Dot Rotten- Determination (A2 Media)

This is the first draft of our A2 Music video filmed and edited by me, Sage and Joseph.

Please leave some feedback on how we can improve this video.

Determination BTS Promoter Scene

In this behind the scene vlog we were filming the promoter narrative scene where the artist does not get paid enough for his gig and he has an argument with the promoter that is paying him.
This scene was a lot easier to film since we were indoors for this scene but there were a few background issues where you could see me filming by looking at the reflection of the window. But then we were able to find a different position which was a lot better and got us a good angle and good footage.

Determiantion BTS Vlog 3

Determination BTS Vlog 2

There were a few distractions such as people walking past and getting in the shot but thankfully that did not happen as often.

Determination BTS Vlog 1

In this behind the scene vlog we were filming outside and this was the scene where the artist is beginning to find himself and begins to gain more success.

It was not difficult filming this part of the video but because it was really cold and the artist had to film wearing just a T-shirt, jeans and his trainers he found it hard performing because of how cold it got. But eventually we did get through it and he performed really well and we got some good footage.

Inspiration From Videos

Before we made our music video I had a look through current Rap videos and editing techniques used in these videos such as transitions, special effects and different camera angles to use on our artist.



In this video i really liked the slow motion shots and fast pace cutting. This gave me an idea for fast cuts for the start of my video just before the beat drops for a buildup effect.


In this video i liked the effects on each part of the video. The video had good transitions such as fades and special flashing effects which i felt like i could incorporate in my video.



In this final video i liked how there were fast pace cuts in the video and camera angles cut to the beat every time and you have a lot of different transitions.

Actor/Actress Contracts

These contracts have been signed by the actors and actresses we will have for our music video.

Screen Test Auditions

This is the auditions for our artist. We held auditions to find the right person for our artist; the person who could match the artists image. We will have a poll for people to vote for the person who performed the best and that person will be made the artist.

Organisation of Location, Props and Equipment 2

Before we started on filming my music video me and my group had to fill out a booking form and email it to our teacher so that we can use the camera for the week. We had to highlight in red which equipment we needed and when we will be collecting the equipment.

We also had to send an email to the head of drama to book the studio to film our video. We then had to see him and find out which dates and which times the studio is free for us to use. From then on we organised the dates for when we will be filming our video and how long we will be filming for. 

Organisation of Location, Props and Equipment

We have organised our locations, props and equipment for our music video.

Location: The location for our music video is the drama pod. We have spoken to the drama teacher Mr Berridge and he has accepted our request to use the drama studio and he has given us the available times for the drama studio.

Props: The prop we will use is a plastic gun which will be used in the music video in one of the artist's scenes. We will also be using money in another scene.

Equipment: The equipment we will use is lighting which is available in the drama studio and we will have one of our teachers managing the spotlight. We will be using a Nikon camera to film our video and a tripod to keep it steady.

Artist Profile

Artist Profile

This is an artist profile of our artist showing who the artist is, how we will represent our artist, different types of clothing which the artist will wear.

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment

This is a risk assessment for our music video. These are all the possible issues we might have in our music video and also how we plan on solving these issues. We have created this so that we are aware of the risks at hand and we will know how to avoid these risks. This was made by Sage Odumosu

Mise En Scene Plans

Mise en scene from jthomassam

This presentation shows you the mise-en scene in each one of the scenes. It will show you what the artist will be wearing, what props will be used, the setting and the facial expression of the artist. This helps to organise us for our music video. It includes everything we need for our music video. This was made by Joseph Thomas Samuels

Sourcing Possible Locations

Locations from jthomassam

In this presentation we will be talking about the different locations we will be filming our music video. Choice of location is very important because it will help to set the scene and the correct vibe which we want to give out about the location. This presentation was made by Joseph Thomas Samuels.

Star Image Board

Image Board

This image board I have created is a description of my artist’s star image physically and metaphorically. The image board shows the audience what my artist would wear and what the artist represents. I made this image board to give me, my group and my audience an idea of the type of person our artist is and what he stands for.

The first image is the image on the top left hand corner which is a picture of an artist wearing all white clothing. The artist is wearing a white long sleeve shirt, white jeans and white high top shoes. The colour of the clothing gives off a really bright and successful vibe because the colours give off a sense of purity and success which is what the artist represents.

The image on the top right corner is a picture of a man wearing a bandana. This image shows criminality and gang violence which is what the artist himself has been through and been a part of which will be seen in parts of the video.

The image at the top in the centre is an image of another artist wearing all black clothing. You can see him wearing a black hoodie and black jeans. This clothing is the type of clothing that the artist will wear which will represent his past. The clothing connotes darkness and corruption and this will be a part of his image in the video which he will present to the audience.

The image below it is an artist performing on stage in front of a crowd. Here you can see that this artist is successful and is performing in front of a crowd of people who love the artist and are inspired by his success and lyrics. The artist will also embody these representations being success and inspiration.

