Filming in greenwich - Production Blog 7

We have gone to Greenwich and we have filmed some shots at night so we can use them in the opening scene and middle scenes. We filmed many various shots so we can use some extra shots and we used the shots to replace the gang scene as this looks much better. The shots look more higher quality in greenwich as it looks wealthy and suits the hip hop genre. I will now use these shots and edit them into our music video and us eat for the final music video.

The shoot went well and we all agreed on this as the wether was great and the lighting in greenwich was good as well, therefore the shots came out amazing.

Schedule to refilm our next shots

We still have many more shots to refilm and I want to film some shots in Greenwich. I wanted to cut out the shots of the gang scene and replace it with shots of just the artist in Greenwich. The gang scene I feel doesn't suit the genre and doesn't suit the lyrics and as the director of the music video I decided I no longer wanted the gang scene, but I needed to make sure my group was happy with my decision and they all agreed with me.

We have decided to film the greenwich scene at night over the half term and Then i will cut out the old shots and import the new greenwich shots which hopefully look a lot better.

Reshooting the first shots - Production Blog 6

We have now re-filmed some of the shots so we can replace the shots we didn't like in our first draft. We filmed the new shots on a Hill in Thamesmead and we took variety of shots of the artist 'King J' such as close ups and long shots as well has scenery shots of he city and town. We filmed many shots so we can use these if we ever need them. The weather was great and the shots came out well. All thats left for me to do is to edit the shots into the video and enhance the colour and stabilisation.

The shots were filmed by James and me, Jacob was starring in the shots and Thomas helped with the Costume and behind the scene support with lighting and photography aid with the equipment.

First Draft Music Video Feedback

We have now received feedback from our class and teachers on our first music video draft and they have given us some points on how we can improve the video. Most of the feedback we received we already knew about but some of the feedback revived was new to us and it help us decide on what we can do to improve it for our final music video.

The main way we can improve the music video is to improve the cinematography. We decided for our future shots  that the main cinematographers will be me and James as I have many skills in photography and cinematography and we shall be using my camera. For the future shots we will now use my camera and my filing equipments such as my dolly and monopods. The shots were very shaky but we can fix this by stabilising the shots with editing and using a new camera with auto-stabilisation. A lot of our viewers also suggested to change the ending of the video as it ended abruptly and therefore the narrative wasn't clear in the video. We were also told that the studio shots were very long nd made the video boring so my group and I will fix this by filming some more extra shots.

Our artist was very out of sync as when he was signing he naturally opened his mouth for a long time and it looks out of sync and Jacob also didn't know the lyrics very well and therefore this was shown in our music video. We have now told him to practise further and hopefully improve in the final music video.

Confirmation for Reshooting

My group and I have confirmed and planned to reshoot some scenes of our music video over the christmas holiday. The whole group and I aren't very busy over christmas and therefore we can film many scenes and shots which can then use for the video to improve it and make it look better and more professional.

We will keep some of the scenes such as the party scene, some shots of the artist and the car as well the music studio scene. Most off the outdoor scenes I felt lacked in quality, was shaky and the lighting wasn't very good and therefore as director of the music video I decided I wanted to refilm all the shots I did not like. 

I also wanted to change the location we used to film these shots. I decided I now wanted to take out the gang scenes and replace it with high quality and more professional shots in Greenwich and the Hill in Thamesmead where there is a a great view.

The First Draft of Our Music Video Is Done

This is our first draft of our music video. I feel that it still needs developing and a lot of the shots need to be improved and refilmed. We will be showing it to our class and teachers who will give us feedback on how we can improve the video for our final.

Final Draft Complete - Editing Process Blog 3

I have now completed the editing for our first draft of the music video. I will upload it to YouTube and we will then show it to our teachers and class mates who will give us feedback and inform us on how to improve the video. My group and I both know that the video still needs some work to get done such as editing and filming to still do, but we had to rush the first draft in order to meet the school deadline to hand in the video so we couldn't fully complete it. However we will improve the video for our final video.

Filming one last extra scene - Production Blog 5

We needed to film one more shot which was a very short shot of one of the actresses in our music video. We filmed a close up of the girl from the party scene who plays the character of the girl the artist likes. The shot will be used in the scene where the artist King J lyrics say "The girl he wants don't seem to want him to" and this is where the audience will see a close up of the girl so they understand the narrative of the music video.

All thats left for me to do is to edit the shot into the music video and then do some final edits and colour changing and then the first draft should be complete.

