Explain the conventions of your chosen genre

  The music genre I am doing Uk Garage music, it established in the very late 1980s and was very popular through the 1990s till the 2000s. However it isn’t as popular now and very rarely in the charts however from garage music genres like Dubstep, Grime and Bassline. Garage music is a mixture of House music and electronic dance music; it was created in the UK and was mainly popular in the UK. This is why the majority of Garage Artists are from the UK and the majority are DJs. Garage music is considered a ‘mangled term in dance music.’ Garage music was discovered in the streets of England and the songs and music videos represent it. Garage music is often related with graffiti, bling, wealth, Britain, British culture, youth, DJS, club and female sexuality. A lot of things that influence garage music is Hip-Hop and the English streets. However it is not just a black person genre it was a genre of music that white and blacks both liked, this shows in music videos as there is always equal amount of black and whites in their videos. I have done a brief analysis of a music video by the same artist that I am doing my music video to. The artist uses many conventions of the genre.

    The music video I will analyse is ‘Movin To Fast’ by Artful Dodger this is the same artist as the song I am going to create a music video too. The video starts off with a brick wall, this is a convention of Garage music it represents the British streets where garage music was originally started. It then moves like a slide show to a new slide which shows the artist’s first part of the name ‘Artful’ also on this slide is a keyboard, in the song a keyboard is used as part of the track this shows the artist can play this it shows the artist talent and shows that they make the music themselves it shots their originality. Also a keyboard is an instrument anybody can have so it shows that anybody can make similar music. The next slide comes on and it says the rest of the artist name ‘Dodger’ I think this is because ‘Artful Dodger is two DJs so this lets audiences know one artist is ‘Artful’ and the other is ‘Dodger’ The next slide comes on with a use of a special affect so it comes on like a blind, this makes the video look sophisticated. On this next slide there is some drums I think this represents ‘Drum and Bass’ Drum and bass is in the garage music genre. It also shows this is ‘Dodgers’ talent and ‘Artful’ talent is the keyboard and together they compose garage music. The next slide comes on with the same blind affect and this slide shows their singer, in bold letters it says her name and she is central this shows how important she is to the song and lets audiences know she is the singer. The next slide comes on to a plain white back ground and one red line throughout the middle this is the start of when the music video is more a video than a slide show.

     The red lines then flash throughout the screen, the one of the DJs walks into the shot it then take a very quick cut and both artist and in the middle in a mid-shot it then quickly cuts in again and makes it a close up of the two Djs then goes back to a mid-shot. Then in two very quick shots it goes back again then to a mid-shot with one DJ. I think this is so the cuts go with the beat of the song and keeps a bit of mystery on the DJS as you don’t have chance to see them closely. They are both dressed in same beige like colours this is so you know they work together as a group. They are also dressed very average in black baggy jeans, beige tops and trainers. This is so they don’t look like pop-stars they look like casual men from England. This is because they are, they are DJs not superstars and try and bring that to the audience they have that laidback British approach what garage music stands for. It then cuts to artist walking, they walk with attitude arms down and a bit of bounce in their step this is quite Hip-Hop like, Hip-Hop has a big influence in garage music. It then carries on with the zooms, close-ups, mid- shots these all go with beat of the song, it kind of feels like a strobe light in a club. It also keeps a bit of mystery behind the DJs.

