R+P Post 20: My Music Video Timeline

Before we made a storyboard, we created a timeline. We split the timeline into lyrics, shot description and lighting effects. The timeline allowed us to plan the basic timings for our video. Splitting the timeline into different sections was very useful as it allowed us to work out how the various elements would work together.



I think our timeline was very useful as it allowed us to easily map out how we wanted to split our video and how we wanted the various parts to work together. The timeline also made making our storyboard much easier.

R+P Post 19: My Influences and vision for the project

To showcase our influences and visions for the video we created a Steal-O-Matic. It is a representation of what we want our music video to look like and features clips that we "steal" from other videos. Here it is:

Overall I am very pleased with how the steal-o-matic turned out and I think it really encapsulates how we want our music video to look and I hope we are able to create the shots necessary to make a great video similar to the steal-o-matic or better.

R+P Post 18: Analysis of my track's lyrics and instrumentation

Here is a lyric video that we used to help us work out how we would divide the video.

[Intro]
Mind, mind, you think I would
Mind, you think I would, mind
Mind, you think I would mind
Oh, you think I, oh, my mind
Mind, mind, you think I would
Mind, you think I would, mind
Mind, you think I would mind
Oh, you think I, oh, my mind

The almost incomprehensible lyrics at the start illustrate the uneasy mind of the artist, finding the words in her mind to express how she feels is an impossible task. The incoherent loop here reflects the relationship(s) the artist was in, she feels like she is going nowhere fast and is always ending up in the same bad situations. Despite all of this, the drop of the beat at the end as the lyrics gain clarity show that the artist is finally able to express how she truly feels.

[Chorus]
Don't want to feel you
Don't want you on my mind
Don't want to feel you
Don't want you on my mind
Don't want to feel you
Don't want you on my mind
On my mind, on my mind
Mind, mind, mind, mind

Here Jorja is done with her boyfriend and very literally wants to get him off of her mind. She wants to completely cut him out of her life.
[Verse 1]
Why on earth would I leave
If you were everything I wanted you to be?
When I saw what you did, who you were with
Got me questionin' the things that I believe

Here Jorja displays the inner dialogue she has with herself as she tries to justify her reasons for breaking up with her boyfriend. It is also the first chance that the listener gets to understand the reasons behind the breakdown of their relationship. 

[Refrain]
So I ask myself, do I let you go?
Or do I keep you in the frame of my mind?
Now I'm growing wise to your sugar-coated lies
Nothing's sweet about my misery, yeah

Here Jorja is unsure what course of action to take. Leave her cheating boyfriend or stay with him. As the refrain progresses so does Jorja's self confidence and strength as she has finally grown wise to her boyfriends sugar-coated lies.

[Pre-Chorus]
I finally found what went wrong
You think I would mind
Oh, you think I, oh
I finally found the wrong in you
You think I would mind
Oh, you think I, oh
I finally found what went wrong
You think I would mind
Oh, you think I, oh
I finally found the wrong in you
You think I would mind
Oh, you think I, oh

Here Jorja has finally found sound clarity in her former relationship and has seen her unfaithful ex for what he truly is. 

[Verse 2]
You again, why'd you call?
I don't need to hear you cryin' out my name
Unlike before when you and I laid eye to eye
Now it's time for you to taste the bitter end

Here the boyfriend is asking for forgiveness but the newly empowered Jorja is not going to run back into his arms like she has in the past. The power roles have flipped with Jorja being the one in control. There is a clear link to the refrain here as her boyfriends "sugar-coated lies" has now reached its "bitter end".

R+P Post 17: My Chosen Track

We have decided on our final track, it is Jorja Smith - 'On My Mind'.

The song is written and performed by Jorja Smith and was produced by popular grime DJ Preditah. The song is published by the independent record label FAMM. We wrote them this email asking for permission to use the track:

We chose this track as we really liked the artists Jorja Smith and we all have heard some of her other music. Also we liked and agreed with the message of the song on female empowerment and felt that we could make a music video that appropriately captures the message of the video.

R+P Post 16: My Band or Artist

Artist: Duo called "Cruze" (Pronounced cruise) with singer - Mahalia Jordan and DJ - Edward Hill.
Genre: R&B/Pop/Garage
Age: 20 & 21
Origin: They are from inner city London
They have a very unique sense of style and pride themselves as being very creative and liberal with the decisions they make in and outside of the world of music.

The logo of the group.

They are inspired by artists like Rita Ora, AlunaGeorge and Amy Winehouse who are all extremely popular, unapologetically British and have a unique style in terms of their music and aesthetics.

They met whilst studying A level music at a school in Camden and decided that their individual styles were very complimentary and that would work well in a group.

