Behind the Artist: Story Boarding

Another key stage in the planning of our music video was the creation of a story board and shot list. Some groups decided to use one board to tell the story and give them guidance in terms of shots. We, on the other hand collectively felt it would be best to create a storyboard of all the videos key moments in order to get an idea of the videos basic progression and then to create a separate shot list telling the individual shots we would use in each part of the song.

Here is the brief over view of the scenes that we planned to film in our video. Creating this kind of storyboard helped form a stable foundation for the assembling of our shot list. We knew exactly which scenes would be featured and so had an environment with in which to generate the best cinematography possible.








Here is the shot list the rest of our groups compiled together to get a good idea of what specific shots we are going to be using in our video. This kind of document really allowed us to understand what shots we would be using, meaning the filming will hopefully be carried out much quicker and run alot smoother.

Behind the Artist: Film Scheduling

I compiled a filming schedule in order to have a clear understanding of when we are going to film. Having the schedule allows us to see clearly were and when we will be during particular point in our day. This kind of organization makes teamwork move a lot smoothly.

Behind the Artist: Risk Assessment

In order for our filming to go ahead it is vital for us to weigh up the possible safety issues we may face during the productions stage. The list is as follows:

Location 1: The School Hall

Risk 1: Cables

Our group are going to be using wires to connect our lights to the mains, these wires could cause problems when we are moving around. They are in the same area as to that of where we are filming and we may be at risk of tripping over. This would either cause damage to us or the school lighting rig. We as a group of director and cinematographers are at risk of tripping as well as our artists who will be coming on and off of the stage regularly and crossing the wire quite a lot too. This I think is quite a serious risk as while we are filming we may forget about the cables increase the risk of  tripping over. In order to combat against this we will plan out the desired paths we will be using most readily; while filming and position the cables so that they are not in these paths.

Risk 2: Raised platforms

A large part of our video is going to be taking part on top of a stage, therefore we feel it best to take the necessary steps to prevent any one falling off of the stage. We will make sure that the stage is clear of any obstruction and that we ave only two people on the stage at any one time.

Risk 3: Electrical Equipment

We will be around many pieces of electrical which could put us at risk of electrical shocks. Both me and my group members and the artists will be at risk however we will be in greater danger.

Behind the Artist: Vladimir Propp - Fairy Tale Theory

Vladimir believes that every video will include a group of stock characters. They can be seen as being similar to that of a fairy tale.

Many videos will have the Hero figure who will usually be the lead singer or, at the very least the main focus of the narrative. This character will usually be on a quest to find something whether it be emotional or physical.

You may also have other characters such as:

The Villain: Attempt to stop hero on quest 

The Princess: Prize for the hero

The Dispatcher Sends hero on quest 

Behind the Artist: John Berger: Narrative is almost a given..

John Berger argues that we are somewhat preconditioned to make narrative within in any media piece and that in order for our media products to be truly successful they should have a narrative which can help the audience link to the artist. A good example of this would be the video Nickle Back - Photograph, He is performing but he is also driving the narrative at the same time.

An example of were this theory is completely ignored is in the video Gangnam Style, where although the artist is singing and performing it does not bare any direct relevance to the narrative.

Behind the Artist: Firth - 3 Broad Typologies theory

The three broad typologies can help us identify what major elements of the music video are being used to draw the audiences attention. The artist or director of the video will pick out any one of these typologies based on past videos and also what they feel best represents their image.

The Three typologies are:

• Performance driven: These Videos aim to give a strong feeling of the in-concert experience. by having the camera at the point of view of the audience ( low angle, panning shots) and showing the main artist or band playing their instruments or constricting a song.
• Narrative: These videos are heavily focused on the telling of a story. Another theorist named Schwictenberg, argues that the common narrative for most videos will be to have a male character who drives the action, whilst a woman character will passively react to the events unfolding in-front of her.
• Conceptual: Music videos include images which are not related to the lyrics directly and can have various different messages and meanings.

As a group we have decided that our video will have a strong mix of all three elements, however we felt it best to focus a good amount of our time on the narrative part of the video. This will make up a large proportion of our video.

Behind the Video: Micro Element #4: Color tinting

Many Hip Hop videos use different color filters to make an effective transition between past and present.

Time Period

The Game ft. Lil' Wayne - My Life

In this video we have both a murky green tint for the poor past and a bright enlightened orange tint for the better future scenes. This use of colour to relate to different time periods is really effective if we want to transist between different periods in our actors life.

Behind the Video: Micro Element #3: Amplification

Every Hip Hop artist is always looking to be portrayed as the finished article even if the themes in his/her songs are not pretty and perfect themselves. Thats why I feel it would be necessary to include a few hints to the audience that; although the images being presented may seem normal or realistic they are special because it happened to the artist themselves.

By 'glorifying' the bad experiences of our artist, we make them seem more connected to the evils of the world and more grounded as an individual. This is an attribute many music and film stars are often accused of forgetting once they become famous and adorned by many people world wide. Being able to bridge the gap between audience and artist is vital if the brand wants to last and create a stir with in the music world.

Behind the Video: Micro Element #2 - Fade Transitions

Here we see the cross between a close up shot of our artist a wide angle of
our artist, Ne-Yo.

The second element of many Hip Hop and R'n'B videos is the slow fade transition. We felt it should be included in our piece simply because our song has a real ethereal edge and would compliment the use of this flowing transition nicely. A wide array of videos use it usually to promote softer themes with in a video or to compliment the gentle nature of the song.

