James - Deconstruction of Digipak

Brendan James is a singer/song-writer from America. His music is similar to The Scripts, who are also in the pop-rock genre. I am deconstructing the digipak of his debut album ‘The Day Is Brave‘ which was released in 2008.

Digipak Cover

Digipak Back Cover

Digipak Booklet

Genre

There are several different aspects of this digipak that enable the audience to see what genre the artist belongs to. The front cover has quite a masculine feel as the dominant colours are grey and brown. The location of the digipak cover is also masculine as it has been shot in what looks to be a dusty room with the star sitting on the floor with his back to camera. This location also gives a feel to the kind of artist that Brendan James is. It is very common for authentic singer/song-writers to have a lowfi image on the front of their albums, for example Bob Dylan’s 1963 album The Freewheelin‘ has a similar feel to it as can be seen below:

The costume that Brendan James is wearing is again indicative of the genre of music that he creates. He is wearing a very simple coat and pair of genes which reinforces the conventions of this genre. The conventions of the singer/song-writer genre are very different to the conventions of other genres such as ‘pop’ music. The conventions of a pop music digipak are that there is a very clear image of the star and the ‘star motif’, a good example of this is Lady Gaga’s album ‘The Fame’ which is simply an image of her face in a very out of the ordinary costume which is designed to stand out of the crowd. The artist’s name is also displayed in a very clear font so that it is as easy as possible for the audience to recognize who’s album they are looking at. The album cover is shown below:

Media Language

Various visual techniques have been used to construct this digipak. The first being the use of the rule of thirds to create the front cover photograph. The star is positioned slightly to the left of the space which means that the image looks very natural.

There are several different textural effects that have been applied to the photo is post-production. The first is the ‘eroded’ effect that has been used around the edge of the photo, this creates the illusion that the photo is old and has been worn around the edges. The second effect that has been applied is the ‘grainy’ effect. This is where the photo looks faded in certain areas and this has again been used to create the effect of the photo looking old. The same two effects are applied throughout the digipak and also to the promotional poster.

The mise-en-scene of the front cover also helps to construct a certain image about the artist and his music. The stars bond language is very mellow and emotional, I think that this is reflected by his music as his songs are also very melodic and relaxing. The lighting in the photos on the front and back covers of the digipak are ambient and not directed onto anything specific, this gives the shots a natural feel.

The front and back covers of the digipak both feature cream colored bits of wood laid on the floor, with smaller black bits of wood laid on top of them. These objects connote a piano and its keys, however the way they are laid out connote that the piano has been broken. I think that this suggests that Brendan James is trying to create something different within the music in his album. The post-production affects applied, the costume and the location also connote that the singer has created a simple album which is filled with emotion and passion.

The title of this album is ‘The Day Is Brave‘ and I think that the image of the star does evoke the feeling of bravery when tied in with this title. This linguistic device helps the audience to imagine the process that Brendan James has gone through when creating the album. I think that the title and the connotation of the smashed up keyboard could be interpreted as Brendan James having had problems in his life which has meant that creating music has become harder for him and that it is only now he has managed to again.

Representation

The digipak creates the image that Brendan James is a very respectable artist who has true musical talent. This representation is created by the front and back cover which is not overly bold or flashy, the images and text portray him as a simple singer/song-writer who is able to play his own instruments and create his own songs. I think that this digipak will help add to Brendan James’ meta-narrative because his production company will constantly try to sell him as a singer/song-writer and these images will help to cement this idea in the minds of the audience.

Institution and Audience

This print text will be consumed in a focused way. When on display in a shop the customer is likely to spot the digipak because of its contrasting white border and dark image. They will then take a closer look and consume all of the information on display by the media text. The front cover image is put together in such a way that the viewer will first be drawn to the artists face and then look up to see the artists name and the title of the album, finally they will look to the bottom of the image and see the location of the star. This process of creating the path for the audience to look at the media text along is called creating a ‘leading line’.