Music Video CW - Underdog Music Track Lyrics (10/10/14)

Fab Soares - Underdog Music.

Verse 1: Check, I compose this underdog music
I represent the people that be clueless, we ain't stupid
Growth in my flow, content with my improvement
This is only the intro, but i'm far from a student 

You other rappers a nuisance, that's what I've concluded, Midnight Collective be the movement

I speak fluent, lyrically
I'm back with voodoo and I'm breaking UK barriers, differently, viciously
So hit the deck, best protect your neck, cos your life could go in seconds
They reaching for the weapon, all in the name of: money, power & respect
My wordplay amounting to terrorist threats, yeah I'm feeling like Ab-Soul
I've just about's warmed up, people saying that I'm ill like cole, woah
We live in a controlled system, individuals completely judged upon their income
But I'm on a mission chasing these dreams, fuck these other niggaz pass me over the cream.

Hook: I said it must be the smoke, that got a nigga kinda high

Fuck a 9 to 5, I do this till the day I die
Life's a bitch, in which I'm aiming to survive

Underdog music for the homies attempting to strive (x2)

Verse 2: Check, and these verses forever purposeful
Fuckboys thought I fell off, but I ain't coming on merciful
Rappers shifting directions, convert em into vertical, blinds
I go to Fulham, just to have a peace of mind
I got these lines designed whilst I'm writing
I'm back for round two, but now I'm hungry just like Tyson
I'm using my super-duper wordplay instead of fighting
Niggaz hear my shit, contemplate and start re-writing
Cos they far from exciting, citizens to the Midnight Collective law abiding
Young Van-Gogh with these pictures, I'm describing
I'm just being honest, miss the days when me and Crip were accomplice
But the flow is still: monstrous and bonkers
That's word to dizzy, I'm still puffing on that sticky
Survival of the fittest, motivated making lizzy
Money talk up in my city, these other rappers unbearable equal to the grizzly
Nigga fuck with me.

Hook: I said it must be the smoke, that got a nigga kinda high

Fuck a 9 to 5, I do this till the day I die
Life's a bitch, in which I'm aiming to survive

Underdog music for the homies attempting to strive (x2) 

HANNN 

Music Video CW - Mag & Poster Analysis (1/11/14)

Vibe Front Cover Magazine Analysis 

Wretch 32 Album Poster Analysis 

Music Video CW - POA & Concepts for Music Promotion (1/11/14)

Advertsing POA & Analysis 

In order to create a successful advertising strategy I need to create a POA to help influence my idea's and to help me answer questions regarding the magazine and whether it would be realistically suitable to create a accurate portrayal of the product that is being sold. To make these notes I will be looking at Vibe XXL magazine.  

1. What are the conventions of music advertsing? 

2. Annotating magazines and how they resonate with the genre and style that of music that they like to talk about?
(Through analysis I need to look for) 

Messaging 

-What type of messaging is created by the symoblisms imbedded into the cover/poster.
-How are they effective in influencing purchasing? 

Target audience 

-Target audience so who is it? If it's a hip hop or urban related music magazine the audience is obviously going to be focused on teenagers. 
-What are the symbolisms behind the adverts and what do they connote (sex, fame and money) how does the mis en scene influence the perception of a advert. 
-Is there anything eyecatching about the covers?
-is it effective in meeting audience expectations so explaination of the effectiveness of the poster/front cover? 

Concepts - Magazine front cover 

Concepts - Album poster 

Music Video CW - Ancillary Tasks (30/10/14)

Audiostar Magazine Cover  

I have begun the intial stages of my post production work for the project. After finishing filming and our first draft of our edit both myself and Cliffords attentions have turned to the post production assignment which involve the creation of a digipack, a advert whether that would be a billboard, magazine front cover etc and a documentary prefably 10 - 15 minutes long highlighting and analyzing using the evaluation questions as a template for the answers and also by the feedback given by other people through social media and questionarre's.