Our Group Production Schedule

James from our group created a Production schedule which he discussed with the group about to organise and plan good timings to film our music video where the group members are all free to film. It has the dates and time along with where we are filing and some of the equipment we may need. The production schedule is very useful to keep our production and deadlines on time and well planned and its also easy for the group to see who's available and where we are going at what time.

Adding all the final shots for editing - Editing Process Blog 2

I have now imported all the final shots in need for editing and I will now add filters and editing the colour, brightness and contrasts on the videos. I will also add transitions and change the video scales to give it a cinematic and music video look. Here you can see the screenshot of final cut pro and you can see my editing project.

Filming the final scenes - Production Blog 4

We decided to film the final shots in the local area of welling. I was directing this scene as well as starring in the scene as a background actor. Thomas who is in charge of props and lighting was also acting in this scene. Thomas and Jacob decided on what the costumes should be in this shot and Jame and I decided on the location we wanted to film in which was a alleyway with garages. James filmed this shot handheld while I directed him and told him how I wanted him to film it. It was hard for me to direct and act in this scene and therefore James was confused on how he was meant to film this scene and how I wanted it to be. It is best for me to be behind the camera and direct the Cinematographer (James) in how I want to film this scene.

We also filmed in the Chip Shop because I wanted the artist (Jacob) to be in a natural environment. I again wanted to break the fourth wall in this music video and I wanted Jacob to talk towards the camera and the audience when he said "Hold the phone". The owner of the Fish and Chip shop was happy for us to film in his store as long as we promote the name of the store which we do with a pan up at the end of the shot. The shots were shaky and again because I was acting and directing at the same time, James was confused on how I wanted him to film the shot and that is why we are going to reshot this shot as well for our final edit.

My group and I are going to use these shots in the first edit but for the final edit we are going to refill these shots.

Filming the 3rd Scene in the Studio - Production Blog 3

We have filmed another scene of our music video and we filmed it in a music studio. Initially the plan was to create a concert but with the budget and cast members we had, it was not possible for us to achieve this concert scene. Instead we decided on creating a studio scene which I was inspired to do when I saw another music video which had this. We filmed in a studio at the music department and we set up a microphone and stand.

As I was directing I wanted this scene to look dark but I wanted the artist to stand out. So we decided to turn off the lights in the studio and we used one studio light which we set up and aimed towards the artist. This made the artist stand out and the room around him more dark and I liked the look that this gave.

I will soon add this into my first edit of the music video onto final cut pro and I will edit this scene so it look and sounds great as well as trying to get the lip sync right on.

Digipak Analysis

This is the digipak that was used by Justin Bieber for his album 'Believe'. I am analysing this digipak as the research could help me in designing my digipak for my artist and my genre.

Justin Bieber who is the main artist is promoted in 5 out of the 6 panels and they are all images of him. This shows the record label demands and it shows that the main aim of this digipak is to promote the artist as a brand and to generate more sale and fame of this particular  artist.

The colours used are quite clashing, theres the use of dark colours and light colours in each panels and this was done via editing or through the use of lighting when taking the pictures of the artist. This makes this digipak recognisable and keep to its theme. The text used is bold and its a unique font so it acts as a branding for the album and it also stands out as its very easy to read. The text used is also used in the artists poster as well.

The use of warm colours makes it stand out even further such as the clothing worn by the artist is very dark and it contrasts and makes him stand out. The colours also blend well together as there are no harsh colours and lines which is more pleasing to the eye. The images are well balanced and the there are some use of the rules of third components which are met with the photography, such as the centred positioning of the artists and the positioning of the background.

This digipak also consists of a barcode on the back and the record label copyright information along with the trackless on the back with legal information. here are main features of the digipack along with the front and back cover, the spine, a poster and the two CDs.

I have started editing - Editing Process Blog 1

I have no started editing. I am using Final Cut pro X to edit the music video. I have imported the shots we have donee in scene 1 and 2 which I have blogged about before. Here you can see the screenshots of my screen while I'm editing. I have added transitions, filters and cropped the video in order to give it a music video scale and look.

Once the other shots are done I will add them into the edit and I will update you on my editing process blogs so the progress of the editing can be seen.

Filming 2nd Scene in Thamesmead - Production Blog 2

Yesterday my group and I went to film another scene of our music video in West Thamesmead, this location was the we found while taking pictures for our digipak photoshoot. We had the artist (Jacob) wear his costume that day and we also took equipment such as a dolly, tripod and camera. James was filming this scene and I was going to direct how I wanted the shot to look like and what I wanted the artist to do. I wanted the artist to walk and interact with the camera while it was tracking him walking. I wanted this music video to break the fourth wall, I want the artist to talk to the audience who are watching and listening to the music video.

