Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin’s theory of music videos identified the five key elements of a music video that the audience will want to see.

https://prezi.com/5tngorh-qv99/andrew-goodwin-theory/

Lip syncing practise

lip syncing from David Aluko on Vimeo.

This is our lip syncing practise to Drake - Redemption. 

We used purchased Drake - Redemption from iTunes and used the software iMovie to edit the sound in and place the soundtrack to the correct time of which our artist (Ayo's) mouth was moving.

We chose to different locations which allowed natural lighting to come into place (lighting from the sun). We used natural lighting because this was our available lighting. (We tested the available lighting to see if it was sufficient for filming and it was).

What were the challenges of lip syncing? Was it difficult to be convincing?

While filming this lip syncing task the biggest challenge was the words not matching the mouth movement on the artist. We had to time the music perfectly when editing it in. It was difficult to be convincing when lip syncing because some words don't require your mouth to be open as much which makes it harder to try and work out what word is being said.


Should artists of different genres lip sync in different ways

Yes, genres like rock they will be more aggressive and body language would also come into place to get the lyrics across more.


How will you use this task to improve the planning and quality of your final music video?

Doing lip syncing practise has benefit my group a lot as we gained basic understanding of how to import the music and edit it to the correct timing. We will now expand this knowledge for our final music video trying our best to make it as realistic as possible which will require us to look at other factors which will affect the sound. If we are filming in an area where diegetic sound is being produced in our music video we can't have just the song playing and the lip syncing happening we would have to incorporate the diegetic sound as well to keep it as realistic as possible.

Discussing Initial Ideas

This video is me and my group discussing our initial ideas. Me (David Odumosu), David Aluko and Ayo Osikoya. 

Song choice analysis

"Pursuit of Happiness" is a song by American recording artist Kid Cudi, released January 25, 2010, as the third single from his debut studio album.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pursuit_of_Happiness_(song)

The video starts of with Kid Cudi sitting in a centre position of the camera while they are all holding a bottle of alcohol an editing effect comes into place where all those around him are in slow motion but he is following in normal time. This happens throughout the whole music video and it allows us to focus on the main artist who is Kid Cudi.

(Everything around Kid Cudi is in slow motion)

The theme of this music video is quite easy to replicate, the concept of it is a slight narrative and performance as both are mixed together. In my opinion mixing the two concepts together creates a better music video. I will try and encourage my group to do this.

"Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)," is a song by Shakira, featuring the South African band Freshlyground. It was released on 10 September 2010 by Epic Records as the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which was held in South Africa.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waka_Waka_(This_Time_for_Africa)

Shakira - Waka Waka music video is a unique type of music video which I like a lot. The words do not relate to what is happening in the video. The words relate to soldier preparing to war which could actually relate to football world cup. 

This was a performance type of music video as we see Shakira dancing and singing to the camera. The concept video in this was all the football highlights this keeps the audience entertained and always looking at the screen and I think it worked very well.

Say Nada” is a song recorded by the British hip-hop singer & songwriter Shakka, with JME. It was released on April 13, 2015 by RME Records as the fourth track from the solo EP, “The Lost Boys”. It was written and composed by Shakka.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Say_Nada

The video starts with a medium long shot of Shakka then it gets closer and closer. The medium long shot allows of to see his surroundings. Then it becomes a close up of him singing the words which makes the audience feel as they are close to the artist. 

When it gets to JME's verse he is standing in the centre of the camera and he is standing by himself. As you can see from the screenshot above writing comes on the screen as well as him still rapping. Many music videos have this effect and the use of bright colours make the lyrics he is saying stand out and understandable. In  my opinion I get a great RnB feeling which is extremely exaggerated by the use of bright colours such  and yellow and lime.   

Screen test shots of possible actors

Test shots of possible actors


David Aluko









Our first male possible actor is David Aluko. He is in our media group so if he was picked it would make it a lot easier for when we want to all come together and film as he will be committed because it's his coursework.

David Aluko has a good masculine figure which will be good because we want the male actor to look like the dominant one out of the two. However the level of David's hair may be a problem because low level haircut would be best suited to be similar to Drake's level. Another problem is that Aluko is quite darker than Drake and we would prefer a light actor.