We concluded our filming on the 15th of October, and then instantly proceeding to editing our first draft our video. Both myself and Clifford rotated around the editing suite using final cut pro a upgrade from last years IMOVIE. Whilst we both gave input to the editing and also to the digipacks we both focused on two different things myself which was the advertsing and Clifford the questionarre. Deligating two seperate roles helps to think more creatively first and then source feedback from one anouther. So whilst Clifford was busy doing the questionarre I used photoshop to create a front cover to a magazine labelled 'Audiostar Magazine.' The front cover bares the brunt of different media outlets having drawn influences from music magazines covering music such as VIBE, WordUp and NME. Both magazines allowed me to construct a image of what I was going to do in photoshop. Seeing as a magazine cover like NME imbeds so much colour and imagery this is something that I definately wanted to adhere to. 

For the front cover I used photoshop CS6. It's advanced piece of technology especially for those who have never used it before. I have prior knowledge about the programme and I have used it before. This is anouther development factor from last year seeing as how we didn't do any form of advertsing that allowed us to push our creative boundries. For the page it's important to include a lot of colour and make it as vibrant as possible to appeal to the consumer buying the magazine. Immediately what stands out is the visiability of the title 'Audiostar' located at the top left hand corner of the page. Below the red stripe shows that it is a magazine and gives a brief description at the type of genre that it is "NO.1 Place for urban music" with the lettering standing out in a kaki green colouring. 

Adittional iconography is just put in place for conventional purposes. Like in most magazines such as NME it shows the features of that issue with bands in a smaller font usually on the sides which helps to keep the reader updated this can be seen by my circular  I used a image that I took of Clifford during a non purpose photoshoot for a alternative reason. I thought that the shot was quite fitting with a urban backdrop associating with the genre of music that we are promoting. Using a variety of different fonts from 'league gothic' to 'chlorinar' were all sourced from DAFONT. These fonts proved pivitol in the creation of the cover with 'chlorinar' font standing out through the beveled and embossed edit of the name "Fab Soares" across the upper body of Clifford. 

The large beveled and embossed edit draws to attention the name of the artist that is being promoted. Greater attention can also be observed to what is said underneath labelled in a baby blue for "underdog music" and in gold for "a UK rap renaissance." This is quite a dramatic title yet it draws the readers attention as they want to find out more about Fab Soares. It may also indicate that he his some part of new and emerging scene that people may want to become altered to. The small lettering abouve it highlighted in a salmon pink font emphasises the artists ambition to succeed by the saying "that survival instinct is what keeps me going day after day." This formulates a perception about Fab and forces the reader to question him with regards to his social background and whether this can be a link to what 
The advertising aspect is emphasised further by the amount of visual space given to the artist. We can also identify the use of social media where I have labelled "audio star.co.uk/fabsoares." I am giving the reader information on where to access the music video for Fab Soares.  

Fab Soares Underdog Music Poster 

Using my aquired skills on photoshop I also designed a music poster for the artist. This is a good form of promotion and is a required part of the ancillary for the task. Creating the poster I used a image from a photoshoot that took involving Clifford. This served as the foreground and basis for the project. For this side of the ancilliary I followed the conventional patterns of what artists incorperate in the design of the posters. Usually from the research I have taken out looking at artists posters from a variety of genre's such as Eminem to Ellie Golding, the poster takes quite a simplistic form implementing a repetitve form of a singular font. My creative vision entitled me to make something quite different to my magazine front cover and also styles of poster take for example the band YBS poster who both promote there own album and also there American.

Drawing influence from the Sin City film posters I thought the tones of red, black and white enfused well. Using the image I took I embedded the threshold edit to change the photo to a black and white picture obscuring Cliffords face. The colour schemes are very concise and continious standing out against the black background making the in order to make the font readable. To promote my music production compay I imbedded my logo 'Prodigal' and I also created a fictional record label called Chiefs records and such ident's of music companies are seen on posters. All fonts used were sourced from internet website Dafont which helped me to develop my vision of what my product wanted to look like. Given that the font is quite graffitish it was significant in portraying this idea of a street narrative, whilst the use of league gothic ties in with corperate imagery of the music industry.  

