We also explored our local area and found locations to record our music video at. Areas near us such as Stanmore and Edgware are urban areas and are also original to the artists' as they are all from these areas too.Areas with trees and ranges of houses with fences suited the urban location we wanted.
This location was near to our, college, Stanmore college. A location like this was ideal as it really highlights the contrast between this and the city:
This location was a 5minute walk from the one above. It was a block of flats with a new brick wall, This location was ideal as we were on the look out for a brick wall. A brick wall was essential as it conforms to a hip hop convention, such that in hip hop music to have rappers performing to the camera in front of a brick wall is common.
On the 16th of November, we all went into central London to search for city locations and record potential daytime footage of london. We had initial ideas of various locations to create our city montage. We decided to use shots of London, as UK hip hop representing their origins. We also decided to use these shots because it is a representation of the artists 'Making it' refrencing the song.
After looking at these potential loctions; Westminister, London bridge, Tower Bridge, Waterloo and Leister Square we decided to focus on the following areas:
*Waterloo
can see westminister parliment, Millenium Eye :
The London Eye is a London attraction people from all over the world are familiar too. This was definatley a location because of it popularity.
This is the brigde over the River Thames not to far from the London eye. It has the big ben and parts of parliment shown alongside parts of River Thames.
Likewise with this image, is a shot taken from Southbank. It a bridge over River Thames but is also familiar to audiences as its near the London Eye.
*London Bridge ; More london area ; can see Tower bridge from here
We particulary liked the emptyness ans space in this area, the mordern architechture would benefit our video in terms of a representation of someone working hard to get to a rich area. We decided on this area as I had previously been here and thought it was a great location.
This location along the River Thames in London brige. It has famous buildings like the Gherkin and also sophisticated architecture for all the buildings surrounding it. This is also a well known place for wealthy people such as Sir Alan Sugar
This is a builing in the 'More London' area in London bridge. This area has expensive restaurants alongside a lovely view of fountains with great building architechture and the River Thames & Tower Bridge accross from it
This is a glass building in the More London are too. the architechture is structured is a unique way. This zig zag effect makes the building look so attractive
This is also in the More london area. Here is London Bridge alongside River Thames once again. The more london area has a range of good sights.
More London
The sections in yellow are all the More London areas that consist of these type of building and architechture.
More London Development -
''Visible from all sides, the building does not have an obvious ‘front’ or ‘back’, so particular consideration has been given to the façade in assuming a distinctive presence within the masterplan. The zig-zag facades screen the interiors but allow daylight to penetrate the office floors. A sequence of external louvres animate the glazed facades, capturing and projecting light and colours inside and creating a sparkling effect on the building’s outer skin.''
We also used fountains in Trafargal Square:
Trafargul Sq is a location most tourist visit also
We focussed on these locations so we could create a city montage so that we could later implement urban lifestyle within. Highlighting the contrast from rich and moderate social living.
This is our constructed storyboard however, we feel committing to the storyboard will be diffucult as when recording and editing, effects and so we feel our planned narrative may not go to plan however, we aim to still execute our plans and see where it takes us:
Together as a group we created a brief treatment in regards to our music video. Stating details within the video. We did this referring to the structure of the lyrics; the verses and chorus.
Treatment – When we make it
Chorus
A montage of shots of London- Day and Night
London eye
Westminister
London Bridge; More london
Parliament (big ben)
Trafalgar square
Oxford circus
Cuts to shot of the artistsleaningagainstawall (Straight cut)
Cut to narrative
Verse 1 – Krysis
Stanza 1
INT - Shot of window, camera zooms out to reveal bare room with krysis sitting in the middle, crane into a 360° shot around Krysis.
Krysis starts rapping, pan of him walking toward door and out.
Stanza 2
CUT TO EXT - Krysiscomesthe front door of as house, the camera tracks back as he walks to a car
Gets into back seat of car. CUT TO – Krysis comes out of the opposite door.
Stanza 3
CUT TO - Krysis steps into studio CUT TO - Krysis writing lyrics
Then a montage of quick shots of him in the studio rapping, Shots of mixing desk
Krysis opens studio door
Stanza 4
CUT TO - shot of Krysis walking out of a tunnel and panning to a beautiful sight of London
Straight cut to wall and black and white studio shots.
.....End of verse...
Chorus 2
A montage of wall shots, night and day shots of London
London bridge/Tower hill
Piccadilly circus etc
Introduces new verse...
Verse 2 – Crucial
Stanza 1
Crucial comes out of a cafe with cappuccino, he starts walking down the road – camera tracks him whilst he’s walking. CUT TO- him rapping against the wall, he opens a door and it leads his to a completely different place and he closes door behind is a hip hop symbol poster pinned up.
Stanza 2
CUT TO-The hip hop symbol picture is shown on the screen
Cut to crucial ripping it in half and throwing it away
Carries on walking and opens another door leading him out.
CUT TO- CCTV shots of him walking around the back of houses and shows him cursing at the camera.
Stanza 3
CUT TO- Crucial walking into a station, the camera zooms into name of station; graphic match of same station name but on the platform. He presses the open button, walks on to the train and then the doors close.