Finally, the image below it is a woman staring into a mirror and seeing a different version of herself. I have added this picture in the image board because the artist also has changed over time throughout his time as he becomes successful. In the video the rapper shows progression from a person who had nothing and corrupted by gang violence to a person who has become pure and changed into a successful person.

Planning Pitch Response

The planning pitch went well. We have presented our ideas which included star image, target audience, locations and props, the meaning of the song and the concept of our video. We were given a lot of positive feedback because people liked the meaning of the song and the concept of the video.

Planning Pitch By Dolvani, Sage and Joseph

This is a video of my groups planning pitch. In this video we present to our classmates and teacher our ideas for our music video. We talk about the narrative, the location, props and costumes we will be using, the concept of the video and how we will incorporate that into our music video. This presentation is for the main purpose of helping people to understand what our video is about and what message it is trying to give out.

Shooting Script by Dolvani, Sage and Joseph

Shooting Script

This is the shooting script which we have made for our music video. We have included all of the scenes that we will do and all the editing we will do to the video. This shooting script was made so we know what type of editing and camera angle will be used throughout the video.

Planning Pitch

This is the planning pitch which me and my group. In the planning pitch we talk about what we are going to be doing for our music video, what song we will be using, the meaning of the song and where we will be filming.

Response To Focus Group

The focus group provided us with great feedback on our ideas for the concept of the video and what we planned to film. We were told that the concept is really good and will reinforce the lyrics of the song. The locations we chose for the video are good to use and we were also given an idea to have a specific person to play the artist; a person who could relate to the lyrics and who is really energetic and could express the same energy that the lyrics give off by performing.

Focus Group

This is my groups focus group. We pitched the concept of our music video idea to Kawsar, Maya and Hafsah and they gave us their opinion about our idea and also answered a series of questions which we asked them.

Final Synopsis

In this synopsis I will explaining what we will be doing for each part of the music video. Me and my group have sat down together and started brainstorming ideas to what we will be doing in the video and we came up with a lot of ideas and narrowed it down to the ideas which we have now.
Throughout the whole video we will have the artist rapping in a dark room with a spotlight on him. As he raps we also see what he is rapping about. The rapper talks about how he came from to being around gangs and earning small amount of money to being signed to a record label and earning a lot of money and being successful. Keeping that idea in mind we decided to do a small narrative of the rapper's life changing from being poor and getting involved in gang activities to being successful and rich.

The beginning of the song is really slow so we thought to have different body shots of the artist and have it in slow motion so it goes with the tempo of the song. Since our narrative is the artist's life changing throughout the song we will have the artist coming out of his flat in the neighbourhood wearing all black.

[Verse 1]

 I bet you don't know how hard that it gets

 Against all odds and harbouring stress

 Got to the concerts but started at sets

 It wasn't easy

 Never had no help from no olders

 Young kid with the world on my shoulders

 Telling myself I've gotta stay focused

 Please believe me

 [Verse 1 / Rap]

 I remember when it got overly peak

 Young shooter with a strap in my hand

 In a house full of man dem saying "nobody speak" and

 "Where's the money?"

 [Bridge]

 I was on a bad path but I changed it

 Good things come to those who have patience

 So I ain't made it but still I says it

In this first verse  we will see the artist performing in a dark studio room with a spotlight on him rapping and then when he talks about his gang life we will cut to the scene when he is in his black outfit and he will rap as well. We will also see a small scene of him taking part in gang violence. 

 [Hook]

 Determination

 I keep going, I just keep going

 I keep going, I just keep going

 I keep going, I just keep going

 Determination

 I keep going, I just keep going

 I keep going, I just keep going

 I keep going, I just keep going

 Determination

 No I'll never give up

 No I'll never give up

 No I'll never give up, it's called

 Determination

 I keep going, I just keep going

 I keep going, I just keep going

 I keep going, I just keep going, uh

In the hook we will have the artist performing in the same studio room. We will also have mirrors behind him lined up as he performs. 

 [Verse 2]

 And I couldn't care less about all these haters

 Couldn't care less about being famous

 All I'm on is family, business and papers

 Plus I make tunes for all of these ravers

 Promoter pay me my wages

 Money goes in my savings

 Did a six figure deal from these majors

 Aura's pointless

 Even when my ex girlfriend weren't faithful

 And my whole life was feeling unstable

 And I had threats of being dropped by the label

 I kept going

 [Bridge]

I was on a bad path but I changed it

 Good things come to those who have patience

 So I ain't made it but still I says it

In the second verse we will see him out of his gangster clothes and wearing different clothes. There will be parts where we cut back to the scene with him in the black studio room. In this verse he talks about how his life was not feeling stable and how his girlfriend was not faithful to him so we will have a small scene where you see his ex girlfriend with another man. 

