Storyboard

Research 6 (Props)

Stash box - A hiding place for the weapons in a car. In the form of a battered cardboard box

 

 

Several hand guns - The section of my music video involves staging a house robbery, therefore, in preparation for this, the gang must be armed and ready. Instead of using real guns, I will use BB guns as they look very similar.

 

 

Bandannas - The song is based on Kendrick Lamar's life story. This includes being affiliated with his cousin's gang which are called Pirus, also known as bloods. Blood is strongly associated with colour  red which is why the gang choose to represent their gang with a red bandanna. This is why a bandanna is going to play a frequent part in my music video. 

 

Balaclava -  This is another accessory which would be essential to make the house robbery more realistic because in movies when criminals are about to do criminal activity and they want to conceal their identity, they usually wear a Balaclava. 

 



 Alcohol bottles & Cannabis - The beginning of my music video involves a scene where the gang members are amusing themselves with the use of alcohol and cannabis. In order for my music video to look as realistic as possible, I shall use empty alcohol bottles and fill them with water. And in order to fake the use cannabis I will use tobacco in the same fashion.

                
     



Research 5 (Actor Profile)

 
The Driver
This is one of my friends, Callum, and his role in the music video is to be the driver in the 'gang'. He doesn't do any major acting however his character profile is the efficient driver that regularly contributes to the banter in the gang. His costume will consist of__________, __________,______,_________.

The Hot Head
This is another one of my close friends, Sean. His role in my music video is the Hot Head who carries the gun. He is also the character who badly influences the main character into doing illegal activity. Through out the video there will be obvious gestures and actions to show his relationship with the main character (as the one who grooms him). In addition, this character will behave in an aggressive manor and he'll carry him self in an 'Boss'-like way. His Costume will consist of ____________,________,_________,_________.

The Main Character
This is another one of my friends, Malcolm. He has the leading role in the music video. This involves looking enthusiastic 80% of the time (because he enjoys hanging around with his cousin's friends). However there will be glimpses of anxiety, fear and excitement. This character also handles a gun. The main focus of the music video will be based around his feelings as the mood of the song develops. His costume will consist of________________,__________,_____________,____________

Research 4 (Locations)

 Firstly, this the location I intend on using to film the beginning stages of my music video. In this location, there is a cornered brick wall where I will shoot selected group of characters taking part in boarder-line criminal activity and generally having a good time smoking drugs and gambling. I chose this location in particularly be because it depicts a semi-ghetto atmosphere (lack of sophistication, relatively old building structure lack of cleanliness). In addition this location is suitable for my music video in terms of car accessibility (the car park in front and the road next to it) because the video will involve the transportation of a car.

This location is meters from the location above. This is because I will use this perspective when the car is arrives and departs from the scene. In addition, I will make an effort to limit the  irrelevant mis-en-scene, and I aim to purposely include the tower block in the distant background for the sake of illustrating a working class environment.

This is a secluded car park I aim to shoot multiple parts of the music video, of the main character by himself. This location is necessary because the main character needs to be shown in an isolated setting to best fit the isolated mood of that part of the song. However I may decide to use this setting in a different way as I go through the process of filming incase I think of a more creative idea.

This is the roof top of the previous isolated location. I intend on positioning the main character on top of the building for another solo shot of the camera. This shot will raise the intensity of the video because the true personality of the can be shown, along with all of the connotation a raised platform can bring (and experimenting with high and low angle shots).

This is another road I going to film on, together with the car and acting shot. The 'hilly' characteristics of the road would work in my advantage when the actors are commuting (whether running or walking). In addition, the road is right next to the house where a house robbery is to be acted out, therefore, it gives the music video more flow as opposed to filming in far apart settings.

The two, pictures above getaway routes the car will use after the house robbery. They are both down hill. The advantage of this is that the fast motion of the car would be more aesthetically pleasing and there are sharp corners for the car to turn into to best suit a a getaway (In the song the artist says "made a right, then made a left, then made a right then another right").

Research 3 (Observation)

This video is a very good example of what my music video will attempt to replicate. This clip was taken from the movie Menace II Society and it depicts an the depth of the gang culture in Los Angeles during the 90s after the Watts riots. The characters carry themselves with a fearless attitude towards gun crimes and revenge as are a product of their environment. This links in well with my music video because the story being told in the song is about the artist's personal experience whilst being exposed to a similar situation.

