Planning: Artist image

ARTIST IMAGE

Personality traits of our experimental Hip-Hop artist:

1. Passionate - Hip-Hop usually involves themes of life experience, rags to riches...these are sung well in a passionate perspective.
2. Egotistical - the whole song is about how he once was, what he did and how he is now.
3. Deterministic - this is shown in his continuous varying activities through the videos, and the lyrics which amplify his perseverance. 
4. Influential - audiences will be inspired to have goals and aspirations, by showing his hard work in the industry.
5. Arrogant - the artist is the centre of attention through the music video, and dismisses those who aren't in his group

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Morals and Values of the artist:

1. He values achieving money and fame as this is his personal idea of what success means. 
2. Those who don't work as hard as him are dismissed through the lyrics, which shares the ideology that you have to do something in life.
3. He has materialistic values, for example showing off his clothing.  
4. He sees himself as superior due to his actions in life, which links to the egotistical personality trait.  

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Media Perceptions:

1. The music is genuinely niche, yet the artist is portrayed in commercialised ways - for example, having lots to do as a performer.  
2. He values status in the media and his image supports being a part of hegemony. 
3. He is very competitive in the industry, shown in when he confidently flourishes his DigiPack, and in the lyrics which shun other people.  

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FOUR SIMILAR ARTISTS

These solo artists of the Hip-Hop genre have created the revolution of Hip-Hop; to stop dressing 'hood' and start dressing casual-smart, while singing about the same things.

They're businessmen, as our artist is, which is why they inspire our ideas through attire. Professional, dark clothing on a man indicate intelligence which many women find attractive. Our artist's song is purely about his work life, which is why he should follow in the example of how these men dress.

Each artist shown here wears white (in one form or another). This shows that their intentions are pure and good, they want to run a business through legitimate means. This is what our video will be displaying - hard work in the right places get him far.

For the second half of the video we have been inspired by a Hip-Hop artist wearing all black. This is because there is a literal lyric in our song that mentions his black attire. We think this is used to represent the mystery behind his success; as he doesn't let outsiders into his group (also expressed through the lyrics) all they can do is wonder.

These ideas have bee devised to visually fabricate our artist's personality traits, morals and media perceptions.

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INTRODUCING OUR ARTIST

Age: 21

Ethnicity:

Physique: lean, moderately fit, healthy

Costume: suited & booted / all black

Hair and make-up: slicked back hair; neat and tidy

Body language and facial expressions: confident body language, serious facial expressions, arrogant interactions with other people

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LINK TO THEORY

 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.

Planning: Group roles

PRODUCTION ROLES

There are different role within a production which describes a member's job and importance within the production. Each role needs to be carried out by one person who is suited for the tasks ahead. For example, the director will need to be loud, confident and skilled in improvisation to make quick changes.

• Camera Operator - This person is responsible for controlling camera shots, angles and movement. The purpose of this role is to film all of the shots so there is content for the other members - such as the Editor - to carry out their job successfully. Also to simply transform the storyboard into a visual motion picture. This requires taking into consideration risks such as breaking the 180 degree rule or breaking cameras.

Our camera operator is Gizem because she has a steady hand and remains calm within the group at all times.

• Producer - This person is responsible for assisting the Director in procedures. The Producer also checks that every member of the team is working to a high standard and creating the correct content. This requires maintaining and communicating respect within the group, making everybody feel comfortable to that their job is of a better quality, despite the differences on task difficulty.

Our producer is Lara because she carried out the same role last year. Lara always comes up with ideas and suggestions which is what a director needs.

• Director - This person is responsible for being in charge of the organisation of the production. The Director is very important as they make many choices that effect the whole outcome of the music video. They work alongside the Producer. An example of their purpose is the directing of artist - where to go, how to go there, and what to do once they are there. They can also yell 'cut' to stop a scene if they wish to make changes. This requires communication between the Director and every member of the team, so they are in a comfortable position to take advice and guidance.

Our director is Khaled because his ideas are clear and concise. The final idea has mostly elements of his initial idea, and he has helped with important stages of planning such as the copyright letter. These things show leader qualities.

• Lighting Operator - This person is responsible for deciding which kind of lighting will suit each frame in every shot, determined by every factor such as location, time, and themes (e.g. romance). This role is important because the lighting needs to suit the shot and if a happy scene is accompanied by a dark, dreary lighting, it won't make sense to the audience and stir up false grudges of something about to happen when it really won't. This requires careful consideration particularly when filming inside and at evening/night-time.

Our lighting operator is Khaled because the Hip-Hop genre typically has low-key lighting; Khaled devised an idea that could use a mixture of lighting which is why he should be in charge of it.

• Costume, Hair & Make-up - This person is responsible for the appearance of all characters. This includes designing their costume, the style of their hair and how their make-up is set. It's important because the appearance helps the character, particularly the artist, to get into character and perform better. Required attributes include creativity and a steady hand for make-up/hair

Our costume, hair & makeup person is Gizem. This is because she would like a career in business, and as our music video is centred around, essentially a businessman, she will have a good idea on what he should look like.