Whats very important to highlight on the poster is the centralization of the name of the album 'Underdog music' and also at the top the name of the artist 'Fab Soares.' Using the same font was purposeful as I tried to maintain continuit and establish a link which viewers can identify with. Given that the poster frequents with the colours of black and white it emphasizes and associates with the ideals and message that the artist imbeds as the theme of his album. Ideally I wanted to represent through the colours that what the albums subject matter is black and white and it does occur and portray a accurate message of the street. Also I am conforming to typical iconography that can be seen often in the genre. The "parental guideance" informs the viewer that this album does contain some explicit language and themes which are not suitable for young children. This can help to market the image of the rapper more positively and it intergrates a ethical measure. 

Studying what I learnt last year at AS regarding visual representation in the media this allowed for me to include things that are synomous with the image of rap therefore not only putting myself in the shoes from a creative stand point but also looking at what different types of the market want to look for. The message presented at the top where it says "with his DEBUT ALBUM," 'debut album' labelled as in a 68 sized font, coupled with the images of the 4 star reviews from credible sources such as Pitchfork and XXL Magazine and also of the 8/10 review from Audiostar linking with my magazine front cover shows can be something which viewers can pick up on and thus influence others to listen to and to buy his album Fab Soares. Adittionally the date that I have put in underneath '14/10/14' creates a sense of anticipation for the consumer this can all be seen in my first draft of the poster. 


After feedback from my teacher I gathered that the poster looked familiar to a concert poster, it did not have information regarding where you can purchase the ep or where the artist can be contacted. Taking in this feedback my re edited version incorperates his suggestions. In the poster I have reduced the panal of reviews to just one. Using the Wretch 32 album poster i have taken in idea's regarding re structuring the poster. My first draft below didn't have any information about social media or of where the album could be purchased. Underneath the Pitchfork review shows clear the logo's of twitter, soundcloud and facebook. This is important to have as it promotes the artist and improves his profile especially with the prominence of social media allowing for more access to Fab Soares. On the right contains a panel identifying with the hip hop iconography with the parental guidence sign and also with the name of the record and production company this has been kept. Above it i have also included the front cover of the artists EP to further promote the sale. The panal to the left contains information of where you can purchase the cd whether that would be digitally via itunes or in store at HMV. Given that i have stated that it's avalible at major retailers further emphasises and promotes the image of the artist and that his work is something to be anticipated. 

Digipack

Digi-pack Research & Influence 

I have decided to conduct my own research into the contsruction of a digipack. Using the conventions of digipacks from the hip hop genre I can use this as a basis to create a successful and effective one. Conventionally digipacks consists of a small paper book containing promotional pictures and information on the tracks, the album and the production of the tracks. Digipacks also contain one or two plastic trays that will hold a CD/DVD. In the early 2000's digipacks grew in popularity and emerged as a new form of technology as a result of the rise of walkman and cd players. I wanted a style of digi-pack that conformed to the conventions of Hip Hop and also the gritty and social realistic portrayal of street life in the artists lyricism. Using Jay Z's Kingdom Come cd, Kanye West's The college Drop and Nas Illmatic, they helped to give me a idea of what to include in the digi-pack. In Jay Z and Nas's CD contains image's of the artists on the street depicted through a black and white edit. As seen in the digi-pack that I have designed I have found some resonation with the use of photographs. The four images used all of which are screen grabs from the first draft are edited in a black and white style conforming to the representations of urban setting. A particularly striking image which I think is quite effective is the use of the low angle shot looking upwards at this brooding tower block with the graffiti in the background creates a menacing backdrop to the album. Single shots of just the artist were influenced by Jay Z's Kingdom Come album booklet. Given that all the images are done in black and white I felt that they added a dark and eerie vibe to the presentation and were integrated also for continuity purposes. 