 [Hook]

The hook plays again and in this part of the song the artist has become successful walks to the dark studio room to perform a song and he sees himself in the room performing. This means that he has been through all the bad things but he stayed determined and now he has found himself. 

Audience Profile

Name: Eli Korbaine

Age: 19

Gender: Male

UK Tribes Category: Get Paid Crew- Eli fits into the Get Paid Crew Category. He has two main goals in life – to make money and be their own boss. Motivated, resourceful and determined, Eli grew up in the Urban sprawl and is determined to emerge successful on his own terms and receive the respect and income he deserve. Inspired by the likes of self-made entrepreneurs, from Sir Alan Sugar to Rashid Kasirye, founder of Link Up TV, Eli firmly believes it’s about working hard, grafting and having the business savvy to get ahead.

Lifestyle Category: Innovator- The innovator is the type of person that wants to make their mark in the world based on what they do in life.

Occupation: Student at UEL (University of East London) currently studying Music Technology. 

Interests: Eli’s is interested in music and money. He loves to earn money because of his talent for music. He enjoys sports with his friends such as football and basketball. Eli enjoys listening to a range of different music genres like Reggae, RnB, Hip-Hop/Rap and Rock. 

Clothing Style: Eli likes to wear both bright and dark coloured clothing such as black hoodies, slim fit jeans and high top trainers. Brands that he is into are Nike, Air Jordan, Adidas and many more.

This audience profile was created to show what type of people the video will be targeted at and the people that will like it and/or relate to it. 

Mood Board Annotation

I have constructed this image board to give me ideas of how I want my music video to be, how I want the artist to be represented and the editing I will use in the video. This mood board represents the type of vibe and image I want my music video to have.

The image on the bottom left hand side of Luke James shows him in a dark studio room with mirrors behind him gives off a dark vibe and the mirrors around him makes it seem like he is surrounded by himself, showing how he is isolated and surrounded by himself and his emotions and thoughts. It is a really good vibe which is given off by the setting itself.

The dance studio at the bottom is a location which I would possibly like to use because it’s a nice and open space which we could use and it would be good to recreate the type of atmosphere that was in the Luke James video.

Above the dance studio image there are two small images which have Meek Mill in one and ASAP Rocky in the other video. In the ASAP Rocky picture you see a TV static effect in the background which is a really cool effect which I could use as the beat drops in my music video. The Meek Mill image has the word “Levels” written across it and I saw this in his music video. As she blows out smoke, the letters of the word “Levels” started to flash bit by bit until it completely appeared and stopped flashing. I could use that editing technique to introduce the track name.

The image of the Migos on the top right hand corner shows the type of image I want the artist to have. I want the artist to look really stylish. The artist will wear branded clothing and will wear different types of clothing in different scenes of the music video. The image also shows the type of camera angle there will be used such as low angles. The Luke James image above the image on the bottom left hand corner shows another camera angle which is a close up which I would like to use to show the artist’s emotion.

The image of ASAP Rocky on the bottom right hand side shows him with a group of people riding with him. The artist will also have people with him in the video in the background and they could be like his friends/posse that he hangs around with.

The image of a woman smoking in the top left hand side is part of a video of The Migos called Bando. There was a reverse and slow motion effect used in the video which I would also like to get a chance to use in our video.

In the video I would like to create a theme which shows success, determination and loyalty and I will do that by taking in ideas and small pieces from all these different music videos which I have looked at and also make the editing look nice as well. 

Chosen Song Lyric Annotation

Lyric Annotation

As we have chosen our song that we want to do for our music video i took the opportunity to read through the lyrics of the "Determination" song and i have started to annotate it in order to understand what he is talking about in each one of Dot Rotten's verses.
In the link of the song which is the beginning before the first verse comes in he says " Knock me down and i get back up, push me down and i get back up". Him saying this means that every time he gets knocked down he always bounces back up. He shows determination even though he gets put down.

As the first verse comes in he talks about how hard his life was not easy before when he was trying to make it into the music business. He talks about how he got to doing concerts but before that he started at sets which was when he was trying to come up he was doing small shows. He also thinks back to when he got into gang related activities like holding guns and being surrounded by gang members trying to get money. But in the link he says "I was on a bad path but i changed it good things come to those who have patience" this tells us that he moved away from all of that and focused on his music and was patient.

The hook says "Determination. I keep going, i just keep going" telling us that he keeps on going on with his life despite everything that happened.

In the second verse, he says "And i couldn't care less about all these haters, couldn't care less about being famous, all I'm on is family, business and papers." He says he doesn't care about everyone that doesn't like him and all the fame that comes with being a rapper and all he really cares about is his family, the money he earns and his business. He tells us that his girlfriend was also unfaithful to him and his life felt like it was falling apart because of all the bad things happening but he put aside all the negativity and tried his best to focus on his music career.

Chosen Song Lyrics: Dot Rotten- Determination

[Link x2]

 Knock me down and I get back up

 Push me down and I get back up

 Hold me down and I get back up

 Shoot me down and I get back up

 [Verse 1]

 I bet you don't know how hard that it gets

 Against all odds and harbouring stress

 Got to the concerts but started at sets

 It wasn't easy

 Never had no help from no olders

 Young kid with the world on my shoulders

 Telling myself I've gotta stay focused

 Please believe me

 [Verse 1 / Rap]

 I remember when it got overly peak

 Young shooter with a strap in my hand

 In a house full of man dem saying "nobody speak" and

 "Where's the money?"

 [Bridge]

 I was on a bad path but I changed it

 Good things come to those who have patience

 So I ain't made it but still I says it

 [Hook]

 Determination

 I keep going, I just keep going

 I keep going, I just keep going

 I keep going, I just keep going

 Determination

 I keep going, I just keep going

 I keep going, I just keep going

 I keep going, I just keep going

 Determination

 No I'll never give up

 No I'll never give up

 No I'll never give up, it's called

 Determination

 I keep going, I just keep going

 I keep going, I just keep going

 I keep going, I just keep going, uh

 [Verse 2]

 And I couldn't care less about all these haters

 Couldn't care less about being famous

 All I'm on is family, business and papers

 Plus I make tunes for all of these ravers

 Promoter pay me my wages

 Money goes in my savings

 Did a six figure deal from these majors

 Aura's pointless

 Even when my ex girlfriend weren't faithful

 And my whole life was feeling unstable

 And I had threats of being dropped by the label

 I kept going

 [Bridge]

I was on a bad path but I changed it

 Good things come to those who have patience

 So I ain't made it but still I says it

 [Hook]

Determination

 I keep going, I just keep going

 I keep going, I just keep going

 I keep going, I just keep going

 Determination

 I keep going, I just keep going

 I keep going, I just keep going

 I keep going, I just keep going

 Determination

 No I'll never give up

 No I'll never give up

Chosen Song

The song we have chosen to do is Dot Rotten "Determination" because the lyrics are really nice to listen to and it is really inspiring. The concept behind the song is being determined to do what you need to do despite everything going on around you which is a really inspirational song and will really appeal to a lot of people. The pace of the song is fast which makes it easier for us to edit it really well and add some special editing effects to the video. It is a clean song so there is no swearing in the song and also the instrumental is really good and you could use editing to amplify the instrumental and what type of theme it gives off.

Three Potential Songs- Pros and Cons

As a group we have decided on the Hip-Hop/Rap genre and have come to three potential song choices which are “Settle Down” by Jake Miller, “In Vein” by Rick Ross and The Weeknd and finally “Determination” by Dot Rotten. To help me choose between the songs I have thought about the pros and cons for all three songs.

In the Jake Miller song he talks about girls wanting to settle down with him but he isn’t into the girls that want him. The song has quite a fast pace which is good because the editing could be made fast as well. There is no swearing in the song or any inappropriate language in the song and the video could have an intertextual reference in it. The bad thing about the song is the lyrics are not that good. The concept of the song itself does not appeal to me because it seems quite immature to just be talking about girls and there wouldn’t be a lot of editing put into the video.

The Rick Ross song with The Weeknd he is talking about girls, the people around him and how his career has changed his life. The song is really nice and slow and the concept is really good which makes me like the song even more. The instrumental is quite slow so the editing could be made slowly as well but you could edit the video so scenes cut to the beat which would look really good. However, the song may be too slow and there is a lot of swearing in the video which are really noticeable.

The Dot Rotten song is about him being really determined to keep on making music despite everything he has been through which was really negative towards him. I really liked the concept of the video because it is really inspirational and positive. The tempo of the song is fast which is good because fast editing will look really good and you could do a lot of editing with fast tempo songs. The instrumental sounds really dark and has a deep bass which is what makes the track better that way the editing will coincide with instrumental. The only bad thing about the song is that parts of the song are repeated again and again in the song and can get a bit annoying. 

Representation Essay

In the 50 Cent “Candy Shop” video, 50 Cent is considered to be the handsome, rich man and the women are seen in this video as sexual objects for his pleasure. This is seen in the cinematography, camera shots and in the editing throughout the video.

The Mise-en scene in the video tells us the target audience how the women and the men are represented throughout the video.

