Challenges of A2 Media

When we came to back to college in the New Year we were faced with A2 Media. We were first introduced to the subject and everything we would be doing in the proceeding. Once this was all done we were to split into groups and start to plan our music video. The first challenge we faced was that we had to decide upon a song that all three of us would be happy with, as we have different music tastes. We decided on Eminem and Rihanna – Love The Way You Lie.

Once this was done we had to choose on the story, actors, locations ect. This brought up a lot of debate on what we would do. This was a much bigger challenge than last year, because last year we were doing the opening of a film it was easier to choose and work out what to do unlike a song, as I said earlier the song may not be everyone’s personal preference.

Once it came to the point of filming we had to film much more shots than when we had done our film opening in AS because we had to keep the time period of the shots in time with the beat of the song, for example one clip in the Music Video would go between every sixth drum beat and could last only 3 seconds, whereas in AS a clip could last for up to two minutes. Moreover, the time scale of the videos is very different. When we had to do the opening scene in AS, we had a longer period to do it. Unlike this where we only had about two months to complete it all.

Uses of Technology during Production

In the production part of our work we chose to use the following equipment:

• 2 DSLR Cameras
• EF-S 18 - 135 mm
• EF 28mm
• 2 Tripods
• Handheld camera mount

We specifically chose to film with DSLR's because they displayed lots of advantages for us that have helped us in the filming process. One of which is the fact that DSLR's offer instant feedback and can record specifically in Full HD. Another advantage of these cameras was that they gave us more flexibility; since DSLR's offer a wide range of lens, and equipment we were able to play around with them. For example, I had an EF-S 18mm-135mm IS lens and Sarah had a 28mm lens, so we were given a lot more depth into how far and how much we could fit into a scene. The main advantage of my lens is that its main purpose is to give the user a wider perspective, this was useful as for most of our scenes we were able to fit more into them. It also had image stabilization which helped us when we decided to use handheld shots. One advantage that Sarah's lens gave us was traditional close up shots at a very close angle. This being said, when we were filming at the house we used Sarah's lens as the main so that we could get the true sense of close ups that are seen in music videos. When it came to filming the acting, alley scenes, and town scenes we went with a more wide angle, so we mostly stuck with the wider lens.
The tripods offered use one very good feature; they came with a builtin spirit level, this allowed the filming to be tidy and straight. But tripods can also be very useful in the fact that they are also ajustable; one scene that we wanted to do was shoot from a low angle to get the sense of authority in the character, but we also played with the angle; we kept the camera in a locked position while the tripod was slanted which gave us the low angle that we wanted. The quality of footage was also good because the SLR's had between them 15-18 Mega-Pixels, compared to the low pixel quality of the college cameras.

To briefly comment, we also made use of my HTC Desire, I will develop on this in Evaluation Question 4.

Photographers and Album Covers

Here I will talk to you about a few of the photographers that are involved in creating album covers; I will look at some of the photographers who created the album covers that we looked at before. i will also expand on this and look at the different aspects involved in the images themselves and help shed some light on creating such great album covers. The following photographers that I will look at are; Roberto D'Este - Rihanna Cover, G. L. Wood - Nicki Minaj Cover, and Nigel Parry - Eminem Cover.

Roberto D’Este
This album cover of Rihanna was created by D'Este and shows Rihanna in a professionally posed position, in what is most likely a basic, but professional, photography studio. As mentioned she is posed in a way that suggests she, and the photographer, are creating a flirtatious, and 'sexy' atmosphere, which is why D'Este has composed her in this way. D'Este also seems to picture his subjects at a very straight angle, treating his subjects very realistically, rather than distorting or exaggerating them. When creating this image, it is clear that D'Este has used a basic type of portrait studio lighting, called the Split Light; this is because you see that you have a strong highlighted side and a strong shadow side, hense the split light. After doing the studio work and taking the shot it seems that the photographer has then used a small number of digital enhancements, one of which is the black and white effect; the image also appears to be quite high in contrast, but this can be caused by the tonal qualities of Rihanna skin, but there is also evidence of strong shadow highlight which may be the reason for this.

