graffiti type font
cap
jeans
laid back
big watch

black and white
sunglasses
leather jacket
black male
car
stubble

Examples of R'n'B CD covers

muscular
tattoos
pierced ear
dominating the image
black male
topless for voyuerism

locations for our video shoot

canary wharf shopping center modern and posh



canary wharf riverside. classy and pretty place. great for romantic strolls

Claude kelly - like an iceberg lyrics

this is the song we are making a video for.
its the typical cheesy r'n'b love song

(Yeah) (Oh...whoa) (Oh whoa) (Oh whoa ****...) (Mmm...) (Ooh...) (Yeah)

[First Verse]:
Never been the type of woman that needed someone
Had to do things myself or they never got done
Never knew around the corner I'd meet someone
That I would be totally comfortable sharin' my love

Now I don't mind lettin' my guard down
My heart is yours now 'Cause baby now

[Chorus]:
You make me melt Like an iceberg on the sea
Baby you're doin' things to me that I never felt
You make me melt Never ever been this weak
This is all brand new to me I think I should tell you that
You make me melt You make me melt, (oh...), baby

[Second Verse]:
Now you should never say never
Look what's happenin' to me
'Cause I said I'll never let a man take the lead
But now I'm dependent Baby you're all I need
Wouldn't last a day or an hour without you next to me

Now I don't mind lettin' my guard down
My heart is yours now 'Cause baby now

[Chorus]:
You make me melt Like an iceberg on the sea
Baby you're doin' things to me that I never felt
You make me melt Never ever been this weak
This is all brand new to me I think I should tell you that
You make me melt You make me melt baby

Whoa oh whoa

[Bridge]:
Now I've always been the cool, independent type (Yeah)
But now I'm different when I look in your eyes
And I try to play it as cool as ice But you make me melt every time

[Chorus]:
You make me melt Like an iceberg on the sea
Baby you're doin' things to me oh that I never felt (Never felt)
You make me melt (Oh) Never ever been this weak (No)
This is all brand new to me (To me) I think I should tell you that
You make me melt (You make me melt, yeah, yeah)
You make me melt, (you make me melt), baby

[Outro]:
(That's what you do baby) (And I lose my cool baby) (Oh) (When I'm with you baby) (Baby)
(Oh melt) (You make me melt) (Ay) (Melt) (Babe) (Melt) (Melt) (You make me melt)

Black and White?

nelly - just a dream
jls - love you more
trey songz - invented sex
chris brown - dueces

all these new R'n'B videos are filmed in black and white and as we intend to film a r'n'b video we need to stick to the conventions. so i think it will be a good idea to film in black and white aswell. aslong as we have interesting visual it doesnt matter if the video is in colour or not.

Trey Songz - Say Aah (Video)

I think we should dress our male lead similarly to trey songz

Appearance of male actor

initally i wanted to use a actor like r'n'b star trey songz for our video. but we simple just couldnt find anyone like that who was willing to be in our video.



however now i want to find a guy like bruno mars for our video. He isnt the typical RnB artist he isnt black or covered in jewellery.

He is young good looking and stylish.

A bit of audience feedback

I ask a friend on facebook what what kind of video i should make. I asked about narrative and she couldnt really think of one. She thought the video should be more 'me me me' like the 'Fight or this love' vid by Cheryl Cole. I think our vid should be mostly about the actor and just include small intimate scenes and choreography towards the end where the beat picks up

Race and Attitude

RnB artist and the actors in there vids always have a bit of attitude. That kind of 'yeah look at me' vibe going on. So i think our actors must have alot of self confidence, attitude and be good looking to be convincing.

However i dont neccessarily think they have to be black! Theses days the big RnB artists arent always black like;
Justin Timberlake
Justin Beiber
Mariah Carey
Robin thick
Who are all white!

And even latino Bruno Mars and Jay sean, who is asian.

So i think we are able to use someone of any race aslong as they have the same kind of attittude and dress.

A perfect and current example of breaking race conventions but conforming to the excessive use of attitude is... Cher lloyd from this years Xfactor!

She wears young modern street clothing.

She has that slight cockyness.

And she is white, but because of the way she infuses rap and singing with her dance moves bursting with attitudes she is seen as an RnB artist.