The Design 

For the design I was required to use a a six squared template for the digi-pack. Using photoshop I acquired the images from screen grabs from our music video. The divi-pack covers a album cover and back. The cover was initially designed for the music poster. For the digi-pack the design experienced some alterations in order for it to look like a album cover it only has the name and album title of the artist and of course the trademarked parental guidance sign that many Hip Hop albums have due to the explicit content. The back cover is more detailed giving information about the track list. Going across the cover is a feature of Hip Hop album. To stick with continuity I also used the same text and font in red.  The typical representations and conventions of the producer and the trademark and copyright titles are also presented underneath this to give the impression that this is a proper CD. 

The Final Product 

Music Video CW - Production Documentation (8/10/14)

Production Documentation 

Production / Shooting Schedule 

This is the production/shooting schedule for our film. We hope that shooting will commence ASAP and by the latest the 10th of October. If we meet the deadline that is the 14th we can begin with editing and also giving us additional shooting time if needs be. 

-Underdog Music - Fab Soares

-Producer: Gabriel Preston, Clifford Williams 

-Cinematographer: Gabriel Preston 

-Editor: Clifford Williams    

Risk Assesment Sheet

Risk assesment sheets are filled in subject to the reputation of the area, the risks of robbery, the risk to ourselves regarding dealing with equipment such as knives and phony drugs. Risk assesment sheets will be filled out and signed by each participant to limit any riskinvolved in the making and production of our music video. Here is a example of a risk assesment sheet that I made for myself and Clifford Williams my co producer and lead actor in the music video. His role will involve the use of a knife, props which imitate durgs and operating on a busy road where cars will be driving up and down. In the unlikely event that a occurance may happen we have put down the contact number of myself and also of our teacher Mr Holloway. 

Call Sheet 

Call sheets are nessacary requirements of documentation to provide particpants with basic information regarding the location and the time in which they are needed for the film to be shot in. It contains emergency contact information, the people involved and provides myself with a overview of who I need and who I don't need for the shoot and how I can contact them and how they can contact me. It also provides me with the equipment that I need. It will be given to each particpant involved in the making of the film.  

Production Role 

My role in the project is as cinematographer. This involves working with the camera and shooting the music video. The documentation as seen below is a outline of what my role involves and how will I execute it. It's particulary important as it can also be used to help me assess not only my performance but also in my evaluation I can talk about how I have progressed as cinematographer regardingresponsability, technology and camera angles in my last project in AS to how I have developed in A2 all of which is specified in the document. 

Music Video CW - StoryBoard (3/10/14)

Storyboard

Music Video CW - Shot List (3/10/14)

Fab Soares – Underdog Music

Shot List

Scene 1

(Montage edit of urban shots around Ladbroke Grove in a still frame to synchronize with 4 Beat instrumental. Shots will be in black and white)

S1: Low angle shot looking upwards of Trellick tower

S2: Long shot from low angle perspective of Trellick tower from Skate park

S3: Close up shot of Ladbroke Grove sign

S4: Long angle follow shot going down a residential road

Scene 2

(These shots will be in Clifford’s room)

S5: Medium shot of Clifford getting up out of bed

S6: Medium Shot of Clifford getting dressed and doing up his tie

S7: Over the shoulder close up shot of Clifford reaching underneath is pillow for his student card for school. In the frame there will also be a wade of cash and a bag containing white powder.

S8: Medium following shot going backwards whilst Clifford closes the door
S9: Clifford giving his Mum a wade of cash in a close up over the shoulder shot 
S10: Medium shot panning outwards of Clifford's Mum looking up at him in slow motion 

Scene 3

(Shots of Clifford walking around Ladbroke Grove area quick cut to a night scene in between shots whilst he’s walking via a tracking shot)

S11: Tracking shot to the right as Clifford walks in school uniform panning to the right with lockers in the background

S12: Quick edit and change of scenery to Clifford in a boxing attire shadow boxing from the perspective of a medium shot on the street

Scene 4

(Clifford in the gym on the heavy bag)

S13: Quick cut to a black background close up shot of Clifford looking into a camera with boxing attire on (lip sync)

