Storyboard

Risk Assessment

For our music video risks will occur during filming, only simple ones, which we will need to overcome and therefore have a risk assessment.

There will be many different locations where we will be filming, and one is where we will be taking some shots from aross a road and looking beyond the road, so we will need to make sure that noone will be in the road during filming, and also one of the characters to be in the road.
There will be no wires being used so there is no risk of anyone tripping over them or getting tangled in the shots so this is something we have avoided.
For other shots we will be filming in crowded areas so for this our characters will be stood still and so to avoid collisions wih passers by we will create signs to hold up for pedestrians to see which will deter them away from direct contact with our characters.
A major hazard we will likely come across is spillages on the floor of things like litter and liquids, so therfore we will scan the area before using it and check at regular intervals for this tpe of hazard so that noone during filming will be at risk of slipping over or tripping.
Another hazard which possibly could occur is things like workers who could be carrying things around e.g. heavy lifting and so we will first of all need to check the area we are using to see if any workers will be there and if they are, film when they have finished to avoid getting in each others way.
There will also be doors being used e.g. McDonald's doors where a simple hazard of having the door be stifff or stuck on something, so before filming we will check the doors are in good use and can open easiily and effectively.
Another hazard could possibly be the rain, where to avoid any camera damage or shot interferance fro the rain, as we do not want the rain, we will check the weather for that day and we will use a day where the weather is said to be sunny and not rainy.  If for some reason there is any signs of rain when we are filming, we will pack up and go back another day, but wefeel this is very unlikely, however it i a risk which eeds to be assessed.

Shootin Schedule

Shooting Schedule

Perplexa - Big City Life Animatic

Twitter

This is a link to our bands Twitter page.

http://twitter.com/#!/Perplexa_Artist

Experimenting - Rotating Camera Shot

We gained inspiration for a camera technique used in Devlin's 'Runaway'. Some perfomance shots are taken whilst the camera is spinning around the artist, and the artist follows the camera. We have tried to replicate this ourselves. See below. Unfortunately, unlike the Devlin video, we do not have access to tracks for the camera, so our shooting is handheld and walking.



Brands

For Andy again, the shoes he will be wearing, like Rakesh, willbe Nike trainers, however they will be another colour such as white.  He will also be wearing either burton or topman jeans with a dark blue colour and complexion.

Brands

For our other artsist, Andy, he will be wearing a plain white t shirt, or a white t shirt with minimal graphics on, such as a number or brand such as Nike.  He will also be wearing a blue inc jacket, black, and this will be left open to reveal his t shirt in the music video.

Inspiration - Costume

We have tried to emulate the costume style of Eminem in his 'Not Afraid' video, for our first artist Andy (left in above picture), as we feel the costume gives them both a defined shape (due to the padded shoulders) and is already our artist's style of clothing. This makes it more personal to the artist, thus increasing their accessibility - our audience likes 'real rappers'.

As for our second artist, Rakesh, there are less inspirations due to his unique appearance (hair, race, glasses, etc) however his style is a baggy, simple, working class one. If there had to be one inspiration, it would be a casually dressed Tupac Shakur.

Brands

This is the type of hoody which one of our artists, Rakesh, has and will be something similar, if not the same for our music video. Adidas will be another brand he will be wearing, along with a t shirt with dark complexion, and simple graphics.

Brands

These are the shape and brand of shoes that Rakesh will be wearing in our music video, Nike. 
Also the joggers will be Nike, so for his lower half he will be wearing mainly this brand.

Band Name and Biography

For our band name we came up with several ideas and decided on one together.  The one we decided on was ‘Perplexa’. 

Perplaxa was formed in September 2010 and consists of two artists, both male, named Rakesh Sampla and Andy Day.  These two guys joined together after meeting each other through different social groups and discovering a shared interest in sound production and freestyle rapping.  They found that their styles complemented each other and soon began recording their own material.  They soon began to become noticed by local people who also liked Hip-Hop and were able to share their music with them and gain fans which eventually spread further from home.  After about 6 months of music production they began work on their first album which was released in February of 2011 which included all of their own material and beats. 

Inspiration, Location

Here is a video of Devlin's 'Community outcast' which we find inspiring due to the surrounds and locations used. The location used, as you will see in the video, is an urban area which we will be using similarly in our music video and emulate some of the locations in a similar way.

Moodboard

Pitch Evaluation

For our pitch, we managed to cover the requirements that the audience needed to know about our music video. First of all we showed the class our Animoto we created which included our genre of Hip-Hop and influences of other artists including Example and Devlin. We were questioned on the costume as we said we were to be using graphic t-shirts which don't really fit in with the style of the genre and so we will be keeping it plain and basic, we will still be using ideas such as the hoodies/jackets, and also the trackies/joggers which were shown on the pitch, as this does fit in with the genre and is easy for our artists to wear as they already own clothing like this. For the locationing of the music video we explained to the audience that we would be using 4 or 5 different locations in Leicester city centre for all of our shots. The artists we will be using will be two 18 year old males, one white and one Asian, both from Leicester themselves. Our bands name 'Perplexa' was recieved well as when asked to clarify the meaning of 'Perplex', we explained that it means to be confused and baffled and this fits in with the song choice and genre of the youth of today living their lives, and so this went down well with the audience.