The location is set at a mansion at night. This gives off a sense of wealth already at the start of the video showing that they are wealthy people. At the beginning, 50 Cent pulls up to the mansion in a red Ferrari. This tells us that he is a very rich person and as a man he is also very successful. The colour of the car being red as well connotes lust and love. As he walks into the mansion there are a lot of women standing there by the door waiting for him. All the women are wearing revealing clothing such as lingerie and revealing dresses. Their costumes suggest that the women are really sexual and provocative like the woman in the sexy nurse outfit which emphasises her assets and has a whip in her hand. The whip she is holding resembles is an icon for sexual activities such as foreplay. This tells us that the house he walked into is a brothel and the women he met are potential sexual partners. 50 Cent is seen wearing different clothes throughout the video. He is seen wearing a lot of designer brands such as the red and white trainers with his “G-Unit” label name on the shoes which tells us again that he is really wealthy. The lighting starts off really low but at different points throughout the video the lighting gets higher when 50 Cent is with a girl. For example, when he is in the nurses room there is high key lighting and the lighting shows off the nurse’s curves and her body. When you see close ups of the girls you see them biting their lips or they have a very erotic facial expression which shows that they are having sex with him or they are lusting over him. The Mise-en scene throughout the video tell us that the women in the video are really sexual and provocative whereas 50 Cent is seen to be very successful and wealthy.

Throughout the video there are a lot of close ups of the girls showing their facial expressions and how erotic, provocative and how sexual the girls look. There are a lot of low angle shots on 50 Cent when he is rapping which makes him look really powerful, dominant and intimidating. You see a few mid shots of the women showing us what they are wearing and what they are doing in this case how they were dancing provocatively as a group.

The editing in the video also shows us how the men and women are represented throughout the video. There are a lot of cut scenes in the video and in the cut scenes we see 50 Cent with a different woman. This shows us that he is really promiscuous because he is seen with more than woman. There are action match ups of the girls dancing, showing different angles of their body whiles they are dancing. There are also action match ups when 50 Cent is with a girl in bed and also when he is with the sexy nurse.

To conclude, the women in this video are shown to be very erotic, provocative and sexually active. They are also seen to be sexual objects for a man’s pleasure. 50 Cent is seen as a successful and very expensive man who wears a lot of high class brands, drives expensive cars and is also seen as a promiscuous person as he is seen with a lot of women. 

Analysis of Jason Derulo "What If"

Jason Derulo in this video plays the protagonist and the narrator. You see him singing about what if he and his girlfriend didn’t meet and you also see him in the narration throughout the video going back in time to when he first met his girlfriend.

The video portrays objective character identities. You can see in the video it is showing from his point of view that it would have been better if he and his girlfriend didn’t meet because she wouldn’t have got hit by the car. She still would have been alive is they didn’t meet.

Todorov’s narrative model can be loosely applied to the music video.  In the beginning of the video we see him and his girlfriend who he is about to propose to. They’re moving out of their house and into a new house. The disequilibrium is displayed when she walks out the house putting boxes into the moving truck but then she gets hit by a car and Jason runs out the house and runs towards it. There is an attempt to repair the equilibrium when time rewinds back to the first time they met at a park when he was walking his dog. The resolution is shown in the end of the video when he waves at her and walks past her so that they didn’t meet and the car crash did not happen. In the video

In this video, Propp’s characters can be identified. In this video, Jason Derulo is the hero who tries to save her by going back in time and not meeting her to save her life. The villain in the video is the man in the car who was driving carelessly that hit his girlfriend. The princess in the video is his girlfriend as she gets to live her life safely since Jason went back in time and didn’t meet her.

There is a binary opposition in the music video. The binary is future and past because Jason tries to go against time and go back and try to save her.

Barthe’s narrative code is seen throughout parts of the video. There is a cultural code seen in the video at the beginning where he’s looking at the engagement ring in its box and also when they are moving into a house. This tell us that they are moving in with each other and he’s going to propose to her. There is an enigma code when you see time go back which would get the audience thinking “Is he going back to save her” and “How is he going to save her”. There are a few semantic codes in the video. One example of a semantic code would be the engagement ring which connotes happiness and marriage and love. There is also a clock which connotes time and also Jason fighting against time.

A few of Cameron’s narrative are seen in this video. There is no episodic or split-screen but there is an anachronic narrative code in it. At the end of the video you see Jason’s views of how things would have been if he and his girlfriend hadn’t met. You see her erased from any event she was a part of including the accident she was involved in. The forking-path narrative code is seen as you see Jason’s alternative life without his girlfriend.

Jason Derulo- What If   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qQCx9mxV9g

Codes and Conventions

Hip-Hop/Rap 1

1.       The artists in this Rap video are Rich the Kid and The Migos which is a rap group formed of three members “Quavo, Offset and Takeoff”. The song is called Trap (Produced by Zaytoven).

2.       This music video is a concept based music video. The concept of the video is about people from the streets of Atlanta making money by trapping. “Trap” or “Trapping” means to make money by selling drugs. There is some performance involved. The performance does not have a routine.

3.       The location is near an old estate which looks really run down and abandoned.

4.       The artists have been dressed in expensive clothing, really stylish glasses and a lot of flashy jewellery such as big chains and gold rings.

5.       There are a lot of close ups and mid shots of the artists in the video. The lighting isn’t really high key or low key. There are rewind editing and slow motion editing.