James tried to film this shot with the dolly provided by the media department but because the ground was not level and was not stable, the dolly was very shaky and therefore the shots were shaky as the dolly had no suspension. I then decided we are going to have to film the scene handheld, James then filmed the scene multiple times in order for us to get the best shot. The shots looked okay but were still quite shaky due to it being handheld, my group and I will reshoot this shot of the final edit and we will this time use a shoulder cam or a steady cam to keep the shot smooth.

I will then soon import these shots and the Party Scene Shots into Final Cut Pro and I will start to edit the first edit for this music video.

Creating my Digipak

I have been creating the Digipak on Adobe Photoshop and I have used my editing skills to create the digipak. I have created each digipak panel separately and I will then combine it into one image with 6 panels on it. I will have the main CD, behind the scenes CD, concert advertisements, album front cover, album back, spine and a poster of the artist. I will also make sure I add all the legal requirements a digipak needs such as the copyright statement, the barcode and the Parental Advisory logo. I will also put the record label logo all over the digipak and I will also put the artist name and album name on it as well as I want to heavily promote this.

First Scene Shots have been filmed - Production Blog 1

My group and I have filmed the first shots for our music video which was the Party Scene. The scene was filmed in a Drama Classroom and we chose this classroom as it had black walls, ceiling and flooring which makes the scene look more dark like a club/party. Jacob who is in charge of mise-en-scene and Thomas who is in charge of props and lighting helped us with the prop ideas and lighting style such as the use of RGB party lights. Thomas also had the decision of what type of clothing should be worn by the artist (Jacob) in order to make it suit the Hip Hop genre. I wanted to use a smoke machine in the shits as I felt it would make the video stand out more and make it feel more like a club/party. The media department provided us with the smoke machine to use in our shots.

I was directing where the party scene should be filmed in the room and I also directed how it should be filmed, what it should look like and what I want the artist to do in the video. I also filmed some of the shots as we used my personal camera to film these shots and I also used my own personal dolly as well to get great shots. I wanted the video to have panning and dolly shots and therefore I filmed the shots which looked like that and the other shots were also filmed by James.

We had a slight issue of lighting in the shots and therefore the quality of the video was lowered and the picture quality was a bit noisy as the lighting wasn't great in the set. Despite this minor issue, the shots still came out great and it looked great.

Looking for fonts to use for my Digipak

Today I have done research on various sites such as dafont.com and 1001fonts.com where i have been looking for Fonts which suit the Rap genre as well as the album of my artist for the Digipak and poster.

My group and I will decide together and see what font we like and which ones we will use for our digipaks.

Our Pitch

Day 'N' Nite - Pitch from Ghanshyam Shiyani

The Digipak Photoshoot Images

On this blog you can see some of the many pictures I took with my camera the Canon SX710 HS for our Digipak. As mentioned in my before blog, we took these images in West Thamesmead for our Digipak. I used various adjustment settings on the camera in order to get the best shots such as changes in colour, saturation and contrast. My group and I really liked the quality of the images that were rendered and we also had a variety of images we could use for out Digipak such as low angle shots, high angle shots, mid shots, long shots and also a silhouette type shot. I made sure that the artist modelling who was Jacob (King J) was in the right positions for the shits to have the best lighting and best look. Here are the pictures we took for our digipaks.

(Talk About Costume, Lighting and Shot Types)

Location shots for Digipak and Music Video

My group and I went to West Thamesmead to look for Locations we could film our music video in and so we can take pictures for our digipak. This location felt like the best location to suit our genre of Hip Hop. On this blog you can see all the picture I took with my camera the Canon SX710 HS. Here are the pictures we took for our location search for the music video and for the digipak.

Genre Rap/Hip Hop: NWA - Express Yourself (1988) vs 50 Cent - No Romeo No Juliet ft. Chris Brown (2016) Old vs Contemporary Music Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u31FO_4d9TY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFTyeXVQ0Ko

The Dr.Dre music video from 1988 was very simplistic, all it had was some shots and closeups with a little bit or jewellery. The video and the song was mainly trying to send a message about racism. The 50 Cent 2016 music video is more about Girls being presented in a sexual way and they are wearing expensive gold jewellery. The modern music video doesn't have a narrative or a message behind it, its just a video of the artist and some girls for a song.

