film shoot day - me filming

Here i took a break from performing so i could have a chance to demonstrate my camera skills


I done a range of shots including close ups, medium shots, panning shots and this shot above which which was a tracking shot.



I had to change my positioning a lot and keep and eye on my framing as the sun was out which was causing shadows.




At times it was difficult avoiding the shadows but the positive was that whilst the sun is out the lighting is very good making for a clear and colourful picture.

film shoot day - performance shots

On this film shoot day we went to the roof of a car park to film. This choice of location is driven by the idea that we are implying that these artists have come a long way and our now doing well for themselves. In this shot the artists stand back to back to build chemistry between them; even though the performance shots aren't as emotive as the storyline if these 2 artists appear to have a general friendship it becomes more believable to the viewer which will allow them to enjoy the video without there being any tension or unease between the artists.



The physical expressions of the artists and the quality of there performance is vital in the success or effectiveness of the video. Here the artist looks and points into the camera; this display of direct address is what will gain the viewers attention and make them feel as if the artist are talking directly to them which will evoke emotion from the viewers as they become more involved.



This paticular shot is a miving shot where the camera is circling the two musicians in order to give a feel of their busy lifestyle and how they are constantly on the move but must continue to perform their best even whilst their lives are changing dramatically.

shooting day - highstreet

This high street shot above is also building the theme of the busy life they lead and the hustle and bustle of London which gives a contextual element as it sets the scene.




This shot is contrasted to the busy shot above; this is a contemplative shot as if the artist is in deep thought. We will need shots like this for cutaways to emphasise that this song does have a deeper meaning to it.

album art 3 - Digi pack analysis

 

This album cover here is sending a very strong message through the imagery. The title of the album and the graphics are strongly linked to sell the angle and star image of the artist. This artist is someone who has come from struggle and poverty to success and wealth and often speaks about the contrast between the 2 within his music. The tittle being dreams and nightmares is in line with this character.

The image on the cover is of hand cuffs but one of the cuffs is an expensive watch instead, this follows the concept of dreams and nightmares and is very clear in getting the meaning across. The graphics are very well detailed and manage to get the right balance between realism and animation.

The key being placed in the cuff is a symbol that he is now free from the shackles of his past life and has found the key to his freedom through his music

The font also follows the album theme having the dreams in clear white writing appearing bright and clean; then the nightmares is red and bloody with blood dripping below which also represents all the bleeding and violence he encountered in his previous walk of life. The word dreams is also in a bigger font than the nightmares to show that the positives in his life outweigh the negatives.

The background being black allows the audience to focus on the imagery and receive the message that is being shown to them; the gold watch and cuffs are made to stand out on the cover as this is key symbolism in the aim of getting to audience to understand the meaning and reasoning behind the album title.

album art 2 - Digi pack analysis

This album was this artists 1st album and so the art work is focused on establishing his name to the viewers hence the title 'i am chipmunk'. As you can see the size of the font is so much bigger than the image of the artist and so its clearly more important to them to emphasise his name rather than his face. The colours also play a part because the strong contrast in colours between the black and yellow make the words stand out even more. The light shining behind the words has connotations that there are good things to come.

Here they have a chance to show a bigger picture of the artist on the back cover

 once again showing the bright light behind him giving him a positive aura to balance the negative aggressive perceptions of his previous genre and his current stance.

 

 

 

 

 

album art 1

advertisement - above and below the line

Above the line promotion is carried out through mass media such as television, newspapers, radio, billboards and so on.

Below the line are things that often cost less money or no money at all, things such as interviews, exhibitions, public relations and things that build interest and desire but dont require expenditure.

Major label artist will often use abpve the line promotion or advertisement because their record label has the required revenue to fund these activities.

film shoot day - story line

We filmed the majority of the story line section of our video on this shoot day. We started off with the classroom scene, we done a medium/long shot to show the majority of the classroom and therefore setting the scene before the main character walks in.

We decided to film everything from three different angles to give opportunity for effective continuity editing, and so we did this. We tried a creative shot of the main character reaching into his bag with the camera point of view being from within the bag looking up at the main character. We also did an over the shoulder shot of the female protagonist which highlighted the main characters interest in her.

