Poster Ideas

This is my idea for the main poster for our artist, there would be a long shot of the artist wearing a hoody, jeans, and a baseball cap with a subtle use of bling, to represent him as a stereotypical rap artist, the name of the song would be displayed big and bold at the top, along with sub headings below and to the side, i want the name of the artist to be big and funky which enables to attract audiences. 

The colour theme which i would like to see on our poster would still continue the urban theme throughout, so the setting would be in a public place, so the bright light theme, so the natural light in the photography. 

This is 'Jay-Z' poster for his album 'Kingdom Come, 'Jay Z' is an iconic rap artist who has been in the music industry for many years, this poster represents 'Jay Z'  as a very powerful artist with connotations of danger, power and strength, this is demonstrated by the use of the colour red, red has the connotations of danger and anger this is then backed up with the pose by the artist, he is making direct eye contact with the camera with a sinister angry facial expression, also with the image being in the central position it shows him as the most important central feature, furthermore the typography is illustrated in a big bold strength which further carries on this theme of dominance and power. With the main title calling 'jay z' the president automatically gives him a high status with showing that he is more important than other artists and that his new album is going to be better than any of his rival artists. 'Jay Z' is portrayed as a stereotypical rapper as these conventions are normally represented by a rap artist. Furthermore his clothing also fits in with the genre, we can see 'Jay Z' wearing a baseball cap with a leather jacket which are normally items of clothing worn by rap artists. This poster would mainly been aimed at the young male audience who may want to emulate 'Jay Z', and to have the same iconic status of 'Jay Z'. Additionally all these points all stereo typically represent the genre of rap to the audience. With the use of the album website at the bottom of the text it allows for audiences to find more about the artist but also a form of marketing to promote the label even further which is 'Roc-a-fella' which a logo is advertised on the poster also to attract even more audiences

Back Cover Design

This is my preliminary design for the back cover of the cd cover that we are going to produce, i have tried to illustrate out main artist 'st' in front of a wall, with a backdrop of london city, in the night time which will show the illuminating lights in the background, to give an urban theme towards it, the track listing font i would use would be 'Bodoni MT Black', as it is quite a bold font which would stand out, and would enage the viewer when looking at the back cover. Our artist in the forground would be wearing a hoody, jeans and a baseball cap, which would give the stereotypically theme of an urban youth. which would fit into the target market.

Front Cover

This is my design for our front cover, my ideas illustrate our artist 'St' to be sitting on the top of the wall, which would be a low angle shot, looking up to the artist to show his superiority which is stereo typically representation of an artist, also he will be in colour while the background is in black and white to show the positive view of the artist from the 'ghetto' area. We have already take shots that could be used. The clothing that he is wearing would be typical from the genre as it suits it perfectly which makes it easier for the audience to identify what genre the artist is from.

The colours i would like to use, would be mainly from the image below, and there would be copy over the image, which is illustrated with in the image above, i would like the cover to have a natural feel towards it.

Lyrics With Timings

Song And Video Layout

5s- Long shot of the artist and his girlfriend on the bed – crane shot – reverse shot?

10s- St getting out of the bed – medium shot

15s- First rapping to the ground, then addresses the audience by rapping directly into the camera – medium shot

22s- medium shot rapping in camera ‘ i told her you can make it  baby somehow someway’  after this has been said.

24 -27s- , he says ‘with that body you should be on the runway’ as he looks over his shoulder there is a POV shot showing his girlfriend sleeping – wide shot showing her.

27-43s- St finishing up till “man its so great” variety camera shots rapping directly into camera

44s-1:08s Medium Panning shot of St walking towards a desk, over shoulder of him writing the note, medium shot,walks over to the mirror, rapping reflection also showing the girl in the back ground also a medium shot, wide shot of St walking out the room.

1:08-31- rapping in front of Wembley stadium/ arena, variety of medium and wide shots.  

1:31-55- Over the shoulder shot, of st and his girlfriend rapping towards her, hand actions.

