Usher Digipak

Usher Raymond, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, philanthropist, businessman, and actor. He rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way, which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit, "Nice & Slow". The album has been certified 6-times platinum. His follow-up album, 8701, produced the Billboard Hot 100 number one hits "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad". The album has been certified 4-times platinum.

Usher's 2004 album, Confessions, sold over 10 million copies in the United States and has been certified diamond by the RIAA. Confessions has the highest first week sales for an R&B artist in history. It spawned four consecutive Billboard number one hits  "Yeah!", "Burn", "Confessions Part II", and "My Boo". Usher's 2008 album, Here I Stand, sold over 5 million copies worldwide, and its lead single "Love in This Club" spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

On March 30, 2010, Usher released his sixth studio album Raymond v. Raymond, which became his third consecutive album to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. It has been certified platinum yet again and spawned another Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit "OMG". The song became his ninth number one in the United States, making him the first 2010s artist to collect number one singles in three consecutive decades. He later released an extended play and deluxe edition of Raymond v. Raymond, entitled Versus, which debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart. Its lead single "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100.

The RIAA ranks Usher as one of the best-selling artists in American music history, having sold over 23 million copies in the United States alone. To date, he has sold over 65 million records worldwide, making him one of the bestselling music artists of all time. Usher has won numerous awards including eight Grammy Awards. At the end of 2009, Usher was named the number one Hot 100 artist of the 2000s decade. Billboard named him the second most successful artist of the 2000s decade, with his 2004 album Confessions being ranked as the top solo album of the 2000s decade. Billboard also placed Usher at number six on their list of Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years. Usher has attained nine Hot 100 number-one hits (all as a lead artist) and has attained eighteen Hot 100 top-ten hits.

His second album, ''My Way,'' we see an birds eye close up  shot of usher looking up at the camera while standing on top of an escalator,  with the closer up you are able to see seductive look that he gives to the camera which is targeted at the female audience. Instantly that symbolises the idea of brand identity, recognizing whom the albums is and the artist selling point. With a purple subtle tint which is an appealing colour for the female audience. Wearing dark clothing to match the dark purple colour that is of the house colours. As following the clothing trend that was during that time, on the back cover he wears a white jacket, with a black hat, his body is out of focus while the chain is in focus which has the letter ‘’U’’ standing for usher. With elements like this you could tell that this was the old usher that was young.

His album confessions, with a similar outlook of making sure that the artist is the main centre of attention, it takes a side profile of usher looking away from the camera while wearing a Bennie hat. Stage light that produced a brown contrast through the picture which is taken from his skin town to match the rest of the album art. With the tittle of the album reading sideways on the left hand side of the album ‘’Confessions’’ and usher’s name also written. For his next album ‘’Confessions Part II’’ album it shows usher as a sex appeal, a similar ideas of attract the audience with a certain level star image, as a Goodwin’s theory star image that would be emphasis to make the album more of a commercial product which would be advisable to the different selling points such as iTunes, MHV and Zune Music.  For the female target audience the concept of usher leaning on a wall and he has his shirt off, show his muscles flexing, is an idea that would gain a large amount of sales.

His 2010 album ''Raymond V. Raymond'' showed more of his evolution from a young teen artist to a mature R&B legend. On the Front cover it shows large writing of the album name, and on the right hand side is a half picture of usher and similar on the left hand side . This takes the concepts of the album name, of two different Usher competing against each other and the title of the album is based on his last name ''Usher Raymond.'' and the title itself has smoke effect which implies that there is a fuse and fire and sign of conflict. The CD of the album is as backward ''R'' and forward ''R'' and a large shinny which produces visible light colours ''V'' which goes over the stacking, similar to that the logos for ''la Face'' ''Jive'' and ''Sony music'' are of similar concept which aims to catch the eye of the consumer.  On the back of the CD it takes of an alternative format of listing songs that feature on the album, as it reads left to right rather than in a order going down, this may be difficult to read as you may be looking a specific track, for my digipak I would list them going down the left hand side of the back. Futhermore, a long shot shows Usher looking directly at the camera and haing is arms across a bench whcih may look like to be a church with out removing the seriousness of the comeptative nature and and yet again brings the emphasis of the star image which is started by andrew goodwin.