R+P Post 15: My Record Label

Our Record Label

Nimbus Records

• Subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment
• Based in London
• Aims:
• Provide support for the artists signed to the label
• Take the artists to the big time and allow them to reach their full potential
• Discover up and coming 'underground' artists 
• Similar artist of the R&B, Garage, Hip Hop and British Rap genre.
• Intends to bring mainstream appeal to traditionally compartmentalised genres.
• Although the majority of their artists are from London they hope to expand and sign various artists across the U.K.
• In Greek mythology, whenever a deity would come down to earth a nimbus cloud would hover over them and provide them with protection similar to a Halo.

First draft of Nimbus Records logo

Nimbus Records final logo

Inspirations

• Inspired by other independent British record labels such as Ministry of Sound which is also a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment and is well known for giving independent artists a platform to reach mainstream appeal such as the DJ: Sigala

R+P Post 14: My Target Audience

The primary target audience for our artist is 16-24 year olds and with a focus on females. This age group would like our artists as they are a similar age and the R&B/Pop style is particularly popular at this age. There is a focus on females as they would like to imagine themselves as our female artist  and on average they like songs about heartbreak, love and infidelity more than their male counterparts. The artist is not limited to one particular social class and has an appeal over various classes for example their inner city London upbringing has a working class appeal but their style of music is also appreciated by the middle class who also have similar "vintage sportswear" fashion style. Our video will appeal to this group as it will entertain them and feature things that they can associate with like clothing and locations.

Our target audience

R+P Post 13: Influences and inspiration from art, fashion and culture

Fashion

Our choices of fashion are derived from pop culture and a particular focus on 90s sports and streetwear. Fashion is very important as it is a way of the youth subculture to express themselves. The fashion that we will be trying to present in our music video is "athleisure" which is a common trend now that is based off of 90s leisure wear. Research by Morgan Stanley shows that sports apparel and footwear sale have jumped 42% to $270 billion over the past seven years. And prospects for growth are strengthening, as this trend goes global whilst being propped up by celebrities.

Here is a mood board that I created to show the types of style and fashion that we plan to use in our video.

Art

Our artist is inspired by urban/cool landscapes and designs similar to what one would see in inner city London areas like Brick Lane and Shoreditch. This type of art is typically in the form of graffiti that may be used to addresses wider social issues. Artists include Banksy, Phlegm and Stik.



Among the youth, the importance of graffiti is underpinned by cultural value as it is about reflecting the reality they see in urban environments despite how shocking it may be. It is an art available to view for the masses, a way to beautify spaces and create a sort of identity using images words and colour. It may have a broader social commentary, which is applicable to artists like Banksy who is also considered a political activist.

Culture

The youth subculture, more especially London youth subculture all share a common value system and ideology. The culture is very important to consider as our target audience are in this group as are our artists.

R+P Post 12: Artists/bands that have influenced my ideas

From looking at various artists and groups, we have received influence for the type of artist that we would like to create.

Rita Ora is a British R&B artist and has been a key inspiration behind the decisions we made on the artist we are creating.

R+P Post 11: Artist websites that inspired and influenced my ideas

Lady Gaga's Website

Pop star Lady Gaga has a very interactive homepage. It breaks convention in some aspect as it exchanges 1 central focal image for multiple images around the edges of the home screen and a central vertical navigation bar. The website stills and video clips from her latest videos which increases the attention that each receive. The central navigation bar allows the user the opportunity to listen to Gaga's other music, watch her music videos, buy her merchandise, check tour dates and buy tour tickets, follow her on various social media outlets and sign up to receive updates from her website by email. This allows the audience to fully engage with the artist and in turn provides increased opportunities to make money for the artist. 

The main way this website has inspired me is through the various images and video clips on the surroundings rather than a central focal image as it allows for more content to be on display without looking jumbled and mismatched. 

Kali Uchi's Website

Up and coming star, Kali Uchis' website sticks to convention by including  a central focal image that also promotes the latest release and by having purchasing links in the top left corner. The page also includes the ability to listen to the artist new track. The side navigation bar allows the audience to check tour dates and purchase tickets as well as buy related merchandise and follow the artist on their various social media platforms.

The main way this website has inspired me is thought the icons on the social media bar, having these icons on show as they emphasise the various ways in which the audience can connect with the artist.

R+P Post 10: Album covers that have inspired and influenced my ideas

During our research we looked at a wide variety of album covers to find inspiration for our ideas such as the following:

Album Covers

The album covers shown here are all of a similar genre as  our artist so we were able to see some of the conventions of the genre for example the album cover featuring a distinct view of the artist. For example Lauryn Hill's debut solo album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" features a striking focal image that is now a large part of R&B pop culture.

As our artist is releasing their debut album I think it is important to have:

• A distinct images of the artist
• Artists name
• Album cover
• Clear colour scheme and aesthetic
• Distributor, year of release, barcode, copyright logo, music record logo and contact information

R+P Post 9: Music Videos that have inspired and influenced my ideas

Here are some of the videos that have influenced some of my ideas:

These videos have influenced some of the lighting and visual effects that we hope to achieve in this video. The use of camera angles in this video is very interesting and allow a much closer and more intimate view of the artists. It is very interesting how the videos use colours and visual effects to further convey the lyrics and genre.