1:55- 2:27s- wide shot, little Italian cafe, outside table- sitting together, and st rapping to her          

2:27- 53s- long shots-walking around laughing together, connotations of happiness ect, fades out when they walk into the distance     

Shooting Schedule

November 18th- Green Screen Shooting
Photo's and Video recording
Preliminary use which may be incorporated  into the video

December 2nd - Outside shooting
the second part of verse one
in a council estate

Wednesday 7th - Re shoot again
in the council estate again and to get front cover images

Friday 16th
Bedroom scene - St and His Girlfriend
On the bed And edge of the bed rapping

Drake Album And Back Cover Analysis

Drake front cover and back cover

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People in our music video:

St- our main artist, we have used him as he fits the bill of a rap artist also that he is also an unsigned artist already.

This is 'St' girlfriend in the video who he has split from and is trying to get back with her, we feel that she would be perfect for our video.

Production Log

Today we re filmed our scene along with a tripod this time, to make sure the camera was steady, also we took the cannon camera to take shots for our ancillary tasks.

Production Log

Today we went to an estate and filmed behind a garage door and along a road to give off an urban feel, but without a tripod from our results below, the camera was very shaky, meaning we had to re film.

Production Log

Today we set up a green screen background, and filmed and took photos with the professional cannon camera. these are some of the videos anf phots taken from today.

Drake Through The Years

Drake is a well known rapper who's fame, first accumulated with the release of his hit song "Over" which was his first ever single under a record label which he then went on to produce his first commercial album "Thank Me Later", his rise to fame came from a record deal with rapper Lil Wayne in 2009 and the huge popularity of his free mix tape " so far gone" which nearly received a Grammy. This music video subverts a  stereotypical view of a rapper which we a normally used to seeing, even though Drake had the multimillion dollar backing from his label, but he chose to make the video a very simplistic view of drake as an artist, the music video consists of drake  at the edge of the bed rapping which he seems to be isolated in a dark room, we don't usually expect to see this from a rapper as they are normally represented with lots of bling, cars and lots of proactive women, drake has been portrayed  as simplistic and subtle with a small use of "bling". As they want to show everyone what they have and flaunt their wealth and success. I believe the label wanted to portray drake as a different type of artist and subvert the common ideology which is associated with rappers which allow Drake to be represented as a new and unique rapper, which would steadily help his route to fame. The music video is performance based with drake rapping about his rise to fame and how fast it has happened. Even though the music video doesn't have any mainstream attractions, I still believe it was a mainstream song as it has attracted over 40 million views on you tube along with the fast editing and drakes story being told, it is a very effective video, which has been played over many times over the radio  through mainstream radio stations such as kiss and choice and replayed on may tv channels such as mtv

Even though through the years Drakes own videos do not contain the normal representation of the normal  rapper, but when he collaborates with his other young money artists the view and perception of Drake changes as he is portrayed as a stereotypical rapper talking/ bragging about all the money he has to spend and about women and expensive cars. This is shown through the video ‘money to blow’ where drake is throwing money around and women dancing around him.

Drake does have a common theme with all his music videos and songs were there is a relationship and link between love and women, he has been featured allot with other artist such as Rihanna which drake portrays the image of a man who try's "to get on with Rihanna". This video contains the them that when drake is with another artist his representation changes this shows too sides of drakes.

This is drake's latest single called "Headlines" through Drake's short career so far his image of a rapper is subverted quite allot as through his own music videos his image is subverted of a stereotypical rapper. His music videos seem to have a very mellow feel towards them which he addresses his view without the stereotypical use of provocative women and cars. When drake is on his own in the music videos he gives a very different representation of himself, not the stereotypical view, so through the years, since ‘over’ has kept the same theme and attitude to his videos and only when he has collaborated with other young money artists and other well known artists does his persona and general representation change to adhere to stereotypical representation.

Drake press

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Music Channels That Would Exhibit My Music Video

I think MTV would be one of the first music channels to show our music video as it is a mainstream music channel that aims and targets my videos target audience which is the teenage youth audience. MTV regularly plays and shows popular and up to date music videos which i believe our music video would fall under. 

4 Music is a free music channel which is available to everyone this channel has a mainstream attraction meaning our video would reach a huge audience which could correlate with success of our music video if it was shown on this channel.