Pitch

Audience Profile

Audience Profile

Genre And Song

The genre we have decided to do is Hip-Hop as this is the genre of music that both of us enjoy listening to and think would be the best to emulate in a music video and allow us to express our interests.  The song we have chosen is 'Big City Life' by Mattafix.  This is a song we both have agreed on and one we enjoy equally.  We have already begun to think of ideas of where to film the video, one place being in town where we can use the surroundings to our advantage to create the video and its elements.

Analysing - Monster by Professor Green

Professor Green's 'Monster' is a illustrative video as several stories are told through hand gestures and more importantly, mini-scenes in the video. The first evidence we see of the song being illustrative is, as the character boards a ghost train, the chorus is playing. The chorus says 'and I'll find a way to turn you into a monster'. The fact this song is called 'Monster' and uses the location of a ghost train means the song is quite literal.



In this clip we see a clear, literal illustrative relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. As Professor Green raps 'saw a chick walking with a big behind' we see him alongside a girl with a large bottom. Then we hear the lyrics 'she turned and screamed', accompanied by Professor Green twirling his finger (to illustrate turning; another example of hand gestures in a rap video) and the girl turning and screaming. In the next clip (see below), we see a similar relationship between the lyrics and visuals. The lyrics 'to relax with a glass of milk, apparently Pixie drinks lots' and matched with Professor Green sat in a chair with a glass of milk, and then a woman (meant to be Pixie Lott) being held back by a man, whilst holding a bottle of milk.






The music and the visuals also have an relationship, as is shown in the build-up to the last chorus, and the chorus itself. The beat slows and the music slowly builds up intensity, accompanied by the lyrics 'Monster, Monster, Monster....'. As this happenes, there are shots of the characters previously seen in the ghost train (ie, Pixie Lott, the nun in lingerie, the vampire and the midget) in shots that fade in and out again in co-ordinance with the music; as the music speeds up and gets louder, the cuts become a lot sharper and shorter. This is followed by the last chorus, which is louder and more climactic than the other choruses; this is emphasised by the madness shown in the visuals as sharp cuts and quick camera movements show the characters of the ghost train chasing the rider and the cameraman. In this section of the video, the music and visuals work together to create a better climax for the song.




Whilst not specifically close up shots, there are a lot of shots showing performance by the artist. However, this is done in an original style, as the cuts are made to look seemless - like a continuous shot. Professor Green is shot as a 'narrator' in mini-scenes in the ghost train, each one taking up a shot. Because of this, the shots are drawn out; this is unexpected for such a fast paced song as most pacey songs are matched with equally fast cuts. Also, only Professor Green is shown performing. Example (the singer of the chorus) is not shown at all perfoming (possibly giving the song a perpetual feel - as though Example is a higher being, looking down on the ghost train. This is further reinforced by the surreal effect put on his voice for the chorus - it is spooky and not human-like which fits in with atmosphere given by the song).




'Monster' has a lot of examples of voyeurism and sexualisation in the video. For example, in this clip there are pole dancers. The pole dancers are dressed in 'kinky' lingerie and have what the media portrays as 'perfect bodies'. This would be appealing especially to a straight male audience. Inbetween glimpses of these pole dancers, we see the rider of the ghost train looking unapprovingly at the dancers. However, the looks the rider gives to the camera infer she has a darker, more suggestive side. They are suggestive looks, especially the shaking head. This is keeping with the message of the song in a sexual sense (ie, 'I'll give you everything you'll ever need, and I'll find a way to turn you into a monster' and 'introduce to anyone decent, I'll find evil in them'). A lot of the song is sexually suggestive.

There are several intertextual references in 'Monster'. These include Jekyll and Hyde, the Sugababes, Pixie Lott, Peter Andre and Frankenstein. The references of modern celebrities are used as a mockery of popular culture, and are effective as they are popular celebrities mentioned.

From analysing 'Monster' I have learnt of an original method of cinematography - cut's can be made to look like a continuous shot by rotating the camera quickly at the end of one shot, and at the start of the next, to make it look like both shots are actually the same shot. This is something we could try to emulate in our own music video quite simply.
Another thing I have learnt is the importance of the location when matching visuals to song. Like in 'Monster', the location can bear some relevance to the song (illustration), or on the other hand, it could have no relation to the song (disjuncture). This is something we shall address in our own music video - we shall make sure, depending on the category of video, that the location is in fitting with the criteria for that category.