The following shot (0:12) is a pan shot revealing the hunter sat at a bench. The use of this bench was thought of during research on forest settings and how we could photograph and film in these locations effectively. Whilst looking into this we came across a digipak called Days Go By –The Offspring and we liked the framing and tone of the image. We also found a number of different digipaks that influenced us such as a Mumford and Sons and The Bench ’16 digipaks. This bench has significant importance to the narrative and that is revealed later in the video during a flashback scene, in which a young hunter saw his brother being murdered. He returns to this bench to remember him as well as prepare to get revenge.
The next shot in our video (0:11) is a wide shot of the band which has our lead singer Jay casually walking across nodding along to the music. This shot was developed from the Chase and Status Music Video for ‘Control’. We liked several shots used in this video and this one was one of our favourites. We like how the lead singer walks around the stage as if he was a predator which was an appropriate match to the song title ‘The Hunter’. It also foreshadows the eventually reveal that he is The Hunter. His movement into the centre of the shot also highlights him as the main member of the band, the star.
Our music video was made using the song ‘The Hunter by Slaves’ with our band Renegade. The Music Video for Time to Dance by The Shoes played an extremely vital part in the idea and style we develop into our music video. Firstly, the whole premise of having a serial killer as the main character evolved from Jake Gyllenhaal’s character in this video. We liked the aggressive and default emotion that his character had and felt that this could be used in an effective way, while also having another side of him that explains his reasoning for killing which in Time to Dance was displayed by showing his constant guilt. In addition, this video also provided inspiration on the editing front, especially the rapid cuts and flashes between shots to tempt and foreshadow. This feature allowed us to tell our narrative half in a more teasing way which will keep the view engaged, while supporting the rapid pace and aggression which came with our song choice.
The idea for our killer to wear a mask also sparked from the Time to Dance music video, where Gyllenhaal’s character is wearing the fencing uniform. We though that this was an interesting idea and began to research killers will masks further finding several different ideas. We developed this killer from Time to Dance and The Killer from video game Until Dawn, Ghost face from Scream, Masks from The Purge to develop our own character of The Hunter. The reason we used a mask was down to our group wanting the identity of the hunter to be the mystery throughout the video, while we teased the lead singer (Jay) to be the killer as well as teasing his motive – which is a typical story of vengeance. This piece of Mise en scene was solely developed to create atmosphere and mystery through our punk music video’s narrative.
At the beginning of the video we wanted create an opening for the song and therefore decided to open the video (0:01) with the song title. This was directly inspired from Kendrick Lamar’s music video for These Walls and the music video for Time to Dance by The Shoes title screen. The colour scheme used for this title screen (black and white) was used to meet the convention of the genre of punk and to portray the dark and intimidating feel of the song. The same colours were used in the Kendrick Lamar and The Shoes videos and worked well so we implemented the idea, including our band’s font style ‘Orator Std’.
At around 0:09 in our video we used a close shot of the guitarist playing the guitar. This was directly used in our video after watching a music video during the research stage called Song 2 by Blur. We liked how for several shots they focused on the guitarist. These shots were used during certain points when the guitar is emphasized and clearly heard, and we wanted to show all the instruments used to suit the style of several punk music videos we had researched that would typically show their musicians play close up.
Our group wanted to include a scene in the middle of our video which would provide context on why the killer is doing what he is doing, killing people. After discussing a number of possibilities we thought about the narrative being a revenge story. We thought of a number of ideas on what would have impacted the young hunter. The flashback scene came from Batman movies such as Batman Begins and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the TV Show Gotham when Bruce Wayne’s parents are murdered. We felt this could have a huge impact on our character and make him want revenge.
Our stylistic approach also involved the use of fast paced editing. We implemented this idea into our video (0:24) by using an aspect of the Time to Dance video. In this video we see flashes of Jake Gyllenhaal’s victims every so often. Our group thought that this was very impactful and strengthened the fear aspect we wanted to have our target audience experience. We implemented these fast flash cuts by cutting to a match shot of the killer and the lead singer, foreshadowing the true identity of the hunter.
