few changes were made
however, such as the use of a static texturisation to
the doorway beneath the 'Exit' sign. The entire panel
is a reference to two of the themes of the video; the
first is that of entrapment and imprisonment of the
younger generation, as the static mimics a jail cell's
bars, and the exit sign adding a particularly cruel lure
that could be interchanged with any 'ways out'
provided to young people. The second is the
recurring theme within the video of abandonment,
as the character – Rose - makes her last appearance
in this shot lifted from the video, after spending the
entire video leading – and running from – the
protagonist.
5. Advert
For my advert, I decided to break some typical conventions,
namely those of the usage of social media on many
contemporary advertisements. This was chosen because I wanted
to keep the advert uncluttered to draw attention to the graphical
choice of a circle around the protagonist of heightened contrast
and enhanced coloration; specifically chosen to reinforce the
theme of entrapment and imprisonment of today's youths,
making it potentially more marketable to the chosen audience
(Older teens and young adults of both sexes). The advert is also
unlike a lot of modern advertisements, which seem to take the
route of 'more is better' making them much more cluttered and
difficult to decipher, such as the advert for Florence and the
Machine's 'Lungs' Album (released in 2009). I chose this
particular route because I wanted to keep the inactive and almost
passive depressed feeling that the video maintains as a display of
the feel and mood.