Nigel Parry

This album cover produced by profession photographer Nigel Parry shows Eminem walking down the middle of a road. The cover is apart of Eminem's album 'Recovery' which features our chosen song 'Love The Way You Lie'. The concept of it can be very clever and amusing, this is because it shows a symbolic reference to the album, because it shows Eminem walking down a road, which suggests he is 'on the road to recovery'. Judging by the lighting of the image, it appears that the photographer has used natural lighting, the image also suggests that the image was taken around midday with patchy cloud cover. For example, if you look near the feet of the subject (Eminem) you can see there isn't much of a shadow, this is common when using midday, natural lighting because the Sun is approximately overhead. The image itself also has a graphic feel, this because a set of diagonal lines draw you into the photo, giving the image a sense of realism, and that it also plays around with the use of negative and positive space. This is seen in the image because you see that from the edge of the image to the middle it changes from one space to the other; the negative space, being the sky and the positve the road and then you have Eminem who draws your attention back out from the image giving it realism. This technique is key when compositioning the image so that the image is 'balance'.

G. L. Wood

This album cover is produced by professional photographer G. L. Wood; the album cover is apart of Nicki Minaj's album Pink Friday. This image taken by Wood shows Nicki in a posed image, she is seen looking away from the camera, brushing her hair behind her head, which is quite a classic modeling pose. She doesn't seem bothered nor at least concerned about, this is a technique which the majority of photographers use and it is called a rapport. This is when the photographer will create a mutual respect with the client, either by general conversaton or through context (i.e. a similarity, common interest). I think that Nicki and Wood are looking to create a flirtatious atmosphere but they are also trying to keep her looking natural, as if to say this is me. Also the image also makes use of a type of portrait studio lighting, called Loop Light, for example in this image the light box would be more to the left of the camera, you then see a loop of shadow light begin to build towards the left side of her face.

Album Research

This is the CD cover of Rihanna – Good Girls Gone Bad. The front of this CD cover features Rihanna in a dress. This album features her looking toward the camera, and it seems as though she is trying to look seductive in order to promote her album to appeal to men’s sexual drive to women.

This is the CD cover of Jason DerÜlo – Whatcha Say. This album features Jason on the front of this album; it is just again a close up of his face. This is advertising him and showing people what he looks like and who he is.

This is the CD cover of Nicki Minaj – Your Love. This album features Nicki on the front of this album looking slightly to the left. She is trying to promote that she I feeling happy or just smirking.

The Creative Process

We first got the idea for our music video by listening to the lyrics. It’s a story line for an abusive relationship, so we thought we’d match the video to the lyrics. But then we listened to the female version of the same song and we decided that the music video would look a bit better if we added the beginning verse as it would make the video more original, we agreed that the music video should focus on the female protagonist as she is the first one to sing and the actor the audience would want to see more of as they follow her struggle in life. We decided to use the stereotypical story line of a weak female standing up to the abusive partner because a lot of people can relate as that is how most abusive relationships end, they either get help or fight back, fighting back seemed the better choice to use in the music video as the lyrics don’t show her getting out, they show her getting more involved.

The outfit ideas for the female protagonist were based on the emotions vulnerable and angry. Whilst someone feels vulnerable they dress comfortable to take away any stress they can from their life, so we dresses the female protagonist in baggy simple jeans with a black tank top and little make-up. Making her look simple and difficult to read or it can be seen as her copying her partner to be like him. Whilst in the scenes where she is fighting back she is dressed in clothes that represent anger, the idea for these clothes came from my (Sarah) life, as I used to be a weak person but when I got stronger I dressed ‘louder’. So we dressed the female protagonist in a black, layered, punk mini-skirt with fishnet tights, big black boots and a white tank top. Whilst the bottom half of her outfit consist of mostly black ( showing mourning and anger of lost time) her tank top in this scene is white meaning a new start ( e.g a blank canvas). While the male protagonist clothes are the same styled outfits throughout the video showing no change in his emotions or character. We dressed him in baggy jeans ( showing his comfort in the situation) and dark t-shirts which represents his anger throughout.

To get our location ideas for our music video, we fist watch the original music video produced by Eminem and Rihanna. We decided on using Costa Coffee in a flash back as Costa is a good meeting place for new couples. Next we decided to use James' house as the prime location, as it fits the settings very well. Finally we decided to use a back alley for the choruses as it fits the lyrics very well, the grimy streets fit the anger of eminem. Then Sarah came up with the idea of filming at a beach to show how secluded her character is.

