Planning: Lighting and colour

While planning for lighting and colour we have decided to look at the use of lighting in these music videos bellow. Lighting and colour help set a mood or feel for the set of your music video.

Colour

Band aid 30 - 'Do they know it's Christmas?'

The colour in this music video shows where artists are presented with a performance. The colour represents a glamorous effect which helps to enhance star image. This helps the artist to appeal to the audience as the audience is attracted to the appealing star image on screen. We would like to use something similar when presenting our male character in the music video as he will be in a studio himself performing. Due to us focusing on the hip genre the dark colours make it a lot more conventional as its common in existing music videos. there weren't many videos that created the studio theme which is why i went along with it. Lastly, this is because we want our male character to appeal to our audience members as I believe this is the most effective way of attracting an audience.

Chris Brown - 'Turn Up The Music'

*insert video*

The opening scene of this video shows Chris Brown in a car during night time with the street lights on.This creates a slightly orange/green filter, making the area look very urban. We plan to implement this in our music video because,as Hip-Hop traditionally stems from urban areas, we want to keep that conventional characteristic by alluding to an urban setting.

Lighting

Lil Wayne - A milli 

The lighting in this music video is natural lighting in the scenes which the artist patrolling the streets preparing to shoot a music video. The lighting represents a natural effect which makes the scene look more realistic in comparison to the other parts of the music video which contain various amount of lighting techniques. Moreover, we would like to use something similar when showing him patrolling the corridors of the office building in order to make everything look naturalistic as we don't want the audience thinking its some sort of flashback. In addition, this is because it will help the audience to relate more to the scenes which take part as they look realistic. Lastly, the use of this lighting will help as the colours through editing will be able to stand out more.

Austin Mahone - Dirty Work

This video has very high-key lighting which fits with the office atmosphere. It makes the characters seem more alert and ware of their workplace, which is how we hope to portray our artists, as he is a businessman. Therefore in the opening scene of a meeting room, we will use high-key lighting to emphasize the professional environment. 

Planning: Artist image

Personality and trait for our artist within the experimental hip hop genre 

passionate- As the genre usually involves past experience and their struggle to success, the lyrics will be performed with a sense of passion from his body language and facial expression
egoistical- the entire song is about what he is,what he was and what he did in the past
deterministic- the lyrics amplify our perspective of him as well as the visuals 
influential - due to the visuals showing his hard work within the music industry the audience will be aspired by what he's doing
arrogant- the visual will mainly consist of the artist being the main centre of attention

*image of artist*

Age: 21

Ethnicity: asian ethnic

Physique: slim and tall

Costume: We will begin the video with our character smartly dressed however not too formal because the artist belongs to the hip hop genre. The artist will then switch to a more casual all black attire.

Representation within my music video: A young asian teenager who strongly believes in a hardworking lifestyle and appears to be very relaxed and friendly but also madly arrogant with the people arround him.

 

Interaction with others in the video: Centre of attention, shows the people in the office how he wants his album cover to be, gets instructed by the producer on what to do, perform a short dance piece with background dancers and interacts friendly with fmeale models.

Planning: shotlist

The camera operator would receive this draft as it allows them to know and be able to envision the types of shots they will be taking in the process of making our music video.

Planning: storyboard

Planning the storyboard greatly improves the structure and organisation of the filming of our music video. We would be going through the scenes step by step and coming to an agreement of what would occur during each scene. This erases any confusion within the group about the duration of each scene, frame number, and the amount of scenes that would be used.

Planning: production roles

Planning production roles are really important to make sure our production goes smoothly and would enable us utilise the specialisites of the members of our groups.

Khaled 

•  Editor 
• Director 
• Lighting 
• Location Manager

Gizem

• Camera person 
• Costume, hair and make-up
• Cast control

Lara 

• Producer 
• Print designer 
• Photographer 
• Storyboard

Camera person: This is the person who films the scenes, We chose Gizem for this role as she has previous experience in filming from last year's AS production. The camera person would work alongside the storyboard organiser and the director to take instructions from them about how to operate the camera. Such as what shot, angle and movement to use at the specific scene or time.They should create shots which are effective to use for the thriller genre and not to confuse the audience by using the appropriate camera techniques.

Editor: These are people that edit the scenes. I was chosen for this role as I have previous experience in editing for last year's AS thriller production. They would work with the storyboard organiser and also the camera operator to decide the parts which would require cutting, and what type of montage to use and what sequence of shots should be used. They would make sure that the cuts they use do not confuse the audience and that they are effective for the R&B genre.

