Lyrics Analysis

Today me and Abul analysed the lyrics of the new song: Misrepresented. We added different ideas to each part of the song so it will help us to create different scenes for different parts and lyrics of the song. This will also help us when making the storyboard for the music video as it will give us a platform of what to draw and what ideas to use for the music video.

Informal music video pitch

This is the informal music video pitch where we proposed our ideas to the class. The audience feedback helped us to figure out ideas for our music video. It made us more clear of what to do for our music video for example coming up with a storyline of becoming successful in life whoever you are. Overall the idea of the music video was good, however the storyline is a little confusing which can be amended by creating the music video.

New Song

This picture shows our friends; the artists and music producer who created their own song. From the artist's names are; Feroce on the left in the middle Kamikwazi and Bella. They approached us and asked us if we could create a music video for their new song. We decided to go along with this idea as we felt it was an improvement from our current artist's song.

Storyboard

In this lesson we had to start creating our storyboard for the music video. We have not finished it yet and this is our plan so far. 

Treatment

Treatment
The song that we have chosen is about the hatred and slavery of people in the past and still there are still patches of it in the modern world.
We have 2 ideas for our music video, one of them is where the singer sings the song in front of the camera at different locations without a proper story line. The singer would then be singing and views of urban inner city places, doing his own thing including singing in the studio.
Another idea would include him singing in front of the camera but also including a story line in the background. The song is about racism and hatred to his own race. In the story line he would overcome the stereotypes that have been put on him. He would be working hard for an education but at the same time being hated by many people. Finally at the end he comes out of a big office in a suit which would show he works there.
The conceptual elements in the second idea are the fact that he is overcoming the stereotypes and becoming successful in life with all the hate surrounding him.
The professional music video that inspired was Eminem when I’m gone as he talks about hate and sorrow whilst trying to overcome it.
Another professional music video that inspired us was read all about it by professor green. The song is about a lonely boy who had a lot of hate from his father and had a bad past which is similar to our song we have chosen which is about a bad past. The video in the professional music is going to be similar as. It is about the past and the present, our song is about a bad past of slavery and hatred which is still going on but the person overcame is and became successful. But our promo video is going to be different because it’s going to be about everyone who are surrounded by hate.
Our promo video is going to be different from our professional case studies because our video will be about everyone who are surrounded by hate and have had a bad upbringing with racism and slavery. But our case studies are about the singer themselves and their upbringing/ when they were younger.
We are going to have the singer in the video, a few other actors. Everyone will be wearing casual clothing except for one scene where the person lip syncing will be wearing a suit. Our locations will include inner city urban areas like Camden, Shoreditch, and central London for a few scenes, in the train / Train station, recording studio, park and also the library.
There isn’t many explicit language in the music video as it is about slavery and hate but there is a few explicit language.
The length of the music video will be about 3 minutes long.
The main audience of the music video will be people who have been through racism and are or have been surrounded by hate. Also our audience will be form the age of 15 – 35.
The music video will be broadcasted on YouTube.

Case Studies

Logic - The Spotlight.

Logic (Sir Robert Bryson Hall II) was born on January 22 1990 in Gaithersburg Maryland. His childhood was vastly troubled as his parents were drug addicts which subsequently affected his education. He moved out of home aged 17 and this was when his rap started to develop. He used to rap to himself aged 15. He studied acts like Wu-Tang Clan, the Roots, Big L, Nas, and A TribeCalled Quest. n his early days, he rapped under the name Psychological, releasing the Psychological: The Mix tape in 2009. In 2010, he switched his name to Logic and dropped his first official mix tape: Young, Broke, and Infamous. He’s released a mix tape every year since:Young Sinatra in 2011; Young Sinatra: Undeniable in 2012; and Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever in 2013. Logic released an album on the 21st October 2014 called under pressure.

Lyrics: Do the D.A.N.C.E

1,2,3,4 fight
Stick to the B.E.A.T
Get ready to ignite
You were such a PYT
Catching all the lights
Just easy as A.B.C
(You have interferedworld. our affairs for the last time)
That's how you make it right
Sinatra
[Verse 1: Logic]
I am literally in the air, right now, rapping up a stewardess
First class, I am so new at this
Used to ride the metro, now that shit is retro
Like the infrareds on my feet, baby let's go
Sinatra what the know me by, Logic what they call me
Gotta catch a flight but the fans wanna stall me
Life of a don, chain just glowin', always in the lab with the fresh kicks on
I'm at the MGM, rocking MCM, Bobby Soxer on my arm it's only 10 PM
Got the Rattpack with me going HAM at the hotel
Name brand everything fuck a wholesale
No, I am not materialistic
I was broke my whole life, and no I don't miss it
Last 7 years of my life was in a lab
Working everyday giving it everything I had
Now that a brother is finally recognized
I will not let the limelight hypnotize
Everybody be sure, I'mma always want more
Does anybody make real shit anymore?