I believe these two channels would be prime and essential for the success of our music video to reach a wide audience, also that these channels are channels which exhibit the genre of R and B and rap which our video will fall underneath.

Our Music Video Analysis

We hear a slow and steady heart beat which allows the audience to know the song will have a relation to a heat which can be interpreted into the theme of love. Our first shot is of a bedroom where we see our artist ST on the edge of the bed rapping with his girl rolled up on the other side of the bed which shows the difference and distant between them, which connotes the problems they have within their relationship which is clear to the audience to see, this whole shot will be filmed as a wide shot as this is all viewable. Also in-between the artist rapping the audience will see flashbacks of St and his girl fighting and also making up this will be shown as white flashes before we see this seen to ensure that the audience is clear that it is a flashback and do not get confused. The next shot we will see is an over the shoulder shot of ST writing a goodbye letter which continues to show the problems within their relationship. Over the next few shots we will ST leaving and walking down an estate rapping this will be filmed as a long shot which will enable to see the whole artist and the area he lives in and where he comes from. In between our shots we will have shots of St rapping which will be behind a green screen this is a stereotypical convention which is used in our genre which will adhere to the genre. The next shots after this will be of him in central London at night time which connotes beauty and the romantic feeling that central London gives off at night time which suggests to the audience that St and his girl will make up, following on from that he meets his girl and we see them making up together which subverts the stereotypical genre as normally either the artist would have loved and lost or cheated, in the ending of the video after they've made up, the audience will b presented with a low angle shot of St and his girl walking off together holding hands which shows their journey and their future life as they are walking down the road of life together.

Video Plan

Alexandra burke is the main image in the foreground, the mid shot of her stands out and grabs attention to the viewer.

Prelim Cd Cover

Props for video

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Equipment being used in production of video

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Themes in our song

Some of the themes and conventions that will be in a video will include:

• love interest as this is common theme which is represented in the music video, also the song use about love, so we will try to use stereotypical,
• masculinity 
• slight use of bling
• low angle shots to show status and superiority of the artist
• the video will be shot on a bright sunny day

Music Video Analysis 6

• Performance based video
• Rap song
• Tattoos conventional feature of a rap artist
• A derelict area suggests area were they grew  up from and background
• Close up of artist when he’s rapping
• Low angle shots to show the rappers strength and status
• No women which subverts stereotypical conventions of a rap video
• Use of profanities is common within rap
• The theme adheres to conventional representation of violence and masculinity
• Gender roles are stereotypical- males more likely to be involved with violence
• Lots of CGI which suggest a high budget shoot
• Fast paced editing which goes along with the song
• Lil wayne signed to cash money records which is one of the biggest rap groups in the industry
• Male rap audience
• Distributed through youtube reaching 61 million views

Our Artist

Artist: St (Dante Pommels)
Age: 17
Orgin: North west london
Unsigned artist
1 Mixtape - Reincarnation

About ST

ST (real name Dante Pomells) is a hip-hop artist and rapper from Wembley, North West London. He is a student who is currently in the second year of sixth form at Preston manor high school, the school in which he first learned of grime. He began making lyrics from the age of 13 and it is no doubt that grime has had an influence on him. ST has received heavy criticism from hard core grime fans saying he is a ‘sell out’ as he first became noticed as a grime artist. However it now seems, with his relative rise to moderate fame, he has changed styles and become a hip-hop artist, stating this on a number of occasion.
Despite years of hard work ST is still not signed by a professional record label but still continues to make ‘mix tapes’ in which he sells his music. However his undoubted lyrical skill has earned him many listeners and is well known amongst the underground UK hip-hop fans. He has also released a number of YouTube videos where he is sighted around Wembley doing ‘freestyles’ (just rapping on a instrumental with no structure or chorus) and has over 30,000 views in total.
St has already got a relatively popular twitter in which he has over 1,000 followers, a blog and has recently set up his own SoudCloud account by which there is free music streaming. He himself uploads the new songs and freestyles he makes, creating a greater connection between him and his fans. He is now working on a new mix-tape which he will be releasing sometime this year.