Director: This is the person who is in charge of everything that goes on in the music video, but mainly controls the characters, I was chosen as director as I have past experience in directing from last years thriller production. I am also very organised and haveleadership skills suitable for this role. The director makes sure everything is effective and reflect the film producers ideas. Moreover, they control all the elements of mise-en-scene. They work with the whole team and makes sure they are pursing in the producers aspirations.

Location manager: This is the person that chooses the location of the scene, I was chosen for this role as I was the only group member to access the locations we needed, therefore, I was chosen for this. The location manager makes sure that the location would be conventional for ouyr music video, and also he/she would have to work with the film directors to decide what time of the day and what area to set the scene at. This is to make sure that they have the best place to film the scene at the correct time to enhance the impact the scene has on the audience by choosing appropriate scenes so they can relate to making the audience more engaged and interested in the scene.

Storyboard organiser: The storyboard organiser is the person who creates the film on a storyboard which displays all the other workers of the film in rough idea of what’s going to happen in the scene, they make it relevant to a music video. Lara was chosen for this role as she has previous experience in storyboarding. Also, Lara is the most creative in the group which suggests why she is suitable for this role. It implies the shot number, cinematography, actors involved, editing style narrative, dialogue and duration of the scene to give the workers a more detailed guideline and a general idea of what they are meant to be producing. The storyboard organiser would make it as detailed as he/she can so there would be less work to do on the day of shooting.

Lighting: The lighting person creates the set up of the lighting. For example, if there needs to be high key lighting they will ensure that there are lights set up around the location in order to create this atmosphere. I was chosen for this role as I already have the lighting equipment for the production making me suitable for this. 

Costume, hair and make up: The costume, hair and make-up person takes on the role of organising what the characters image is. This is important as this is what the artist will be represented as and this needs to match the conventions of the genre. We chose Gizem for this role as she has the most experience in this. She is extremely interested in fashion which is why we thought she would be suitable for this. 

Cast Control: Cast control consists of gathering the actors for the music video. Gizem was chosen for this role as she is organised and was able to get characters easily as well as the main artist. 

Producer: Lara was conducted to be the producer as she has previous experience  from our foundation portfolio. This is beneficial to our group as she has developed attributes and skills such as organisation, spotting risk and assisting the director. Additionally, Lara is also able to keep an eye on the campaign as a whole. 

Print designer: The print designer role was given to Lara as she has previous experience in photography, art and design. This is beneficial to our group as we will be successful when designing our digipak and advert.

Photographer: The photographer role was to take pictures for the digipak and advert where we chose Lara for this. Her previous Photography skills suggest why she is suitable for this role.

Planning: Analysing three music videos

Video: sing for the moment

Performance from the artist:

Whilst analysing this video, I was mainly interested in the structure and artist representation. 

this music video does have a clear structure as the lyrics link to the visuals of the music video, the artist is presenting himself as an independent character and he is showing this by the use of inter sexual inferences he is making. the music video contains different chips of the artist performing on stage. This links to our music video because in our music video we will be suing the dig-pack to make links to the artists life and in Eminem's video, he uses key events to make references to his life e.g. him performing on stage and getting ready for shows. 

Artist representation:

The artist is represented as an strong individual and this is shown through his lyrics, 'Sing it with me, just for today, maybe tomorrow the good Lord'll take you away...' This means that the artist is trying motivate his fans.

Video: Action Bronson - Actin Crazy

Whilst analyzing this video, I was mainly interested in the content and visual style of the video. 

Body language and facial expressions of characters and artist:

• The artists body language show that he isn't as interested as he is eating while shooting for his music video

Setting and editing:

• The settings that have been used in this music video is very interesting because the director uses a green screen to capture different shots. 
• The editing skills is simple but very creative

Planning: copyright letter

Whilst planning a music video one of our tasks to create a copyright letter which I’d send to the record company of diplo music regarding the usage of one of his singles. this letter was purposely wrote to explain how this single will contribute towards our A Level grades. It was vital that we wrote this letter as it clarifies our intentions and stops the company from taking any legal actions such as getting sued. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

 

Oasis Academy Hadley

South Street

Enfield

London

En3 4px

Date:

RE: Use of single, ‘Oh-Well’

Dear copyright holder,

                                                We are ‘esoteric records’ and I am writing to you from Oasis Academy Hadley 6th Form in order to request for authorization of the single 'oh well.' We ask for permission for this audio simply to create a music video which is required in our A2 Media Advanced Portfolio coursework.

We are a group of students who are hoping for your permission in order to produce a creative music video that reflects our own creative ideas. Our coursework task involves creating a music video with a song of our choice, and we have chosen G eazy’s single because of the mainstream sounds it provides which can be very appealing to our target audience. In addition the themes it portrays are suitable for our audience category’s chosen

If we received your permission, this track would ONLY be used for educational purposes only and for the OCR exam board moderator. It would not be used for promotional reasons and we have no intention to display this video for commercial use.