    It then fades in to a keyboard and the one of the DJs walking to it so the audience things ‘He’s going to play it’ it then using the same blind across the screen affect like in the begging to go on to the drums the other DJ is there at the drums, he then does a spin and bangs is hand into the drums this is when the singing starts. That whole sequence then feels like to the audience that it was intro and now the song really begins. The way artist spins round seems very cheesy and very unrealistic thing of them to do, I think this shows the young playful side to the DJs and the genre of the music. Once the DJ bangs his hand on the drum is take a quick shot to the singer which is a close up of her face.  The artist herself isn’t the prettiest girl; she has an eyebrow piercing, short hair and not a load of makeup on. I think this shows the ‘Street-side’ to the genre, she looks like an ordinary woman you would find in England, I think she relates well with the audience. After the close up it goes to another shot of a wide shot. On the left hand side is one DJ playing the keyboard in the middle is the singer and the right hand side is the other DJ playing the drums. This shows the audience the whole group is equally, there’s no singer without the DJs and no DJs without a singer. It also its almost like she is performing for the two dancers and she is seductively dancing and she is the middle of them both. She is also wearing black trousers which match the two Djs and she is also wearing a gold slinky top show its shows sexuality and the COLOUR ‘Gold’ which represents bling. She then walks towards the camera and it does a spilt screen shot underneath her is a brick wall with graffiti. It then uses an extreme close up on her eye WITH the eye brow piercing, almost showing it off to show she isn’t a softie and she does have attitude. Throughout the rest of the video is shows small dance sequences of the artist dancing and carries on using the blind across the screen affect. It also shows the DJs throughout the video.

   This video shows many of the conventions that represent garage music. Garage music is a very British genre that expresses equality between black and white people. The majority of singers in the song are black however the DJS are majority white. It also shows the street of England and the less well-off have talent however it shows desire to be rich by using colour like gold.

Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape - Music Video Analysis

   This video is very influential towards me and my music video. This music video may be off a different genre however some o the conventions are very similar to garage music but on the contrary they are very different. This music video is from the enter pop so it includes typical pop conventions for example, the artist has blond hair this represent innocence which is a major part in he pop culture. It also includes 'cute' ,'girlie' but Japanese back up dancers. This is because is aimed at young girls and teenagers.
   The reason why I found this video influential to mine is due to some 'garage' conventions. The main one of this colour and representation of 'gold' throughout the video the colour and the representation of gold is shown. It also has similar ties in that the camera is often jerky and unstable to give it a handheld look, this shows the 'rebeliness' in the artists, i want to show this in my video to show the same in my artist.
    The video starts off with a medium close up of the artist Gwen Stefanie, then does a cut to some gold weights. Weights are often associated witrh men and bodybuilders so its irony that they are in the same jail cell as the beautiful, attractive and slender Gwen Stafani it also coveys feminism and that's she's not not bog standard typical woman. It then cuts to her jail inmates her harrojuku girls/ backup dancers. It then cuts to a close up of some gold books. This also shows the artist is intellegent. After this is does a cut to a close up to Gwen Stefania face this show it all relates to her. It also cuts to a gold alarm clock,  this shows time is passing slowly. It then does does cuts to gwen Stafani, cups, and Harojuko girls. The miseenscence shows they are locked in jail. The gold bars and the outfits that are worn show this too. They are wearing black and white convict outfits. The shots are shot and contimnualy cut between prison scenarios which are eating in the dinner hall and spending time in the cells. The one thing the doesnt reflect prison life is everything is gold. Gold is associated with riches, money, wealth and the most important power. It goes against fabulation in which if you commit a crime you go to prison. This gold theme is very popular in Garage music. Garage music is all about gold or 'Bling' so I will take this into considertaion when making mine.
   Throughout the video theres I the letter 'G' everywhere which stands for Gwen Stefani and a lot of the shots of the 'G' are close up or extreme close ups. This promotes the artists as a brand not just an artist. This is so audiences in future references recognise the letter 'G' and can associate it with the artists Gwen Stefani, its almost acting as a product placement. Everything has a 'G' on it from plates, to cups to the key in a dogs mouth to let them free from prison. Prison is often seen as a punishment but they are almost mocking it they having a good time and enjoying themselves. They also look extremely attractive considering their in prison. The red lipstick and red nails also show passion. What was Gwen Stefar real crimes?
   They also use special affects when they get the key to get out of prison they make sparkles appear on the screen, this is very different to my genre of music, this associates this music video with pop music. This music video uses a wide range of shots from, long shots, medium shots, close-ups, extreme close ups and establishing shots. They are very similar to shots I will use, these shots are used for different purposes to that I will use them for. In pop music they are to show the artists beauty off and make them look innocent. This is because their target audience is very different to mine. They also use special effects to create a slide saying 'Two Hours later' this makes the video storybook look. I don't want this for mine, my video will be a performance based not a narrative.
    After the two hours slide it changes scene to a high towe it also references and eqlecti borrows the Rapunzel story. She's locked in a high tower, with long her and for her friends to rescue her they have to climb the hair. Also the outfit she is wearing reflects back on the first scene black and white stripes, she is once again a prison. However it also cuts on tourought the evideo to close ups of her eyes and dressed more innocently with Akon. This shows the typical Pop culture as she looks Innocent and the blond hair reflects on the pop society and stereotypes blonds. I would prefer to not use a blonde artist in my video as blonds are often associated with Pop genre.
     Once prop they use in this video which represents garage culture is the use of a big flash car. The fact the car is also being chased by the police also shows the 'garage' culture. It shows the rebellious side, however this video puts a pop spin on it, the police are dressed in sexy little outfits, this makes it less realistic it doesn't make look like reality and gives it this fantasy world.  Toward the end of the video the shots get quicker and quicker cut. I like this its shows the song is getting a faster beat. I also like the quick match on action cuts. Throughout this video there is no fades or dissolves during the video this makes it very continuous.
     This video has aspects of garage however it also is very different and is you're typical pop music video. This is shown many ways majority them I have discussed. I need to avoid doing this in my video so it doest confuse audiences.
   
