Proposal:
In this coursework unit we have been asked to produce an advanced level portfolio of work involving one main and two ancillary media texts as well as producing a project blog. The main production is a music promo video that is allowed to be 5 minutes at the most, the deadline for this is the 12th of December. The two ancillary texts is a cover for the music videos release as part of a digipak and a magazine advertisement for the digipak, the deadline for this is the 30th of January. The blog should include all the Research and Development stages as well as a critical evaluation of our work.
Initial thinking
Research findings:
Our research initially helped us get an idea on what the dance genre music videos entails in order to create a successful music video for this unit. The track we settled on is “Move it 2 the Drum”, DJ Chuckie. Our research into the subject matter showed that DJ Chuckie himself had started out himself with only his devotion and inspiration to the music industry that created a name for himself in the widely known community. DJ Chuckie started his own producing company “Dirty Dutch” which is how he was able to create and share his music with the rest of the world. This shows that he started out through an indie record group himself, therefore we decided to do the same.
Also an indie record label gives the artist more freedom and can be more creative with their videos, which is what we intend to do to have a more creative video that is more likely to impact the audience. From our target audience interviews we found out that even though a lot of people listen to the big well known artists who have built their name up they still prefer to listen to more unknown artists, this influenced our choice to theoretically be part of the independent record label.
We also found out from the representation research that the main ideology discourses used in music videos are money, gender, sex and sexuality, therefore we intend to incorporate these themes in our idea using a variety of different characters to show this.
In addition, from the similar textual analysis we found that using intertextuality is important in music video because it engages with the audience on a different level. If included in our video it could potentially increase the effectiveness of the video which can have a great impact on the artist’s star image. As an independent record label this would help gain a larger global audience if the audience spots the indistinctive reference.
Overall our ideas are linked to the unusualness of what an independent record label could do to a video that a major record label cannot do. It is easier for an independent label to produce a music video that goes beyond the typical conventions of a normal music video produced by major record labels. This is because there are fewer specifications to what a music video can adopt. This will make it easier for us to create the music video we want as we do not need to follow many rules to what we can include in our video.
Initial ideas:
Jasmine
My idea for the song chose (“Move it 2 the drum” (TECH Mix)) is to set it in a night club as the whole DJ scene fits in to it. Need two cleaners (male), one of which will be the main character whose dream is to be a DJ and get lots of girls. Each shot is going start and end with a cut as concluded from the similar textual analysis cuts are constantly used to transition from one scene to another to give it an edgy feel. The use of many close-up’s act as a guide to the characters emotions and feelings as there is no dialogue and not many words to the song. The control acts as a symbol of what triggers the hallucination for the cleaners dream.
- Start with an establishing shot of an empty nightclub with two cleaners in the shot. One cleaner is mopping the floor, while the other is talking to him.
- Jump cut to a mid shot of man saying “lock up when you’re done” while he is walking to the door.
- Close-up of man mopping, when we hear the door shut he looks around cautiously and get a close-up of the mop while he puts it down.
- Track as he walks to the DJ decks.
- Close-up of him standing behind the DJ decks.
- Close-up of hand moving controls up.
- Point of view (wide angle) of the club slowly turning from empty to full with lights and beams everywhere.
- Close-up of cleaner looking at his clothes that have changed and looking around stunned.
- Many different people start to appear fat/skinny, tall/short, young/old and men/women.
- Getting many close-ups of different people such as a gay man and he is trying to flirt with the DJ (cleaner). Then a close-up of the DJ/Cleaner taking away the memory and the gay man disappear. (Get many people Goths/geeks/seductively dressed women etc).
- Between all the different dancers and people in the club the cleaners phone rings and close-up of the controls on the DJ decks turning it down and he is brought back to reality picking it up it’s a parallel shot of him and the other cleaner on the phone. No light no one in the club and back in his cleaning clothes. He says “yes” the other cleaner says “Are you almost done? You need to hurry!” and hangs up. Point of view of him looking around and the room is empty. Close-up of him pushing the control back up and the whole place become lively again and carry on with the different people.
- Show the DJ/cleaner walking to the dance floor and starts dancing with a young woman dressed revealingly (shown with a dolly crane or zoom in). Close-up’s (man and woman) of them dancing, man sweating then all of a sudden he looks at the girls point of view she turn old and wider dancing and he shakes his head and walks a bit back then close-up to the old lady dancing and cut to another close-up of the man checking her bum and close-up on the old ladies bum.
- Change focus to another person in the club.
- Other man comes in and walks to the decks (the room is empty) with the other cleaner standing pretending he is a DJ the man shakes him and talks to him it’s all unclear like he is hallucinating “hey come on we gotta go” “oii” and the man comes back to reality and looks puzzled while the other cleaner is pushing his out of the door together with the cleaning equipment.