Katherine Hall

Our second potential actor is Katherine Hall. She is quite confident so it wouldn't be a problem for us to get her to be comfortable while being filmed. She is also a model meaning she is very photogenic and would look good through the whole music video.

Overall Kat would be very suitable for our music video because she fits the style of the song.

However Kat takes A levels so she may not be as committed as we need her to be as she has other commitments elsewhere which is understandable. She is also not sure whether she wants to be in our music video so we cannot depend of her.

Peter Adekoya

Our third potential actor is Peter Adekoya. He is 6ft2 which is a preferable height as he would be portrayed as having a dominant stature over the female in the music video. Peter is very confident and outgoing so he would be comfortable in front of the cameras which is a huge advantage.

One of the problems that occur with Peter is that his complexion is fairly darker than Drake which we would try to avoid when picking our possible actors but this is a problem which could easily be overlooked. Another problem is that Peter is currently in sixth form doing A levels so his time will be limited when we are scheduling filming times.

We concluded that we would not use Peter as one of actors. Even though having perfect physical attribute, he has a very busy time schedule due to a levels and he won't be able to commit to our music video.

Ayo Osikoya

Our fourth potential actor is Ayo. He is very confident and projects himself well. By just seeing his body language you can tell that he is confident this makes a great protagonist.

One weakness with Ayo is that he is quite short however and we do not want the female actor to be taller than him however, his masculine structure makes up for this and gives him and sense of dominance. He also has facial hair which makes him look older. This will be a benefit because it links to the R&B/hip hop genre.

Institutional Research

Sony BMG Music Entertainment


Sony BMG Music Entertainment was a record music company, which was a 50–50 joint venture between the Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann AG. 

Artist Sony BMG represent 

Sony have a number of artist signed to their record label. Artist include Beyonce, John Legend, Craig David, Alicia Keys Britney Spears, Shakira, R Kelly, the late Michael Jackson and many more talented artist. 

Most Recent signing 

AUG 30, 2016 | GUITAR LEGEND AND SINGER ROBERT RANDOLPH SIGNS TO SONY MUSIC MASTERWORKS

Advantages of  having Sony BMG as a record label:

1. One advantage of us using Sony as a record label would be that we would have an enormous amount of money to spend on the music video and promoting the music video as well which would gain us recognition.
2.  Another benefit would be that Sony have a lot of connections which would help us achieve our music career goals. 
3. Sony are a conglomerate which means they could get the best deals on the making of the music video. 

Disadvantages of having Sony BMG as a record label:

1. Because Sony is such a big company with loads of huge artist signed to them getting the attention of those at the top to allow us to get the funding we need will be hard and we will find ourselves competing with artist signed to the same label.
2. Sony may take advantage of us because we aren't a well known group and they can easily find replacements who earn them money.

 G.O.O.D Music     

It is important to have the right record label to represent the artist. As a group we have researched record labels which will best suit our artist. First up; G.O.O.D Music.

GOOD (Getting Out Our Dreams) Music, Inc. is an American record label founded by rapper and record producer Kanye West, in 2004. The label houses several artists, such as Big Sean, Pusha T, D'banj, John Legend, Desiigner and Tyga, among others. The label's in-house producers include Hudson Mohawke, Q-Tip, Travis Scott, Jeff Bhasker, S1. The label has released 10 albums certified gold or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Cruel Summer there compilation album was released on September 14, 2012. The album produced four singles that charted on the US Billboard Hot 100. It received generally lukewarm reviews from music critics but however debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, selling 205,000 copies in its first week. The album also reached the top 10 charts in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. As of November 4, 2012 Cruel Summer had sold 389,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Virgin Records

Virgin Records is a British record label that was founded by Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell and Tom Newman in 1972. The record label become to become known from signing some artists in the past such as:

• Janet Jackson
• Spice girls
• Lenny Kravitz

The record label is still running currently but in America, with mostly an American roster, featuring artists like:

• Bastille
• Circa Waves
• Ella Eyre

Despite the record label having a long future It is not likely that we would use record label as they do not really have any artists that are in our genre domain. As well as the fact that our Artist and song choice does fit with the type of artists that the record label sell. 
The record label mostly associates themselves with whats going in America, rather than the United Kingdom. In fact, the record label merged with an American record label, Capitol Records, making Capital Music Group. Although Virgin EMI Records was founded in 2013 through the collaboration of Mercury Records and Virgin Records. They have signed some renowned artists such as:

• Kanye West
• Iggy Azalea
• Krept and Konan
• Katy Perry 
• Chase & Status and more...