Hip-Hop/Rap 2

1.       The artists in the Rap Video are Rae Sremmurd. This is a rap group formed of two members “Slim Jimmy and Swae Lee”. The song is called “No Flex Zone”

2.       This is a concept based music video. The concept is about people having fun and enjoying themselves and no showing off which is the song is called “No Flex Zone”. To “Flex” means to show off. There is also some performance but the performance does not involve any routine.

3.       The video has three different locations. One part of the video is set in a car driving through a suburban neighbourhood. The second location is in a back garden at a pool party. The last location is at a house party.

4.       The artists have really stylish and funky hairstyles and they are dressed in designer clothing. The artists in the video are seen as free spirited, joyful and energetic people. They don’t need to wear flashy jewellery or designer clothes for people to know they have money and they do whatever they feel like doing. They do not “flex”.

5.       In the video there is a special effect which has been put around the artists. The effect is a blue force field which surrounds them. The force field is a symbol for the “No Flex Zone”. There are a lot of mid shots of the artists and a lot of high key lighting in the video.  

Hop-Hop/Rap 3

1.       The artists in this next Rap music video are Rick Ross, Young Jeezy and Tracy T. This song is called “War Ready”.

2.       This video is a mixture of performance and narrative.

3.       In the beginning of the video you see a group of men dressed in black and their leader in the black mask. The narrative is the group of men raiding a warehouse with guns. The performance is in an abandoned warehouse. There was no routine for the performance.

4.       The location is in an abandoned, rundown warehouse.

5.       The artists in the video are seen as really rich and aggressive people. They are seen wearing a lot of expensive clothing such as Rick Ross’s fur coat and lots of chains around his neck. They wear a lot of expensive jewellery and branded clothing.

6.       The lighting is low key to show the aggressiveness and dark theme of the video and to amplify the lyrics. There are a lot of close ups in the video, low angles to show their power and to make them look threatening. The editing in the video is really hazy. There were parts in the video where the camera is really shaky and hazy effects like in the beginning when the song dropped and Rick Ross’s image was split into three and make it seem like there was three of him. They also had a dark fade effect when they rewound the video and the visuals faded until it was just a man in black with a mask.  

Hip-Hop/Rap 4

1.       The artist in this video is Ace Hood. The song is called “Bugatti”.

2.       This video is also another mix of performance and narrative.

3.       The narrative is about Ace Hood going from a man who used to “Trap” for money to a man who wakes up in a car worth $1.5million. In the beginning of the video he’s running away from a group of people who are trying to kill him and he jumps in the water to escape. He then goes into a warehouse to see these people who look like his bosses/employers and throws money on the table and walks out with a girl. At the end of the video he wakes up wearing expensive clothing and inside an expensive car surrounded by police.

4.       There are four different locations in this video. The first locations seems to be an exotic country where the narrative is taking place. The second location is in an industrial storage site. The last two locations are in a warehouse and also at the end Ace Hood is inside a Bugatti with a woman in the seat next to him.

5.       The artist in this video is seen as a really dangerous person but also as a person who gets a lot of money. He’s dressed in expensive clothing and has on a lot jewellery.

6.       The lighting is really high key lighting and there are a lot of low angle shots of him which shows he has power and close ups. There is a lot of fast pace editing. A lot of action matchups showing us what is going on at different angles.

In these four Hip-Hop/Rap music videos I noticed that all these videos show us that rappers have a lot of money. They have a really dangerous and aggressive look and they wear a lot of expensive jewellery and upper class branded clothing. They have really stylish and trendy looks like for example, the Rae Sremmurd’s hairstyles and also the clothing worn by Rick Ross in his video which is a big fur jacket.

RnB 1

1.       This RnB artist is Chris Brown. The song is called “Don’t Judge Me”.

2.       The music video is a narrative mixed with a concept. The concept is about having a woman in your life that is not judgmental despite his past and what he has done.

3.       The narrative is Chris Brown giving up his life to save the people of Earth from an alien invasion. He is put into a spaceship which is then launched into the alien craft and destroys the alien ship and Chris himself.

4.       There are two locations for this video. The first location of the video is at a military base where he is put into the space craft and the second location is inside a house with a woman sitting beside him on a couch.

5.       In this video Chris is seen as a really powerful person. He is also seen as a really loving and caring person. He is dressed in casual clothing with a dog tag necklace.

6.       There are a few low angle shots of him showing his power. In the end you see a lot of close ups to show his emotions as you can see him crying.

RnB 2

1.       This next RnB artists is Justin Timberlake. The song is called TKO.

2.       This is a narrative mixed with a concept. The concept is about a girl that cheated on Justin and now she is acting differently around him and now he doesn’t feel like he knows the girl anymore.