John Legend Digipak

The following research will constant of different types digipaks that are it a similar genre as my artist. I will be doing an in depth analysis on the insert of the hard copy CD and the promotion packs. I able to analyse what makes a good and attractive product which relates to the intended audience. I will use this information to take inspiration for the artist taking similar ideas that would make the product itself attractive. The CD and Promotion is one of the most important stages for an upcoming artist to be noticed as they are advertising what they are all about what and the main idea is to identify the audience that they are aiming towards. However in the modern hard copy CD have been on the decline due to the rise of buying music online, Such as iTunes, this is considers now to be one of the most simplest form of obtaining music there is a wider library of music which is open to different genres which may be difficult to gain on hard copy. Although the popularity of iTunes increase, there is also high increase of illegal download of music, this has become more and more popular, this is caused by the high prices of the Full albums and singles. Although the high prices are caused by increase illegal downloads, as the artist are wanting to meet their target in sales. There are more people who have a specific album than there are of that albums sold. 

In the this section I will be analysing 2 artist within the soul and R&B Genre, assessing their forms of promotion, how it appealed to the target audience and the effects used though out promotion package that I will be able to use. John Legend's album ''Once Again" who has been a high inspiration through the production, with his simplicity and elegance, and a gentle voice, which exactly what Otty represent, and replicating such ideas and attracting the same audience. The second artist I will be analysing would be Ne-yo, as he shows sophistication and class among black R&B/ soul artist, which is also replicated with the album art and the waulity of the album art really emphasises the genre and the target audience intend.

John legend is one of the most well know R&B artist in the music industry he has made several products such as ‘’Once Again, Love in the Future, Get Lifted and Evolver” all excellent promotion packages and have sold well. His album Once again was released in October 2006. And yes this alum went platinum having 1.6million sales and hit Number 1 in the US billboard R&B/Hip Hop charts. The song "Heaven" won the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. Also, "Save Room" was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. The album art really takes in consideration of the artist and his musical form. He is the product for the GOOD Music and having Him as the main cover allows the audience to immediately identify the artist and mainly attracting the female audience with his relatively good looks. The house colours, allows the other alternative background colours to stand out, the colours of the New York street. Showing an unorthodox perceptive of having a grand piano in the middle of street.

Get Lifted was also released via Kanye West's GOOD Music label on December 28, 2004 in the United States. Featuring production by West, John Legend, Dave Tozer and will.i.am, the album sold over three million units worldwide, with a total of 2.1 million copies in the U.S., where it was certified platinum. The album won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, and earned Legend another two awards, for Best New Artist and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his single "Ordinary People". With a brown vintage sketchy house colour and the simplicity of the side profile of John Ledged also attempts to create brand identity of the upcoming artist, mainly trying to sell the artist to the audience. The let on the front of the album immediately identifies the artist, and the name of the album as he is new to the market. That’s what would be the main focus on creating the album art for the product. Critically assessing the advertising product, I have seen that there is not much attention that draws the audience to album, it doesn't stand out there is lack of creativity and unique art. Although it aims to sell the artist, it doesn't shout out to the audience to gets its attention. the dull brown, doesn't reflect the soul embedded in the songs of the album. It requires vibrant colours, similar to visualizers where it attempts to create as specific ambience for the audience.  

With his current album, which Love in the future, which was realised on august 30th 2013, which i particularly think is one of my favourite albums of all time with classical singles such as ''All of me'' and ''Open your eyes'' The most popular track. Through out the album the is a sense of hear and soul expressed. The album reached 4th in the US Billboard 200 chart, and 5th in the UK album charts to its peak. After his self inspired album art, he took an alternative approach for his album art, now being an established artist in the industry, although taking a simplistic approach yet again, using roses as theme, reflecting on the title of the album, of Love in the Future. The Digipak overall takes a artistic approach, with a house theme of red which represent, listening to the tracks there is a difffienly evideince that it is based on his Wife. Using the songs that feature in the album I can easily start to build up picture of what the Digipak my look like taking inspiration from the lyrics of the song, some however my be taking inspiration from the promotion music video, using some of the shots in the song to relate it to the album art. 

Chris Brown Digipaks

As as R&B and soul artist, Chris Brown shows a great example of successful Digipak. Looking at the professional product, I able to take Inspiration from the album. There are certain feature which stand out that I would like to use as a part of my product.

With his first album was a self-titled Chris Brown, which is impotent as a young and upcoming artist, being able start brand identity with the intended target audience. The aim for the a new product to identify that product to the market and taking advantage of the album by putting mid shot of Chris brown, so that the audience know the artist behind the music, and as a young man he would easily appeal to the female audience, and it is important to get his feature as part of the product.  The album cover shows the emphasis of music with the micro phone and the speakers in the background this shows his passion of music and express that everyone. Although simple style black and white fashion style, it implies the simplicity of it and attempting to reach a wide range audience.