 An advantage of using this record label is that they will be able to provide us with funds to make a good music video. Furthermore, Virgin have a wide campaigning market that could help us advertise and market our music video to be recognised in different parts of the world. For example Virgin could use our music video as another way to advertise the different products and services that they offer. 

Analysis of Rap genre

Rap music, is a style of popular music believed to have its beginnings in African-American inner-city street culture. Rap artist generally perform in a vocal style in which the lyrics are spoken, rather than sung but as the years go on rap artist are changing it up with a mix of singing and rapping.

Conventions of Rap music

Clothing has a big role in the rap music image it consists of expensive designer and clothes which are quite baggy such as big puffer jackets, tracksuits or big jumpers, jewellery which stands out hugely (Mostly diamonds) and caps.

Another convention could be tattoos and hairstyles, a lot rap artists have tattoos on their body e.g 50 Cent so if we was to choose the rap genre we would have to consider either creating fake tattoos or having actors who have tattoos. Most of the rap artist have low level hair but as the years go on the height of their hair keeps increasing.

Most rap artists usually show a great sense of passion when rapping and this is shown by their lyrics, facial expression (which could be portrayed as looking angry) and body language. The location of the music video could also portray a message in rap music. These locations are normally where they grew up and they call the "Hood", Ghetto".

Conventions of rap music video editing consist of lots of quick cuts of different environment or props such as expensive/flashy cars, jewellery, clothes, alcohol, drugs and women. There are a shots which are created by drones so that you can see the whole block and see the location from a high angle. There are also close ups of key props that help emphasise the point that the artist is trying to get across, with the aid of their lyrics.

Example of Rap Music

50 Cent - Many Men

Fredo - They Ain't 100

Nines - Trapper Of The Year 

Analysis of Indie genre

"Independent music (often shortened to indie music or indie) is music produced independently from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording and publishing."



The Kooks

The Kooks, a British Indie Rock band perform several songs in the CD101 studios on May 8, 2007 in Columbus, Ohio for a small crowd while on their U.S. tour.

The Kooks - Naïve

Indie bands normally have a representation that they are just normal people with no flashy aspect with them. The clothes they are wearing particularly show this. The clothes are simple and are not bright and captivating. The Indie band are represented as having more interest in their music than in their fame. They are also displayed as unique in the way their image is unusual – curly, big hair and the clothes they wear.

Florence and the Machine

Florence and the Machine are an English indie rock band that formed in London in 2007, consisting of lead singer Florence Welch, keyboardist Isabella Summers, and a collaboration of other artists.

Florence + The Machine - Dog Days Are Over

In Florence and The Machine’s music video, ‘Dog Days Are Over’, extremely bright colours are used and not just one bright colour there are plenty different contrast of bright colours. She is marketed as being fun, artistic, creative and crazy. Because she is indie she basically can market herself how she wants. This is why there is not a set style for Indie artist so this is why if we choose Indie we can pick and create our own style basically.

Arctic Monkey

"Arctic Monkeys are an indie rock band formed in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England in 2002 after meeting at Stocksbridge High School. The band consists of Alex Turner (vocals, guitar), Jamie Cook (guitar), Nick O'Malley (backing vocals, bass) and Matt Helders (drums, vocals). Founding bassist Andy Nicholson left in 2006."

Arctic Monkey - Snap Out Of It 

Arctic Monkey are known for doing obscure music videos. This music video represents woman in a stereotypical way as when she comes out the water there is a tracking shot of her body as she comes out of the water. During the whole video we hardly see the music bands and they have mini snippets of them in the studio. This is different from normal music videos as we normally see the artist throughout. However I like the concept and I will discuss with my team as to whether we could follow the concept.