[Interlude: Justice]
Under the spotlights
Neither black nor white
It doesn't matter
Do the dance, do the dance
As strong as you might
Working day and night
Whatever happens
Do the dance, do the dance

[Verse 2: Logic]
The grind never stops, like I'm running from the cops
It's hard to stay humble when you're force-fed props
But I don't give a damn, I am just a man
I am not more important than any one of my fans
First name Bobby so I'm all about The Hundreds
Work so hard errybody think I'm blunted (hah)
Gunning hard with the mask and Glock
And I'mma stay with extra clips 'till the casket drops
Finna blow in the next three years, tops
Talking worldwide, not just hip-hop
Rappers now-a-days so flip-flop
Talking 'bout you, wanna work
Motherfucker kick rocks
I am on the come up, headed to the top
Repping MD, and never will I stop
Me and the crew V's up, Visionary what it do
Step to the mic, lyricism ensues
We go hard, only on campus when I wanna study abroad
Guess that's why they wonder if I go there
All the groupie bitches wanna put they fingers through my hair
Can't fade the thirst, chill out, whoa there
Let me get it, let me bring it back
Haters talking shit but I get richer when they doing that
Yes I am pursuing that, number one album, worldwide
And fuck whoever doubt him - Logic


[Outro: Justice]
Under the spotlights
Neither black nor white
It doesn't matter
Do the dance, do the dance
As strong as you might
Working day and night
Whatever happens
Do the dance, do the dance

Lyrics analysis: The first verse is about logic himself and the ordeals he has been through as well as gaining fans from his music career. He also says that he wont be hypnotised or distracted by the world of fame and glory and asks if anyone makes real songs any more. The chorus talks about the working endless and after letting go and dancing no matter who you are. This portrays a happy and upbeat mood in the song. His next verse is regarding that he is a man and human like everyone else. Additionally talking about not having a good life but then it improves with his music career as he tries to go to the top of the hip hop world. Logic mentions visionary music group which has helped him alll the way with his music career, also mentioning about his tours and enjoying them very much. Lastly Logic sends a defining message to his haters and says to them wait I will be number one soon.

Synopsis: The video firstly starts off with a girl licking a lollipop and swiftly moves on to a man dancing with a box on his head and other men dancing with boxes on their heads. The boxes have different emotions on their faces which can represent the different emotions logic has faced throughout his life. The video then moves onto Logic rapping in various locations from inside a historic building to stairs to a grass flower patch outside. The video also includes people dancing with logic which indicates fun and also gives the impression that this son and music video is upbeat.

The video is performance based as the artist and other people in the dancing are all dancing in the video making the video fun. The target audience is all genders and age range is 15-30. The artist's authorage is the use of the boxes in the music video, also his fast paced rapping throughout the video.

Themes/motifs: The overall theme would be a sense of fun and accomplishment. This is down to the dancing throughout the video and the outdoor locations in sunny weather. Also the lyrics play a part in the positivity of the video.

Camerawork, editing mise en scene: the first shot is the panning of a lady licking a lollipop which can be seen as being seductive. It then shows different wide angle shots of people starting to dance with boxes on their heads The next scenes show shots of the camera focusing on Logic himself from handheld camerawork of him walking to, a mid shot of him sitting on the stairs and a zooming out overhead shot and he is rapping in all of them. There are various shots of people dancing in a car park which are zooming in and out shots as well as mid shots. Next there's handheld camerawork of Logic rapping making the video fast paced complementing the song. There are a lot of editing in the video. Firstly there are many jump cuts from one dancer to another and cuts where Logic is in a different location. There are special effects added which is like an old T.V losing signal, this is when the music changes from being slow paced to the start of the rap and fast paced. There's a fast space like blast effect which goes from the faster rap to the slower interlude changing the flow of the song slightly. A cartoon bomb is added in the video which can portray the explosion Logic is having in the charts showing how successful he is now. When logic kicks the camera the image is blurred showing the speed of the kick, additionally when the artist says "whoa there" the image is shaken up implying that he has change the song up a bit. There are flashes from one dancer to another making the video more fun and attractive also the cuts get faster accompanying the pace of the song. The costume worn throughout the video are all casual which can show that they are having fun throughout the video. There are boxes on the dancers head showing the different emotions Logic has gone through in his life. The lighting is quite bright even in the night of the car park showing that the video is positive. the locations are in his hometown and are all outdoors too.