Both music videos has plenty of close ups of the artist and tries to promote the artist to the audience as the main figure.

My Digipak Plan

I have created a 6 Panel drawing plan of what my digipak may look like. This isn't a exact design of what it will look like but it will help me decide what type of pictures I want to take and use and it will help me decide what each panel will be and roughly what it will look like such as the text and and cover etc.

I want to make sure that the record label and King J is promoted throughout the digipak as my aim is to promote the artist and to promote the record label as well as the Album itself. I want the theme of the digipak to be quite dark with clean modern style fonts and high quality photography images. Once my group and I have taken images for our digipak. I will import those images to Photoshop and I will start to edit and create my digipak.

Put the plan picture here:

Genre Hip Hop/Rap - Eminem - My Name Is (1999)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNPnbI1arSE

The song is about the artists personal life and this is shown in the music video with real people who impacted him and what the lyrics are stating along with visuals.

The music video is to promote himself. There are many shots of the artist who is inside the TV and these two couples are watching him. The artists keeps constantly saying "My Name Is...Slim Shady" and the song is named after him which shows that this music video is all about him and its promoting himself to the audience. The narrative behind the video is about Eminem's life and about the power of music videos how the media is powerful and it affects peoples lives. The artist almost mocks the TV and the media which he is acting inside of.

The video is made to be entertaining and funny so the target audience was for youths and young adults and they can relate to Eminem's life in a funny and more pleasant way. The main aim of this music video is to promote the artist throughout it.

The Animatics

This is the animatic for our music video. I created this video on Final Cut Pro where I edited in the song too. The drawings were rushed as my group understand our narrative and we know how we are going to film the music video but it just isn't shown very clearly in our animatics. Underneath the drawings we have notes and writings of whats happening in each shot so its much clearer for my group and I to understand the narrative and when we film the music video it will be clearer for the audience.

Our Audience Profile

This is our audience profile for King J, this was created by one of our group members James Covill and we decided on who and what our target audience was gonna be.

My Group And I Have Made A Mood Board

My group and I have created a mood board in the shape of a pyramid to represent the record label comply "Tri-Angle". The mood board has the Clothings worn by Hip Hop Artists, props used such as Cars, Jewellery and other hip hop artists and usual settings for Hip Hop Music videos. Everyone in my group made this mood board we printed off conventional hip hop pictures and put in on our mood board to help us with a music video idea.

The idea to make an exact 3D pyramids did not work so we decided to leave it as 4 triangle sides.

Mainstream vs Independent Record Labels

Mainstream Record Labels

The Big Three record labels are the three major records labels. They are:

• Sony BMG
• Universal Music Group
• Warner Music Group

In this blog today I'm going to talk about the Sony BMG Record Label.

Sony BMG Music Entertainment is owned by Sony Corporation. It is one of the biggest music companies. The record label featured some of the Biggest Artists in the world such as the King Of Pop Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Shakira, Britney Spears, Elvis Presley, Calvin Harris and Skrillex as well as many more famous mainstream artists.

                        

Sony Music is a subsidiary of Sony Corporations but it too has many subsidiary record labels such as Columbia Records, RCA Records, Epic Records, Arista Nashville, RCA Records Nashville and Columbia Nashville. Sony BMG have also been involved with many of the biggest music videos such as "Beyonce - Sorry", "Bryson Tiller - Exchange" and "Meghan Trainor - Me Too". This is all shown in the Companies website. 

On their website we also see some pictures of the artists that Sony BMG have worked with or still work with on music videos.

Independent Record Labels

There are many independent record labels. One of these record labels is a UK Independent Record Label called "Boy Better Know". Boy Better Know is an English Record Label mainly associated with Grime. It was founded in London, 2005 by Two brothers JME and Skepta who are both Grime Artists. They created the record label as an independent record label in order to release their own music but the label is now slowly increasing in fame since one of the largest Hip Hop Artists in the world "Drake" recently signed to the label. The current Artists associated with "BBK" are:-

• Jme
• Skepta
• Wiley (2005–present)
• Jammer (2005–present)
• Frisco (2005–present)
• Shorty (2006–present)
• Solo 45 (2006–present)
• Drake (2016–present)

Boy Better Know Website

This is the website for Boy Better Know. Its a very simple website and it just shows some music videos that they are involved with and some of the artists that is all. Its a very bland and boring website and you can tell its by an independent record label.