S14: Cut to Clifford from a side view medium shot of him punching the heavy bag in slow motion

S15: Close up shot of Clifford working the heavy bag in slow motion

S16: Close up of Clifford on the skipping rope slow motion

S17: Medium shot from behind Clifford of him shadow boxing in the mirror

Scene 5

(White city estate)

S16: Long shot in a time-lapse format of White City blocks to show how Clifford becomes a different character in his area

S17: Extreme close up of money being counted

S18: Shot of drugs being exchanged

S19 Extreme close up of Clifford’s eyes looking leftwards showing he’s worried

S20: Close up shot of Clifford looking to the left whilst 4 hooded boys begin to run at him

S21: Close up shots of the trainers in slow motion

Scene 6

(Black background)

S22: Clifford extreme close up blowing smoke into the camera

S23: Medium shot of Clifford throwing money up into the air (lip sync)

S24: Medium Shot of Clifford with a girl with his arm around her (lip sync)

Scene 7

(White City estate)

S25: Close up of Clifford’s hands and him being handcuffed

S26: Quick cut to Clifford laying on the floor with blood around him from close up perspective

S27: Over head shot of Clifford laying in a pool of blood

Scene 8

(Boxing club/gym to Notting Hill during the evening)  

S28: Back to Clifford boxing and him hitting the heavy bag

S30: Tracking shot from medium shot perspective of him jogging

S31: Long shot of Clifford reaching over the hill with London in the horizon /background

S32: Medium shot of Clifford’s back and his arms are raised up

Scene 9

(White City estate)

S33: Close up shot from low angle perspective panning to the left with a White City block in the background

Scene 10

(Boxing gym/ring)

S34: Clifford punching the heavy bag from a close up perspective

S35: Cut to Clifford low key lighting in a boxing ring zooming inwards towards his unorthodox boxing stance

Scene 11

(Trellick Tower)

 S36: Clifford walking low angle perspective in a slow motion edit

 S37: Cut to Clifford during the evening long shot looking over at London City

Scene 12

(Boxing gym/ring)

S38: Slow motion edit of extreme close up shot of his opponent falling down to portray that he has been knocked out

S39: Medium shot to show Clifford raising his hands up in victory 

Essay 1 - Contemporary Music Video (3/10/14)

Essay - "Contemporary music video's are nearly elaborate adverts with little artistic,   social or moral integrity. Discuss with refernce to music videos and theorists you have studied." 

This essay will discuss how contempary music video can be interpreted in different ways and that the form, style and genre contribute to perception of a Artists video whether its to bolster the commercial profile or to allign and enhance the artists creative and visual processing to accompany the track for the purposes of there own moral purposes.

Like Sven E Carlson remarks music video is open is open to public perception, he highlights that a form of analysis can be "breaking up the music video into black and white and seeing everything that is perceived as opposites i.e commerce or creativity or naturlism or materilism." For me Carlsons process of analysis is effective as it can distinguish the true purposes of artists video. Now we all understand the basic formalities of a music video and you cannot avert the fact that videos are used to bolster the profile of the artist. This is usually seen in music videos for commercial artists in genres such as RnB, rock and pop. Artists like Nicki Minaj and Britney Spears create overtly sexualised and provocative videos to appeal to the different ideals of the audience. In Nicki Minaj's Anaconda video women are portrayed in revealing clothing and this is perhaps too entice a male audience to which Laura Mulvey  describes as the male gaze theory.

Perhaps Nicki Minaj's Anaconda video is conforming to male expectations of women. In a society were pop culture is becoming increasingly relevant the images of sex is advertised so prominently the guise of sex is a advatageous selling point for the artist label and managment team. For me I feel strongly that Nicki Minaj's Anaconda video lacks creativity, there is no avant garde expression or a stark visual purpose that drives what can already be called a poor track but instead it fits in with the examples of videos that are just elaborate adverts for the artists corperate brand and image. The recent twerking craze as seen in Miley Cyrus we can't stop video represents a ratchet culture where by Cyrus denounces the role of black women in the video and to the ironic 'cheers' of black culture for which the twerking dance originates from. As a white women the variety of angles via the close up shots of Miley shaking her buttocks and the frequency of upper and lower body shots where the camera oribits around her croutch and breasts is designed to advertise her reformed image as this provocative, seductive and overtly sexual women. It;s clear like in Nicki Minaj's video that both women are the dominiant ideoligies and its through the use of voyeuristic images and themes reinforces the concept that sex sells.