The things I will use for this video

•  Fascial expressions (Confusion, anger, laughter and impatience)
•  Any addition to my existing costume set out
•  Guns
•  Variation of shots within interior
•  Behaviour
•  The culture
•  Language
•  Body language
•  Amount of people in car 

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Research 2 (Costume)

Costumes

Main character and friends

Description - The main character must follow the stereotypical description of a young black male who comes from the West Coast (Los Angeles). This heavy influence of this costume is gangster culture. This consists of usually black hoodies, fitted baseball caps, cargo shorts, long white socks and basketball sneakers, however, these items can vary depending on the character. One important piece of clothing to include in the costume of the gang members is a bandana. This is important because it connotes the gang they're in (depending on the colour) and it can be used to conceal their faces in order for them to remain unidentified when they're causing trouble. Another key thing to remember is the fact that people in gangs wear clothes that are the same colour as the gang they represent (e.g. Bloods wear red and Crips wear blue)

However, in my music video, I plan to have a more universal dress code incorporated with America's bandana culture.

Research 1 (Song Choice)

As seen in my brainstorm, I've taken on board a variety of considerations, concepts and ideas. In this part of my research, I will go more in depth.

To begin with, in the process of choosing the song I want to make a music video for, my decision boiled down to three choices. Which are; Kendrick Lamar - The Art Of Peer Pressure; Weeknd - Thursday; Tyler the Creator - Her. The reason it came down to these three songs is because they all have completely different themes, moods and they're all from genres that are affiliated with Hip-Hop.
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Kendrick Lamar - The Art Of Peer Pressure

The artist: Kendrick Lamar is an example of a classic hip-hop who is on the rise to success. However, the character he portrays and maintains is a very humble and popular one, unlike a lot of rappers. The typical rapper would have more of a boastful and flashy personality but not him. Kendrick Lamar is a unique character because he is the type of person who would let his words do the talking for him rather than portray a false image of himself. He has a down-to-earth aspect about him, therefore, his fans are more likely to be 'Hip-Hop heads' [see audience profile post] because his image is based on authenticity.

The song: 'The art of peer pressure' is a song is orientated around the artist's childhood, growing up in an impoverished and ghetto area. The entire idea of the song is contradiction because the lyrics are a short story on how the artist is usually a good person, but when he is around his cousins and his friends he turns completely ruthless. This involves scenes of him in a car looking to cause trouble with his 'homies' and and in his journey he comes across different situations. At the end of the journey him and his 'homies' commit a house robbery.

Advantages:  Its a song with a fairly straightforward story line I could use as a template for my music video. Advantages of the song's story are that I have a car I could use as a prop for my music video and willing participants to represent his 'homies'. Furthermore, the car I can use is a Toyota. This is good because in the song a Toyota is mentioned as the car the main character is riding in. In addition, I have in mind a variety of locations which I could use to film this music video to make it as ghetto as possible (e.g. buildings and flats that are run down, car parks, staircases, a house (for the robbery) and an underpass). I think I would be competent enough to portray the oxymoron mood of this song by incorporating suitable costumes and applying witty camera angles.

Disadvantages:  The disadvantages of trying to make a music video for this song would mostly be trying to force such a ghetto image in the suburban town I live in (Harlow). Also, trying to direct the main character to behave in such a vigorous manor would be a bit tricky.

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Tyler, the creator - Her

The artist: Tyler The Creator is an artist unlike no other. His persona revolves around the idea of being a 'walking circus' meaning that nothing he does is taken serious because 99% of everything he does is a joke. He has a kind of personality where it seems as though he is stuck in his childhood. This is because he does whatever
he likes. His music is mainly alternative rap and he is viewed as 'the joker' in the hip-hop world. He associates himself a lot with skateboarding therefore his dress code is predominantly skateboarding clothes (cap, shorts, vans shoes and completely random t-shirts). Tyler's fan base consists of mainly white teenagers aged 14-19 and these people are attracted to his free spirit and his unorthodox rapping.

The song:  'Her' is a song is a song about a fictional character who is a stereotypical 'looser' teenager who has fantasies about his friend (a girl). Throughout the song there is an extreme stalker kind of mood as the fictional character gives a disturbing and in-depth description of his affection for his friend and this mood only gets creepier as the song continues.

Advantages:  The advantages of using a song like this for my music video would be: how easy it is to manipulate the dark using a variety of camera techniques and tricks to best portray the dark and boarder line predatory theme though out the song.

Disadvantages:  Unlike the first song choice, this song doesn't have a particular story line. It has more of a series of events therefore it would be more difficult to make the video flow and stay exciting to the audience.

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Weeknd - Thursday
The artist: Weekend is yet another artist who doesn't fall into any stereotypes. He is an artist who is more of a lady's man. This is purely because virtually all of his songs are love songs. The genre that Weeknd represents isn't particularly hip-hop, its more RnB, however he is widely recognised by the hip-hop culture . He comes across as a character who is more down-to-earth than the typical man and his music is jam packed with feelings and emotion. His image is slightly scruffy because of his messy hair but, other than that, he mainly wears
regular urban clothes.

The song: The song is very intimate and slow. Noticeable, the there are aquatic sound effects which give the song a dreamy and surreal mood to it. Its about how the character in the song has a girl for every day of the week, however the girl for Thursday fell in love with him. The entire song is just sexual reference telling the girl to be ready for Thursday.