Stanza 4
CUT TO- Crucial walking out of station and camera follows. Camera pans away from him and into beautiful shot of London at night
...End of verse...
Chorus 3
A montage of night and day shots of London – Tower hill, London Bridge
Rooftop shot, introduces Phantom
Verse 3 – Phantom
Stanza 1
CUT TO- Lift door opening, Phantom walks out rapping toward camera and camera backtracking him. Cut to wall shots of him and a
Rooftop shot with camera 360° panning.
Stanza 2
CUT TO-Phantom is on the street whilst rapping, he opens a door which leds him to studio; studio shots. CUT TO- camera back tracking him whilst he’s walking up and he meets people along the way and greets them. Phantom then Walks up a flight of stairs.
Stanza 3
CUT TO- Him walking up stairs into house, and opens door into his room
Rapping into his mic, fades to his computer and keyboard he then points to the ground, camera pans downwards and shows a quick effect of the camera panning down the layers of the ground.
Stanza 4
Cuts to him walking up to a meeting place
Beautiful night time shot
Chorus 4
Shows all 3 meeting, they rap... Night city shot
Wall shots, split screen of the 3, walking down the road
Our main theme 'Success & opportunity' had led us to brainstorming narratives for each artist.
I thought our theme can be symbolized through doors opening and closing for example:
This video has a range of doors and each one the artist opens leads her to a completely different room. Together as a group we felt that this would be a good idea beacuase the contrast of being a underground artist to becoming succesfull and wealthy could be shown well with this.
Our stimulous came from a car advert that we felt could suit this.
This advert shows the male figure creating doors with a door handle that lead him to different locations which meant in our video we could show one of the artists at a park but then he opens a gate of door that leads him to the recording studio, I felt this was a really strong performance narrative as we could do this for each artist. Each artist could open various doors leading him to a range of places; from his bedroom, to the park, to the cafe, studio and then the city buildings. The loactions could represent the out break of fame and along side this can represnt the artists' british background through the locations familiar to the audiences i.e. city landscape- tower bridge. It would also develop the convention of the UK Hip hop genre. We aim to make this video developing to the conventions and forms of UK hip hop but we don't want it to be too typical as we want to bring a unique quality to it.
Krysis ft Crucial & Phantom-When We Make it lyrics
(Chorus)
We Be Living it large
And sooner or later, well be rolling with Stars
Money Be Coming in Fast
Have No Time to Be Running Coz our Flight is Advanced Our Dream is There So We Gon Take it
Our Big Break is so close that i can taste it
Only a fool would've turned dere back on it n waste it
I Guess Things gon change when we make it
Verse 1 (Krysis) See i'm living in the 21st century
parallel universe where everything is ment to be
the lovers begging friend to me, the haters be ma enemy
the whole worlds below me like its a Krysis Hegenomy You can say im in the process to be the best
Ideas bn buzzin in ma head like a lil pest
see all the words im sayin like a syllabel fest
Kry Sis, shining higher than the rest Crazy how one mind thinks of all of this
without of the aid of cocaine crack or cannibis
i brought suttin new to the game like a bonus level
face evil head on, im eye to eye with the devil Good riddance To ma past, hello to ma future
i guess music loves me too much the feelings mutual
infatuated with the flow and lusting for my lyrics
this is only just a snippet what im feeling so just listen (listen) (Chorus)
Verse 2 (Crucial)
Im on it straight away, crucial execution
Krysis on the track, listen to me speak, bring that wave
my flow is so cocaine
n it aint freestyle if that shit was writtin in the first place the art of hiphop got lost along the way
n now everyone on the charts sounding the same
n im pissed off coz radio wont ever play me
coz of the shit that i spray, expose them every day The new secular horde is on the way
fake politicians, corrupt cops slinging cane
n the roads aint safe not coz of the people thats rolling around
coz of those fucking cameras thats scoping us down i stay hungry like its ma first day
word to ma mother, i keep it real till i hit ma grave
in the sandstorm, dodge the system, dodge the pain
tired of running, ima walk it the rest of the way (Chorus)
Verse 3 (Phantom)
Phantom how u been, where you been, where you going
fuck being a big fish, im building a boat and rowing
rhyming gets the best of me, my friends get the rest of me
n everytime i write a verse it feels like theres less of me they cant do what i do, stealing bars from youtube
think realistically the understandings crucial
Digging up pieces that the masses cant find
my minds lost, untraceable, kryptonite prepared for battle one man army, and im down to fight
but dont get me twisted, i rarely do whats right
attention means nothing, i just wanna make a sound
recording in the basement but it doesnt mean your underground If hiphops lost then call me when its found,
ill be in my backyard staring at the ground
upon the arrival of a man whos been through hell and back
Someone to relate to... i need that Chorus (x2)
Earlier on during the first month of our project as a group we were given a task. This task consisted of filming a shot chase scene and practicing editing skills on final cut pro. The first step was brief planning. Individually we had to draw out a brief storyboard and then begin filming. The scene consisted of over the shoulder shots, close up, mid shots, tracking and panning shots. Our short narrative was about a boy who had a bag that belonged to someone else. After seeing each other the chase scene begins.