The low angle shots at the end of the video, were we see the hunter killing the victim (2:51) was inspired and by a scene from Time to Dance where the murderer kills his victim in the woods with a hatchet. The shot shows the killer only, suggesting to the view that his actions are too gruesome to be show on screen. We liked the idea of this and began looking at further media products that adopted a similar approach. I thought of the movie American Psycho, and more specifically the axe murder which helped use to think about how to hold, swing and frame our shot with a larger axe. Additionally, the decision to use an axe, of all weapons, was to ensure we could capture the brutality we wanted in the video. Unlike using just, a knife or a gun prop, an axe looks more powerful and this is shown from the media products that we looked at.
When picking the song (The Hunter by Slaves) we immediately turned to the original video for inspiration. However, we didn’t like the original too much. However, we did take a few hints on ways to edit and shots to use. Firstly, eight seconds into the original video, three guitar strums are complemented with three cuts to match. We took this idea as on board and used it throughout our video, cutting on guitar strums and drum hits for fast paced editing. Additionally, the video uses heavy hits on the drum to show band members smashing bottles and other items. We took direct inspiration from this and presented it when the killer kills his victim at the end of the song. These features are all used in our music video as inspiration in order to represent the aggressive and violent theme of our music video. The feature clearly conforms to the song’s genre conventions as these ideas come directly from the original video and have simply been enhanced. Another shot that we found appealing was the shot of the band member smiling on the line ‘Keep smiling through your teeth’. The shot was a great piece of imagery which represented the lyrics. We developed this idea further and had the lead singer (Jay) in our video smile with a close up shot, rather than the extreme close-up used in the original video. This shot applied Andrew Goodwin’s theory of having lyrics be illustrated through visuals.
What is also used from the original video is the mise-en-scene of the band. We wanted the style of clothing in our video to be able to suit the genre of punk and the dark tone of the song. We saw that the original band, Slaves’ wore all black in the original music video so we decided that this would help us to meet genre conventions of punk. In addition, this colour scheme worked well when filming, blending in well with the greyscale used in our video that suits the dark and eerie feel we envisioned before creating it.
The idea of using POV shots of the hunter which are sporadically shown throughout the second half of the music video were developed from a video game that I played last year called Until Dawn. There is a killer involved in this game and as you are exploring the world the game cuts to POV shots of the killer stalking your avatar from behind. After discussing this idea with my group, this inspired us to include a similar feature in our music video (at 2:21-2:37). We felt that the inclusion of POV shots would intensify the feel of the video further. One of our group members then found a YouTube video online called Killer Clown Vs Parkour. The video inspired us to have POV shot that had The Hunter chase down his victim. This had a more powerful and intense feel to it which would impact the view in a fearful way.
Our music video also took inspiration from the Chase and Status music video for the song ‘End Credits’. One thing that we wanted to include in our music video was a twist which would keep viewers engages and shocked. End Credits clones the singer to talk to his past self. The idea of having two of the same person was interesting and we decided to adapt this idea by having The Hunter be revealed as the lead singer, who has been singing about himself the entire time. Additionally, at the end of the video we decided to credit the record label for the song at the end, similarly to the end of End Credits and several various music videos that also included this feature at the end of their videos.
The music video for Control by Chase and Status was the largest influence on the performance shots of our music video. The video inspired us on how fast paced editing should he used as well as how the band performed. We also incorporated the use of Greyscale and having shots focused on the drummer and tracking the singer’s movements from this video. Again, we wanted to conform to genre conventions and that meant having the video look and feel aggressive. This involved the use of fast paced editing and camera movements being involved for our video to be consistently developing and moving. Additionally, the greyscale used was a stylistic decision made by our group. Although the initial idea to use greyscale was from the Control video, we have seen several videos from all types of music genres that also use greyscale. The use of greyscale was a decision which we believed could benefit visually to make our lighting stand out and look powerful. Greyscale also suits the dark nature of the and it’s narrative.