  

Christina Aguilera - Cant' Hold Us Down - Music Video Analysis

    This is another video that influences me with mine. The artist is Christina Aguilra ft Lil Kim. The genre of music is pop and hip-hop. It portrays many pop conventions however is has a few garage music conventions that influence me with my video.

     The audience for this video will be teenagers majority female. The purpose of this video is to entertain audiences and to show that 'Nobody can hold us down' attitude. They are a strong nit community.

    The mise en scene on this video is very typical American ghetto0 streets. My video is based on English streets. The thing that influences me for my video is the graffiti everywhere. This is a connotation of run down area and gangs, it also relates to garage music as in many UK Garage music video there is graffiti in the videos. This shows the culture of garage music.  The opening shots show the street life and it shows of the graffiti., it shows a tight nit community which populated by the black race. UK Garage music has a influence of the black race however most artists are white. Later on it splits the males from females ready for a dance off. This is typical of the 'Hip-hop' music and is a big convention, this is a slight influence into my music video. It also shows females vs males an ongoing war in modern day life community. Its like the song is trying to make out they are equal, and the leader is Christina Agularia. All the girls surrounding her are of the black race, this excludes her and makes her different it also shows she is the lead performer. The clothes they wear in this video are very 90s style hip-hop. Christina Aguilaria is wearing mini shorts this shows her sexuality as a woman it shows she is attractive. She also wears a matching top this almost makes it look like a uniform, this also makes her stand out as the main artist. She also wears big gold jewellery, this gives it a gangster look and bling. This is what I want to use for my video. She also wears a baseball cap this gives her a masculine look the reflects back on the people she is standing against which is men. She wants them to be one not to be separate sides and that they both should be equal. All the backup dancers and cast wear typical 80s/90s  tracksuits, bikinis and outfits. They all wear bling this shows the upbrining of these people, they are not from a posh background they are from the 'Streets.'

    This video uses a lot of establishing shots to let the audience see the area, it also sets the scene more vivdly and the streetlife attitude. It also uses many mid shots this allows audiences to see the caharters and personal faces up close on this video.  Thsi video however doesnt use any close up all the shoits are long shots and mid shots, this makes you feel involved and feel like you are there.

  

Jessie J - Do it like a dude - Music Video Analysis

To help me with my music video I will analysis 3 videos that influence me with mine.