Lyrics

Lyrics to 'Somehow Someway'

Somehow Someway

Vox Pox Questions

what do you expect to see from a rap video?

how do you consume your music videos?

how do you expect a male to be represented in a rap video?

what type of music video do you prefer and why? (narrative, concept, performance)

do you expect the music video to subvert or to adhere to the genre?

Music Video Analysis 5

The pussycat dolls are a female music group, the music video I will be analysing is ‘buttons’ which was released in 2006, the music video is a performance based video, the group were signed to interscope records which  is subsidiary label of universal music. The establishing shot is a low angle shot of ‘Snoop Dogg’  who is a famous rapper who is used to help increase the target audience which will help sell the song. We see ‘Nicole Scherzinger’ strutting up provocatively towards snoop dogs which adheres the gender stereotype that men as rappers/singers and females as dances. We then see the rest of the artists in the group join along with her walking along in provocative manner, the audience get shown a low angle shot of the females which show  there superiority and there high status. The other artist are dressed up in tight black revealing outfits which would please male audiences which is known as the male gaze. The group then start to dance around in a tunnel which shows more of their revealing body and what they can do with it, after this they start to rip off their clothing and start dancing provocatively against a ballet bar,  the video has a very sexual theme as the group flick their hair backwards and forwards. The use of props further backs this up as they seductively dance round the chairs and use the chairs to help show off their body. A feminist reading of the video would say that there is sexual power derived from physical attractiveness to men, Snoop Dogg’s voyeuristic male gaze shows the male viewer to join in. A post-feminist reading into the video would be that the group offer messages of sexual empowerment who assert their authority and in  control of the gaze. The pussycat dolls would be seen as sexy icons and sassy. Snoop dogg is represented in a stereotypical rap role as he is wearing a hoody, baseball cap, and gold chains around his neck to show his wealth. The lyrics match the visuals that we see, ‘ these clothes are too hot for me’ then in the video we see the artists taking of their clothing. The music was a huge success by having 50million views on Youtube, the video was partly successful due to snoop dogg being in the video as he attracted his fans to watch the video, the video was also played on channels such as Mtv as they normally show mainstream artists that produce r n b music videos.  This video is mainly aimed and targeted to the male audience due to the nature of the video, the use of male gaze as the artists are very revealing of their body, the women are seen as sexual objects. Overall this music video adheres of what we expect from the genre which is the use of provocative and promiscuous women who visually please the male audience by satisfying their viewing of the video.

Music Video Analysis 4

The song can be identified as a rap song, also he was one of the biggest rap stars at the time of release of the video which was in 2005, this music video is performance based, with 50 cent just rapping along through various different rooms and scenes throughout the house. 50 cent is signed to aftermath records which is run by Dr Dre, aftermath records is a subsidiary label of the universal music group, the music video has been a mainstream success with 45million views on youtube and plays throughout major music channels such as MTV and Base, these channels were probably chosen as they play the most popular music and also play huge content of rap music and also r n b. The video starts off with him coming out the red sports car, with a close of his trainers which say ‘G Unit’ which was the ‘group/crew’ which he was associated with, this is a stereotypical feature of a rapper to be a ‘gangster’ and having their own ‘gang’. We see a variety of camera shots used, mid shots, close ups of the artist facial expressions, low angles to show the superiority, high status and wealth of the artist, the use of CGI with the sports car. In all the camera shots the artist is placed in the centre of the screen to show dominance and that he is the most important person.

The representation of 50 cent adheres most conventions of a rap artist, his clothing is baggy, the use of a baseball cap, bling all symbolise his wealth. This music video adheres all stereotypical views upon the rap genre, the video starts off with  a red sports car with engine noise that typically have interest for men so we can automatically start to think of this video as mainly aimed to a male audience. As 50 cent is a rap artist he follows along with conventionally features we expect to see from a rap artist in this day and age that he is covered with tattoos which has now become the norm, along with the use of ‘bling’ the chains and big watches which connote wealth and a high status furthermore 50 cent is shown as tough and powerful. Therefore it can be said  50 cent is being represented as the more powerful and dominant gender, he is represented as “player” with him surrounded and being with many women.