Exclusive is the second studio album by Chris Brown. The album was originally scheduled to be released August 28, 2007, but was pushed back to October 30, 2007, then pushed back even further to its final release date of November 6, 2007.The album was both critically and commercially successful, reaching number four on the US Billboard 200 chart on its debut. The album debuted at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 294,000. As of March 2011, it has sold 1,973,000 copies in the United States alone, and has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Similar to his previous album cover he maintains that desire to keep the brand identity by placing himself on the front cover. He upgrades his style to more sophisticated style with a black suit and red shirt and the colour red is also a main feature throughout the album, with the title also including red, at the top hand right corner of the cover.  The colour is sued to great effect as it is the house style throughout, with black and white filter in the background, the, the red saturation is made to pop and be the main centre of attention on the album cover. On the back of the CD, the songs are listed on the right hand side in a standard Calibri font, however some of the fonts are highlighted in red these songs are the additional songs for the deluxe edition. I could use the same concept and indicate to the viewer the most popular songs or the songs with a music video featuring. However, in my opinion the dark background drains the colour of the product away, it is vital the aesthetics of the product would be attractive the intended audience, and for my artist it would be female audience, so I would aim to use lighter more subtle colours to make it more appealing and a point of sale.

His third realising album was ‘’Graffiti’’ which sold 295,000 units within a week of release. Using his Album ''Graffiti','' the front cover instantly has feature that make it attractive to the intended audience, which are females or aspiration teen boys, looking showcasing his style and fashion sense. Although it challenges the conventional idea of a R&B album cover, it takes more of the artistic perspective, where he has shown that through his career his desire for graffiti. The title and the small cartoon animation at the bottom right of the CD cover are done in a graffiti style, which is a constant feature throughout the album. With the establishing shot of the moon and the sun hiding behind the moon, suggestion more creative and exploration album, where in some of his music he has shown that in attacking different styles of music. Moreover, the context may also have meaning of a mixture between something and complex as space and something as simple and creative as graffiti. Furthermore with the light of the sun creeping round, Chris Brown is in dark clothing making him stand out from the rest of the album. It would be interesting to try something such as an juxtaposition of different context, for example taking the lyrics of the music video ‘’Light Up the Dark’’ and having to elements that contradict or complement each other in order to get the cross link with the lyrics and music with the album art.

Inside the CD, the insert which is also the album cover, each song has the name and credits of the people who have been involved in the song and videos. Sharing that, there is also the feature of Chris Brown, photo shoots, close up and long shots. This is a bonus feature for the female audience, this would attract more of the female audience allow a personal contact with them and him. The star image perspective is amplified as there are close ups of him and his body.

In addition, the CD itself produces an awesome effect in order to match with the rest of the package. As there is a silhouette replica photo of the album cover, and the same graffiti style writing as the album cover. A potential idea is to replicate the same idea, however rather than using the Otty Freeman as the CD art, I would use the dance for the music video with an elegancy stroked pose, which her leg would curve around the stacking ring, main her the centre of attention once opened. This would add variety to the artist’s image, illustrating the idea of art in different form, music, dance and photography.

In his latest album, it seems that there is a several combinations of his previous albums. Released in 2012 the album fortune, in the United States, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 135,000 copies in its first week. The album also debuted at number one in the Netherlands, New Zealand and United Kingdom, and reached the top ten in Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Japan and Switzerland. On the album cover, a light shines down on Brown, who poses against a blue backdrop, dressed in a blue sleek, slim-fitting suit with a skinny tie and thick black framed glasses. While the word "Fortune" appears behind him in different languages. Courtney Walter came up with the idea of using hieroglyphics for the album's title, which would probably be a cool feature to include in my own artwork. The Blue matched the suit and it gives a kind of futuristic vibe. You'll see blue throughout the packaging.

Otty - Light Up the Dark Final Cut

This is the final cut for the music video Light Up the Dark By Otty Freeman. 

A major thanks to the Otty as he allowed me to use his song and create it into music video. I hope my efforts has done the song justice for the concept for the music video. #enjoy. 

Cast and Crew

 Gabby Tempest - Dancer

Brilliant performer and a massive help to the music video. Wonderful performance with elegance and freedom. Open to improvisation, creativity and extremely responsive to instruction.

 Brandon Reeves - Cinematography.

Fantastic use of camera work and angles, responsive to the directors instruction. With the advantage of having experience of the cameras. He was definitely helpful in passing on suggestions that would work best for the music video.

Ricky Loscalzo - Cinematography
On different occasion was a help to with filming of the music video. He also was a feature of the rough cut, however with changes of plans and ideas the scene had to be cut.










Mandla Ndlovu - Pianist
He was the main feature of media product, I chose him for his qualities as he has the look of the artist and which I wanted to replicate for my artist. He was willing to take time out of his schedule and help me with the final product.

Kuda Dera - Director

Deleated scenes

During the production of my filming there were clips that where out-takes and them clips where not used  in the final product. Although there was a substantial amount of filming done for the full production some for the excess footage was left behind because of the several reasons.