   The first video I will analysis is 'Do It Like A Dude' by Jessie J. The video is a performance based video there is not much narrative to it. Even though the lyrics are nothing similar or similar meaning to mine, I've picked this because the video is a big influence for mine. This music video like all three I'm going to analyse are of a different genre to mine. This music video is from a family of music genres. One being Pop, one being R&B and some people even class it as electronic. There is no relation to 'Garage' music. However some of the concepts of this video do convey 'UK Garage music. On the contrary a lot of things don't. This video is a very dark almost horror like music video and some people could even see it as controversial.
    Ill talk about the camera shots and angles first that are used throughout the video. To start of the video it uses a mixture of close-ups and extreme close ups, these are all of important things that set the mise en scene for the video. The first close up is of some playing cards in somebody's hand this connotates they are gambling and they live a high risk renegade lifestyle. This is very similar to that lifestyle of 'UK garage' music. The next close up is of somebody blowing smoke out of their mouth with a lip ring these connotations are that of what you would typically see in a 'heavy metal' music video therefore I wont use anything like this in mine. The close after this is of somebody receiving a tattoo once again this is risque for a 'pop' music video. There is then extremely quick cuts on closeups of girls kissing and girls smoking a very large cigar or joint. All these close ups are of females, you can tell this by the minor details for examples the nails, hair and lips. All the things they are doing are very masculine things, this shows feminism and that they aren't you're stereotypical woman they can do what men can do. All the shots up to 16 seconds of the song are extreme close ups and close ups. This insifies the video. A lot of the footage has been speeded up by editing this gives the video or more edgy look and 'Dance' music influence. I like this effect and will use it in my video. There is also use of fades, blurs and zooms. I like all of these as it gives detail for video and makes it more entertaining, not only that it gives emphasis. In the dance scenes they use long shots, this is to make the dancers look taller and more powerful, they own the power they are the 'Men' of the world. This is how I want my female to look , I want her to dominate the screen. Jessie J throughout the music video grabs the camera and moves it away. This shows she's trying connect with the audience, it also shows power and connection to the 'real world' and the 'media world.' They also over shoulders shots, this makes the audience feel like they are following Jessi J. The use a couple medium shots, this is so you can see the face of the artist properly and due to her being a new artists it helps you reconsign her for future videos. The editing is very quick pace and all the shots are very short so there is a lot of cuts in this video, this makes the song seem faster than what it is, this influences me on me. The one downside of this video I dislike is I personally think there is too many closeups. I don't think it gives the audience enough time to recognise the artist for future videos. However the director may have done this to make the artist slightly mysterious.
    The purpose of this video is to entertain and promote the song. The song is initially about woman being able to that what a man can. Its almost sexist against men. This video is for the audience who like 'Pop' and 'Hiphop' it doesn't however have many pop conventions it brakes the rules and conventions of that of a pop video and is in some ways very dark, i think this makes this video stand out.
   The mise en scene of this video is perfect for that of the lyrics and purpose of the song. It set in a dark and dingy warehouse or basement. This shows that woman don't have to be in a spotless environment they can be like men and get mucky. In the dance scene there is church like windows in the background however they are dancing provocatively in the front of them, this shows they have no respect for religion. They are above religion and above men. God was supposed to be a man they are trying to prove they are the new god. The lighting of this video is very dark and unlit, this shows their dark side and they have no innocence. I like this factor however I don't think I will make my video this dark. They also use lighting to create a flashing effect, this creates a horror but club like feel to the video, this shows the 'Dance' music influence.
   The outfits Jessi J uses in this video are very provocative but yet have a manly like look to them. The hoodie and gold chains make her look a stereotypical 'Ganster' gansters are associated to be hard and violent and in the scenes she wears this particular outfit she acts hard and violent. She is trying to be a 'ganster' it also shows the Hip-hop influence into the video. The hoodie is also bright orange, this makes her stand out from the backup dancers so you know she is the lead performer. In other scenes she wears a plain white tank top, this is also a very 'tomboy' thing to wear, it shows she isn't a girly girl she is more of a man. The backups dancers and extras are all dressed in a manly fashion this shows they all feel the same way as Jessie J. Finally I will mention her hair. Her her it jet black, black is the colour of evil, death and darkness, is this the person in the video? It shows she isn't innocent she is evil.
   This video does influence me in the way females are portrayed, however my video wont be as dark as this as the 'UK music Garge' scene is less intense and are less commercialised.

