This week we filmed the rest of the shooting script. At the moment we have done 80% of the script. We just have the remaining 20% to finish. The reason why we could not actually meet the deadline was because our schedules would not meet the days we could film so we needed an extension. However, fingers crossed it will hopefully be all done by Tuesday. Due to this we will have to spend time after school working on our editing. On the bright-side our magazine ad is getting there and is not as bad as we expected.
Choosing the right background was a very big struggle.As we needed the same sort of synergy shown across our music video and magazine ad on our digipaks as well. So finding the right background was hard. Taking the pictures for our digipak was easy as I knew what I wanted the sort of images for the digipaks. I focused on making the magazine ad and digipak which was simple and easy for me as since I have already made the magazine ad I knew what sort of look I wanted for the digipak. Where as, if my partner decided to there would be no similar coloration between the two. He focused particularly on editing the music video.
This was the week after half term. We carried on making our logistics for our shooting scrip such as where we are filming and what our backup locations are if we cannot film in a certain area. Also this week we worked on our digipaks and magazine ads putting them together and getting feedback on it were needed. Four our magazine ad we wanted something different thanks to Photoshop we could adjust the images used and make it darker and make me and my red dress stand out more. It was quite easy doing the magazine ad as i was doing it myself so it was a lot easier.
Also, this week we filmed all the drama scenes. these were the performance secnes where i was shown to be singing the song. This was very long for example getting all the equipment our for our wok and putting it back. We started filming at 2 and finished at 5:30pm. However, we got it all filmed and i was happy with the results of our filming.
This we spent our time filming the script. It was very stressful since someday the person we needed was not available. Also since my partner worked some days when the weather was perfect and what we wanted however, because he was working we could not work.
It was very long filming, as we had too take shots five times in order for them to be the correct ones. We were supposed to film this Sunday however due to the horrible weather we could not film. It was stressful as the weather was never right.
However, during this period we also took pictures for our magazine ads and digipak. This was fairly easy as i knew what i wanted pictures wise. The pictures came out fairly nicely and looked pretty good.
This week I spent time creating my digipak and magazine ad for my artist. This was quite time consuming as I spent ages colouring in all of the digipak and magazine ad. However, the way it came out looked pretty good. However, it will not look the same as we want in real life but it is a little plan of how we want things too look like.
Also, this week we were finishing the remaining script as we have to finish the script before we start taking pictures and filming. So we completed this. Half i did half my partner did. We began too take pictures this week as well.
Pictures were taken for the magazine ad and digipaks, these were all test shots too see how it looks and the lighting we were using and whether we liked it or not. This also helped us we knew what kind of shot types we would consider using.
This week we filmed our focus group. It was actually quite funny whilst filming it. As the girls we were using got side tracked easily including me. It was a really chilled out environment. i really enjoyed filming the focus group truthfully.
The focus group really helped our production work and our ideas for the music video. As what we were going for clearly did not suit the song chosen as its more of a relaxed, chilled out sort of song. So from our feedback we decided to change the idea to a more of a chilled out vibe but not cliche of a R&B/Soul genre.
Also this week we analysed three digipaks, three music videos, and three magazine ads. This was really helpful as i knew what to do with our ideas for the digipaks, ads and the type of music video. These tasks were shared between Niraj and Me. I felt like these tasks also got Niraj and me communicating with each other a lot more, as to begin with we were not acting like partners however, after the task we have started acting like a team, not strangers. These tasks were very long and took very long too complete. However, the end result was worth it as we finally finished the work to good standards.
Also this week with the feedback we began too look at music videos which inspired our style of the music video. Examples would be Diamond rings by Chimpunk. The reason this inspired me was it has similar features which i would like to include within my music video.