Ninthuja
NARRATIVE: linear/ dream-like sequence/main perspective
THEME: Hopes & Dream of an upcoming DJ/ documenting realistic party scenes
My idea for the music video of our selected track had mainly stemmed from the arrangement of the music I analysed in my Similar Textual Analysis. I influenced the ideology of a teenager’s reality in terms of a typical ‘break-up and make-up’, however in this case, it a young boy’s dreams and aspiration. While Bass hunter’s video used juxtaposition to express the differences of the male and female couple, I wanted to include, just a male character, focusing on one perspective, but the same use of juxtaposition in terms of his own dream sequence then reality. However, I also manipulated a few features in the Basshunter music video, in terms of the club scene and action within the nightclub; incorporating these characteristics into my own idea.
Before the track begins, to allow the viewers to familiarise with the ideology of this music video, we would set the scene of a young boy of maybe a particular ethnic background; possibly a Chinese boy, fitting a very typical stereotype of being visually smart. He would walk into his bedroom: a very ordinary looking boy walking in to an ordinary looking room. The representation of society’s expectations would be presented with him looking very ‘nerdy’, which then follows into a pan of the whole room conveying his academic status, from posters of periodic tables for science and certificates framed, with musical instruments and a set of math equipment. These features can specifically be highlighted which brings about certain racial contradictions, as despite the diversity and range in society today, these are general views in terms of what is seen in this culture.
This then follows through to him sneakily locking his room with a twinge of excitement whereby he takes out a secret box from underneath his bed, when revealed the contents, we see an aspiring DJ as he takes out miniature decks and headphones, with various references of his love for music. At this point is when we would slowly fade in the track music, as he inserts his headphones, closes his eyes, begins motioning of DJ gestures and joyfully goes into a dream sequence. This scene would be of him dressed very stylishly on the decks in a big club full of colour and vibrancy, where we outline his expression of pride having a room full of excited dancers. Various shots of interesting episodes in the club will be shown.
Near to the end of the track, we fade back to reality; his bedroom, while the music immediately when we hear a parent calling to him for his dinner. He hastily packs away all his precious items and hides them again. The facial expression is yet again prompted to show viewers his disappointment as he leaves his room with a sigh. Without providing so much of background information for the viewers, the general knowledge of different traditions are portrayed, especially in the main focus of this boy’s Asian culture where we can see strict principles lead to conformity regardless of whether he is allowed to live his dream or not, he is masking is true identity; generating a sense of pity and understanding conclusively.
Davina
My idea was influenced by the similar text analysis on Benny Benassi. From this i wanted to add as many representational issues in the music video, such as using girls with different races. I wanted to show a males fantasy to be surrounded with girls, therefore giving the male dominance like it does in Benny Benassi’s Video. As the dialogue is mainly repeated through the song I researched and the song (move it 2 the drum (tech mix)), I included different types of shots used to establish the location, and keep the audience gripped by using different transitions.
1st shot – no music – mother telling the 18 year old boy who is dressed as a geek, someone who never gets the female attention to get up and do his work.
2nd shot – long shot of him laying on his bed – c/u shot of him putting headphones in and another c/u shot of him pressing play. His eyes then start closing (music starts playing)
3rd shot - 2nd “ahh dam girl” a majority of different mid shots of girls doing makeup. Close up of lips/ eyes/ girl fiddling with hair
4th shot, the last line “ ahh dam girl, I like the way you move it to the drum” (0.11 secs) the boy mimes it whilst having long shot of the 18 year old boy fixing hair – he doesn’t look like a geek anymore, looking in the mirror admiring himself winking
5th shot - low shot of all the girls walking, with only showing their feet to their knees, and then the boy joins and you see just the feet walking.
6th shot – shot of everyone in the club dancing, panning across to show the location where everyone is dancing.
7th shot - by 0.31 the shot should start getting blurry and faster , becoming distorted.
8th shot – “ah dam girl, I like the way you move it 2 the drum” close up shot if his head turning to see everyone dancing as his takes of his glasses- him and the girls are at the entrance.
9th shot – When the beat drops (0.44) – you see a long shot of him at the front, and 3 girls by each of his side making him look like a pimp, and they slowing walk in, as his head moves to the beat.
10th shot – (0.51) he is grinding with the girls, as they are dancing around him tapping him trying to get his attention.
11th shot – he checks the girls figures out, then looks by the entrance by (1.22) and then a long shot of a really pretty girl dancing by herself, seductively.
12th shot – mid shot of him walking towards her fixing his hair.
13th shot, mid shot of him looking at her winking, as the twirls her hair and holds his arm
14th shot – 2nd “ahh dam girl, I like the way you move it to the drum” shot of his saying it to the girl, as she looks at him seductively.
15th shot, a long shot of them walking, then a mid shot of him looking at the camera winking and putting his sunglasses on.
16th shot – music then fades out as he wakes up and pulls his headphones out, he says “I wish” and then fades out to a blackout.
Iram
My idea is to set our music video in a club, using the song choice of ‘Move it to the drum’.
From the research I have conducted, most dance music videos tend to have DJ’s which is what will be included in our video, as it fits in with the genre and theme. As there is hardly any dialogue/ lyrics in our chosen song, there will be a lot of close ups which help to portray the characters emotions and certain expressions. There will also be a few extreme wide shots to establish the locations as this is used in many music videos. Also the speed of editing should be really fast as this helps to determine the mood of what is taking place on screen.