Lyrcis Analsis

   The original version of the song has different lyrics to the remix by 'Artful dodger' mix. So I had to re-write them to match the lyrics of the artful dodger mix. I will now talk a little about the lyrics of the song.
  The song starts of with the chorus, in the chorus she describes that her 'baby' is 'Worth than a million in gold' That means he worth more than anything she could ever have.  By the first chorus you can tell what the song is about, she and her boyfriend have broken up and got back together and it was her fault they broke up 'Wont be a fool anymore' she is so pleased that he is hers again she is determined not to ever let him go 'Ill never let you go' This is very important to the artist as the word 'Never let you go' are repeated throughout the song. There is even a verse where the majority is the line 'Ill never let you go'
    Verse two is about realizing her mistakes so she talks about 'opening her eyes' she now sees a 'New light' this means she has realized her mistakes from before and she is going to change.
     Verse three is about how happy her 'man' makes her, 'Brings joy to my life' She calls him the 'One' this shows how serious she is about him. Also in the opening chorus he referrers to her man as 'Baby' in the second verso she refers to him as 'Boy' and in the third verse she calls him 'Babe' then 'Man' its almost as if she is growing up throughout the song, Their relationship grows up through the song as well, she has realised her mistakes and how much her man means to her. In the four verse she talks about making 'love' to her man all day everyday this shows how strong their relationship and she calls it making 'Love' instead of something seedy.
        The whole song is about realisation, growing up and her man. She has realised her mistake of letting him go but now she has him back she will never let him go.

Here are the lyrics of my song...

Never letting go-o-o-o-o-o...

[CHORUS]

Never gonna let you go

Cause you're my baby

Worth more than a million in gold

Now that I've got you back

I'll never let you go

Won't be a fool anymore

Time has come

For me to open my eyes

Blind before

When I let you go boy

Now I see a new light

Got you back in my life

Oh yeah

[CHORUS]

You are the one

That brings joy to my life

I've grown so strong

I've got the strength to go on

Listen up now babe

Now my man is here with me

Oh yeah

[CHORUS ]

o-o-o-o- ill never (never let)

Never let you go-o-o-

I'll never, never, never, never, never ooo

NEVER, NEVER let you goooo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Baby baby don't you know

Never let you go

Baby don't you know

Never let you go

Let me show how I missed you

I'll give you things that you long for

I wanna make love everyday

O-o-o-o in a special way

I guarantee you never ever stray-ay-ay-ay-ay

Never ever

Never ever

X4

Never let him go-o-o-o

Never let him go-o-o-o

Never, never, never, never ,never, baby

Never let you

[CHORUSX2]

Inspiration for my music video

  I have used the website http://www.prezi.com/ to make a small mind map of pictures that inspire my music video. These pictures give me inspiration, ideas and themes for the music video. Here is a photo of my mind map I made on prezzi of photos that inspire me.

The majority of the pictures that inspire me are of the ghetto, bass, graffiti and the colours black and gold. I like the mixture of 'Ghetto' and 'Glamourous.' The pictures of the artists I have chosen also inspire me by the way they are dressed.  In my video my artists will be glamorous however she will be ghetto, she will have this hard approach and look to her when really she is very venerable.

Chosen song

    Looking at my mind maps I have decided which song I wish to use for my music video. The song I have chosen is ' Never Let You Go' by Tina Moore. Howevere I will use the 'Artful Dodger remix' this is because this version is more contempoaray and up to date, it also makes the song in a differnt genre. The song in its orginal format is of the genre R&B when its remixed its in the genre garage. The remix song doesnt have a video and the song length is 3:37.

Animated Video

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Mindmapping

    I have done some mindmapping to help me choose the perfect the song, my first mind map is possible songs I could choose to do a video too, thye are all of differnt genres. The genres are R&B, Pop, Dance, Garage, Rock, Jazz and Indie.


