welcome!

My name is Jennifer Sampson and I am currently studying Media at A2. This year we have been asked to create 3 media products; a music video, CD cover for an album and a magazine advert all in favour of our own chosen, unsigned music artist.

I will be using this blog to inform on all of my progress.

Song Ideas For Music Video

For our music video we would really like to use a song written and produced by 'HB', a former Gosford Hill student. He writes hip hop and rap music and we have found an excellent track by him which we really want to make a video for.

We have written a letter to 'HB' to ask for his permission to use his song 'Never Let the Party Stop' for our music video project. Here is the letter:

Dear Hope Bushe,
My name is Jack Chambers, you may remember me from Gosford Hill School.
I am currently studying A2 Media and my media group, including David Bockett, Sam Brooks and Jenni Sampson, must make a music video as part of our coursework.
We would love to make a video for your amazing song, ‘Never Let The Party Stop’. After listening to the preview on reverbnation, we think it would be perfect to create a video for.
We would obviously need your permission for this to happen and we think it would be great for you as an artist, especially regarding publicity.
This video will cost you nothing, and if you wish, you can star in the video. Please contact us ASAP regarding whether we would be able to use your song.
More details will follow.
Thank you,Jack, David, Sam and Jenni. We hope to hear from him soon!


We were lucky to hear back from HB on the same day which was fantastic news! This means that we can now carry on with our plans to make our music video to HB's 'Never Let the Party Stop'.

Target Audience

I think the rap genre is less associated with the older generation than the younger. I believe once a person reaches the age of 25, the rap 'scene' becomes a little outdated and less acceptable to listen to. This is why the music video for HB's 'Never Let the Party Stop' is aimed at a target audience ranging from 15-mid 20 year olds. The use of colloquial language and swear words are not as appealing to the older generation and even though it causes concern to many people as well as parents, children as young as 15 and possibly younger are listening to this kind of music. By recognising this, we could start to organise how we should present our 3 pieces (music video, CD cover and magazine advert). When around big towns such as Oxford it is clear to see that the rap and hip hop mass audience are they heavily influenced by their idols. This can be demonstrated through their use of clothing and attire which are similar to artists within the rap and hip hop genre. Also, the way they act around their friends and also strangers can be seen to be the effect of watching their favourite rappers and trying to copy them through the use of speech.

Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet created the Two Step Flow Theory and argue that information does not flow directly from the text or production to its audience, but through an opinion leader. In this case, well known rappers (e.g. Jay Z, Eminem, Lil Wayne) are the opinion leaders and the mass audience follow their style and personality through how the directors and producers want them to.

We wanted to ensure that our pieces were suitable and appealed to our target audience. We wanted our advert to be eye catching (hence the large green title) but not have too much colour as this could be seen as overdramatic. We really liked the idea of a black and white theme and in our research and planning, found lots of album covers by famous rappers that were in simple black and white. We felt it was powerful because black and white is a plain and simple use of colour but when used to represent somebody famous creates a whole new, classy and somewhat mysterious sense which we really liked. We have used a picture of the city and edited it in Photoshop to display the same image but in black and white. We believe this makes the picture appear more mature and less childlike. Also, the use of one font creates a less childlike piece of work which is what we aimed for.

Coursework Action Plan

These are the deadlines that our group has set our selves for the completion on the coursework.

Music Video Shooting Deadline: Wednesday 3rd November

Music Video Rough Cut Deadline: Wednesday 10th November

Music Video Final Deadline: Wednesday 17th November

Evaluative commentary: Completed by end of last lesson week ending 17th December.


Whilst together as a group, we decided together that we wanted to base our music video around a rap song rather than the stereotypical 'indie' songs that have been used in previous A2 coursework.

After (and if) 'HB' gets back to us we can then start planning and discussing how we are going to shoot the video. We will need to decide where the filiming will take place, what props we will need, what lighting and editing will need to be used and lastly, get a general feel for the mise en scene of our video.

Once we have established these aspects, we can start filming our music video. We have until October 18th to get this done and can then move on to making a rough cut of the video. We intend to have our final, edited video complete by November 12th.

(HB got back to us and gave us permission to go ahead with making the video. We can now get on with planning and filming!)

Influences

These were the two music videos that really caught my eye when trying to find influences for the setting of our music video. I liked the idea of a party scene that was held in quite an enclosed space. I wanted to use a dark, smaller room with lots of dim lighting to create an 'underground' party scene. I felt this would relate well to the hip hop and rap scene as many famous rappers did start 'underground' such as Eminem who fought for his fame and popularity by competing in 'MC Battles' which usually took place in underground places with dim lighting and a non glamorous setting.