PRE-PRODUCTION Location Manager: DAM Casting agent: DAM Set manager: NIRAJ + DAM Photography: NIRAJ Call sheet: DAM Storyboard: NIRAJ + DAM Flatplan: NIRAJ Production schedule: DAM Treatment: NIIRAJ + DAM PRODUCTION Cast: DAM Camera operator: NIRAJ Lighting: Niraj Director: Niraj Cinematography: Niraj + DAM Graphics: Niraj Make-Up-Artsit: DAM Costume designer: DAM Copy writer: DAM POST PRODUCTION Editing: Niraj + Dam Typography: Niraj + Dam Photo-shop: Niraj + Dam Sound edior: Niraj
This is my focus group and we actually got quite a bit of feedback and it was very helpful to us. It allowed us to break down our idea and find out what people thought was good and bad about it. Overall I think the focus group was actually a success, as we got a lot of feedback from our peers and they gave helpful constructive criticism.
When everyone first heard the song, they all said they imagined an idea that was quite “Chilled & jazzy”. This was right at the beginning of the video and they had already said something that was not what my partner and I were thinking of. They then did however warm up to the idea of a girl walking down the street with different costumes as Tanya said “As long as you make it a bit jazzy I guess”. What was really successful is that they expressed their opinions quite well, as they even gave us an insight of what the character should look like in specific detail: “Side parting, hair all down one side”.
The strengths that they said weren’t that many but I feel as if this is a good thing as it will help us a lot when it comes to developing our idea and what we should do as this feedback is from people that are within the age range of our target audience. Also I personally think this song appeals more too mostly females and in the focus group you can denote that it consists of only girls. However this can also be seen as a problem as there are no males the feedback we got cannot be representative of all the males that would listen to their song and we haven’t got any opinions of what males think of it.
The strengths they did say was that our idea can work if we slow it down and make it more chilled and another strength is that they agreed that some effects would work; adding filters but even when they said that they didn’t agree with the filters that my partner had said to use. Dami specifically said to add a blue filter. The girls wanted to go for more of a laid back video where there was rain and Tanya even said maybe a girl and a boy. To me this came off as quite a depressing video but it has made us think about how we can alter our idea and how we can compromise. They also agreed with one idea that we had which was getting her ready at the beginning of the video and then walking out to go somewhere when the tempo gets faster. This supports us and makes it a likely decision for us to actually do that scene of getting ready at the beginning.
However majority of the video was them voicing their opinions of what they think we should do. Ama suggested an idea of having a character walking down the street in a gown with red lipstick and a masquerade mask on and going to a party. This is a very different idea to our original idea of having it quite funky and having a girl changing costumes. It made us see the song in a different light.
They also then moved onto giving ideas of maybe the whole video should be her getting ready as a lot of R&B songs do this. A thing that was very well done is that they gave examples such as Eunice giving the example of Leona Lewis or even Jada talking about Diamond rings by Chipmunk. This will give us more to look at for inspiration which can influence our idea more. They also gave us feedback on our locations and gave us ideas of where to film. They were quite committed to their jazz idea so they said to film in a jazz bar and if we were not allowed in then we can improvise and use the school hall as it has the props we need. This was quite helpful but I do not think we will be moving into the direction of going very jazzy.
The weaknesses were the fact that they were against masks and dancing but this wasn’t a huge thing as we were quite sceptical on those ideas anyways so it will be easy to just get over the idea. Overall there was a lot of feedback to take in and it was quite helpful as I think it has developed our idea to add a slight narrative to the video to make it more interesting and calmoing down with the upbeat.
The song i have chosen to do is Changing people by Shauntia Toussaint. the song is about finding your ambition and desire and also finding your destination. The song talks about how she is going through her old neighborhood and due to the fact everyone has found there destinies people have changed. One of the lyrics is "Changing people evolves around me it happens
everyday People changing in my world makes me touch the
future day by day" This contributes to finding your own destiny and how everyone has changed and it makes her happy. The second verse is all about finding your soul and your destiny. The whole song is about changing her own world and others around her too. The song itself is very chilled out. It is a happy song. Music and tempo.
The music genre is R&B and soul. This can clearly be denoted by the lyrics used within the song. As most generic R&B and soul songs tend to focus around heartbreaks, love, finding your destiny and luck. This song is about finding your destiny. The tempo is very slow from the beginning however after the first chorus the tempo speeds up and then goes back to the slow beat after the second chorus. At the line "Shout to the sky" the temp of the music is very fast. At the end the sound of the music decreases and the music fades out.
