R+P Post 21: My key shots Storyboard

A key shots storyboard is a vital part of pre-production. It is the first time we put our shot ideas on paper. This helped us visualise how music video will look visually on camera and how each shot would work together. We used post-it notes for each shot as they could be moved around easily if we decided to change the order of our shots.

The key-shots storyboard for "Blue Lights"

Different colour post-it notes were used for each shot. For example we used blue to represent a Long shot, yellow to represent a mid-shot and pink to represent a close-up. This meant we could further visualise what our video would look like on camera whilst still in pre-production.  Using a colour code meant we could see the ratio of each shot and then could add/remove shots as necessary.

Our key for the shootboard

An example of a long shot with fairy lights, a storyboard allowed us to show the exact framing we're going for

R+P Post 20: My Music Video timeline

Our music video time-line can be seen below. 

A time-line allows us to put our ideas for the music video onto paper. This has a huge impact on the organisation of the video and can help us visually see if our ideas actually make sense when put in order. 

This was hugely helpful for our project as the story for our male narrative section of the music video was consistently being changed. This started to become confusing as we would have so many different versions of the same story in our mind. Thus writing it all down made the planning process so much easier. 

Overall I think creating a time-line has greatly helped the planning process of our project as it allowed us to see if our male narrative would fit well with each individual verse. 

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

You can find our Steal-o-matic below.

A steal-o-matic is a montage of clips from pre-existing videos that we have taken and put into a sequence. This was created in order to give an idea of what our music video will look like before our rough cut. Each clip has been selected in order to showcase the atmosphere and aesthetic we are planning to achieve with our final music video

After the steal-o-matic was done we we're able to find out if some of our ideas were actually practical with the resources we have. An example of a shot that was unattainable by us personally was the light shot at 0:08. This is because it was an extreme wide shot which will not be possible in our studio

Creating a steal-o-matic was extremely beneficial in our planning process. This is because this is the very first video we have produced wit our song and thus gave us our first insight on what we can/cannot do. 

R+P Post 18: Analysis of my tracks lyrics and instrumentation

Below is a lyric video for our chosen song, Jorja smith-Blue lights

Our chosen song sends a powerful message about police brutality especially involving people. Analysing our lyrics helped us understand the message of the song. For example the first verse 

I wanna turn those blue lights into strobe lights

Not blue flashing lights, maybe fairy lights

Those blue lights into strobe lights,

Maybe even fairy lights, not blue flashing lights

It is clear that the "Blue lights" represent police lights and the artist has negative connotations to these lights. She says "not blue flashing lights, maybe fairy lights" this shows that she wants to turn the negative situation of police brutality into a more calm and peaceful scene. These lyircs have helped spur our ideas and we are considering having literal fairy lights in our studio shots in order to physically convey the lyrics whilst the audience figures out the true meaning. 

Analysing the track lyrics in advance help us understand the track to a deeper degree as well as supplementing our visualisation for the music video.  

R+P Post 17: My Chosen Track

My chosen track is Blue Lights by Jorja Smith.

Jorja Smith published the track on her sound cloud in January 2016, the official video was released three months later on Youtube. Smith came up with the song after analysing the lyrics to "Sirens" by Dizzie Rascal as part of her school coursework. This inspired her to eventually write and perform her own song "Blue Lights".

It does not appear "Blue Lights" is part of an album and Jorja Smith is an un-signed independent artist.

We chose this track for numerous reasons- for example it has a strong theme of oppressive police, this fitted well with the artist we created as she is an activist who fights against racism. The use of the strong theme also meant that we had the opportunity to make a meaningful and conceptual video.

We also thought that the vocals would fit nicely on video as we plan on having Olamide as our main performer due to her previous performing work.

However the song isn't as fast as our previous choices. This meant that we could not be as playful with our shots as previously imagined. For example I imagined a choppy montage with the cuts on the beat of the music. "Blue Lights" slow and soulful nature contradict this however I still feel we can make an effective music video.

R+P Post 16: My Band or Artist

My artist is called Layla Ade, she is a 19 year old who lives in London and makes songs relating to big issues in the world. This can be seen in her debut song "Blue Lights" which highlights police brutality which is a global issue.

Visual Illustration

Below I have made a mood-board which roughly illustrates what she will look like.

We want her to have big curly hair to act as a visual motif. I felt a visual motif would be important as after researching many different artists it was clear most were known for a single visual trait. For example Ed Sheeran's ginger hair, Sia's blonde wig and Daft Punks helmets. This visual motif was then reflected in their albums to promote synergy as well as to make it instantly recognisable.

Reference Point: Ed Sheerans ginger hair is clearly reflected in his albums 

Activism /Beliefs and Richard Dyers Star Theory

Layla Ade will be a activist with strong beliefs against racism and other forms of discrimination. We wanted this as it will make the artist more than the music. This will help appeal to our target audience who will aspire to Layla and admire her beliefs. After questioning a few of my friends who are British teens, and thus fit the target audience, a common response was that having an artist who stands for their beliefs makes them more inspirational. 

This ties in well with Richard Dyers Star Theory. Richard Dyer believed that a star must have an ideology. This gives the audience something to relate to. We hope that our target audience will relate to Layla Ade due to her age and shared-beliefs, her African-heritage and urban upbringing will also increase relatability among the target audience. 

Key reference points to Layla Ade being an activist is Beyonce. She is known to be more than just a musician she also stands up for big issues in the world. This can instantly be seen in countless interviews and statements but also on her website as seen below. 

Various issues that Beyonce stands up against as seen on her website. 

R+P Post 15: My Record Label

My chosen record label for my artist is Virgin EMI records.

We thought this label would be the most appropriate as it reflects our artist the best. It supports small acts such as MNEK and Elle Eyre however is associated with much bigger acts such as Kanye West. This means it has the reach to push our artist forward. Another reason Virgin EMI is desirable is because it has similar acts to ours including Seinabo Sey and Alessia Cara.