R+P Post 8: Possible tracks for the single

These are the final 2 tracks that we have selected and we will now select one to choose.

This song is a R&B garage fusion and switches between fast and slow tempos. Overall the song is quite upbeat and "old-school". The lyrics tell the story of the artist's love and a former love of her being unfaithful. This makes for a good basis for a story line for the music video we may decide to make, it also has a very British style to it.

This song is an upbeat indie song. Due to the type of song it may have limited appeal as it doesn't have as much of a wide reach as more mainstream genres of music like R&B.

R+P Post 7: Record Labels of interest

Record labels are essential to artists as they provide them with the ability to sell records and gain the necessary information needed to build their artist identity. Even independent record labels are usually part of a larger group as this gives the platform to distribute their music to the wildest audience as possible and the equipment they need to produce professional quality music. Some of the labels that have a big market share are: Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. 

Here are some of the labels under Sony Music UK:

Record labels are companies that produce and market recorded music and music videos. They engage in artist recruitment and development, music publishing and copyright enforcement. Marketing is an essential functions of record labels as it raises public awareness of the label, artist or music and this is how they make their money. Record labels are essential to artists as they provide them with the ability to sell records and gain the skill needed to cultivate their artist identity. Without record labels, it makes it that much harder to have a multi-platform presence as record labels help to provide artist exposure.

For our artist an independent record label would be more suited as they will have the necessary time to teach and support them as they are just starting out. This label would be a subsidiary of a larger music group as this would give them the necessary tools to make authentic and professional music content.

R+P Post 6: Current trends in Popular Music

Due to the proliferation of mobile technology over the last decade there has been a clear shift on how music is consumed. This shift has led to streaming services and the online purchase of music overtaking the number of purchases of physical copies of music.

Mark Mulligan made a graph to show the shift of the measurements of success for a new generation of digital age artists:



The top 10 charts for singles and albums give me a good insight in to what the trends are like.

Top 10 Albums

Top 10 Singles

From looking at the charts I was able to see that there are a lot of R&B and Rap songs in the top charts with the likes of Post Malone, Camilla Cabello, Rag'N'Bone Man and Ed Sheeran. There is also a demand for more 'old-school' music as Elvis Presley and George Micheal, this could be because younger people want to experience the "golden days of music" and experience a different variety of music compared to what music is like today.

R+P Post 5: The kind of video I would like to make

If I had complete control of the decisions made, the type of video I would like to make would involve some sort of interesting and visually stimulating concept. It would be very much about the performance and how the choice of shot types, camera angles, lighting, framing and especially editing helped to further convey the concept. These videos use cool effects and style that I think would be interesting to use:

In terms of what happens in the video I would also want an intriguing dance/ performance such as the movement in Pharcyde - Drop being in reverse:

As many artists are doing now, I think having my video as part of a longer visual album would also work very well. Each video could have a new style to it but there could be an overarching aspect that features in all of them such as location or characters. Examples of these are:

Frank Ocean - Endless, Beyonce - Lemonade

R+P Post 4: Audience groups of interest (continue)

Our target group of interest is the 16-24 year old group, consisting of both genders. This is because our artist's music style is a fusion of garage, R&B and pop music which is very popular within this age group. On the whole younger people are more open to listen to new or different styles of music, this means that our fusion of genres would have a place in the market.

Below Ipsos connects 2016 research showed that 93% of 16-24 year olds consume music from the site Youtube. This is especially important as youtube is the most used music service where 82% of all youtube visitors use it for music.

As well as streaming music online, our audience also attended night clubs to listen to music and dance. They also are among the highest percentage on concert/festival goers in the UK. Below is a graph by Statista conducted in 2016.

R+P Post 3: Music genres that interest me

Music is a big part of my life and has been for since a young age. I like listening to a wide range of genres. For example Pop, R&B, Rap, Electronic, Grime. I like listening to these various genres depending on my mood or the time of day. For example in the morning I like to listen to more pop/r&b songs and when I'm at the gym electronic and rap.

Each genre has a unique and distinctive sound and style, which is why I listen to them depending on my mood. This is because each genre has a different impact on me as a consumer. 

Rap

Rap is one of my favourite genres at the moment. With the like of Kanye West, Drake, J.Cole and Logic being in my recently played. American rap is usually more glamorous and details rappers and what their daily lives are now like due to their newfound fame and fortune. The reasons I like the artists that I lifted above are because despite having this lifestyle they like to rap on the misconceptions of their lives and how things truly aren't as great as they may appear to be. This grittier form of rapping is more consisting with UK versions of rap from artists such as Stormzy, J Hus, Hardy Caprio, Blizzard and Not3s. Here are some Rap songs that I like: