project management

Project Management is managing your work to make tasks easier for your group and so we can be successful in our work. As a group we realised that in order to create a good music video we would have to do some project management to help us. We did this by using schedules and creating jobs for each of us in a group. I booked the camera for various days and we tried to keep to those days to film. Therefore, in October I booked the 5th, 12th, and 16th for a camera and a tripod to start filming, our music video. However, it isn’t all to do with booking cameras and filming it also helps if different people have jobs. We split each other into groups so we could get jobs done quickly and efficiently, at a good quality standard. Shahroz was our editor as he has the skills in computing and he would be the best person to be in charge of editing; he did have some help from me and Jamie however. Myself and Jamie where in charge of blog work and organising days to film as the project went on we realised communication was key and doing small amounts on our blog each week would help us.

Textual Analysis : Rihanna ft Drake - What's My Name

‘What’s my name?’ is a song by Barbadian artist Rihanna. The song is a collaboration with the hip-hop star Drake. It is the 2nd song to be released from Rihanna’s 5th album ‘Loud’. ‘What’s my name?’ was a commercial success , topping the US billboard Hot 100 and giving Rihanna her third number-one single in 2010 and it also became Drakes number-one single.
The video of ‘What’s my name?’ kicks off with an extreme close up, focussing on her lips, a body part to attract the male audience and her hair; to show off her trendy hair colour for the women audience to idolize. She also shows off her tattoo/bling which links to the hip- hop genre as Andrew Goodwin suggested that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. Then there is a use of an establishing shot in the music video, to show the audience where the actions take place, and in this music video the example would be New York City, which is once again linked to the genre of the successful music video. There is a use of Medium shot used half way through the video when Rihanna is dancing on the streets of the City and this shot helps her link with her surroundings. There is a two shot where the relationship between Rihanna and Drake is shown and this creates an aspiring scene for the audience. An over the shoulder shot in the video is when Rihanna is looking at Drake, this explains the intimacy between them; at this point the audience can see what the character (Rihanna) is looking at.
When the music video starts, Rihanna is singing to a steady tempo, but when Drake comes in to rap, the speed of the music goes faster as he is rapping; also there is a sense of diminuendo – the music decreases in volume when he starts rapping. During that scene, When Rihanna enters in the supermarket; there is a shot-reverse-shot as when Rihanna walks in Drake and her show an interaction. In the same scene, there is a reaction shot when there is a close-up on Drake and it shows him response towards Rihanna. As Andrew Goodwin identified that one of the demands of record labels are the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work, and in my opinion Drake has developed a motif which is rapping/singing in a reluctant way which he has done in this video. The music is synchronous as when Drake is rapping, there is action taking place between him and Rihanna, and to support that action, he says “I can get you through a mighty long day, soon as you go the text im gonna write is gon’ say” this suggests that he is interested in her and they’re sensing a relationship.
The lighting used in the video ‘what’s my name?’ is very soft and calm matching with the soft atmosphere , for example when Rihanna is in the apartment she is walking out of lighting which gives her an angelic persona. The costumes of the characters link to the genre of the song(RnB/Hip-hop), as Drake is wearing a casual hoodie and this also creates a laid back character and he also sings in this manner. Rihanna’s dressing was also very casual but along with that, very trendy as she was wearing Jack Wills, a famous designer within the female and when she wore that she set out a fashion for all her female audience. The setting of the video is quite unexpected from an RnB genre as it is in an apartment which is least likely. However, it’s set in the city which is typical for RnB but, ‘the dream lifestyle’ doesn’t feature as much as in other RnB videos. (Against conventions)
A narrative is used so the audience knows what happens next in a video. It can also create a story that the audience can relate or aspire to. The narrative of this video is that Drake and Rihanna meet each other in a supermarket and then they are living together in an apartment. The narrative doesn’t strongly relate but as Andrew Goodwin identified that there is a relationship between lyric and visuals, there are certain lines of the song that narrate what is happening in the video, for example, “I heard you good with soft lips, yeah you know word of mouth” by saying this Drake is suggesting that he knew Rihanna was into him and he was interested in her too, and this happens after Rihanna turns around and gives Drake a signal that she’s attracted to him. Another example is when Rihanna sings “there ain’t nowhere that I’d be than with your arms around me, back and fourth you rock me” when she is singing this, in the video she is cuddling up with Drake and they look like they’re having a great time together. In the music video, Drake is performing in an indirect mode, as he is singing looking at Rihanna, not singing to the audience reinforces the idea that the video is a narrative & that this is the start of their ‘relationship’. Whereas Rihanna is singing in a direct mode and this give the audience and impression that she’s singing to them and it makes them feel involved. Dancing while looking in the camera attracts the male audience as Rihanna is dancing and singing to them.
In the music video “What’s my name” there is a rare use of editing, which might be a reason why its very successful within the audience as its all authentic. However, there is a use of eye-line match when Rihanna enters the supermarket and Drake looks at her, we can see from where Drake is looking at to what he appears to be looking at (Rihanna). In the same scene, there is a reaction shot where Drake responds to Rihanna when they interact.
I found many generic codes and conventions in the music videos such as the place where the actions took place which was New York, NY is a typical place where RnB videos would take place. Another generic code were the costume and appearance of the characters such as Drakes hoodie, Rihanna’s bling/tattoos and her Barbadian dancing on the streets which is a strong generic code as Barbados is a place where a lot of RnB music is produced. The bright colours shown through costumes are a strong link to the genre and the aspiring lives which has been shown in this music video.

The Song We Decided To Do Music Video Off

Torn On The Platform Lyrics Jack Penat

 

Once more just before Im leaving
Torn on the platform
Once more just before Im leaving
Torn on the platform

Cos Ill miss you and I love you
I know this is over just for mow
Cos I miss you, ohh, how I miss you
Youre not my girl you’re my town

A weekend away, leave the city today
Dont want the big smoke to leave me behind
The train leaves at 2, platform 3 Waterloo
50 p to the tramp makes me feel kind

I get a good seat , with a table my feet
Are up on the one in front everyone stares
Why do they care, like theres feelings in chairs
Trapped for 3 hours until I get there

Cos my
Eyes, eyes, eyes
Are not
Dry, dry, dry
As I
Realise, ise, ise
That in a few minutes this train will be gone
Sighs, sighs, sighs
City
Fly’s, fly’s, fly’s
Wonder
Why, why, why
Would anyone want to leave where I come from?

Torn on the platform
Torn on the platform
Torn on the platform

It’s 1.58 wish that I had been late
And missed the train and given them an excuse
But what is the use, I’ve less slack than a nouse
Do or die stay or go what shall I choose

Cos my
Eyes, eyes, eyes
Are not
Dry, dry, dry
As I
Realise, ise, ise
That in a few minutes this train will be gone
Sighs, sighs, sighs
City
Fly’s, fly’s, fly’s
Wonder
Why, why, why
Would anyone want to leave where I come from?

Torn on the platform
Torn on the platform
Torn on the platform

Like in a film the motion starts to slow
As the beeping carriage doors begine to close
Momenterily I’m standing froze
Then I jump between the gap
Land on the platform flat

I’m not

Torn on the platform
Torn on the platform
Torn on the platform

Album Cover Analysis

This is the cover of Eminem’s 7th studio album called Recovery. Eminem is an American rapper and has worked with many other famous singers in past. If you look at the album cover from distance you will only be able to see just buildings and simple album cover, however when you look carefully at the album cover, there is lots of detail which will attracts the audience towards the album. The large interesting building in the background will grab audience attention and make the audience think what the building is about and how does it relate to the album. If you look carefully you can also see a glass box in which the artist, Eminem, is seated on a couch reading a book with a television in front of him. This brings question mark to the audience, how it relates to the album such as, is this album about Eminem motives. By the title “Recovery” it suggests that, it could relate to a recovery in Eminem’s personal life that has affected him.

There is also “Parental Advisory” logo printed on the right bottom of the album cover is displayed, which explains level of the maturity and warns the customers that the album contains offensive language and might not be appropriate for children. This also helps parent decide weather or not the material is suitable for their children to hear.

The album title “Recovery” is written in plain white, while the O is written with white cross to represent a hospital, allows the customers to question weather the building in the back ground is a hospital. It also makes us think if Eminem is recovering from drinking or drug problems in rehab, the E in the title is written backwards which is a trade mark of Eminem, nevertheless it remains a mystery as the cover doesn’t reveal sufficient information about the artist. 