Lots of midshots were used during both party scenes showing the artist performing. Also, close ups are used. In Ke$ha's video there is a very quick quick edit shot to show a close-up of a man's shoe whilst dancing. We incorporated this into our video when filming HB (Jack) getting ready to leave to make his way to stardom. We film a close-up shot of him tying his shoe lace. In Example's video, there are fades used which we also used in our video to show the changing places HB goes to.



In this video 'Not Afraid' by Eminem, lots of close up shots, mid shots and establishing shots are used which we have used in our video. Also there is a tilted angle that looks down in the city. We have used this shot in our video where we film from a higher level than HB showing him greeting his friend as he walks down the school path. Eminem has been very influential in choosing how we wanted our video to be. We took his style into consideration when 'dressing' HB and have looked closely at the shots he has used in his own videos so that we could then bring them into our own, hopefully addressing the convention of rap video through this.

Song Lyrics

Intro

Never let the party stop (x6)

1st Verse

Fly like a jet,
H to the B yeah I'm flyer than the rest.
Steppin' on the scene with the red and white on,
Fresh white tee's ready to take the skies on.
People know the name,
Rappers stay low, always looking for the fame.
Game so tight, other rappers still lame,
Been on the block 08 010.

Ladies go crazy,
See the kids ravin', stems goin' nerdy.
If you like my style girl,
Call me oh baby.
If you wanna hit the bar,
Tell me when your ready.
Me always ready,
Still lookin' good with the hat still fittin'.
Still in the hood gettin' dough, still gettin',
See that fat chick she'll never ever get it.

Chorus

Never let the party stop (x4)
2nd Verse

Versatile on the track but you already know,
set it off in the club g-g-get ready go.
Oh, and the beat so heavy,
I'mma let it bounce like a chevy hit, here we go.
Swagger tighter than the tight,
Flyer than fly cos I'm higher than the sky.
I'mma do I yes I'mma do me,
Flossing like i got something stuck between my teeth like. Jees

Party all day,
Up in the VIP baby it's ok.
You're now rocking with a vice junior president,
That might feel heavy cent.
So, l-l-let the beat bang,
Versatile and HB we're doin' our thang.
Party till the morning then party a lil' more,
So till they lay me in my coffin,
Know this party ain't stoppin'

Chorus (Repeated)

3rd Verse

I'mma show you how it goes,
The party never stops, i'm the one to let it go.
HB fly from my head to toe,
You know me, yes I gotta lotta dough.
If I find a beat,I'mma show you how to set it off.
If ya party whack,
I'mma show you how to turn it off.
Ladies, you better shout my name loud.
If you like the money i'mma show you how to get down.

Chorus (Repeated)

These lyrics have been written by HB to help promote himself as a stylish and popular artist. He talks about about himself in a confident manner throughout the song, emphasising his popularity and appeal; "I'm flyer than the rest", "The party never stops, i'm the one to let it go". By having a confident and established artist, it allows listeners to acknowledge and feel the same beliefs as him thus increasing sales of the track.

Lots of the lyrics revolve around HB's clothing which is something that the younger generation and target audience are much more concious of these days. HB says "Steppin' on the scene with the red and white on, Fresh white tee's ready to take the skies on". A lot of rappers are associated for the white t-shirts they wear and how they style themselves around it. We have used this lyric as a starter for Jack's attire for the music shoot. We have added dog tags, black jeans, a black varsity jacket and a flap peak to complete his style and think that it fits with the conventions of this particular music video.

Mood Board

This is my mood board. The pictures all have their own representation for the video;

Eminem, The Game, 50 Cent and Dogtags;

These are the three main rappers that have been the biggest influence for the appearance of HB in our video. All three rappers are seen on a regular basis with chains (HB's diamond chain), hooded sweatshirts/jackets (HB's black varsity jacket) and the white teeshirt (HB wears a white tshirt with gold writing on the back).

Green Screen and Lips;

This picture helped influence to try and use a green screen in our video to get a better background for my close up lip scene. However, due to lack of software, we decided that we would keep the green screen green for my lip filming background.

For the lip close up my main influence was from a music video called '2 People by the artist Jean Jacques Smoothie. I really like the close up with the bright red lips and felt it added a subtle sexual effect which is usually seen in rap videos. This is the video;

Microphone;

I have added the picture of this specific microphone because I was influenced by proper studio microphones and equipment for the studio scene in our video. Also, videos such as 50 cent show the same shot with the same kind of microphone.

Skyline Picture:

This picture is one of the most important and significant pictures in our influences. We used this picture to help us work out what we wanted our artist (HB) to achieve by making this video. The skyline represents where he wants to be in the future