Behind the Artist: Planning the Narrative

Idea 1

After facing financial struggle mikel seeks to find alternative and more deceptive routes for aquiring his payment. In order to do this he decides to fake a batch of drugs and sell them on for the usual price.

For a long time life seems to be OK, he has everything the money and financial happiness. Unfortunately the victim of the fraud soon realizes that he has been duped and seeks to kill the pesky drug dealer.

After this has happened, the victim gets his revenge however is over come with grief and cannot help but replay those moments over and over again. This then drives him to his end. 

Idea 2

Our main actor goes from drug dealer to done good musician, however can not help but maintain his drug dealing ways. This gets him into trouble in various ways and the story would progress.
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Narrative Choice
Our group have decided that idea one would be the best plot for our to video to follow as we feel it best suite the lyrics and pacing of the song.

Behind the Artist: Steve Archer: Narrative and Performance theory

Archer argues that every music video will switch between performance and narrative. 

He says that the video will contain a dance sequence or element of repeatability in it. Such as in the case of Soulja Boy's 'crank Dat' (www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UFIYGkROII )

He states that it is normal for the artist to be a part of the narrative as well as the performance, however extra emphasis will always be given on the artist carrying out his craft of music making to reinforce the idea that these guys or girls have a really close relation to their music. This kind of theory is mostly found in country and indie songs, as there is a strong emphasis on the lyrics and their meanings. For instance Taylor swift in this picture you can see has a real attachment to her instrument.

Behind the Artist: Andrew Goodwin - Illustrative, amplification and Disjuncture

Goodwin argues that a music video will take on any one of the three forms listed above. Music videos in our genre of hip hop may be typically illustrative meaning they aim to represent like for like what the lyrics are saying However this can vary given the fact that it is such a developing genre.

Behind the Artist: Todorov: Five stages theory

Todorov argues that there are five stages a music video will take from start to finish.

Behind the Artist: Driftin Away Lyrics

In order to better understand the messages and imagery trying to be portrayed in our song i felt it appropriate to write out the lyrics of our song and then analyse it.

Behind the Artist: Micro-Element #1: Emphasis on Narrative

As a group we decided that a strong emphasis should be place on the story of our song. With its strong imagery and entertaining metaphors I feel that we would be doing our song a disjustice if we were to take any other route.

Behind the Artist: Developing a Narrative

Narrative and Performance

As a group we decided it would be best of we all began to compile together an idea of what our video was going to be about. We did this in the form brainstorming ideas collectively as a group and  then noting them down on paper. We used the lyrics as an illustrative guide to help us create and develop an idea behind the whole story of the video.

Behind the Artist: Artists Image: Icons of Hip Hop

One of the most important factors when creating and image is to identify what makes an artist stand out form other artists in his/her genre and also to understand how that artist conforms to the regular conventions of the genre.

Every artists has their own unique style which we as an audience then associate to that singer. There are however styles that artists with in the same genre share. I have compiled this list of male hip hop artists to contrast and compare the differences and similarities.

Behind the Artist: Understanding Audiences: Theorists

There are various theorist who believe different things about the music industry and more importantly the videos they create. In the following posts i will list their theories and explain each of them in detail. In these posts you will find out about:

Todorov - Five stages Theory

Andrew Goodwin - Illustrative, amplification and Disjuncture

Steven Archer - 'Its mix of Narrative and performance' theory

Firth - 3 Broad Typologies theory

John Berger - Method in the Madness Theory

Vladimir Propp - Fairy Tale Theory

Behind the Artist: Creating Stronger Brand Identity

In order for our artist to be successful he must create a strong bond with his audience. Creating bonds is usually done through the artist attending events and performing at special charity events. While these are more aggressive forms of promotion for the artist there are still some promotional activities that should be undertaken online in order to spread the word of this mans music.

Behind the Artist: Understanding Audiences: Audience Theory

An audience can come in a few different forms, I will describe and analyses them in this post.

 1. HYPODERMIC SYRINGE THEORY
This theory says that we as an audience take our media product as we are given it, and don't complain or dictate what kind of media we consume.

Here Katy is being portrayed as a fun loving young girls who is trying new things. The shot is tinted orange making her seem warm and beautiful.

In one of her later videos she is representing herself as being a strong independent, and quite masculine figure. This change is something that we may to implicate with the difference being between our artist and the past version of himself. The color scheme is colder and more linear making her environment seem harsh and unforgiving. It is also quite clinical possibly giving the impression that her lie is much clearer now.

2.TWO STEP FLOW

This is the theory that describes how an active member shares a media product with a passive audience member and hopefully creates another active audience member and then the cycle continues. This theory also includes the distribution of a media product in general.

In order for our music video to be successful with our audience we need to find some real opinion leaders for instance similar musicians, radio stations and TV channels.

Here we see T4's website. This is a music and movie programme aimed at a teen age group. All of the content and celebrities on here are current and up to date, we as consumers use this programme as a source for the music and film that we are interested in. What makes this a two step flow is that the presenters who are celebrities in there own right are on the show condoning the product that the singer or actor is trying to plug.




INNOCULATION THEORY
This is the idea that we as an audience can create an intolerance to certain media products.



COMPASSION FATIGUE

This is the theory that says an audience can be exposed only so much to a media product before they become tired of it.

Some Journalists had said this on compassion fatigue:

  "Journalism analysts argue that the media has caused widespread compassion fatigue in society by saturating newspapers and news shows with often decontextualized images and stories of traedy and suffering. This has caused the public to become cynical, or become resistant to helping people who are suffering."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassion_fatigue

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