The music video is based around sexually provocative women which is focused upon them which  is used to attract the male audience which is the typical iconography or style which is stereotypical of the genre in their music videos, also the use of lots of women to attract male audiences is known as the male gaze, But negatively this is objectifying women as sexual objects, the women are wearing next to nothing which visually pleases males, but also 50 cent with a built up figure and shirtless is appealing to the female audience giving them gratification also.

The video is a performance based video which is stereotypical of the genre of the artist rapping in line of the song with the lyrics matching the video which was one of Goodwin’s theory that artist use intertextual reference with their music videos.  The target audience for this music video is definitely more male orientated due to the use of highly provocative women which pleases the male viewing experience. 

Questionnaire Analysis

Questionnaire analysis

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Questionnaire

Pharcyde Drop- Music Video Analysis 3

The music video for “Drop”  is a concept based music video which is performed by the Hip Hop group Pharcyde. The main concept of the video is that the video is being played in reverse but with forward lyrics , to create this effect they had to record the video in reverse then play the video back in reverse which is an unconventional format for a music video which sets itself out from the rest of the music videos of the hip hop making it much more unique compared to other videos during the time period. Also the video is shot in one continuous long take which is a concept based theme.

The establishing shot is a close up of one of the artist looking up into the sky with also the view in the background, the background is an urban setting showing the area which they in which suggests that there life is more of a struggle and there hardship, but they keep up their reputation by acting tough. As an hip hop video we can already notice the conventions of a hip hop video that one of the artist is in a baseball cap and leather jacket, with other members of the group wearing baggy clothing.  The video looks set in the “hood” where they seem to be from, so they are staying true to themselves and were they were brought, the mis en scene is where we derive the typical conventions for example the tall buildings of houses, graffiti along the walls, the dirty streets tell us that there from the hood along with their clothing. But what is unconventional is that the cars are not what we expect to  see from a hip hop video, they seem rather run down and out dated. But there is no need for expensive cars as they are from the hood and you would expect to see them.

Into the middle of the video we see the group who are topless which maybe be to please female audiences, also one of the artist is wearing a chain around there neck which is another conventional feature that we expect from hip hop artists. The video subverts stereotypical representation of the genre as there are no women in the video or mentioned also there is no love interest involved too.

This music overall subverts conventions but also adheres them too, with subverting the conventional type of video as they it is performed backwards to give an unusual and different effect compare to other hip hop videos. 

Rihanna-Umberlla Music Video Analysis 2

Rhianna - Umbrella

Released: April 2007 

Directed By Chris Applebaum

Mtv Views:8,000

Genre : R&B/Rap

·         This music video is a stereotypical R&B music video which was released in 2007 in the early years of Rihanna’s career, so to help boost her image and help the sales of the song the appearance of Jay Z is used, a well-known  artist who was signed to the same label that Rihanna was signed to, the use of Jay Z would be to attract hip hop and rap genres to the song. The video is performance based with Rihanna using the dancing technique of en pointe ballet, this technique conveys to us as the audience that the artist Rihanna is a skilled performer, there is also choreographed dancers who are dressed sexually provocative along with Rihanna who is wearing black tight clothing which mainly attracts male audiences which they may receive visual pleasure which is known as the male gaze. Throughout the music video we see close ups, full body shots which are all used to show her dancing technique and her body which is visually pleasing to a male audience. Rihanna’s image gives off negative connotations as women are perceived as sex objects. There are a variety of camera techniques used which include wide shots and medium shots to sustain audience interest, some of the close shots include Rihanna wearing jewellery which connotes wealth and high status. We see a clear relationship between lyrics and images which coincides with  Andrew Goodwin theory that there is a clear relationship between both-The chorus of consists on the word “umbrella” and we see Rihanna with an umbrella and that it’s raining. The gender representation is stereotypical as women are most likely to dance than to males and also that women have more of a sex role stereotyping negative attitudes towards females. But post-feminist readings would say that Rihanna is not on show for the male audience but is enjoying herself experiencing different identities which shows she is successful, independent and in control which connotes messages of empowerment and independence to the female audiences. The Editing we see the video is at a fast pace along with the song with match on action editing and the use of jump cuts. Her image as a mainstream artist who is destined for success in the music industry is strengthened by the appearance of Jay Z who is a very successful rapper, we see the high production values of CGI used in the video to consolidate with her identity, the cutting edge technology reflects her as an up to date contemporary artist.