Eminem: When I'm Gone

    

Yeah
It's my life
In my own words, I guess

[Verse 1]
Have you ever loved someone so much, you'd give an arm for?
Not the expression, no, literally give an arm for?
When they know they're your heart
And you know you were their armour
And you will destroy anyone who would try to harm her
But what happens when karma, turns right around and bites you?
And everything you stand for turns on you to spite you?
What happens when you become the main source of a pain?
"Daddy look what I made", Dad's gotta go catch a plane
"Daddy where's Mommy? I can't find Mommy where is she?"
I don't know go play Hailie, baby, your Daddy's busy
Daddy's writing a song, this song ain't gon' write itself
I'll give you one underdog then you gotta swing by yourself
Then turn right around on that song and tell her you love her
And put hands on her mother, who's a spitting image of her
That's Slim Shady, yeah baby, Slim Shady's crazy
Shady made me, but tonight Shady's rocka-by-baby

[Hook]
And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel no pain
Just smile back
And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel no pain
Just smile back

[Verse 2]
I keep having this dream, I'm pushin' Hailie on the swing
She keeps screaming, she don't want me to sing
"You're making Mommy cry, why? Why is Mommy crying?"
Baby, Daddy ain't leaving no more, "Daddy you're lying
"You always say that, you always say this is the last time
"But you ain't leaving no more, Daddy you're mine"
She's piling boxes in front of the door trying to block it
"Daddy please, Daddy don't leave, Daddy - no stop it!"
Goes in her pocket, pulls out a tiny necklace locket
It's got a picture, "this'll keep you safe Daddy, take it withcha'"
I look up, it's just me standing in the mirror
These fuckin' walls must be talking, cause man I can hear 'em
They're saying "You've got one more chance to do right" - and it's tonight
Now go out there and show that you love 'em before it's too late
And just as I go to walk out of my bedroom door
It's turns to a stage, they're gone, and this spotlight is on
And I'm singing

[Hook]

[Verse 3]
Sixty thousand people, all jumping out their seat
The curtain closes, they're throwing roses at my feet
I take a bow and thank you all for coming out
They're screaming so loud, I take one last look at the crowd
I glance down, I don't believe what I'm seeing
"Daddy it's me, Help Mommy, her wrists are bleeding"
But baby we're in Sweden, how did you get to Sweden?
"I followed you Daddy, you told me that you weren't leavin'
"You lied to me Dad, and now you make Mommy sad
"And I bought you this coin, it says 'Number One Dad'
"That's all I wanted, I just want to give you this coin"
"I get the point - fine, me and Mommy are going"
But baby wait, "it's too late Dad, you made the choice
"Now go up there and show 'em that you love 'em more than us"
That's what they want, they want you Marshall
They keep.. screamin' your name
It's no wonder you can't go to sleep, just take another pill
Yeah, I bet you you will. You rap about it, yeah, word, k-keep it real
I hear applause, all this time I couldn't see
How could it be, that the curtain is closing on me
I turn around, find a gun on the ground, cock it
Put it to my brain, scream "Die Shady!" and pop it
The sky darkens, my life flashes, the plane that I was
Supposed to be on crashes and burns to ashes
That's when I wake up, alarm clock's ringin', there's birds singin'
It's Spring and Hailie's outside swinging, I walk right up to Kim and kiss her
Tell her I miss her, Hailie just smiles and winks at her little sister
Almost as if to say

[Hook]

*Curtains Closing*

Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III in St. Joseph, Missouri, to Deborah R. (Nelson) and Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr., who were in a band together, Daddy Warbucks. At the age of 14, he began to get very serious about his rapping but it wasn't until he was 17 that he actually made a name for himself, becoming M&M, which he would later respell as "Eminem". “When I’m gone”, by Eminem, of the album “Curtain Call: The hits” was released as a single on December 6, 2006 and has over 320 million views on YouTube. The lyrics of the video start off with Eminem protecting his  daughter and saying he would give his arm to ensure his daughter's safety. However he then feels that some events that happened to Eminem might haunt him and affect his relationship with his daughter.  Eminem feels he should spend more time with his daughter and raps about his alter ego self shady causing the trouble in his family. The hook of the song is about Eminem rapping when he will die and to remember him by his music, also to stay strong. The song continues with Eminem's daughter telling Eminem to not to leave and tries to stop him to leave her. The third verse starts with Eminem appreciating his audience in the concert and thanking them. However the lyrics point out him saying that he sees his daughter in the crowd and she starts to feel angry and sad for believing that he told the truth about putting his family before his music career. Eminem then attempts to commit suicide but then he wakes up from the nightmare with his daughter and realises if he stays on the crashing plane he might crash and die with it. Additionally he feels that if he doesn't change soon he will still crash and burn like the plane. The word swing is used in every verse and in each verse it shows increasing serenity and calmness.