We realised a lot of detail had to be caught for the action to be understood, however we didn't struggle in portraying this to our audience. Our first time on final cut pro was positive. Individually we all had goes in attempting to put parts of the film together and realised we just had to just explore the software to master it.
Overall this task was very useful as it was a kick start to out final project and resulted to giving us more direction.
UK Hip hop
Ages 16+ is the target market for UK hip hop. This audience normally develop the conventions of the hip hop elements as listed before. UK hip hop is also known as grime but consists of more american hollywood features. Artists that are very popular are the likes of Bashy, Kano, Tinie Tempah and Dizzie Rascal.
This is Kano's Hustler video:
This video consists on footage showing the life he used to live and how he strived. Hence the name of the song 'Hustler'. In the video there are many studio shots and many establishing shots or urban areas that have estates and alley ways and very busy streets. The narrative is about his music success, he has females around a table looking like they're dealing drugs but instead they're making his album covers and cd packs.
This is the Tinie Tempah wifey video:
This video is some of his early works that straight away shows establishing shots of the urban area as he is being driven around in a car. You see houses and trees, in the barbers yet also in the city.
This video is Bashy's Black boys:
This video is dedicated to Black History Month. It is about the break through of struggles and its a motivating song to influence. It has various shots of people in the urban area and shows Bashy performing it to the camera. Their are various wall shots and people at their doorsteps celebrating and miming the Bashy's words at the camera. It also has a shot of Bashy and his friends on their bikes riding through their the urban area showing the estates and local area too.
Overall these are all conventions that develop UK Hip hop. From the edit, the camera shots, location and the costume of everyone in these videos are all conventions and as they are viewed the trend in these conventions are obvious.
Ishmael aka Krysis is skilled in the area of producing and rapping. Krysis is a young artist that specialises in producing and has recently mastered the area of rapping within the last year. He tends to write lyrics based on everyday life, dreams and opportunities, and the future. His love for this began from the age of 12 and family has heavily influenced him as they all come from a musical background. Witnessing his family have fun whilst producing songs and rapping motivated him to join in and further his talent on his own. Influences include the well known Timbaland, Nocturnal and old school artists such as Mark Morrison. Although he hasn’t yet experienced live performances, he has produced for a few up and coming artists.
Usman Aka Crucial is an intellectual rapper that focuses on political and social life. Living in Pakistan for most of his life and then coming to the UK resulted to him realising that life there is different and harder for people. This reflects his influences. His influences are the everyday trials and tribulations of peoples’ lives and the current political situation. Artists such as Immortal technique and historical revolutionary figures for e.g. Malcolm X have heavily influenced his style. Crucial has had a lot of experience within the music industry. His experience includes several gigs and performances he has done, which range from solo performances, with fellow artist Phantom and alongside well known artists such as Aggro Santos. He refers to his unique genre as political hip hop.
Arjun aka Phantom specialises in producing and rapping. Phantom is a young artist who has been involved with many gigs and performances, most recently with the K.I.G Family. His major influences are producers rather than rappers. He also runs his own lable called Street Sounds.
Videos that are influence by the hip hop style have similar conventions. You normally find that money and wealth is shown off by the artist for e.g. the music video to 'What You Know About That' by American rap artist named T.I. Videos consist of shots of their apparel i.e. a close up of their trainers or 'bling' (chains), even the artist's cars, rims or background dancers. A key ingredient to hip hop videos are girls. In male artist's videos, there are normally girls representing female sexuality. However this can vary, occasionally there are narratives and this is normally a representation of a relationship between a guy and a sophisticated girl. Then again girls are not always typical in a hip hop video, depending on the song you may find a hip hop video consisting of a representation of a big gang or group surrounding the artist and the artists recording in the studio. On the other hand, female artist often have a typical representation of males, catching their eyes and looking handsome.
This video is based on a song called 'She likes to' by Wiley Feat J2K, Wrigley, Ice-Kid, Wretch 32, Ghetts, Bashy, Scorcher, Chipmunk and Griminal. These are all artist known within the UK hip hop and grime scene. This video is a representation of the conventions mentioned above. The artists are surrounded by females dancing and partying alongside them. Alcohol is a symbol within the video and their jewellery (bling) and money is flashed often. If you look at their apparel you will also see the conventions and representations that I've mentioned in the previous blog is emphasised.
This is a video to Ms Dynamite's single 'Ms Dy-na-mi-tee'. This was a popular song for her. In this video she sings alongside an all male band and has two male backing dancers. She is also dressed quite stylish with a casual hip hop style. One of the key hip hop ingredients included in the video also is the DJ turntables; this is highlighted in the background while the artist and dancers are dancing. However, this video was made quite a while back approximately in the year 2000/01 therefore it is backdated. The UK hip hop scene has grown, developed and evolved since. This is a recent video of hers called 'What You talking about?’ This is quite a flashy video with a hip colourful look she has adapted since the previous video. The video consists of new technology i.e. she has many special effects throughout. She has two female background dancers with a male individual appearing in the video. Although this video isn't a typical representation of its genre the colour, clothing, accessories and lyrical content is typical of the UK hip hop genre.