The Artist Logo That I Have Designed

I have created 3 logo designs from Photoshop for our artist King J. My group and I decided to choose the last logo as our final design as its represents a Triangle which is the name of the record label as well. In the music video my group and I also decided that the hand symbol of a triangle will be used in the video to promote the record label. My group may decide to do a questionnaire and see what the age range of our target audience prefer as the logo.

Adorno and Horkheimer

Adorno and Horkheimer are German theorists who came up with the theory of the Culture Industry. Adorno and Horkheimer claim that the media create products and services to meet demands of its audiences and to suit their type of target audiences. The media knows that its audience will want to buy products and they therefore mass produce products for consumers to buy them.

Whether it is TV entertainment, News, Film Industry or Music Industry, they all show traits of using the culture theory in order to make more money as they know consumers will buy products related to their industry. Music artists create products for its consumers to buy, Drake is a Hip Hop artist who has T-shirts with his record label on it to promote himself and to make more profits as well as expanding his fanbase. Drake promotes these products through marketing, he markets and advertises his shirts on his music videos and on is websites to show his fans that they can buy these products. The people wearing the shirts will then automatically promote the artist for free as they are walking around with the logo on the shirt which other people see and it expands Drakes audience and fanbase because of the power of word of mouth.

These large companies produce products and then promote it to the audience in a way to make the audience feel they need this product. This makes them buy the product as they make it appealing and they make the product feel like it is most wanted.

Music Video Director Research - Director X

Director X - Music Video Director Research

 

Genre - Hip Hop: Wale - My PYT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRGzlvOuigc

The music videos starts with bright colourful text showing the Artists name and the name of the song.  It then starts with shots of a woman and the artist which pans and jump cuts between each other so it synchronises well with the beat of the music, this shows the use of editing in this video. It then shows a mid shot of the artist saying his name "Wale" which shows the record labels demands in promoting the artist and this supports Godwins Theory. There are also many shots with women showings notions of looking and it shows women in a sexual way. There are also many close up and panning shots of women models and of the artist wale singing the song showing the audience that this is his song. There is a panning birds eye shot of the artist laying down and singing the song. The artist is taking about women and their body in the narrative and the visuals are also very well linked showing the body of a model and showing many shots of these models, these shows the link between lyrics and visuals. The shots stay for longer when the beat and tone of the music goes slow but when the pace builds up there are faster cuts between shots showing the synchronisation of the audio and visuals.

The whole music video is just set outside a mansion and near the pool showing the artists wealth which is common in the hip hop genre. All the people in the video are wearing bright colourful clothes which makes the video different from other music videos in this genre and it stands out more. Theres also a high angle shot showing the artist with his cars and wearing gold jewellery again showing his wealth. Theres also a seen with one of the models who has a projector shines on her showing various colours and effects which makes the video more interesting visually. Slow motion was also used on some of the shots of the models, such as the one in the bath tub which shows the sexual symbolism of women in the video.

International Music - Genre World/Hip Hop: Shide Boss - Women Music Video Analysis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEy2LQAEqBk

The name of the song is the big giveaway to the audience on what this music video will consists of and that is women. The video has various shots of different women who are being sexualised with close ups shots throughout the video. The video starts with a Birdseye shot of the city London and then a low angle shot behind a woman who is walking into a club. This again sexualises the woman for the music video. There are then many close ups and shots of the artists who is wearing a gold chain to show his wealth and the shots of the artists and the women constantly cut between each other to link with the lyrics.

The use of various lighting and transitions is what makes the video visually interesting and this can be used when my group and I make our music video. Slow motion is also used on the shots of the women and that way they are sexualised a bit more and this proves Goodwins theory with females in music videos.

Biography of our Music Video Artist

Artists Name: King J
Age: 19
First Album Name: Born 'N' Bred
Record Label: Tri Angle
First Hit Single: Day 'N' Nite
Born: 13th February 1997 in Brooklyn New York
His Favourite Artists: J Cole, Jay Z and Drake were inspirations to King J as they were the artists that he liked and the type of music he liked.

Background Story: King J is also known as Jacob King and was born and rasied in Brookyln, New York. He grew up with his single mother however as he grew up he became involved in gang activities and started selling drugs. At the age of 15 his best friend was shot jumping infront of a bullet meant for King . His friend had aspired to leave the drug business and become a muscian. Upon dying King thought to take his friend's dreams with him and became a musican. At the age of 18 he finally found a record label Tri Angle and obtained his first hit song Day N Nite.

Clothing:  Designer clothing with Jewellery. Similar to artists like J Cole, WizKid, Drake, Kanye West and 50 cent.