Extreme use of voyeurism

I have decieded that i dont want to go over the top on voyeurism in my video. I know the genre is heavily related to songs about; sex, womens bodies and love songs.

But using alot of voyeurism will take away from the actual song, promote the artist in a controversial way and cause public uproar. Especially from feminisists, religous groups and parents.

So i only want to use voyeurism in my video to make the visuals match with the lyrics. 1 because it is part of Goodwins theory and secondly as it will make my video more effective and finally it conforms to the conventions of RnB.

Here are a few examples of videos where voyeurism is over used;

Nadine Coyle - Insatiable
Her 1st video was band my mtv due to it being to raunchy so she was forced to create a more modest version.

Lady Gaga - Telephone
Lady Gaga is known for her weirdness but this 9min long vid caused so much controversy. It was all over the news!
In the video she is stripped down to almost non exsistant underwear, she has a lesbian kiss with beyonce, intimate scenes with a crossdresser.
This video is just to much.
Voyeurism gone mad.
I dont even feel comfortable watching it!
I wouldnt want my audience to feel that way about my vid hence cutting down on voyeurism

Black eyed peas - My humps
To me this video dehumanises women and says we are just sexual objects. It just focuses on 'humps' its just totally excessive and caused uproar amgonst feminists everywhere.

Introducing... Leema and Khalid! *claps*

LEEMA:
Yeah she's not black!

But she has that young and hip look about her. She is very sure of herself, pretty and has a acceptable ammount of attitude which helps her conform to the genre.

She isnt the typical asian, which made her stick out for us. She reminds me a little of nicole shirzinger the lead singer in the pussy cat dolls!



KHALID:
Iraqi but you cant really tell. He has that ethnic look, a mixture of mike posner and jay sean. He isnt black but i think he meets some of the apperance conventions of a male r'n'b star. he has the pierced ears, slit eye brows, the baggy jeans and tattoo. i think he will be convincing in our video.

Hooray!

We have secured one of our locations! Its like a modern apartment!

Also we have a female actor for our vid!

I created our group blog :
one love productions!

Now im working on a logo, drafts will be uploaded in due course!

Now in pursuit of a good looking young male actor for the lead.

2nd music video analysis according to Goodwins theory

Neyo one in a million

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tpl9LtkRRw

Intertextuality;

This video does conform to Goodwins theory as i have found Intertextuality in both the costume and dance moves.

Costume
Trilby, black shoes and white socks all scream Michael jackson.
Also the black trousers, shirt, tie and braces bring Charlie Chaplin to mind!

Dance
Michael jackson again
And slight use of mime like in early slap stick comedy

Notion of looking;

Looking is used alot throughout the vid especially during the crescendo of the vid when Neyo is dancing and try to win the lady in the middle of the square.

2nd bit of audience feedback !

Feedback wasnt as detailed this time.

Narrative
In front of a big fire
Dancing under a chandelier
Clips of different dates theyve been on
Romantic things
Stroll on beach
Paintin their house

Location
Perfoming at a concert
Bedroom
Sitting on a fluffy rug

Camera
Shot reverse shots
Eyeline match

Prop
Trilby hat

Final points
Emotional performing to the camera
Head grabbing
Dancing

First bit of audience feedback

Wow our audience feedback was really useful and constructive. We presented our song to the class and had a big discussion and heres what they suggested ;

Location:
Beach, deserted area, bedroom, park

Actor:
Young black guy and lady

Narrative:
Break up, flirting, sad, walking about, dancing like usher

Props:
Picture frame, gifts, camera

Editting:
Cut to the beat, smooth at the begining use cross dissolve transition

Final points:
Make it similar to the usher burn vid
Pulsating dance move
Take advantage of strong beat

The history of music videos !

'The Jazz Singer' 1927

The first American feature-length musical film with
synchronized dialogue sequences.

It's 89 mins long and everyone at the time wanted to see it!

The success of the film signified the end of the slient movie era

First proper video analysis according to the Goodwin theory ! :O

I was thinking of analysing chris brown deuces but khalid did soo... I think i'll do Keri Hilson's Knock u down video.