Here is a mind map helping me decide which genre to do;


                                     


  Here is a mind map about Amy Whinehouse and the song 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow' beacuse their isnt a video for the song I have wrote some notes on another video by the artist. I have also wrote some key points on videos in the same genre but differnt artist:

 Here is a mind map about the artist Nelly and the song 'Dilema' .I have wrote some notes on other videos by the same artist. I have also wrote some key points on videos in the same genre but by differnt artists:

  Here is a mind map about the artists Sterophonics and the song 'Nothing compares to you' beacuse their isnt a video for the song I have wrote some notes on another video by the artist. I have also wrote some key points on videos in the same genre but by differnt artists:

Here is a mind map about the artists Tina Moore (Artful Dodger remix) and the song 'Never let you go' beacuse their isnt a video for the song I have wrote some notes of the orginal song music video. I have also wrote some key points on videos in the same genre but by differnt artists:

Critical Analsis

    The beginning of my AS year was very hard. I didn't have any of the skills that I have now. These skills have been built up over time. I now feel much stronger this year and know my work will be more successful now I have the skills that I gained last year.
    The beginning of last year we was set the task of making a college magazine, this was just to get us introduced to the course. The first step was to think of ideas and do some research of college magazines, we did this by looking at magazines and the use of internet. After this I set start on the college magazine, so I went out and took some pictures. The model I used had a SLR camera, I had never used one before so this was new to me. I had to learn how to use it properly, the right settings, the right buttons and how to hold it properly. This was all new to me as I was used to the normal average working camera. It was very different to a normal camera so the skills I learnt from using her camera are were all new to me. I had to figure the right settings to get the flash right and anti-blur. This was important beacuse if the photos werent done propely it would look unprofessional, I needed it to look as professional as possible. Once I had produced the photos I need to edited them on the programme Photoshop. This was a huge step for me as I had never used this programme before or similiar programmes.It took me a while to get used to it, how to put text on pictures, layers, adjusting colours, cropping, fading and resizing images so they wouldn't look pixalated. This is very important beacuse if my photos looked pixalated, badly cropped or the colours werent right once again it wouldnt look professional. When I look back now to my college magazine, I'm surprised how much my skills have moved on from then. My college magazine looks nothing like my next project which was making a front cover, contents and double page spread to a music magazine. By this point my skills had developed so much more.
     For my music magazine my skills were so much stronger, I knew how to use SLR cameras with no problems, I knew how to use Photoshop and I began to use Blogger. I found Blogger very time consuming at first I couldn't understand it, took me a while how to figure out how to make posts, change the layout, the background and make polls. Making a poll helped me find out information I needed to know, this helped in some of my essay and researchs. When making my music magazine I had to create a questionnaire, to make this I used Paint and Microsoft Word. I couldn't make it on Blogger so I used  Paint and Microsoft Word instead, I knew how to use Microsoft Word and Paint before hand but I had never made a questionnaire on them before, so it was a little bit of a challenge. Once I had my results of my questionnaire I needed to put the results into graphs, so I used a programme called Excel. I had never used Excel before so this was a new thing to me. My skills increased loads by using Excel as I had to learn formulaes and create graphs. Graphs are important as it adds up and sorts data out into a easy way to see. It also helps me on my research and eveidence on my music magazine project. Once I had figured out how to make graphs on Excel it got easier but was very time consuming.
    Another skill I have learnt from last year is how to use YouTube properly, I did know how to use it but I didn't know there was more too it. I didn't know you could have an account, view other peoples accounts and see videos that a similar.This helps me in my project beacuse I can look at videos in similar genres easier than seacrhing around. Another factor my skills have grown better on is using the Internet to research properly. I used sites like Wikipedia and music magazines sites like 'Q' and 'NME' this helped me find out how mnay copies of 'NME' were sold last year, what age group by 'NME' and gender. This helped so I could understand the audience that would by my magazine.
    I learnt many skills last year and how to use programmes like Blogger, Photoshop, YouTube, Excel, Paint and how to use an SRL camera, this year I hope my skills get even better and will grow, all these programmes helped me improve my work, and my work look professional and not ammurure like. I reckon I will understand the programms more this year and find them easier to use, perhaps I will even learn new things.