Synopsis:
The video starts off with Eminem in a room with narcotics talking about their stories and problems. Eminem feels to talk about his problems and comes to the front to talk about his problems. The room is quite dark and has a dark green bottled colour. the colour of the room signifies the pain and sorrow which the people in the room have gone through. The scenes then move to Eminem in his house with his daughter who is playing around and also trying to look for her mother. His daughter then puts boxes in front of the door to stop her dad from leaving the house. A few rays of light can penetrate into the house which is opposite to the narcotics room. His daughter then gives him a small picture to keep him safe. The next scene shows Eminem back as slim shady performing on stage in front of a large crowd. During the performance he sees his daughter in shock. Eminem then looks at himself in the mirror which shows the reflection of slim shady. He tries to remove the image of him as shady to get rid of the negativity in his life. The next scene shows Eminem in a nightmare like state which quickly turns into his daughter and wife playing in the garden on the swings.

Themes and motifs: The theme throughout is darkness until the end of the song where normality returns and his life returns to what it should be; his daughter and wife being happy and playing around in the sunshine. As I said before the word swing is used throughout the song in each verse and is shown as a general theme in the song. The word swing signifies the motion of the life events going from negative to positive.

The target audience for this video is 14 -27 and is for all genders. The people who would buy this music are from all backgrounds and all classes. They are interested in the hip hop, RnB and rap genres. Eminem's authorage is his motivation and hard work throughout the music video. His rapping is always from the heart and puts 110% effort in his songs. What make this video different is the fact that he is wearing a suite in the middle of the video which does not fall into the category of rap RnB and hip hop. The video is narrative as it tells a story throughout.

Camerawork, editing, mise en scene: There are different types of camerawork in the video. Firstly there are overhead shots and panning of the people in the narcotics room. It is showing the different people who have problems in their lives and it can be anyone. There are mid shots of Eminem when he is rapping to the people in the narcotics centre. There are many side angles shots and close ups of Eminem rapping showing he is in focus while rapping. There are also close ups and mid shots of his daughter's Hailie's face showing the pain that she is going through not being able to be with her dad. When Eminem is on stage the camerawork is a point of view shot and becomes a handheld camera which shortly goes back to being a point of view camera looking down at the crowd then seeing his daughter in the crowd too.
There are many fade cuts throughout the music video, cutting from Eminem and different characters in the video. When Eminem is with his daughter for most of the scenes the outer edges are slightly blurred which suggests that his memories with her are fading and are not positive. The scenes flash when Eminem says "my life flashes" which could mean his life has gone too quick and he cant stop things if they are going wrong or right. There are effects when Eminem smashes the glasses of the mirror when he sees the reflection of slim shady and not himself, trying to destroy him. The video then slows down towards the end with his family implying that he is starting to take control of his life.
The costume throughout the video is normal casual clothes and Eminem wearing a casual t-shirt red beanie and a baseball style jacket however in the middle of the song Eminem is seen wearing a suite which contradicts the rap genre as rap is mostly about dressing in casual clothes and rebellion. Eminem's daughter is wearing is wearing a white and red striped shirt with red dungarees showing that she is innocent. Eminem's wife is wearing white showing that she is pure and can also be described as innocent. There aren't many props used but mics are used a mirror, curtains and boxes. The mirror, curtains and boxes can imply that someone is trapped and cant get out which Eminem is experiencing throughout his life. The screen has only Eminem for some parts of the song with a black background behind him which could mean he is leaving the darkness behind him.

Imagine Dragons - radioactive

[Verse 1]

I'm waking up to ash and dust

I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust

I'm breathing in the chemicals

I'm breaking in, shaping up

Checking out on the prison bus

This is it, the apocalypse, whoa

[Chorus]

I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my systems blow

Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age

Whoa, whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive

[Verse 2]

I raise my flags, dye my clothes
It's a revolution, I suppose

We'll paint it red to fit right in

Whoa

I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus

This is it, the apocalypse

Whoa
[Chorus]
Bridge]
All systems go, sun hasn't died
Deep in my bones, straight from inside

[Chorus]
The lyrics start off with the band depicting the end of the world. The next line is about sweating rust which can be a metaphor of humans being so robotic and controlled in the modern world. The next set of lines talk about breathing in the polluted words amd additional talking about the apocalypse which can also be referred to the government. The next lines suggest he is greatly affected by the government as he feels it in his bones. He then feels motivated and wakes and to try and change the world. He then talks about a new age and uses the word radioactive signifying a new nuclear age with the risk of being in a nuclear war. The lyrics then focus on a revolution which can mean people revolting against leaders today. The artist then talks about going back to normal everyday life and comparing it with a prison, the apocalypse signifies the change that might come over the world. Lastly the lyrics emphasis how strong his feelings are and encourages others to not give up and fight like him. The line "the sun hasn't died" still gives hope for many people in the world.