Actually i cant find the proper vid on youtube so i'll do Keri hilson ft. Chris brown - super human

http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&client=mv-google&hl=en-GB&v=zJUzSo8O-is


1. Genre characteristics are
demonstrated

Both artists are black, young and good looking and are about to get together; which is a very convention in RnB videos

Chris opens the video by pullin up on his fancy quad bike. To illustrate that he is a masuline, cool and wealthy person. Cars and moterbikes are featured in videos under this genre the artist is either sittin on the car, driving it or gettin physical in the back seat!

Keri and Chris stand face to face and sing to each over then look like they are going to kiss. This connotes romance which most RnB songs are about.

Genre characteristics are demonstrated through Chris' street dance sequence aswell. As dance is prominant in RnB due to the heavy beats and bass.

2. There's always a relationship
between
lyrics and visuals

This is done mumerous times in the video, a few examples;
When Chris sings 'strong' he puts his arms up and tenses his muscles. Which reinforces the lyric and illustrates the significance as he plays the hero in video.

Also when they sing ' a super human heart beats in me' the camera cuts to Chris doin a pulsating/throbing chest movemement. This brings the lyrics to life and gives them slightly more meaning.

And finally in the middle of the vid when Chris is in black dancing on top of a crate. The lyrics and visuals are linked when he sings 'im feeling all super human, you did that to me' special graphic effects are used surges of bright lighting like force filled burst out of Chris. To display his superhuman powers!

3. There's a relationship between
music and visuals

Visuals cut to the strong kicking beat especially towards the end, cuts are more harsh. Also chris head bangs to the beat towards
the end which is effective.

4. Demands to promote/sell the
artist

The video promotes chris through portraying him as a hero which proves his masculinity and will make him popular with female fans. Also through his dance sequence, it shows how multi talented he is. The video sells Keri as like the perfect example of feminity which makes young fans aspire to be like her and men admire her.

5. There's frequently reference to
notion of looking and particularly
excessive use of female sex
appeal

There isnt to much excessive use of female sex appeal in this video however Keri in the beginnig of the video is shown caressing a lamp post and keaning gainst it in a slightly seductive way. Moreover Keri is always wearing outfits with plunging neck lines even though she has 3 costume changes. In addition there is quite a bit of looking in the vid like when Chris saves her from being knocked over. Finally Keri looks into the camera whilst lip snycing however Chris doesnt.

And finally...

6. There's often intertextual
reference to films, tv shows etc.

The video reminds me of the spiderman films. Chris reminds me of peter parker because they both save their love interest and are both silent heroes. Keri falls for chris after he saves her life as mary jane does with spiderman.

Audience feedback

Audience feed back is helpful as it enables the group to modify ideas that the audience arent really feeling. By modifying things we will produce a video that the audience will love.

Methods of collecting feedback are;
Class discussion
Through facebook
Creating questionaires and giving them out to people who are part of the target audience.

Lets get moving then!

Voyeurism in music videos

According to Goodwins theory there's frequent reference to the
excessive use of female sex
appeal and voyeurism

For example:
Trey Songz - Neighbours know my name
http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&client=mv-google&hl=en-GB&v=OMvacf4Y2KE

Red back lighting is used which connotes passion against black silohettes of a women or of Trey and the women being very intimate.

Voyeurism is present throughout the whole video and intimate scenes almost seem slowed down to gain the audiences full attention.

Sex is used to sell the artist and song alot in R&B.

Even the single cover has a slightly sexual undertone, it consists of a large close up of the topless singer against a white background so all attention is focused on his body.

Also

Ciara - Ride
http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&client=mv-google&hl=en-GB&v=3U4ecNuaUvE

This video is full of close ups of ciaras stomach and bum, long shots of her dancing in a seductive manner and slowed down clips of her riding a mechanical bull in next to nothing. Furthermore i realised there arent many close up shots of her face just her body which is dehumanising!

The artist is being represented as a sexual object to sell the single.

In all scenes ciara is wearing tight and revealing clothes which detracts attention from the actual song and lyrics and places it on her apperance

Intertextuality in music videos

Both videos conform to Goodwins theory as they both contain references to very well known films.

For example Eminem is depicited as Super Man in his come back single 'Not afraid'. I think the use of this intertextuality is very effective as it supports the lyrics and reinforces them. It makes the audience believe Eminem is strong and fearless like he claims in the song. The use of Superman makes the video more appealing to the audience so they would send requests into music channels for the vid to be played so it helps sell Eminem due to all the exposure.