I and the rest of my group would be very privileged if you take our request into consideration and give us the authority to use the audio. The artist and your company would of course be recognized throughout pre-production work, through the actual video production as well as being credited if you please on our work blogs. A copyright notice with wording supplied by you can be included in the records of the project if you would like us to do so. If this is required, please send the full details.

Thank you very much for reading this letter.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Khaled Jaffer

Gizem Mayil

Lara Lawal

_________________________________________________________________________________

After creating a copyright letter we then made an attempt to send it off to his manager's inquiry email account, stating that we would use the track strictly is for educational purposes, to prevent any illegal issues with the artist. A few weeks down the line and we have had no response from the account we sent the email to. As a result of this if we was to be convicted of copyright we could simply say we did ask for permission and they didn't respond.

Planning: outline of Narrative

For a task we were allocated within our group to analyse parts of the song in order to decide what visuals or edits will be used within our music video. In order to help us plan our artist as well we looked at the lyrics to discuss what kind of characteristics will be portrayed out of him. In addition we also discussed what parts of the song will be narrative, performance and concept based.

Applying the theories to our music video

·       Goodwin

We will be using star image as the narrative revolves around the artists’ life in the music industry.

An intertextual reference is made to his life with the promotion of the digi-pack within the video.

Genre characteristics are not being precisely followed, though the setting of a recording studio may apply.

·         Dyer

Most of the video will be performance-based. Some concept shots at the beginning during the meeting scene.

·         Mulvey’s ‘Male Gave’

Our genre is known to sexualise women, however out video challenges this trait as there is no focus on women, nor sexual themes.

·         Adorno

The artist is alluding to the ruling-class through encouraging morals of success and wealth

Outline of narrative

The video will begin with abstract shots outside the office, then followed by the extra characters in the office whilst we hear the start of the instrumental to 'oh well.' As video idea consists of one main scenario (with different locations) and is more of a concept song as it doesn't naturally relate to the lyrics. The visuals of the artist will begin as soon as the lyrics come in as part of his performance. It will have some sort of narrative however showing a young artist and his everyday life in the music industry which includes; meetings for his next album cover which will be shown in an office with his fellow colleagues, briefly recording music with a producer; shooting a music video within back up dancers etc and even photo shoots for top magazines. an example of when a narrative visuals will be shown is when. the idea of inputting the narrative concept idea will come in where he say lines such as "no shades of grey here my outfit is jet black." its essential that in this line we go with what the artist is saying therefore through editing we will have the characters apper to change clothes instantly from a smart attire to a more retro urban one. We decided the idea of these visuals would be a much better option for the audio rather than a typical of the artist partying or going to a club which is why we plan to show the artist as a hardworking individual to have a positive impact on the youth viewing this music video. Because it will be more concept based, there wouldn't be much of a story or a message behind the music video, it will simply consist of his everyday life instead. the idea of concept visuals will be utlised when the chorus comes in where we will show urban areas of london to represent the genre.

Planning: Audience

It is important, when creating a music video, that a specific target audience has been identified to aim the music video at as this will decide upon the type of micro elements you will use in order to appeal to them in hope to form a relationship. By knowing the exact target audience you’re aiming your product for, you can then manipulate they’re reactions/perspectives of things.

Audience categories

Age:  16 - 30 - This age group is still young but as a teen you are growing up and start looking for real hard-core music that you can relate to. Experimental Hip hop is based at young teenagers living life or going through a lot, therefore this age is relevant for planning my video.

Gender: Unisex but mainly Males- All genders can listen to experimental Hip hop however for my groups video it is mainly based at young teenage girls because of our artists image.

Race: All races but however predominantly the black race- As time goes on more and more races start to listen to hip hop but hip hop was originated by the black race and that's why so many black teens can identify with the genre. 

Audience categories: y audience will suit category E to C2 because hip hop come sometimes talk rap or sing about the lowest moments or even struggles they've gone through to proceed in life and this category out of all the others have probably lived those moments. 

Income: A little or no income- Most of my audience will be students so they may not even have jobs and the late 20s may also be students or just starting a low paid job. If I choose an audience that was really well paid they couldn't relate to hip hop because most songs are about the artists life and how little they had at a young age. 

Hobbies and interests: My audience are mainly teenagers so they would have wild and outrageous hobbies like American football, skateboarding, partying, taking drugs, dancing, listening to music and sex

Planning:Questionnaire & Graphs

In order to understand what the audience’s viewpoints and demands from a club/dance music video I carried out a questionnaire that consisted of 18 questions and then then put the feedback into graph form.  The purpose of doing this was to make me understand clearly what makes a target audience enjoy and listen to the genre of my choice (experimental hip-hop). I would then be able to use this information and decide on what elements and techniques I should use and what I should not use when  producing my music video product.