Storyboard

This is the storyboard for the first part of the music video; it consists of 18 shots and tells the story of how the couple got to where they are now. There will be standard continuity for some shots, and some montage editing for flashback shots.

Shot List

These are the shots we are going to be using in our music video; we have split them into two categories. Thee two categories are “Core Shots” and “Secondary Shots”.

Core Shots:

• Mid-Shots

• Close Up’s

• Full Shots

Secondary Shots

• Long Shots

• Extreme Long Shots

• Two Shot

• Shot-Reverse-Shot

• Panning

• Extreme Close Up

• Tracking

• Low/High Angles

This is Our Shotlist

1. Wide shot of two Protagonists Sitting on the couch.
2. Block Colour screen- Black.
   
3. Close up of Female Protagonist singing
4. Medium shot of main characters conversing over coffee
5. Close up of Female Protagonist singing
   
6. Medium shot as Main character fight
7. Medium shot of Female Protagonist singing
8. wide shot of two Protagonists sitting on a wall
9. Close up of Female Protagonist Singing.
   
10. Wide shot of Female Protagonist walking across a beach
11. Low angle close up of Female Protagonist Singing
    
12. Close up of Male Protagonist singing in ally
    
13. medium shot of male protagonist throwing mail on the floor
14. Cloe up of the male Protagonist Singing in ally
    
15. Wide shot of Male Protagonist drinking wine ( apple juice)
16. High angle shot of Male Protagonist Singing in ally
    
17. Medium shot of two Protagonist fighting at the door
18. Wide Tracking shot of two main Protagonists Walking out of the Garden
19. Medium shot of Male Protagonist singing in ally
    
20. Medium shot of Main Protagonists fighting in kitchen.
21. Close up of Female Protagonist Singing on beach
22. Close up on hands holding hands
    
23. Close up on Female Protagonist Singning on Beach
24. Close up on Hands letting go
25. Close up on Female Protagonist Singing on beach
26. Long shot of two Protagonists on stairs arguing
27. Close up on Male Protagonist Singing in ally
    
28. Medium shot of two Protagonists talking at Stairs
29. Medium shot of male protagonist singing in ally
30. Long shot of two Protagonists on stairs arguing
31. medium shot of female protagnist walking through door
32. medium shot of two protagonists arguing in kitchen
33. medium shot of male protagonist singing in ally
34. Medium shot of female portagonist singing in ally
35. long to medium shot of two protagonists fighting in garden
36. medium shot of female protagonist singing in ally
37. Close up of male Protagonist singing in ally
    
38. Medium shot of male protaonist hitting table
    
39. Close up of male protagonist singing in ally
40. medium shot of male protagonist flipping table
41. long to medium shot of two protagonists fighting in garden
42. Close up of male Protagonist singing in ally
43. medium shot of Two Protaginsts arguing in kitchen
44. Close up of Male Protagonist standing over fire
45. Wide shot of two Protagonists singing in allyway together.
    

Outfit Analysis

Outfits- Female by Sarah

At the start of the music video the female protagonist is seen as a vulnerable victim of abuse with concealing clothes and little make-up on her face. As the music video progresses her make-up ruined by her tears the first scene, a classic in most movies for a look of distress.

In this scene she is wearing jeans, a plain black tank top and a black jacket with a hood. Her hair is simply down and her make-up is very little, she also acts very insecure by playing with her fingers or clothes and not looking the male protagonist in the eyes.

- Blue Baggy Jeans

- Black tank top

- Black Jacket

- Converse

- Foundation

- Mascara

- Purple eye shadow

- Lip balm

In the Flashback to where the two protagonists first meet the female protagonist is in comfy clothes, her make-up is light but noticeable while she acts shy.

- Blue Jeans

- Black t-shirt

- Black Pullover hoody

- Low Top Converse

- Foundation

- Mascara

- Lip balm

- Eyeliner

When she realizes she won’t stand for the abuse anymore she changes her look completely, she is now showing more skin and wearing heavy make-up. Giving a look of anger and confidence. She acts very secure in these scenes by walking with her back straight and she making strong eye contact with the male protagonist.