• Story boarder - This person is responsible for the team's general idea of a plot, by creating detailed descriptions of every frame with a sketch of what it will look like. This role is really important because the storyboard is where all the ideas tie into such as a camera shots and the duration. It saves time, conflict, and in a real production a lot of money, to create a storyboard and follow the basis rather than making up decisions on set. This requires an agreement on details and the protection of the storyboard so it doesn't get lost. Somebody creative should take up the job as you have to imagine the scene you're writing/drawing about as if it's already been shot and edited.

The storyboarder is Lara. This is because she is interested in art so can visualise details into a picture well.

• Editor - This person is responsible for making the scene look professional by putting frames together and applying changes to the footage. This includes things like Fade To Black or dissolve. These are both types of transitions between one shot to another. Editing programmes are an advantage because if something during filming is wrong, you can cut it out through the process of editing. This requires creativity and IT skills as it's done on the computer.

Our editor is Khaled as last year he edited his music video within two days, with an excellent result.

• Print designer - This person is responsible for making the digipack, which includes a CD design and a poster. These are promotional tools so important in the making of a music video. For our music video, the digipack will be shown at the start of it, so it needs to be ready by the time we start filming.

Our print designer is Lara because she has achieved an A in GCSE ICT and briefly knows how to use programmes such as photoshop, BeFunky, etc

• Photographer - The photographer is responsible for taking any images to be used on the digi pack. For this we need a good camera, but also a steady hand and observation & perception skills of which angles to shoot in and at what time.

Our photographer is Lara because typically the print designer and photographer go hand in hand

This planning has been - and will continue to be - beneficial to our group as we are now certain that each role will be fulfilled. They're all important, so somebody needs to take on at least one. They are important because it's exactly what a production is all about - a production is not just footage made fancy. It's all the people running around ensuring everything is perfect so that it is ABLE to be made fancy. Roles are also a sense of personal confidence as we have assigned them according to traits we believe each member of the group should be proud of.

Research: Popular Theory

POPULAR MUSIC THEORY

The music industry has a large place in 'popular culture'. Media theorists/sociologists have explained what popular culture is, who it's for and how it gets received. It's important to understand these theories because they outline how the media operates and affects our daily lives. This post explores Gramsci's hegemony theory, the Frankfurt School, the Birmingham School, Hebdige on subcultures and Adorno's theory on popular culture. 

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POPULAR CULTURE

Popular culture refers to standardised production to manipulate mass society into passivity.

Because the masses cannot understand ‘true art’, the bourgeoisie have constructed a division between the two cultures in terms of what they consume.

The masses at the bottom of the triangle intake popular culture, such as chart music and they do not realise that what they are listening to is essentially ‘the same’, (singing about the same cultural ideas, themes etc.).

Popular media and music products are standardised; meaning that they are all similar like factory productions. Pseudo-individualisation is also present in the media – this is incidental differences between content that make it seem different, but in reality it isn’t.

This applies to consumption of media products. Large, mainstream audiences have formed who fall under the 'masses' and are passive to the hegemony behind what they are listening to. Niche music acts as a resistance to this, challenging conventions by being different - which are arguably a part of postmodernism world meaning popular culture no longer exists.

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GRAMSCI - HEGEMONY

Antonio Gramsci was a leading Marxist thinker who used the term hegemony to denote the predominance of one social class over others.

Hegemony is the way that those in power maintain it. Dominant ideologies are considered hegemonic, power in society is maintained by constructing ideologies which tend to be promoted by the mass media. For example, the media is likely to control what is broadcasted to viewers, what shows are censored and what shows are banned.

As a result, many musicians self publish their music and video on sites that are widely accessible avoiding the media. In comparison to before, it is argued that broadcasting companies no longer hold hegemony, although they attempt to regain it by using new technologies, instead the people hold hegemony. 

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FRANKFURT SCHOOL - CULTURAL THEORY

Stuart hall who was a cultural theorist and sociologist attended the Birmingham school where he created his theory which was revolved around issues regarding hegemony and cultural studies, taking a post gramascianstance.

His theory also included encoding and decoding. Encoding is the process by which a text is constructed by its producers, whereas, decoding is the way in which an audience reads, understands and interprets a text, Spectators will decode the text in a different way.

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ADORNO - POPULAR CULTURE

This PowerPoint has been created to explain Adorno's theory of popular culture. Adorno was a sociologist who came from the Frankfurt School.

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BIRMINGHAM SCHOOL - CULTURAL THEORY 

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HEBDIGE - SUBCULTURES

Dick Hebdige, media theorist and sociologist, counters McCracken in his theory. He argues that subcultures do form under the intention to resist mainstream culture.

Because of this, subcultures are all doing the same thing despite differences in attributes such as dress sense. Subcultures are otherwise 'little cultures', as they are all resisting the main culture. 