Synopsis: The music video begins with an establishing shot of a woman walking through a forest. It is a long shot to match the slow tempo of the music at the start. The camera then zooms in on the woman holding a cage which is covered up causing an enigma which makes the video mysterious. The next series of shots are handheld camerawork of the band members held in prison and also zooming in onto the lead singer with his head down portraying sadness in his face. The next scene show the woman walking into what looks like an abandon barn but it actually is like a hideout for a fight club going on inside. It is very loud inside with a lot of shouting as people are making bets on cuddly toy fighting. The next shot is zoomed in onto the antagonist's neck where there is a key which will later unlock the protagonists. We then see the woman looking at a scoreboard and observing that the champion has never lost and the challenger has never won. There is a low angle shot of the champion fighter showing the power and how superior it looks while beating all the competition. The next scene shows the underdog challenger brought in by the woman against the champion, the underdog wins and beats the champion. This is similar to David beating Goliath. The antagonist sends his men to try and capture the underdog but the underdog shoots lasers at them and vaporises them. The woman then steals the key around the antagonist's neck and releases the band from the prison.

The video is narrative as it has a storyline to it which is people trying to make change and fighting the government being the apocalypse. It is narrative so a message can be passed onto to others about the modern world. The storyline is post modern because it focuses on having a different better world. The people who would listen to the song are all genders and have a large age range from 12-35. The artist's authorage is the use of muppets in this video adding a comedic element to it. Imagine Dragons are known for being a hit indie rock band.

Themes/motifs: The themes in the song are quite dark as it talks about trying to survive an apocalypse and beating it off. However there are a few positive notes i.e changing the world to make it a better place and to encourage others to join to also help make the world a better place. The challenger muppets are seen as the normal everyday people trying to overcome and beat the government (champion muppet) and they eventually beat them sparking the revolution.

Camera, editing, mise en scene: there is a range of camerawork in the video. Firstly there is the establishing shot of the woman on the forest depicting the scene. There's zooming onto the cage and the protagonists and antagonists faces. There are high angle shots looking down from the leader of the antagonist to the champion muppets showing that the antagonist is in full power. Also there are high angle shots looking down at the band in the prison showing that they are weak. The antagonist's faces are zoomed in to show a close up of their shocked faces when the challenger wins. There are also many mid shots showing the artists playing their instruments. There is lots of editing in the video. There are numerous fade cuts moving from a protagonist to an antagonist and the artists in the video. There are also cuts showing the different muppets going down the trap door. Some of the muppets are edited in during the fights. The champion monster has purple breath which comes out of his mouth and is edited in as special effects. Additionally when the underdog punches the champion a pink colour power up is edited in as special effects. lastly when the challenger the uses its lasers to vaporise the antagonists special effects are again added to show the laser and the vaporisation. The clothes worn by the band are worn out as they are in prison, however the clothes worn by the antagonists look much more expensive e.g suite. The lighting in the prison is very dark contrasting with the fight club. Puppets are used to show a bit of humour in the video also.

Looking and listening at the different case studies that I have chosen, there elements I would like to include in my music video. Firstly, as in Logic's video it is mostly concentrated on Logic and so I would like to focus the video on the artist singing/rapping in my music video. Additionally there can be dancers as in Logic's video also. There are different locations used in Logic's video also and I feel I can use this to make the video more interesting. In Eminem's video he is standing at front giving a speech which I can add to my music with my artist giving a speech at the start. Some images on blurred which can be added as special effects for my video also. In the Imagine Dragons clip there is an establishing shot at the start, I feel I can also create an establishing shot at the start of my video.

Practice Video Pictures

These pictures were took when we were filming our practice music video, We used cameras and a mic to make it seem like we are filming a music video.

Planning for our Practice Music Video

This is our plan for our practice music video. We chose the song Happy by Pharrell Williams. We annotated the lyrics showing the locations of the different places where we will be lyp syncing the song. We decided to film  in various locations: stairs, field and the record studio. I worked with Abul, Danyal and Nicole and we decided to use the chorus to lyp sync for the video.

A2 Music video schedule