3.       As the video starts you see Justin getting dragged on the floor by his feet by a car and the person driving the car was his girlfriend. There are scenes where they were in the house fighting then they had sex but then after she hits him with the saucepan and the scene cuts back to him getting dragged by the car. His girlfriend then jumps out of the car and lets him be dragged off the cliff with the car.

4.       The video is set in two different locations. One of them being a desert and the other location is at a house.

5.       In this video Justin is seen as a victim in the video. He is dressed in casual clothing and does not have any jewellery on him.

6.       There are some scenes where there are high key lighting like in the house but there is low key lighting when the camera cuts to the desert scene. There are a few mid shots and some close ups. There are also action matchups.

RnB 3

1.       The artists in this video are Jason Derulo and Snoop Dogg. This song is called “Wiggle”

2.       The video does not have a narrative but it does have a concept and performance. The concept is about women that have really big bums.

3.       The performance in the video are routine dance performances.

4.       The video is set at a big pool party in a mansion.

5.       Jason is seen as a lady’s man in this video as he is surrounded by a lot of women. He is also seen to be promiscuous because at the beginning you see him in bed with a lot of women. He has been dressed in expensive clothing and expensive jewellery.

6.       There is a lot of high key lighting throughout the whole video and a lot of mid shots and full body shots to show Jason Derulo’s body.

RnB 4

1.       This artist in this video is Keyshia Cole. The song is called “Next Time (Won’t Give My Heart Away).

2.       This is a concept based music video with a little bit of performance mixed in with it. The concept of this video is about being heartbroken. Her relationship is falling apart and she doesn’t want to give her heart to someone else again.

3.       The performance in the video is not a routine performance.

4.       The video is set in a hall.

5.       In this video, Keyshia is seen as a really vulnerable and heartbroken women who has just lost her husband to another woman. She is dressed in a really nice sophisticated blue dress with an expensive necklace and a few rings on her fingers as well.

6.       The video has quite a lot of low key lighting and only a few high key lighting. There are a lot of close ups to show how hurt she is emotionally and also a few long shots of her in an empty hall which shows how  loneliness she is.

By looking at all four of these RnB videos I can see that these artists are very loving, caring and deep people like Keyshia Cole and Chris Brown. Some RnB artists being promiscuous and have a type of player attribute to them such as Jason Derulo and Snoop Dogg. They are seen as really stylish people like in Jason Derulo’s video he is seen wearing a black leather vest with a lot of chains on his neck and he is also seen wearing a leather black and white jacket. They are also seen as very sophisticated like Keyshia Cole as she is seen wearing a blue dress.

Pop 1

1.       This pop artist is Sia. The song is called “Chandelier.

2.       This video is a performance video mixed with a concept. The concept of the video being freedom and to be able to express your emotions.

3.       The performance in the video is a routine performance in an empty house.

4.       The location is set in an empty apartment with just a little girl inside dancing.

5.       The artist is not in the video but the little girl in the video is seen to be very free spirited. As there is nobody in the house she is free to express her emotion through dance. She is wearing a ballet outfit.

6.       There are a lot of mid shots in the video and a lot of long shots to show the little girl dancing.

Pop 2

1.       This next pop artist is Katy Perry with her song “Dark House”.

2.       The video is a mix of performance, concept and narrative. The concept of this is about not becoming enemies with Katy Perry because she’s a really vengeful person.

3.       The narrative of the video Katy being a queen and having men bringing her things like jewellery, food or luxurious transport but all she wants is what they own and not the men so she kills the men and takes what they have. The performance in the video is a routine performance.

4.       The setting is Ancient Egypt inside a palace.

5.       Katy has been made to be seen like a powerful evil queen. She is wearing very expensive jewellery and royal clothing with a pharaoh’s headpiece.

6.       There are a lot of close ups on Katy Perry showing her aggressiveness and mid shots showing us how she kills the men. There are special effects in the video when she uses lightning out of her hands to kill the men and also when the statue behind her starts talking.

Pop 3

1.       This pop artist is Shakira. This song is called “La La La”.

2.       The video is a performance and concept based music video. The concept is about the FIFA 2014 World Cup which took place in Brazil.

3.       The performance in the video is a routine group performance in a studio. You have kid playing football in the background and Shakira dancing throughout the video.

4.       This video is set in a studio.

5.       Shakira is seen as a free spirited and fun loving person. She is wearing a very nice and elegant dress with a lot of necklaces. Her hair is laid out, not tied up.

6.       There are a lot of close ups of Shakira and a lot of long shots to show what she is doing like when she was playing with the football.

Pop 4

1.       This final artist is Pharrell Williams with his song “Happy”.

2.       This video is a performance and concept based music video. The concept of this video is about being happy.

3.        The performance are routine performance. There are performances in the city, inside a school, a church, and a hall.

4.       The video was set in different locations around the country.

5.       Pharrell is shown as a happy and excited person. He is also seen as a very friendly person as he is also interacting with the people around him. He is seen wearing casual clothing with a big top hat which shows his extraordinary personality.