Music Video Analysis 1

The music video I will be analysing is ‘DJ Khaled’s’ song ‘Im On One’, this song is a collaboration with 3 other well know rap stars; Lil wayne, Drake and Rick Ross. This video can be identified as a rap song due to the style of the song and also the artists. ‘Dj Khaled’ is signed to the cash money label along with lil wayne and rick ross, but drake is part of young money label which is affiliated with the cash money label. The music video was directed by Gil Green a well-known director in the rap industry producing videos for Birdman, Soulja boy, Akon and many more. The video was released earlier this year in the middle of July which made it a summer anthem which it received a platinum plaque and peaked 1 in the us billboard rap charts. The music video was distributed through tv i.e. MTV and also online through youtube which it has reached 8 million views for. The music is mainly a performance based video with the artist’s performing and rapping to the song. This music video would be aimed to the mainstream rap market as they have used lots of well-known rap artists, but would mainly be a male targeted audience. The music video starts off with a low angle shot of a women, which may connote that she is of a high status this subverts what we would expect to see from a rap video as they normally objectify women, but the camera cuts to the next scene of a mid-shot of the main artist with the women in the background which suggest that actually she is insignificant to the artist and of a lesser value which then adheres the normal stereotypical representation of a women in a rap video.

We see the normal conventions that you would expect to see from a rap music video which would be the use of; Bling- gold chains, big watches, women, alcohol, expensive cars – rolls Royce, smoking these all reinforce the stereotypical representation of a rap song which have all become the norm. The message we infer from the video is that the artist are powerful and run the city. We know this through the use of mis en scene, in the scene of the balcony shot as one of the artists ‘Dj Khaled’ are looking over the whole city and looking down upon the city showing the artist superiority and status of their new found fame that they have reached the top of the city showing their strength and power, also there is shots of them in the streets which they may be keeping true to their origins  which shows they still have respect from where they grew up from. We see lots of birds eye views of the city which connotes that the city (Miami) is theirs and they run the city.

There is clearly a relationship between the lyrics and the video as when drake raps about the city we see fast paced camera shots of the city at night time, also the use of profanities is a typical convention used in rap music, there is lots of use of low angle shots looking up at the artists to show that they are superior beyond everyone else, we look up to them, rick ross has developed an iconography that in every song he has a certain way of saying “boss” which the audience recognises with the artist. We see the stereotypical gender stereotypes that men are engaged in more aggressive behaviour  with the use of profanities, there movements  and also the use of bling.

This song is clearly a mainstream song we know is as they adhere all the typical conventions we expect to see from a rap video, also they follow the iconography and style of the rap genre with expensive cars, women, bling ect. The song is aimed at the mass market and the use of 4 major artists collaborating will have a bigger consumer base, the song has been on all the major music channels and getting millions of views on YouTube. Overall the music video adheres to all the stereotypical representation of a rap genre, and is a successful video in attracting the mainstream audience with a collaboration  of artists.

Sexual Objectification & The Male Gaze - Laura Mulvey

• Women are just objectified, just seen as sexual objects
• Voyeurism- pleasure from looking at a unaware object (Women)
• Females are displayed for the enjoyment and pleasure for males.
• Women's display is only for viewing pleasure
• Female nudity implies that they are lesser of importance than to male

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Andrew goodwin’s theory

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Types Of Music Video

There are 3 types of music videos;

Performance: Is a music video based around a performance of the artist/group.

Narrative: Is a music video that tells a story.

Concept: Is a music video that is played backwards

Genre

Genre is a way music is  characterized, for example ; Rap, R'n'b, Pop, Classical, Rock, Grime ect

Certain genres have different connotations associated to the genre, for example a typical R'n'B music video would have a theme of love interest, an urban setting, subtle use of bling and mostly are performance based or narrative.

Genre relies on both repetition and variation.

Steve neil said that "Genre is in a constant state of flux"