- Punk Black skirt

- Fishnet tights

- High top canvas shoes

- White Tank top

- Red & black arm warmers

- Black choker

- Foundation

- Mascara

- Lip balm

- Eyeliner

- Black & silver Eye shadow

The female as a star will wear

- Black/Red gothic styled top

- Denim shorts

- Studded bracelets

- Leggings

- Fishnets

- New Rock Boots

- Smokey-eyed effect make-up

Outfits- Male by James

The male protagonist is an arrogant, cocky, and violent person, he isn’t rich nor is he really that poor. In this sense he looks very common, and casual, but is quite dirty in most scenes. The only exception to this is in the flashback when he dresses very smart and appears neatly composed. In ones opinion this can be seen as the deception to lure the female protagonist in.

In the flashback he will wear:

· Black Hooded Jacket

· Nike High-tops

· Black Slim fit jeans

The male as the star will wear:

· White slim fit vest

· Baggy dark blue denim jeans

· White trainers

This is a direct link to the star theory of Eminem; or his alter ego ‘Slim Shady’, to be exact.

The male protagonist will wear:

· A White Tank top

· Baggy jeans

· Trainers

· Black Hoodie

Location Shots & Analysis

The the first section of the music video, which is 'Love The Way You Lie (Part 2)' we chose to film in 4 places; Costa Coffee in Manchester City Centre, Longford Park and a group members house and at the beach. This part of the song tells the female perspective of the relationship and transitions through the past and present, showing the good and bad times of their whole world.

Location 1 - Costa Coffee

We chose this because it is a typical place for couples to meet and is an example of a romantic scene. The concept itself is also similar the original music video for 'Love The Way You Lie', where the couple meet in a bar. We also may expand on this in the next section of the music video, by making the places of romance into something bad, to show how unstable the relationship becomes.

Location 2 - The House

In the original music video for 'Love The Way You Lie' the house plays a major part, it's the beginning and last scene of the music video. So to make our music video unique and original we decided that the house will introduce the video and the two main characters but we will also use other places and different scenery to show the characters in a different light. One scene in the original music video shows the two performers (Eminem & Rihanna) outside a burning house towards the end of the video; this a very impactful scene and we may consider utilizing this in our music video.

Location 3 - Longford Park

The park scene, can be seen as a very stereotypical scene, this stereotype portrays teenagers, as the park is a very common place for teenagers and young people to hang, and make out. We will use the park for one of the good times that the couple share.

Location 4 - The Beach

At the beginning of the original music video there is a scene where you can see the female protagonist sat on the floor in a living room. She appears to be holding a flame with her hands positioned opened and together, suggesting she is holding on to the 'flame' of their relationship, whilst also symbolizing that their relationship is a dark story to be told. This has influenced us to use a beach in are music video as it is a place of peace and calm, as well as place of reflection. It will symbolize that she wants to get away from the relationship but that she desperately wants the relationship to work.

Treatment

B1-11 Group 1: James Tighe, Simon Robinson, and Sarah Legg

Music Video: For our music video we have decided to do a remix version of two songs of the same name and principles.

Eminem - Love the way you lie (ft. Rihanna)

Rihanna - Love the way you lie (Part 2) (ft. Eminem)

Both songs display strong emotions and are very impactful, we feel that remixing both songs will create a dramatic more impactful music video; it also gives us the chance to play with the foundations of the concept, and allow us to be very creative.

Duration: the music video will approximately be 4 minutes and 30 seconds. \

Audience: the target audience will consist of two main audiences mostly young people (both male and female) aged 15 - 30 as the songs mainly reflect them, but it also targets people who are involved in any form of violence or abuse, issuing that awareness must be made, but also that people who are involved should speak up against it.

Resume (Plot): the songs are about being involved in domestic violence and love-hate relationships. Each of the songs tells a story from a different prospective (the male and the female). Our music video will display both perspectives. Our video begins with a couple sat on a couch, by the expressions on their faces they are in a rocky relationship, trying to amend this problem, the guy (played by James Tighe) leans into the girl (played by Sarah Legg) to kiss her, she rejects him. James get up and storms of with a remote in hand, things then turn violent, and through the remainder of the song the relationship spirals out of control, it displays true issues of a love-hate relationship.

Suggested Elements:

· Performance: The girl plays a key part in the video; she starts as this vulnerable, scared and frightened girl during the first part of the video. When the song kicks in, she becomes more confident and brave, the status and power between the characters are now balanced. The male is another key part, being the abuser, has the same same power relation throughout the music video, he's cocky, confident, arrogant, and very aggressive.

· Special Effects: May include pixilated footage or static (TV).