The advantages: The advantages of making a music video for this song would be the fact that I can use utilise special effects to compliment the surreal sound of the song and I could also experiment with a few camera filters. In addition I could use some slow motion effects to capture the intimacy between the characters.

The disadvantages: The disadvantages of making a music video to this song would: finding willing participants to play the role of the main characters (boy and girl) and setting up a sexually romantic theme.

Conclusion

In conclusion, after weighing up my options I have decided to make a video for Kendrick Lamar - The Art Of Peer Pressure because I think it would be a more practical project in terms of locations, costume and acting. And above all, I think I would be able to incorparate all of the essential aspects of a well thought out music video and lastly, I would enjoy it because I know the culture like the back of my hand.

Brainstorm

Audience profile

To begin with, the audience profile for the my song selection (Kendrick Lamar - The Art Of Peer Pressure) would be people who indulge in Hip-Hop culture to a certain extent. However, these people can be categorised into into two personas. 

 First Persona (Hip-Hop head) - I can describe the first category of audience as being Hip-Hop heads. Hip-hop heads are people who religiously follow the genre without fail. These types people evolved during the 90s when the genre began to get recognition. These people go as far as assessing each lyric in search of a meaning/reference. Hip-Hop heads completely refute the idea of mainstream hip-hop (hip-hop which is usually on the radio) because they perceive as being 'fake' for not having any meaning and being transparent in terms of musical content. Hip-Hop heads are very conscious of how the tradition of hip-hop is being maintained and whether the Rapper/Artist lives the life they say they live in their songs. In relation to ethnicity, started off being dominantly black, however, as the genre got more exposure, white and asian people joined the fan base, but, they still remain mainly black. With reguards to their age, this can range from as young as 14 to as old as 55. Lastly, their hobbies consist of literally just music and the fashion within music.

Second Persona (Generic fan) - I can describe these people as more generic because they these fans of hip-hop have a more lenient take towards the culture. These people are more inclined to listen to a much larger range of music, as well as mainstream hip-hop, usually music thats in the charts. I would class these people as trend followers because they listen to what's in fashion at the time. In addition, people like this would listen to a song because 'it just sounds good' without taking any considerations over the content or artist. Generic fans are, more or less, the majority of the general public who have hobbies like going out clubbing and they're not a particular race or age

Preliminary task (Part 2 of 2)

Evaluation

 

The picture above is a screen shot of the part of my ancillary task. This is an example of a medium close up in the video and what we learnt from this shot in particularly, is the fact that lighting plays a big part in recording music videos. The room we used for this clip wasn't bright enough for the camera to clearly pick up the lip-syncing. We also learnt to block out irrelevant props in the video because the mis-en-scene is important in terms of making the video realistic.  

In this part of the video we see our actor, Joe, at a low angle camera shot. This type of shot connotes superiority and furthermore, we are able to see Joe's hand gestures from a better perspective. We can also see that a black background works well with the lighting. From this clip we learnt how dark and light colours can contrast, either in our favour or against us.   

In this part of the video, we see Joe at a medium close-up and from this clip we learnt of the importance of moving the microphone slightly away from the actor's lips so that the microphone isn't blocking Joe's lip-syncing.  

In this part of the video we see Joe in another medium shot, however the fact that its at another angle it keeps the video from being boring and one dimensional. Also, the use of frequent cuts make the video have a natural flow as opposed to clips which are more than more than 5 seconds long.

At this point in the video the group was experimenting with high angle shots and we figured that this shot is beneficiary in terms of putting emphasis on the background environment .

Us as a group faced challenges trying to lip sync this part of the video because our group were unfamiliar with the entire lyrics and they arrangement of the verses therefore we learnt that its important to know and understand the lyrics of the song first before making the music video otherwise we can face troubles editing.

In this clip we experimented with a mirror shot.The challenging aspect of filming a clip like this is trying to hide the reflection of the camera in the mirror, however after a few tries we accomplished it.

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In conclusion, the preliminary task was necessary because it strengthened the basic skills we need to construct a decent music video.



Preliminary Task (Part 1 of 2)

In order for us to gain a better understanding of constructing together a music video, our class was put into groups and we were told to create an improvised music video using the available resources around the school site. We drew up a storyboard for the song Michael Buble - Come Fly With Me. The story board consisted of extreme longshots, Long shots, Medium shots, Close-up shots, extreme close-ups, Medium shots, high angle shots and low angle shots. We settled with using the school stage and a pond near by school. To make this video as professional as possible we tried to take as many shot variations as possible so when it comes to editing we can make an educated judgement whether a shot works good or not. My job in all of this was filming, Paul's job was editing and Joe's job was acting. However, we were all conscious of what was going on in the group (in terms of filming and editing) and we made sure everyone in our group understood the decisions that were made.

The Brief

A promotion package from the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with: A digipack for the album release ; A website homepage for the artist