1.    Name: ____________________________________

2.    Age:  10-15 [  ]   16-21 [  ]   22-27 [  ]

3.    Ethnicity: 

White [  ]   Black [  ]   Oriental [  ]   Pacific Islander [  ]   Other [  ] 

10/20 people were white, 5/20 were black, 2/20 oriental, 3/20 other and 0/20 pacific islander. The dominating white and black races in these results, already show that we have a potential Hip-Hop audience, as contemporary Hip-Hop has a mixture of white and black consumers.

4.    How often do you listen to Hip-Hop? 

Never [  ]   Sometimes [  ]   Always [  ]  

12/20 people always listen to Hip-Hop, 7/20 people sometimes do and1/20 never. These results prove the prediction above, as the majority of people asked are consumers of Hip-Hop.

5.    How often do you watch music videos? 

Never [  ]   Sometimes [  ]   Always [  ]

10/20 people always watch music videos, 7/20 sometimes do and 3/20never. As well as being consumers of our genre choice, this audience generally enhance their consumption on the YouTube/Vevo media platform as most people watch music videos.

6.    What do you expect a Hip-Hop video to generally look like?

Urban [  ]   Futuristic [  ]   Formal [  ]   Innocent [  ]   Sexual [  ]  

9/20 people expect a Hip-Hop music video to be urban, 6/20 people expect futuristic elements, 3/20 people chose formal, 2/20 agree that it’s likely to be sexual and 0/20 people think that it would be innocent. Therefore, this audience generally prefer our location choice, which is urban.  

7.    What do you expect a Hip-Hop artist to sing about?

Love [  ]   Politics [  ]   Youth [  ]   Recreation [  ]   Loneliness [  ]

10/20 people think a Hip-Hop artist would sing about love, 6/20 people thought politics, 2/20 for recreation & love and 0/20 for loneliness. This shows that the Hip-Hop audience prefer slightly more positive themes within the music.

8.    Do you like it when the artist of the song is the main focus in a music video?

Yes [  ]   No [  ]

9.    Should Hip-Hop artists be sexualised in music videos?

Yes [  ]   No [  ]

10.  Should music videos link to the lyrics of the song?

Yes [  ]   No [  ]

11.  How do you expect a Hip-Hop artist to dress?

Formal [  ]   Casual [  ]   Gangster [  ]   Goth [  ]   ‘Camp’ [  ]   Hipster [  ]

This question allowed us to identify what people are most likely to expect. The majority of people asked chose gangster. Unfortunately because most people chose the gangster attire, we have decided to go against their choice simply because we want it to be more mainstream also it would look better if we went with formal or casual because it would be unexpected.  

12.  What time should a Hip-Hop music video be shot?

Morning [  ]   Afternoon [  ]   Evening [  ]   Night [  ]  

From the results this shows that people are more interested to see a video at a time when it is dark however most of our video will be filmed indoors. As a result of this the time that we shoot it would not effect the audiences feeling of it being a hip hop music video. If we was to shoot outdoors however we would definitely consider filming in the afternoon or at night.

13.  Which location appeals the most to you?

Restaurant [  ]   Club [  ]   Park [  ]   Home [  ]   Work [  ]   Streets [  ]

The purpose of asking this was to define where people actually intend to visualise a hip hop video. The 3 most wanted options were a club, park and a house. we plan to alternate these top choices again to hit the audience with something unexpected. In addition, filming in a club would not be realistic.

14.  How should Hip-Hop artists interact with other people in music videos?

Aggressively [  ]   Sexually [  ]   Distant [  ]   There shouldn’t be other characters [  ]

Generally in a hip hop video you wouldn't see an isolated artist in a hip hop video, which is why we least expect the main character to be distant. it was also expected that most people would pick aggressive due to the raw urban sound hip hop provides.

15.  What personality traits do you expect a Hip-Hop artist to have?

Passion [  ]   Confidence [  ]   Depression [  ]   Alter-ego [  ]   Realism [  ]  

16.  Do you think you have a connection with any Hip-Hop artists?

Yes [  ]   No [  ]

This question was vital towards the utilisation of our star image. it was important we had a personality for our artist. The main option most people picked was passion mainly because most hip hop artists have had a hard upbringing which is why we want to show how hardworking our artist is within the music video.

17.  If yes, who? _____________________________________________________________

18. What is your idea of a satisfying Hip-Hop music video?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Generally those who said yes referred to modern Hip-Hop artists, which shows that it is still a highly appreciated genre in a music industry, and consumers welcome new content.