Digipak Conventions

Conventions of a Digipak

Front Panel - Artist name (bigger text than the title), album title, close-up of the artists face, parental advisory, capture the genre, direct appeal to the target audience.

Back Panel - Song titles, bar code, copyright information, information about the record label, website, continuing the theme of the front cover.

Spine - Name of artist, name of the album, record label, reference number, font/colour scheme continues the theme.

Interior Panels - Detailed credits, lyrics, continuing the theme of the rest of the album, a message, images of the artist or setting, CD tray has image behind it, spread an image across two panels on the inside.

CD Tray - Image of the artist or setting, continuing theme of the rest of the sides.

Below is a template of a Digipak

Conventions of a Music Video

The music video often tells a story either that features in the lyrics or is suggested in the lyrics eg boy leaves girl. This type of narrative is often directed like a short film, with a beginning, middle and end.

Mise en Scene-

• Visually stylish – ‘artistic’ mise-en-scene 

•  Unusual costumes

• Unusual props

• Cars

• Hair

• Multiple locations- linked to the genre

• Expressive lighting

Camera angles and shots-

• Experimental use of camera/editing (hand held camera, distortion of colours) 

• Close Ups of instruments

• Long shots of the band

• Extreme Close Ups of mouths and eyes

Editing-

•  Can use lots of jump cuts 

• Lots of use of digital effects

•  Cutting related to the rhythm of the music 

• Intercutting between performance and images or story 

• Cut to the beat

• Montage editing

Camera movements-

• Panning shot

• Rapid movement

• tracking shot

• Crane shots

• Tilts

• Illusion of speed being created

Sound-

• Song mainly foregrounds the video

• Occasional diegetic sound

Other Elements-

• Incongruous elements

• Iconography

• Intertextuality

• Voyeurism