How would i use the song in a video.
The whole basis of the song is being yourself, being happy and finding your destiny. So I would use this in a video which shows that the artist is happy and moving on with life./
Changing people (Eddie Sea}
written by Eddie Caldwell
Sung by: Shauntia Touusaint.
Verse 1
Walking through my old neighborhood I see old faces in new places looking good So many times I’ve said my memory ignites a
flame Everything’s change but the spirit remains the
same There’s Mila with Tammy in Capice’s Café I see nappy head Shawn owns the barbershop by
the alley If you feel that bad moon rise, keep your head
to the sky Believe in your destiny and the stars will
aligned
Chorus
Changing people evolves around me it happens
everyday People changing in my world makes me touch the
future day by day
Verse 2
I see 53rd st still full of rainbow people
smiling and sharing But a few blocks away it’s still a ghetto heaven While people change my dreams remain the same Some people turn two faced and their goals
remain strange My papa said to me, your future is yours to make
incredible My momma said to me, you’re invincible,
unbreakable I realize life is hard, but I still see lovers
in the park Keep wishing on your dream, while my melody
lingers far
Chorus repeat
Bridge
If you believe in your destiny people will see
reality You have stars in your eyes; we all have a
miracle inside.
Section
It’s that same ole’ story about people with a
dream
Last week we showed our class our initial plans for our music videos, My plan was a short documentary based around the impressions and reactions people give her as she walks down crowded streets looking different from everyone else. After showing our initial ideas I ended up working with Niraj. We had chosen to do my idea however, we couldn't merge our ideas together as they were complete opposites. My fear was originally that nobody would like my idea. However, everyone liked it and i received good feedback.
This week we learnt about different music videos such as are they a narrative, performance or conceptual. We also learnt about different digipaks and music album posters and adverts and how they look. We were told what to do and what not to do with it. The challenges we actually faced was finding digipaks as they are not as common as most people just buy music on itunes or illegally download it so its not as easy to find in local stores such as HMV and Tesco.
The key concepts we have been focusing on is media language and representation. As the analysis we are doing of digipaks, music videos and music album adverts show how the artist has been represented meaning how they look , why have they been represented in this way. However, for the analysis we need to know key media languages such as mise-en-scene, camera language, editing and narrative. Even for the analysis we need to know the key media language as shown in the pictures below.
1) Listening to this song, what ideas come into your head what would your own music video consist off if you had to make one to this song?
2) What do you imagine the main character to look like? What colours she would wear? What costumes? Also why do you think she would look like this?
PITCH IDEA- TALK ABOUT DIFF LOCATIONS AND CLOTHING, GETTING REACTIONS
3) So this is our idea, what do you think of it and do you think it actually fits the song? Can you imagine this idea actually happening? If you do not then why not?
PLAY RUDIMENTAL SONG
4) Looking at this song, you can see that it has a documentary feel to it, and that's what we want to do as we are filming people's genuine reactions therefore nothing is staged. What do you actually think of this video? What aspects do you like about it? Do you think we could successfully do this documentary style in our video? If you can think of any difficulties what are they?
PLAY NICKY ROMERO SONG
EXPLAIN MEANING OF CONCEPTUAL- BASICALLY RANDOM, IT IS INCONGRUOUS
5) This song has the same sort of idea we are trying to portray; it contains random people dancing with each other. Do you think something of this conceptual style would fit our song choice? Can you imagine us walking in different clothes getting peoples reaction and just generally being a bit surreal, a bit out there? If not then why?
6) If you had to film this video using our idea, so walk around getting random peoples' reactions; where would you suggest filming? Do you have any locations in mind? With the locations you have said why do you suggest these locations?
AFTER THEY HAVE ANSWERED TELL THEM WHAT LOCATIONS WE HAVE THOUGHT OF AND SEE WHAT THEY THINK OF THEM (ON A ROOF, WINTER WONDERLAND ETC.)
PLAY SNIPPETS OF THE SONG AS THEY ARE TOO LONG
7) Looking at parts of these songs do you think these sorta effects would work in our video? There is the effects of reversing the actual video and the effects of changing the visuals of the video. If you think they would work where do you think we could incorporate it? If you don't think we can use the effects then why not?
EXPLAIN HOW WE WERE GONNA USE THE REVERSE ONE BY MAKING THE MAIN CHARACTER WALK FORWARDS BUT PEOPLE IN THE BACKGROUND ARE MOVING BACKWARDS
8) This work is from past students that were in our school, do you think our idea is too similar to theirs? If so how can we change it up to make it different? If it's not then how is our idea different?
9) Looking at this image, what would you change about it to make it fit?
MAKE THEM TALK ABOUT COSTUMES (WHAT COLOURS, WHAT CLOTHES) LOCATIONS (MORE BUSY OR NOT) WHAT SORT OF GESTURES (DANCES, DIFFERENT WALKS) ETC.
10) What is your favourite music video and why? Try and give a lot of detail if possible.
Narrative- Flashback: A flashback is when you go back to the past.
An example would be Seven Days by Craig David.
This music video shows flashbacks throughout the music video. Craig David is first seen to be in the barber chair however, at 2:15 there is a flashback to his date he was talking about. This makes it more effective as we get to see how things turned out for him and is quite funny. Also the flashbacks matched some of the lyrics he was talking about such as "We be making love by wednesday" they are shown to being in bed together. I would like to sue flashbacks in my work I feel like it is quite effective.
Pathetic fallacy. This is when the weather matches the mood. An example would be cry me a river by Justin Timberlake. Throughout the music video it consists of rain and a misty clouded weather. This is really effective as the song is about breaking someones heart and cheating. The dark weather creates the mood the artist is feeling. This matches the song perfectly the weather.
Restricted narrative: Restricted narrative is when the audience are limited to what they see they only see one perspective. I think Same Girl by Usher and R Kelly suits this very well i believe.
At 2:34 it shows the girl that they both fell for however, the audience doesn't know that they are twin sisters and we only see it from Usher's and R Kelly's perspective. I think this is really effective as it creates amusement for the audience but also reveals the truth which we did not know since it was only see from one perspective.
Todorov:
Todorov suggests that all narratives begin with a equilibrium. Which later gets solved. This consists of five stages.
The stages are
1) state of equilibrium
2) event disrupts the equilibrium
3) Main protagonist recognises event has been disputed
4) Main protagonists tries to rectify what has happened.
5) peace is restored
I think Justin Bieber under the mistletoe would be an perfect Todorov narrative.
The equilibrium is at 0:10 Justin and his girlfriend having a good time together. However at 1:25 this gets disrupted by another girl who Justin was with. The protagonist recognises that the peace has been disrupted as she walks away from Justin and the other girl looking very upset. This gets restored as she receives a present from Justin Bieber at 2:10 the other protagonist tries to rectify and make peace. At 3:00 the peace as been restored and there is a new equilibrium where Justin kisses her and they make up.
Mckee's five part structure.
1) inciting incident
2) progressive complications
3) crisis
4) climax
5) resolution
This music video By J cole presents the Mckee five part structure I believe.
inciting incident: 1:22 when the protagonist and his friend run away from school and are shown to be skating down a road.
progressive complications: This progresses at 1:45-1:55 as they are shown to be stealing sweets from a shop and later on shown to be smoking which they are not old enough to do.
Crisis: The crisis is at 2:45 when the police officer tries to arrest them both and they start to run away however the boys bag gets stuck whilst trying to run away from the police. This is a crisis. However he manages to get away and run off before the police officer arrests him.
Climax: The climax is at 3:00 when the boy runs home after this eventful day and walks in on his mother with another man who is not his father. This creates an climax as he finds out his mother is having an affair. This leads him to running out of the house.
Resolution: The resolution is at 4:30. This is when he runs off and his friend comes running after him too see if he's okay. This establishes a true friendship between the both and he recognises he has a good friend. He then returns back home and sits down and has dinner and acts as if nothing has happened.
The song i have chosen is Changing people by Shauntia Touissant. I found this song on creative commons which then lead me to Beat Pick where this song was found. Creative common is a copyright free music website. The only catch is that the artists name has to be shown in the video. I had to pay £1 for the song to be officially bought and used for this media project. Below the screenshot shows the receipt for the purchase and showing I have permission to use this song.
A passive audience is when the audience is influenced in a one way direction. This meaning what they think is influenced by the media. This can also be called the hypodermic needle control. Influences can be the news and brands. An active audience is when we pick and choose what we want too see and think. Uses and Gratifications would be an example of what we used. Such as we read or watch media texts for escapism, for a social relationship. This meaning to talk to your friends about. We may watch certain media texts for personal identity.Lastly for information. An example would be watching the news. Passive theory has been used in many debates. For example Nikki Minaj's music video to 'Anaconda' has been in many controversial debates. One debate is that as she is half naked she is making her target audience dress like her as many young girls look like her. Many have said she is dressing very proactively and suggests that in order to get noticed you need to look like this. However, this can also be read in another form. Which is Nikki is confident in her skin and has an feminist approach that she is proud to be a woman and she's confident the way her body is. However some feminists may say that she is making women seem like a sexual object as the video is very sexually visual. I myself, disagree with this I believe she is confident and she is not a sexual object but on the other hand i do believe that so much nudity should not be shown as many young girls do look up to her and can put the wrong message across instead of being confident she could be portraying you should dress like a sexual object. I do believe this is not the her intention however, active audiences would interpret this in other forms. I believe we all our influenced by what we watch however we pick and choose what influences us." Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised" Marilyn Manson. this meaning the news shown on TV influences us the most. Telling us what the so called truth is.
Each person in the class presented a powerpoint slide displaying what their ideas were. The powerpoint consisted of who the artist is and how would it look visually. Judging from the feedback I received i was told that my idea was very original and unique. The most of my music video would be focused on represntation of the artist itself I was planning on doing a short documentary. My idea suited the song strongly. However, judging from the feedback I had received was that it could seem a bit boring just someone walking down the road. With this feedback my partner and I decided to alter my idea a bit. Instead of just someone walking down the road we have decided to show her wearing different clothes all the time and randomly taking them off in different locations. .
Overall, the feedback i received was quite positive which i am happy about.
The YouTube videos shown below are music videos which have influenced the changes being made to my idea for my music video.
The music video to Rudimental all night consists of a short documentary of what the professional BMX bike rider went through. This has a todorov narrative to it. We intend on creating a short documentary. However, the todorov narrative is something we do not intend on doing. This music video contains no performance.
Such as the Nicky Romera music video consisted of a person in a mask dancing, he goes up to someone random and makes him wear the mask eventually there is a big crowd of people wearing these masks and creates a big plot twist. We were thinking of doing something to this. Instead people will be wearing different costumes which i had worn. This creates a plot and makes it more interesting rather than boring. The performance in the video is just the people dancing I intend on creating something similar to this. The only performance will be me dancing.
The video to my love consists of different effects which we would use to make it more interesting but also the song is quite a bright song so using this matches the song. These are the changes I intend on doing to my music video. I liked the mise-en-scene in this video such as the colours. It is very bright which would suit the song i have chosen. as it is quite a bright and bubbly song so this effect would suit the song.
'Genre' is a critical tool that helps us study texts and audience responses. This meaning we put texts into different categories based on common elements.
A clear example of a Hip-Hop video is Big Poppa by Notorious BIG.
At 0:31 Biggie is surrounded by a bunch of girls and they are sipping alcohol whilst being in a club.
This is typical of the Hip-Hop genre as most music videos are about expressing their wealth and telling the audience how they are getting female attention due to being a rapper.
Another example would be at 1:06 P-diddy and other men are shown too be betting with a lot of money in their hands.
This again is typical of the Hip-Hop genre as they tend too flash money around to show that they have money and are well off.
SUB-GENRE
Sub-genre is a more specific category which allows the audience to identify them specifically. An example would be electronic music which is part of the dance genre.
This is obvious too tell as the flashing images of the words being said is typical of the dance genre. This has been shown at 0:28.
Another reason why this is obvious is at 1:05 the people are shown to be cutting shapes too the music and also shuffling. These dance moves are typical of the dance genre.
The dance moves have been associated with the dance genre. This also creates an impressionist style for the music video as it uplifts the mood and is quite relaxing.
HYBRID GENRE.
The definition of the hybrid genre is it is a combination of major genres that creates another type of genre. An example would be Afro-beats. This is a combination of Hip-Hop, Jazz, and funk.
Caro by Wizkid is an example of afro-beats. At 0:36 he is seen approaching a girl wearing flashy labels.
This is typical of the hip-hop genre as they always express how much money they are getting and they are well off.
At 1:09 the females behind is focused on within the music video.
Which again is typical of any Hip-Hop music video. As the female gets screen time when an aspect of her body is showing. The fact that Wizkid is watching her shows that the female is a sexual object within the music video and is not highly valued as much as Wizkid as his body is not the main focus of the music video.
GENRE CONVENTIONS.
Ja Rule ft Case living it up is a hip hop song.
Typical miss-en-scene.
The music video has been set in a urban area. At 02:46 the background is easily seen and it is New york city. Also at 3:00 the main rapper Ja Rule is shown too be in sports wear which is typical of the Hip-Hop genre.
This conforms this statement as in a similar music video of Nelly Ride wit me. He is shown too be in a football jersey which again confirms that the males clothing usually is sports wear.
Typical types of narrative.
This video does not contain much narrative. At the beginning at 0:23 it shows Ja rule in the car with a female and he follows her too the hotel room.
There is a set piece which has been created is where there is a row of females in a urban setting in a swimming pool. Which is typical too be seen. This is similar too Will Smith Miami music video. At 1:48 There is a bunch of girls stood in an urban setting.
Typical representations.
The males in the music video have been shown too be dominant. At 1:32 Ja Rule has been shown to be getting a body massage from a female however we cannot see her face. Only her body. The screen time the males receive is much longer than the females.
The females have been highly sexualised. They have been shown too be sex objects that throw themselves at men. At 2:06 Ja Rule is surrounded by Half dressed females.
This is typical of the genre as in most hip-hop videos the man receive a lot of female attention. Coming back to my point about screen time, at 2:13 the females body is on the screen longer than her face is shown. This can conform by the music video too want to love you by Akon and Snoop Dog. At 0:53 the upper body of Akon and Snoop dog is shown. They are fully clothed.
However, the females at 1:22 appear too be half dressed dancing very sexually. Their bodies appear too receive more screen time. This can also portray women as golddiggers. This is because they are surrounding the artists who are shown too be very rich and well off and all that female attention can show that they are golddiggers.
Typical sound design.
The lyrics used in the song is very disrespectful towards women. "fuck, knowing your name, get your ass in the Range" This shows that he doesn't care about the women its very sexualised which portrays what he thinks of women. Also "To all my niggas that be livin' it up, we say" This is typical of the Hip-Hop genre as the n word is frequently used for the word "friend." Also the sexual references too women is shown throughout Hip-Hop lyrics such as Ginuwine in those jeans he says "Is there any more room for me in those jeans."
Typical editing style.
The cuts are very fast when the camera is on the women. The pace is very fast as well which matches the beat too the music. However at 1:07 the woman gets up to five seconds of screen time due to the fact her body was being shown. This is typical of the Hip-Hop genre as the women are extremely sexualised.
Genre Themes.
Living it up is full of themes by Ja rule.
Friendship is a theme shown within this music video. At 2:22 Ja Rule has been shown too by bunch of his friends in his car. This shows his friendship and how he is still friends with the people he used to be friends with. This also shows his clique the people he hangs out with.
At 0:55 the theme of hedonism is shown. People are shown too be partying, surrounded by half dressed females and drinking expensive champagne. This shows they are living purely in pleasure. This also has been shown when he is getting a massage whilst drinking champagne.
Aspiration has also been shown, this at 0:36. Ja Rule has been shown too be sitting in his car a range rover looking at his rolex watch. This shows how he has started from the bottom and aspired too be living this rich lifestyle and now he is. This is very generic of Hip-Hop music videos.