1st Shot - A tracking shot where the camera is following a girl, camera focuses on her shoes whilst she’s walking through a narrow low lit corridor, walking down the stairs in to the club.
2nd Shot - Jump cut to camera zooming in and out repeatedly at a fast pace, on the DJ equipment.
3rd Shot - When it says ‘I like the way you move it to the drum’ the beat drops, there could then be a jump cut to the dance floor where it’s filled with all different kinds of people.
4th Shot - There could be shots of old people dancing in different styles.
5th Shot - when the old people turn around to face the camera, they could turn into young people.
6th Shot - close ups of the young people making funny faces.
7th Shot - the camera could then be focused back to the main girl who was showed at the beginning of the video.
8th Shot - this girl would be dancing with the old people, there could be a random shot of the lights moving in every direction.
9th Shot - camera could then have a crane shot of a man walking into the club.
10th Shot - the man spots the woman dancing with the old people, she stands out from the crowd.
11th Shot - as she turns around whilst still dancing, she catches a glimpse of him walking up to her and smiles flirtatiously.
12th Shot - a jump cut would be used as it would then show the man taking the woman’s hand as they would start dancing with each other.
13th Shot - the spotlight could be on them while there dancing away.
14th Shot – another jump cut could be used as the camera could do a tracking shot of a young guy break dancing in the middle of the dance floor.
15th Shot- the last shot could consist of the man and woman laughing, walking off together hand in hand out of the club, it could end in a rolling shot.
Final idea:
Each shot is going start and end with a cut as concluded from the similar textual analysis cuts are constantly used to transition from one scene to another to give it an edgy feel. The use of many close-up’s act as a guide to the characters emotions and feelings as there is no dialogue and not many words to the song.
Exterior shot of an extravagant house, to show he is upper class. Door opens and shows the journery through the corridor to his room (edit it to be fast motion). Enter his room and see him laying on his bed. (He is geeky looking and has big glasses and a bow tie, see periodic table in his room together with math and biology panitings etc. This is to emphasis he is acedemic.).
- Long shot of him laying on his bed
- close-up shot of him putting headphones in
- Another close-up shot of him pressing play.
- Close-up of his eyes starting to close to show he is dreaming (music starts playing).
- When the lyrics start “ahh dam girl” cut to show a majority of different mid shots of all different people (old/young, guys/girls, gay men etc) doing makeup. Close up of lips/ eyes/ girl fiddling with hair flick through quickly like pages of a book.
- The last line of the lyrics “ahh dam girl, I like the way you move it to the drum” (0.11 seconds) cut to the boy in his room showing him miming.
- Cut to a long shot of the boy fixing his hair – he still looks like a geek but he doesn’t think he does (Hair slicked back). He looks in the mirror admiring himself winking.
- Then cuts to an shot of an night club (wide shot) and you see him walking in trying to seem cool asking people to hi-5 and when they don’t pretend to be touching his hair.
- Intercut to him dreaming in his room showing his emotions: At this point he is smiling.
- Cut Many close-ups of different people in the club.
- Show him on the dance floor dancing with a young woman dressed revealingly.
- Close-up of man and woman dancing, he is all sweaty then all show him turning around.
- When he turns he sees a fat lady dancing and he shakes.
- Intercut to him dreaming in his room showing his emotions: He is pulling a face in disgust.
- Cut t the nightclub he starts to step back then close-up and cut to another close-up of the him checking her bum out and close-up on the ladies bum.
- Intercut to him dreaming in his room showing his emotions: His expression is back to happy at this point he has a perveted smile on his face.
- Back to the club With a new person A gay guy trying to flirt with him.
- Intercut to him dreaming in his room showing his emotions: His expression is sour and squirmy as he shakes his head (Shaking the thought away).
- Cuts back to him steping back a couple of steps until he bumbs into a prostitute.
- Intercut to him dreaming in his room showing his emotions: He seems to be happy touching his nipple area.
- He is dancing with her untill her wig falls of and he see’s it is actually a male transexual prostitute.
- Intercut to him dreaming in his room showing his emotions: He is in disgust.
- Cut to him dancing with skinny model.
- Intercut to him dreaming in his room showing his emotions: He is happy once again.
- Cut to the club the model is still dancing with him until she is pulled away and he is left standing alone in the middle of the club. At this point a punk comes up to him and starts a mosh pit with him everyone starts to jump up and down viguously.
- Intercut to him dreaming in his room showing his emotions: He seems to be confused and then his expression becomes happy and excited.
- Cut to the club, we see a poiunt of view of him looking at a girl he has stopped dancing now and is the only one not in the mosh pit. Wide shot of him weaving through people to get to her (She looks like him, she is a geek too) and he points to her then to him and she walks away holding hands with a handsome man that is built up and buff.
- Ends with a cut to him back in his room he jumps up quickly and looks around confused and sad and it fades to black
Production Team Roles:
Producer – Jasmine
Director – Ninthuja
Camera Person – Iram
Editor – Davina