Lyrics from the song that denote heroic qualities;

'Now some of you might still be in
that place
If you're trying to get out, just
follow me
I'll get you there
I'm not afraid to take a stand
Everybody come take my hand
We'll walk this road together,
through the storm
Whatever weather, cold or warm
Just let you know that, you're not
alone
Holla if you feel that you've been
down the same road'

Check it out:
Eminem - Not afraid


On the other hand here is a vid for the girls!

Destinys child's single 'Girls' from their album 'Destiny forfilled' incorporates a 'Sex in the city' kind of feel in it.

The video bursting with a strong sisterhood vibe just like in sex in the city. In addition the video illustrates the importance of your girls and how you should never let a man get in the way. Also due to the costume its classy and glam, busy city as location and the way they walk down the street talking

http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&client=mv-google&hl=en-GB&v=EM_bRUb9R8I

The history of music videos !

'Bohemian rhapsody' 1975

The iconic vid by Queen was recorded in just four hours on 10 November at elstree. The production cost was relatively cheap £4,500. The band were involved with the editing process which gave it a personal touch.

The video opens with a shot of the four band members in near
darkness as they sing the acappella part. When you see the opening you know its Queen.

Due to the popularity of the video it has even been remade by the muppets!

Generic conventions

Most R&B videos consist of:

Women in very little clothing dancing about or looking seductive

Men with numerous women surrounding them and vice versa

Muscular tattooed topless men

Props;
Champaign and expensive cars.
This indicates the luxurious lifestyles the artists live and the audience crave

Location;
Beach, club, fancy house
Which illustrates hedonistic lifestyles

Costume;
Sunglasses, Bikinis, big jewellery, new era caps, jeans, baseball jackets, suits, glamorous dresses
All the above display the artists' wealth, personality and status

Camera editing;
Quick whizz transitions, fades

Camera shots
Close ups of the artists posing, long shots of dance routines, mid shots of intimate scenes

Sound;

Target audience

The imidiate audience that comes to mind is young afro-caribbean people. However as we live in such a diverse society the target audience would be young urban people. As all kinds of genres are played on music channels and everyone accepts variety.

So i think the target audience would be rather wide.

When i say young i mean aged 12 all the way up to early 30's.

As most of songs are to do with relationships, break ups and sex. Moreover they are sung by young good looking people which will intriuge teenagers because to a certain extent we all think we are in misery, lifes hard and a boyfriend or girlfriend will make it all better.

And finally the overs 20's as they can actually relate to the lyrics in the song. And have probably grown up listenin to the same genre.

I think our video should be aired on channels like mtv base, viva, 4music and flava. Because these channels cater to fans of pop/R&B and contemporary R&B.

So what is this R&B you speak of?

Rhythm and blues is always cut down to plain and simple R&B!

It's characterized by a
strong backbeat and repeated
variations on syncopated
instrumental phrases.

This genre of music is very popular with people of Afro-Caribbean decent. It was created by African Americans in New orleans during the 40's. R&B originates from Jazz, Blues and good old Gospel , moreover you can still hear a hint of each genre in especiaily in songs by Mariah Carey and Mary J. Blige.

Until 30 years ago Rhythm and blues bands usually consisted of piano, one or two
guitars, bass, drums, and sax.

However since the 1980s, a
newer style of R&B developed,
becoming known as 'contemporary R&B' which is a newer version of soul and funk that is influenced pop music.

Typical elements now used are:
Synthesizers, Keyboard, Drum
machine,Synclavier, sample loop,
triplet swing and rapped vocal parts.

A good example of a contemporary R&B song is Alicia keys - No one:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&client=mv-google&hl=en-GB&v=8lC0dHxZcDA

The majority of songs under this genre are to do with relationships and are often very sexual. However it isnt as harsh and gritty as hip hop!

The history of music videos !

'Growth of genre based channels' 1990's

MTV USA's success lead to MTV spreading and becoming a global brand. MTV can now be viewed all over the world from Israel to Japan.

More over the brand branched and formed sister channels such as VH1, MTV base and MTV hits. In order to reach out to a wider audience through niche programming.

