Pop & R'N'B Music - General Research

I've finally chosen my genre of music that I want to do: POP/RNB music.

My general reason being because I have more familiarity with these music genres than any other genres, although I also like to listen to Classical, Emo/Screamo,Hip Hop, Rap, Rock or Alternative music I think the lyrics in POP/RNB videos are a bit more simple and less abstract, so this will help me to visually portray the words in the music video better. The research has identified both genres to be highly westernized in their origins and because I live in a western society, I think it would make sense for me to do a music video on these genres as I have experience of what it is like living in a western, contemporary society. I can therefore apply my own knowledge which will further aid me in the whole process of this coursework.

Case Study : Justin Timberlake

For my case study I chose Justin Timberlake because I am big fan of his music and I knew that his image is one that would have changed quite dramatically over the years.

As shown above, Justin Timberlake has gone from an innocent boyband 'pop' member to being sexy and sophisticated in both his style and his songs. Right now this change in his character is giving me ideas about how I want the singer in my own music video to be portrayed, but I haven't yet chosen a target audience and of course this is the number one deciding factor that determines how I will want everything to be shown on screen.

The history of Music Videos Timeline

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[PLEASE CLICK TO LARGEN & ZOOM IN]

My Skills audit at the beginning of A2

My not so successful outcome with the coursework in AS has only pushed me to work even harder this year.

I am really hoping to improve on the following skills the most : time-management (to ensure things are not rushed and the quality is not sacrificed as a result), more precise planning (to make sure that things run smoother in the filming process) and the ability to apply the research I do to my own work.

Storyboard for our Thriller Film

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Plan for filming session 3

15TH/16TH MARCH 2010

We aim to do a complete re-enactment of our whole scene. This is mainly so that we can correct the issues (stated in the previous blog entry).
From the new and old cuts we can pick and choose which bits we should use and which bits we can scrap from the opening. On this filming session we also aim to record sounds to put in the gaps in the music.
The sounds we need are: WIND & the rocking SWINGS.
When we get these sounds we aim to insert them in our 'silent night' track that will be playing for approx 30 seconds in total (15 secs at beginning & 15 secs at the end).

Improvements for thriller film

During our second filming session we encountered many obstacles. These obstacles related mainly to the lighting condition, camera effectiveness and noise. They are listed below.

The first problem was the torch light. Our group wanted to improve lighting conditions by using torches but as you can see in the picture, the torch light was a bit too obvious and was not completely necessary. In addition to this, when we watched our clips back we realized that a lot of the natural lighting such as the street lights that were already there were bright enough for the scenes to be seen clearly, they also include a kind of reddish tint to it which connotes to the audience that the characters are going to be in danger. To improve this, we wont use the torches next time for the characters.

The second problem we had also related to lighting conditions. The objects used in the scenes, such as the hand and the bloody cardboard boxes appear very faint on the screen. The blood was supposed to be illustrated clearly so that the audience are given clues of the potential danger the characters may endure. However, we can use torches on the objects to improve how well they are seen, the characters may even be able to use their mobile phones as sources of lights, we'll need to make sure the torches/phones are in the characters pockets. Alternatively we could place the props under good lighting that is already there, such as the street lights.

The third problem we encountered was to do with the pace of the last scene. This scene was meant to be the most important and highlight the dramatic situation, however, the lines said by the character were very quick, unclear and seemed rushed and therefore took away the tension that we wanted to create.

The last problem we had was with the noise. The times we filmed were very cold and windy so this masked some of the dialogue in the scenes. Although, we realized some parts the wind would be more effective like for example, when our thriller theme song is being played, there could be different noises/sound effects in between the singing and the wind could be one of them. If it is not windy enough when we film next we could alternatively create the noises of the wind ourselves and this will be easier as we'll have more control over it.