6.       There are a lot of mid shots and long shots in the video and also a few high and low key lightings as the video is filmed both during the day and at night.

The Pop artists in these four videos are seen as very free spirited and fun people. They come off as really friendly people like Pharrell in his video when he’s interacting with the pedestrians around him whiles he’s filming and also in the “Chandelier” video where the little girl is dancing around the house freely. They all have a lot of routine performances like in Shakira’s video for “La La La” and Katy Perry’s video for “Dark Horse”.

Back In the Day- 1980s and 1990s

Hip-Hop

An old Hip-Hop/Rap video I looked at was Changes by 2Pac. This video was a concept based video based on the politics in the USA, racism and how things change over time. The video showed different points of 2Pacs life and all the bad and good things he has experienced throughout his life. It shows him in court and him getting money through rapping. In this video he is seen as a rebel fighting against the government. He is seen in court winning a case being proved innocent. He is also seen as a really happy and caring person. There are pictures of him with his daughter and also when he is on stage rapping. He’s wearing casual clothing and only one chain. This old Hip-Hop video compared to nowadays videos are completely different. The concepts are more about drugs and women in today’s music but back in the 80’s and 90’s they were more about real life and how the government were back then.

RnB

This old RnB video I watched was Dilemma by Nelly and Kelly Rowland. This is a concept video mixed with narrative. The concept is about falling in love even though she’s with another man. The narrative was Kelly moving into her new house next to Nelly’s house and they end up falling in love with each other. This video was set in a suburban neighbourhood. The two artists in this video are seen as very caring and very loving and romantic people. They are dressed really casually and not much jewellery on them. Comparing this old video with today’s RnB videos the conventions have changed. Today’s artists are more promiscuous and less romantic but 80’s and 90’s are the opposite. They are more romantic and talk about falling in love with one and other.

Pop

This old school Pop video is “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough”. This is a performance based video. The performance in the video is a routine performance done in a studio. In this video, Michael is seen as really free spirited and really joyful. He is wearing a black tuxedo and has a short afro. Comparing this video to today’s videos you can see a type of similarity in the way the music is performed because Pop artists like to perform in their videos and they are also really free spirited and joyful. 

Textual Analysis of Music Video 2

The music video I am analysing is “Make It Home” by August Alsina directed by Payne Lindsey. The genre of the music is RnB/Soul. You can tell that the music is RnB because it is a song about love and it is also a slow and calm song.

The lyrics are amplified by the video. In the video you see August and his friend getting chased by the police, jumping over fences and you hear him singing saying “If I don’t make it home tonight”. This tells us that he might not get away from the police and may not make it home. He is also seen writing a letter to his loved ones and singing saying “Tell my mother that I love her, take some flowers to my brother” which tells us he could be going away for a long time. This tell us that the lyrics are amplified by the visuals.

The video and the music are linked because whenever the visuals cuts to the beat. You see this throughout the video whenever the kicks come in hard the visuals always change to different scenes of him getting chased. There is a solo instrumental bit at the beginning when the song comes on and because the song is quite sad and slow the visuals match with the instrumental. In the visuals you see that August has his hands on his head because he got caught, the police are pointing guns at him and the instrumental is playing in the background so the instrumental is amplified by the visuals. The pace throughout the video is the same. The pace does not change.

The artist in the video is being represented as a criminal. In the video he is getting chased by police in the neighbourhood and gets caught in the end. You can see how he is being represented as a criminal in his clothing as well because he is wearing a black hoodie, black beanie hat, black trousers and black shoes which is a criminal image. The clothing he wears is similar in other videos. He wears a lot of black in other videos and he is seen wearing black in this video as well. His style of clothing is similar in other videos.

This video is half narrative and half concept. The concept being about August possibly going to jail because of his criminal activities and the narrative is August and his friend getting chased by the police and him getting caught.

To conclude, the music video follows many of the conventions of a Rap/Hip-Hop video but August Alsina is a RnB artist so he has developed the conventions of an RnB music video.  

August Alsina ft Young Jeezy- Make It Home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQFw3K0uNAA

Introduction To A2 Media

This is an introduction to my A2 Blog Portfolio.

This year I will be looking at music videos from different genres and also I will be making my own music video. We will also be looking at different narrative codes such as Barthe's narrative codes and conventions and Propp’s characters. I will be looking out for how the different genders in videos are represented in certain music videos and write an essay about how the male and female gender are represented in music videos.

I will doing a lot of research and then I will find three potential songs that I would want to make a music video to and listen to them to find pros and cons to each song. I will then round it down to one song. I will have to find the lyrics to the song and figure out what the artist is talking about to get ideas for the music video for example, what type of editing are we going to put into the video, who is going to be our artist and where are we filming and what do we want him/her to look like.