• The first two clips were examples of direction and when I have begun filming. This is necessary for actors and the performers to know when the camera is rolling it is inevitable that this parts would be in the scene, the power of editing would remove the unwanted footage and keep the rest of the footage. In the clips Gabby is given direction when to start dancing, this will allow me to cut the area I require while she is in full motion, this would produce the continuity we strive for.
• The 3rd and 4th clips where deleted scenes because, after taking advice from the audience the idea of having a narrative of that context within the footage is difficult to work around especially with the tempo of the song. There has to be a certain level of movement rather than staying static. Moreover the problem with the footage is that what I was aiming to do is match on action and that didn’t seem too effective during a music video. If there is a narrative that is being explained it would require a montage of different locations and scene however having understandable narrative.
• The fourth clip was deleted for the soul purpose of that it was a long clip with music video there has to be relatively quick transition that are either interesting or abstract. If you are going for an elongated clip it would have to be assertive to the audience and instantly draws their attention.
• Finally this was the main part of the production this was filmed and the intention was to make it part of the final cut. However, form the audience feedback of the rough cut the footage that was taken was not of a very high standard. It meant that there was room for improvement, which I agreed on the fact that my camera work wasn’t tested to the maximum potential. In the second trail there wasn't good communication between the artist and I. there was problems with the costumes, so my instant though was rather than delaying any more time we it would be more practical to film again.
• Furthermore, with the opportunity of filming again, I had gained previous experience from the last time I was filming, so I was more equipped to take on the challenge. The areas that needed to be improved such as the camera work the lip syncing needed to be more precious and exaggerated in order to make the editing section of the project easier.

Nevertheless, there were some scene that where deleted, however that’s the advantage of having a lot of footage, there was some footage that I wanted to deleted however I changed my mind and still used some of the footage to my advantage.  This has taught me to be more organised in what I want before I begin production, I may have a clear idea of my treatment, however I need to be more prepared and look at the physical environment before I start filming. Looking at factor such as light, obstacles and ambience, these elements can affect the overall filming production. The organised plan would provide you with clear structure of how you want things done that was painted in the final image in the mind.

Rough Cut

The following footage is the development of my media product. My rough cut consists of majority of my visual ideas that I want to carry through. Using my narrative I told half the story of the music, by the use of editing, camera work and lighting. My initial have worked effectively now that they have been developed into a final concept. It is important that I use the audience feedback and use there responses in order to develop my ideas.

The audience where able to identify the genre of the music instantly which was perfectly recorded by the artist ‘’Otty’’however, the audience assessed that in order to follow thee codes and conventions of the genre it is vital that I have the representation of the artist performing and having the lip synching feature in the music video. With this there was a factor of the main video was based on the dancing performance, and similarly to John Ledged music video of “Ordinary People” the narrative was the main part not much footage was based on him as he is already an international star. Unlike my artist the main objective is to sell the artist, identity and song. Although the concept of dancing was seen to be a positive comments that there is large development of the dance performance which includes an “Excellent performance of the dancer, Gabby Tempest.”

On the other hand, there was lack of camera work, which was a large comment by the audience consisting with a range from long shots, high angle shot and panning movement. There wasn’t a range of camera work. Furthermore, there audience suggested of alternating to different location during the music video as an member of the public who may be watching the footage may possibly be ”bored of the footage.” Acting on this feedback, I have considered of using more than one main character in the video, taking back to the original treatment of the footage such as different location on a busy road, on a bus, cafes etc.

The video editing was said to be good, this was due to the fact that I had one camera to work with from different angles and one routine, this suggest that there has to be a lot a fluent editing the continuity is important when it comes to a dance performance. One position must switch perfectly to a different camera shot and angle. Furthermore the where various editorial cheats that I had to endure in order to increase the amount of shits used and the continuity smooth, I had to reverse some footage in order for the dance to go into different positions, it was relatively effective. However, it is essential that the quality is at its peak for the product to be seen as a potential successful music video in the market. The use of two or three camera would help the accuracy of editing. Along with the continuity, the lighting and was also complimented and there was one spotlight which means the main focus was on the dancer. Moreover as I began the music video with black and white filter, eventually the black and white filter began to fade into a natural saturation, this was an effective technique of linking the visual effects of the music video to the lyrics of the song hence ‘’Light of the Dark’’ the dark being the black and white saturation.

There various aspects of the music video that I recognised that could be changed in oder to make the music video more effective, such as the main character, making her journey towards the dance studio, during this process there would be cut scene of the main actress and main actor preparing themselves. The use of tracking shot, medium shots and POV shots acting on the feedback of using different shots in order to the visuals linking more with the music, as suggested by Goodwin’s theory.