DIGIPAK AND MAGAZINE ADVERT
music video
Before creating my digipak, I knew that I wanted to make something simplistic and monotone while being powerful and eerie, to represent the band. This style was influenced by many various album covers from various genres that I knew of before and after conduction research. These include artwork like: Untitled Unmastered by Kendrick Lamar, Exology Chapter 1: The Lost Planet by EXO, The Magic Place by Julianna Barwick, EVOL by Future and many more. My album cover also limits the presence of text that is used to carry more emphasis on the design. These simplistic style choices were a matter of preference of what I feel makes a more affective and powerful cover as well as being the modern style that is now used.
When looking at punk albums, one thing was made very clear to me and that was that they were all for the most part, creepy. For example, albums like Nimrod by Green Day, Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing by Discharge, Unforgiveable by Weekend Nachos and Los Angeles by X were all found during my research and had a form of influence on my final design. This is one of the goals I aimed for when designing my digipak to conform with the genre conventions of a punk digipak. I did this in a few ways. Firstly, the took and used an image of an old stone building on my digipak’s back panel. This image was taken after inspiration from horror films that involved old building that are isolated and abandoned. The image gives more context on the Hunter. The building represents where the hunter is living and how he has tried to keep himself away from the world after the murder of his brother in the music video has changed him. Another thing that I did to create a creepy atmosphere was include noise and scratches on the design to give a more tattered and old effect. Again, this idea is inspired by horror movies’ use of old settings and props, however I was also inspired by other pieces of album artwork, such as: To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar, Blank Face LP by Schoolboy Q and punk albums mentioned earlier (Nimrod by Green Day, Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing by Discharge, Unforgiveable by Weekend Nachos and Los Angeles by X).
When designing the back panel, I wanted to take a similar approach to the front cover and have a minimal look that minimized the attention of text. I wanted to include a track list that looked organised, professional and centred but also didn’t take away from the photography used. I took inspiration directly from the digipak of J. Cole’s Born Sinner album. The barcode, legal information and record labels are put at the bottom of the page (similarly to most digipaks that include is information), while the track list is in the middle, separated into two columns, numbered in roman numerals (XII), with a thin line separating the two columns.
The use of a parental advisory sticker is also used on the front panel of my digipak. However, I didn’t like how the standard black and white logo stood out on the panel. Instead, I wanted the logo to blend in with the rest and therefore decided to recolour the logo to suit the digipak’s colour scheme. After researching how the logo had been used on other albums creatively I also decided to position the logo on the bottom centre portion of the panel. These ideas were inspired from covers like EVOL by Future, Dark Sky Paradise by Big Sean, Watching Movies with The Sound Off by Mac Miller, Views by Drake and Blond by Frank Ocean.
A large theme that surrounds both my digipak and magazine posters is the use of mazes. This idea was inspired by a number of things which was discussed on my Digipak Creative Journey. After deciding that I wanted something menacing to represent the band and the song/album name I looked at various video games and movies for help until I remembered the movie Prisoners which included a theme of mazes in both the movie and its marketing. Along with other movies like Inception I then came across the Greek Mythological Story called the Labyrinth. The story of The Labyrinth, an elaborate structure designed and built by legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos Its function was to hold the Minotaur (Image 14) eventually hunted down in the maze by the hero, Theseus. I felt this was a good use of symbolism to compare the characters in the mythological tale and the album and suited the story of our music video in where the hunter is going to find the man that he sees as a monster.
Another similar aspect that the digipak and the magazine posters have is their colour scheme. However, the colour scheme of image 1 was extremely appealing to me and I felt that I could use it effectively. I continued to think of things that has a similar colour scheme which I could gain ideas from. The first thing that I thought of was the American Psycho cover (image 2), which incorporated a white, black and red colour scheme. I liked the fact this cover image used a limited amount of red, but it was effective. The red represented danger, violence and aggression which suited my vision well. I continued to look at other movies that adopted a similar colour scheme, in which case I found the cover for the movie Seven.