We got upshots of the bully to establish that he is someone of higher authority and power than the main character who is being bullied. This characters role was selected as a tall person to make this point even easier to emphasize.

video analys - ghetts on a level

video analysis - jessie j - who you are

Our Plot and storyline

Our story is about a young boy who has dreams of being a good music artist and is practicing. Whilst he is practicing and trying to get better he gets bullied and put down but keeps at it until he gets there.

Simultaneously to this there is an attraction between the main character and a girl he likes who seems to be impressed by his music interest or talents. The bully doesn't like this; the main character then also wants to get better in order to impress the girl which motivates him more.

This is traditional storyline in the sense that it shows someone who comes up from a negative to positive and ends up up on top. The bully will eventually give him his respect and get off his back then he will also get the girl. The audience will be expecting this outcome and so there is a lack of the element of surprise however if this pulled off well i feel it will be very effective in representing the meaning of the song

Correlation/ratio between storyline and performance

Today we had a discussion about the correlation between the storyline and performance within a music video and how relevant they have to be to each other. In this i noted that often in music videos the storyline represents and emphasizes the meaning behind the song but often isn't a direct representation of the artist themselves, more about the story they are telling within the music.

I referred to 'Kkoke ft Maverick sabre - turn back' as Kkoke tells his story of himself being a young boy struggling growing up in a rough area and surviving through poverty. However it is in fact a young girl who plays the role of the character which he describes, even though he is talking about himself who is evidently a male. In doing this she could emphasize this story further being that she is a little girl which represents someone fragile precious and vulnerable and so the implications are still just as if not more clear for the viewer. Techniques like this are used to provoke emotion from the viewer.



 So sometimes it can be a scenario that brings parallel emotion or connotes what the song stands for. Another example was 'lil wayne - how to love' in this music video the story line once again is about someones life journey, struggles and the rapper expresses how he feels about it and so his performance shots do not match or fit in with storyline they are kept separate.


This gives the opportunity to go into further detail within the characters. I also noticed that this is often the case when there is a story being told through the cut-aways. Being that the song we have chosen is about having come a long way in life from hard times to success i suggested it was best for us to also attempt to do a story line of this natutre

storyline change

Props:

Headphones.. one small, one big

Note pad and pen to write bars

Cast needed : ashad, one girl and one bully

Ashad plays the character who is trying to improve his rapping skills, whilst he is still learning there is a bully who keeps teasing and laughing at him

There is a girl who ashad seems to have a connection with and they keep locking eyes. he wants to get better at rapping to impress her, when the bully pushes ashad a tears his headphones ashad's crush then comes across and gives him her bigger and better ones and this inspires him even more to get better at rapping.

He goes away and works hard to improve, we will show various situations where he is trying his best to master his craft. eventually he manages to become very good, the bully admits this and gives him some respect then he gets the girl (she comes across and hugs him)

Traditional storyline where the underdog rises up, becomes successful and gets the girl.

Detailed:
We have had an idea/storyline change, we have moved a bit away from the young boy and older version of boy being successful, the idea now is similar but with something we felt was better to the overall video and something much more practical.

The new idea change is, we will have our fellow group member Ashad performing all the storyline shots and this is where the change is. It will be Ashad playing a character who is trying to improve and than be successful with his rapping skills. Also his motivation is slightly a girl who he has a bit of a connection with and a bully who teases him and generally is very down putting. Although in this case the bully will determine him to be better at rapping and will use this as a method to show the bully who he is a person and that he wont stand for it but, with this slightly impressing the girl as well.
A proposed idea to show part of these ideas, is a scene where Ashad is put down again by the bully literally with a push and in this his headphones rip or break, with this the girl makes a move to Ashad for determination and gives her better pair of headphones to him. In a way this is his ignition to really be inspired and work hard and become what he wants to be, a rapper.
After a while we will have a few cut-aways and show the progress he is having, with a few shots showing the struggle as well as the progress, for these there will be various situations but eventually he does become good at rapping and is successful, the bully is than forced to accept this and shows him the respect he deserves and just like the classic endings he ends up actually getting the girl.
The storyline part of the video should finish with the girl giving a hug to Ashad and him knowing that he has gone through being bullied and struggle of rapping to know being successful, being given respect and of course gets the girl.