The same cannot be said for videos that are actually designed to drive hard hitting social themes with a sharp visual creativity and narrative. Some of the best examples for me can be seen in the genre of Rap. Often this genre is seldom seen to be associated with the sexual exploitation of women, the ideals of success and wealth by the means of illegal activity but its not the case for others. I can use artists like Nas and Mobb Deep for example, where there lyrics contain social realistic subject matter which is represented visually not just for commerical purposes but also for the morality of the artist to because they want to give the audience an insight into there struggle. In Nas's the 'world is yours' video we do not see images of a materialistic nature but visuals that reinforce the struggle of growing up in a deprived area of New York. Contrast this to a video like 50 Cent's candy shop and the ideas are very much omniprescent with women, money and cars protruding the visuals. I think that in the rap genre it's easier to distinguish whether a artist is purposeful in advertising there ideals and virtues as the 'gangsta' or the 'playa' to a artist like Nas who is trying to emphasize social and moral intergrity.

Modern mythical embodiment is a concept developed by Sven E Carlson. Perfomance videos are typical of implementing the artist for the sole purposes of promoting the there product (album, single, etc.) I think that this is a prominent feature of the pop genre. The culture of commercialism is something which the audience expect in a music video. The use of cliched imagery such as for product placement as observed in lady gaga's 'telephone' music video for instance is an example of  and highlights the fact that the video is a elaborate advert to furter reinforce and enhance there video. Anouther theorist Michael Shore maintains similarly to Laura Mulva's male gaze theory that Video's such as the provocativity of Lady Gaga's telephone is a recycled style of soft core pornography to appease to male fantasies. The same can be said for videos such as 50 Cent's 'PIMP' or DJ Khaleds 'Hold you down' video which both connote these recyled visions of wealth, power and girls. From the male perspective dominance over women is a feature that a lot of men aspire to and its something which both men Khaled and 50 Cent have used to promote there ego's to the male eye and even perhaps to certain women.

Elaborating on a point that I previously made, the growth of product placement via media platforms such as music videos is staggering and concedes with the point that some music videos are now just adverts. Advertising in music videos have become progressively prominent and the materilistic implementation of products in the videos are overshadowing the artists creative ambitions. Intertexualtiy as seen in many modern day videos like Miley Cyrus's 'we can't stop' through the 'Dr Dre beats pill' can encourage the people to buy the product as its given light by the established brand image of Miley Cyrus. Such practices that were once deemed to be selling out have now allowed corperate compatibility as now the norm for which artists can make more money from. So in some instances yes it is argueable that videos of today are just a platform for corperations to utilise the popularity of a artist for finicial purposes.

To conclude,  it's not a matter of opinion that the purpose of the artist is to promote there material. However what is questionable is the intent of that artist. The promince of company logo's nowadays is sanitising audience perception with regards to the artists moral and social values. Are they making videos for the purposes of a brand like Dr Dre splattering the product over the video or are they doing it because they want there music to sell and a good way of doing this is by creating a video. The creative process of a video has been a significant player in the music industry. We have seen artists making it or breaking it on the basis of there video like Robin Thicke's 'blurred lines.' His video gave dramatic prominence to controversy in relation to themes like rape and female exploitation and it is his video that gave air time to this. So to terminate my discussion in my opionion certain artists have different approaches to there videos and this is based on there popularity. How a artist like Miley Cyrus makes her videos can be very different to a artist like Tallia Storm a who is a relatively unknown quantity makes hers. It's a matter of your brand image that allows the audience to interpret your video with little or no social or moral intergity or a video that is.