We are all active consumers, Hebdige says, so use an active process when reading into media. One product can be interpreted in various ways depending on the person. Different reading can be heavily influenced by what social background a person is from. This allows for resistance thus forms a subculture.

This applies to the audiences of the music industry. With mainstream artists come mainstream audiences, likewise with niche artists come niche audiences. As they are smaller, loyalty to the artist is stronger and personalities of those within the subculture are more defined. Whereas, mainstream audiences consist of a large diversity of individuals.

Planning: Shot-list

SHOT LIST

The shot list is an extra legal document, created by Khaled. It briefly describes the camera shots, movements and angles. This is useful for the camera operator when filming to have solid ideas to work around.

Planning: Storyboard

STORYBOARD

Storyboards are drawings of the sequence of shots for a script. They inform on multiple things, including characters, story/plot, and extras such as sound/editing. This is useful because it allows the director to communicate specific ideas to members of the crew. For example, if the Lighting Operator is unsure on which lighting to use, the director can consult the story board, find the frame, and narrow down the detail specifically to 'lighting'. Storyboards also save time instead of making decisions on the spot; it's important to know the last ten steps you took, the one you're on now and the next ten in line to keep the work flowing and efficient. A story board avoids confusion, conflict, and reinforces clarity of the concept. The Story boarder is responsible for creating our main storyboard - however we have all created a separate source of information to show our understanding of the final idea.

Advantages of storyboarding include:

• Knowing exactly what your plot consists of
• How to exhibit this practically, by use of the extra detail provided
• An aversion of confusion about what to do next
• A sense of order because of the frames
• Keeping watch on time with the seconds, because all productions have to last a certain amount of seconds/minutes/hours
• Information for all roles - lighting for the lighting operator, shots for the camera operator and so forth 

Storyboarding helps the editor in particular because once all aspects have been established through those details, all that is left is the details. However, information about lighting can be infused with editing - such as using an effect to create low-key.

Planning: Research into similar videos

ANALYSING THREE SIMILAR MUSIC VIDEOS

Our group have analysed three music videos that are similar to our final idea. We drew out specific elements and linked them to how we want to create our own music video.

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Sing for the moment

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. He is showing this by the use of intertextual references he is making. Likewise, we will be using an intertextual reference in our video. The music video contains different clips of the artist performing on stage. This links to our music video because we will be using the dig-pack to reference the artists life. 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.

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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. 
• This links to our idea in the sense that we will show our artist in the making of particular products. 

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Austin Mahone – Dirty Work

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

·       Body language & facial expressions of artist

The artist is showing confidence in his movements. He weaves through the office isles to show the girl that he knows his workplace well and persistently works hard. This reflects the lyrics of our song, such as “came a long way”, which are encouraging success.

His body language is also slightly sexualised which puts forth the ideology that men with good jobs are more attractive. Again, this links to our ideas as our artist will be shown campaigning his idea and living a better life when it is accepted.

The facial expressions of the artist also radiate confidence which is a major theme in our song. Even the title itself, “Oh Well”, shows carelessness toward “haters” (competitors) in the industry.

·       Costume, hair & makeup

His costume is genuinely smart attire; yet his hair is casual and floppy which suggests that he enjoys his job. We’ll be taking a similar approach in our music video as all his work is what makes him happy.

·       Interaction with others

He acts with ease around his workmates which reflect some of the lyrics in our song “only ever us, it’s the perfect crew” suggesting the theme of loyalty and friendship within the workplace.

Planning: Outline of narrative

OUTLINE OF NARRATIVE

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THE TASK

Our group printed the lyrics of our song choice on A3 paper, and annotated what we think the meanings, connotations and themes are within the words. We did this to get a firm grasp on what the song is really about, in order for our ideas to develop either around those meanings or in isolation of them. 

The themes we came across included wealth, success and loyalty. These are also the morals encouraged by the artist, for example, "Now I'm here need a 'Fari" (Ferrari). This shows off his access to the lavish lifestyle due to earning money through working hard. It's talked about in a positive tone which suggests it is being put across as a moral. 

Because our music video will be mostly performance-based, we have chosen to genuinely visualise what the lyrics mean as it makes sense for the artist to be in the scenario of what he's singing about. 

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APPLYING OUR IDEAS TO THEORY

• ·      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.

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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 the video idea consists of one main scenario (with different locations), it 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 a semi-narrative; 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." It is essential that during this lyric we go with what the artist is saying therefore through editing we will have the characters appear 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 utilised when the chorus comes in where we will show urban areas of London to represent the genre.

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Conclusion: This planning has been successful in establishing our main ideas for the music video. We can now think about smaller details than fit into the bigger picture, such as a storyboard and characters in the storyboard. It's also useful to have the narrative outline in case we need to remind ourselves to stay on track when filming.

Planning: Copyright letter

COPYRIGHT LETTER

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Oasis Academy Hadley

South Street

Enfield

London

En3 4px

Date: 16^th November 2015

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 target audience.

If we receive 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. The product would not be sold.

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