This helped bring hip hop, reggae and punk music to the masses.

The history of music videos !

'MTV' Early 80's

The first televsion channel was purely dedicated to broadcasting music videor 24/7.

This outlet provided great exposure for artists and played a massive role in popular music
marketing.

In addition it increased the demand for music vids so the content could be constantly updated with a flow of fresh videos.

The US cable channel launched by playing "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the buggles. Which signified the start of a new musical era!

Check it out:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?desktop_uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DhiJ9AnNz47Y&v=hiJ9AnNz47Y&gl=US

In 1983 MTV had the priveledge to be the 1st channel to air Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'. Which to me and many others is one of the most iconic vids ever made!

Ever since the thriller vid Black artist had there videos aired which would of never happened before. MTV was no longer the rock orientated channel for white America it set out to be.

The history of music videos !

'Top of the pops' 1970's

The very popular BBC TV show
Top of the Pops began playing
music videos in the late 1970 and
occasionally experimented with scopitones. Even though demand for the scopitone was declining.

Top of the pops were fusy with videos and only aired the best.

They knew a good video would increase a song's sales as viewers hoped to see it again the following week so they had a constant audience and is a reason to why the show managed to run for 30 years plus.

The history of music videos !

'Scopitone' Early 60's

After the gramophone invented by Edision in 1900, the scopitone was the next big thing.

Invented in the early 60's it merged 16mm film with a modified jukebox.

The scopitone was found in bars and provide entertainment for customers.

However by the end of the 1960s, the popularity of the Scopitone had
dwindled.

The history of music videos !

'Soundies' 1940's

Soundies were an early version of
music videos.

Each three-minute
musical film was produced in either New York, Chicago or Hollywood
during 1940 to 1946, like in a modern music vid they often
included short dance sequences.

Soundies were played on a
Panoram which was a coin-operated film
jukebox or 'machine music' found in;
Nightclubs, bars, restaurants and amusement
centres.

Soundies covered all genres of
music, from classical to big-band
swing, and from hillbilly novelties to
patriotic songs, just like modern music videos do now.

In 1941 Soundies experimented and tried to appeal to a broader audience, so filmed comedy Soundies.

However most of these films were non-musical, and were not as popular as the musical Soundies.

Andrew Goodwins Music Video Theory

Every week i will post a music video and analyse it using Goodwins theory!

Goodwins theory tells us that in
every single music video;

1. Genre characteristics are demonstrated
2. There's always a relationship between
lyrics and visuals
3. There's a relationship between
music and visuals
4. Demands to promote/sell the
artist
5. There's frequently reference to
notion of looking and particularly
excessive use of female sex
appeal
And finally...
6. There's often intertextual
reference to films, tv shows etc.

Evaluation of "they dont really care about us" lip syncing task 2

My second attempt at lip sync with a song of our groups choice went much better than our 1st attempt because we were more familiar with the song and more confident with lip syncing in front of the camera. Because at 1st we all felt quite stupid, however now it was rather enjoyable.

I experienced less difficulties this time the only problem was finding a location but in the end we decided to film in the entrance of a friends flat. i think the location added to the serious atmosphere of our song.

We used mostly close ups and mid shots in this piece as these shots allow for easier synchronisation in the editing stage.

We also added a slight bit of dance into our piece to and done close ups our stamping feet and clapping hands to make it more music video like and interesting !

Evaluation of bohemian rhaposdy lip syncing task 1

This was the 1st time we have practiced lip syncing. It wasn't as easy as i thought it would be because it requires tight and precise mouth movement and at times requires exaggeration of lip movement which can be embarrassing for some people. it was also difficult keeping up with the song as our group wasn't familiar with the song.

I think we did use location well as we moved around a lot like they do in proper music videos which i think makes our short piece more interesting.

As the director i selected many of the camera shots i wanted to use a variety of shots. However i noticed that close up shots are easier to synchronise to the music as you can see the mouth movement more clearly.

Our clip included:
high angle shots
long shots
mid shots
and we also panned to capture Mariam's erratic dancing

I think our editing was very accurate towards the end and was well synchronised even though we didnt have as much footaged as we wanted.

lip syncing 2 michael jackson they dont really care about us.

bohemian rhapsody lip syncing 1st try