Textual Analysis; Just The Way You Are – Bruno Mars

“Just the way you are” is a song by American Hip-hop/Pop singer-songwriter Bruno Mars, from his debut studio album, “Doo-Wops & Hooligans”. The album was realised in 2010 on July the 20^th. The music video of the song was directed by Ethan Lader, and was realised worldwide on September 8, 2010. The song “Just the way you are” was written by The Smeezingtons, Khalil Walton and Needlz and produced by The Smeezingtons and Needlz. The music video also gained popularity by featuring Nathalie Kelly in it. She also featured in the film “Need for Speed” meaning that she is a recognised figure, this also means that people would watch the video just for her appearance. The song has been added to Radio 1 A Playlist in the United Kingdom, and was consider “just the way you are (Amazing)”. The song won the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

The lyrics of the song and music are visually mimicked to audience. Bruno Mars makes images out media tape in the cassette in the video, which was inspired by the Artwork of Erika Iris Simmons. Just the way you are music video has been criticised that the choice to act model Nathalie Kelley defeats the object of the song. This is because when Bruno Mars says, “When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change, Cause you're amazing, Just the way you are” and compliments Nathalie Kelly, when most of audience would like Nathalie Kelly just the way she is anyways. This was one of the YouTube comments: “The video would make more sense if the girl wouldn’t look like a gorgeous model! A more average looking girl would make the video slightly more beautiful. But that’s just my opinion.” But in my opinion I think starring Nathalie Kelly in the video was a good market strategy and it will encourage more people to view the video, also enlarges the target audience.

The music video starts on with the actress Nathalie Kelley listening to “just the way you are” on her music player. Bruno Mars stops the music player and get the cassette out of the Walkman and makes images from media tape of the cassette on the table. The instrumental of the song begins in the background as Bruno Mars pulls the media out of the cassette tape and organize it on the table in to letters forming his name followed by the song title. Following that Bruno creates image of a drum, on the table using tape media, Bruno Mars continued making images out media tape through out the video, which also included a portrait of Nathalie blinking her eyes and portrait of Bruno singing. Most of the images in the video use a mix of motion graphics, CGI (Computer-generated imagery) and real-time recording. CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) is software used for computer graphics or 3D computer graphics to give special effect in video games, films, television, commercials etc. The images look very artistic so it will draw artistic people towards the video and encourage viewing the video more.

The convention of this genre of music is that the artist plays the main role of the music video, along side the Nathalie Kelley. In “Just the way you are- Bruno Mars” music video there appears to be a love story, of a couple, and how much Bruno Mars loves Nathalie Kelley and how he thinks she is perfect the way she is, she doesn’t need to change and also signs his feelings about her. He also creates Nathalie Kelley’s face out cassette’s media tape and than plays the piano towards the end of the video, showing us he is also musically talented, that he can play the piano as well as sing. There are not many frequent cuts and most of the camera shots are medium or zoomed in to the faces of the characters to see the reaction and facial expressions. The emotions showed by the characters were happy, smiley, joyful and calm and it goes well with the genre of the music. This help builds calm, relaxing and comfortable mood on the screen. They also edited the video by using fast motion when Bruno Mars makes images out of media tape from the cassette to save time.

The music is supported by the visual in this video, for an example, when there is bell and drums played in the instrumental, a bell and drum can be seen and is as if they’re being played, which matches up together. “When I see your face, there’s not a thing that I would change, because you’re amazing, just the way you are”. This is a line from lyrics included in video and in the video it is as if he is signing those words to the actress, describing the way he feels towards her like Andrew Goodwin identified “There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals”. Bruno also tries to impress the actress by playing the piano. Some of the shots used where it’s a close up of Bruno Mars to capture his facial expression and to also make the audience feel as if he is singing those words to the actress. The lyrics also match the visual in another way, when Bruno sings about her hair and eyes, which is shown cleverly through the use of moving the media of the cassette tape into shape of her face, hair and eyes.

The mise en scene in this music video is cleverly linked to the lyrics of the song. For e.g: Bruno Mars sings, “Because you’re amazing, just the way you are”. This implies that he feels as if she’s perfect the way she is and he loves her because the way she is. He is saying this because the actress is wearing clothes that could be viewed as quite lazy and isn’t dressed up. Another feature of mise en scene used is the lighting. The lighting is placed behind each person through the windows as if it’s the sun shining through into the building; this helps to set a happy mood on the set. It also helps to focus on his feelings for this woman. This is also shown through the body language that they both show, and how the girl is getting embarrassed to hear these nice words from the boy.

In our media music video project we will not have any character singing the song as we will be performing acts on base of the lyrics on the song but, I am also thinking to keep a love theme like done in “Just the way you are- Bruno Mars” music video. In my opinion the message of “Just the way you are- Bruno Mars” music video is that, you should like your boyfriend or girlfriend or wife or husband for what they are and how they are.