This is an example of Max breakdancing. We are going to include bits of this routine in the music video because it fits perfectly with our Stars persona and genre of the song.
As he hasn't danced for a while, we will use snippets and he will most likely freestyle to the song we are going to use.
This picture is an example of the style our rapper will have in our music video. His persona comes across as dominate with a hip hop swag. In this picture he is break dancing, performing a move called cc which we are planning on including into our music video.
Main Girl:
Her role in the video is to compliment the Star. She will represent female power in a beyonce/rihanna style. The main girl will be wearing different costumes that give different styles.
Dancers:
We are including a female dance routine through out the video to make the video entertaining and eye catching to the video. This will also make the video relate to a wider audience.
Break dancers:
Influenced by famous break dancer Sunni Brummitt, we are including a break dance routine to show off our star's talents.
This is a potential technique to use in our music video, the way the graffiti moves on the wall. Maybe not as mad as this, just subtle. It will be using After Effects CS6 using the 3D camera tracker, but this means i'll have to do this at home.
It will probably be at the beginning of the song where the beats of the song build up, and as each beat hits there will be a paint splat or something on the wall behind as he walks past.
Update:
Instead of things showing up on the wall they are going to appear on the floor behind, as we couldnt find a long enough plain enough wall to do a dolly shot. I had some problems witht he clip we were gonna use, info Here.
Also I have some influence from this tutorial, although it's using different softwere its the same principle and style.
This technique is going to be alot of playing around and experimenting as it's completly new to me, but im excited to try it. I hope it works as it will be a cool intro, I was thinking of having his name pop up aswell as the graffiti to sort of introduce the video.
my practical strengths are editing, especially with After Effects, which is what I prefer to use as you can do a lot more than you can with Final Cut Pro, and I find it easier to use. I'm able to try a lot more things in after effects, I would like to expand what I can do while doing the Music Video project, I want to try 3D camera tracking, transitions and lots of other things, which I may have to do at home. A did the editing and effects in our thriller last year, I created the Peng Cheese Production part, muzzle flash (causing the scene to light up) and the blood bursts.
The Mercury Music Prize nominee I'm going to look at is Plan B and his track Ill Manors.
Plan B has two sides, one which his urban hip-hop/rap side, the other is soulful singing, this song goes with his rap side, the location is in a London estate, grungy and dark, it also contains some narrative. So this track does communicate with Plan B's genre.
A bit of illustrative,amplified and contradicting some occasions it ties in and shows what he is saying, like at the beginning he says urban safari and it shows him a safari jeep. As the song is mainly on about the London Riots there is a lot of clips of police,fighting, estates and urban life. There are parts of narrative throughout, little clips to show the way they life.
There is some editing to the beat, one example is when there is a drop and then someone throws a molotov as it impacts the beat starts again. Some clips do change on the beat of the song, short little snippets of riots and police are shown between the beats.
As Plan B was born in east london around estates he can relate to this video, this video might make some people not respect Plan B as it makes him look like he is in with them and part of the riots. But this video will help Plan B's acting career as he has already been involved in films which are similar to this music video, like Harry Brown and Adulthood. It may also show his political side as he made the video to bring forward the London Riots again and why they were started and whats to happen.
As said I think some people may look at Plan B differently compared to some of his other songs which were slower and not as a 'Aggressive' Throughout he is either looking around him or looking at the camera, which seems threatening, especially when he is sticking his fingers up. I would say there is some voyeurism but then again that's how people see the estates nowadays.
The next song I'm going to do is Plan B- Writing on the wall
This video genre is from Plan B's other side, his more soulful side, this song goes with the soul genre, with various instruments,rhythm and tone, with this songs it's soft and smooth. This tracks goes with some soul characteristics and Plan B's second side. Also the location is a live gig of this song which occured in many other soul videos.
Bit on contradicting and amplified, it is clear that it's about a relationship with is struggling which is clear in the video and some of the lyrics indicate that, such as "try to make it all ok" "Its a waste of time" "This time next year we'll be no more" as he sings this the girl is making dinner and calling him when he says he's just having a few drinks then he'll be home, but he stays out longer and gets with another bird, it's clearly shown through the girls emotions that this isn't going right.
A few jumps with the beat but not many, the music and the visuals don't completely move together.
It still makes Plan B look a little bad, as it is him that doesn't come home to his girlfriend and stays out later with another girl, But the soulful look is a big change in Image for Plan B because he was more of a rapper. His clothing suggests his soulful new look, he doesn't look aggressive as he sings and the close ups are of him singing, the band and the fans dancing.
As said above it gives a bad impression and affects how Plan B is looked at possibly, some people may take the video the wrong way, If you just listened to the song you wouldn't picture it like that. When the camera is on plan b they have this white bright light behind him which gives him an angelic look.
Kid Cudi's No One Believes Me doesn't communicate his genre, it doesn't have the stereotypical hip-hop look/feel to it, no parties, gold chains etc. The location is some suburban streets at night, Cudi is walking around as strange things are going on.
This video is a great example of synergy, the reason being is that this is a soundtrack to "Fright Night" a film about when people are going missing in a little suburban town, long story short there's vampires. The location of the video is where the film takes place, which i guess is an example of intextuality as its in the same location. It's synergy because it is promoting Kid Cudi and Fright Night
I'd say the Lyrics & Video are kind of illustrative, he is singing the lyrics while walking through the streets, he sings "I feel like something is wrong here" and "I feel like something is strange here" For example when time he says that there is a little girl standing with blood around her mouth-1:12-1:30.
There isn't much editing to the beat in this video, it sort of just flows with the music flowing in the background.
I don't think there is much demand of the record label either, as the video doesn't fit into his star persona, as through out he is slowing turning into a vampire.
Cudi only looks at the camera once and that's at the end as he walks towards it staring and then bursts into ashes, seems like he's coming for you. But throughout Cudi looks around the scene rather than at the camera, at points he looks past the camera. There's a sense of voyeurism in this video as there's a lot of scenes where you feel you shouldn't seen that, like the people getting bitten, going into people's houses when they are asleep.
Andrew Goodwin identified five key aspects of music videos:
Visuals/lyrics
Visual/music
Need to sell the artist
Intertexuality
Voyeurism
These key aspects are all used in Geri Halliwel's-Raining Men.
In the video it involves a vague narrative. Inter cutting is used through out the video to set up her star persona. Her star persona is clear through the frequent costume changes and dance routines. She appears to a wide audience because dancers that have been through the audition process (like in the video) can relate with her, also guys would find her attractive as she is wearing little clothing and the camera focuses on aspects of her body a lot rather than the whole image. The video sells Geri as an artist as it showcases her talents such as that she can sing, act and box. Central framing is also a key feature as she needs to be showcased as the center of attention. The music video makes a reference to the films Flash Dance and Fame, also it makes reference to J-Lo's music video Im glad.
