Here is the front cover of our CD. We took inspiration from the Jay-Z 'American Gangster' album cover in the sense that the performer is the central figure in the image. We also emulated Kanye West's 'Late Graduation' album but made a few changes to our cover. We had the performer stand outside a church rather than on the inside and this gives the cover an elegant look.
Back Cover
For the back cover we kept the religious theme flowing by using the same chuch as the background. Our choice of font has a military look which relates well with the outfit that the performer is wearing and although the religious theme adds sincerity, the outfit choice and font style were chosen to keep the superiority that is shown by today's hip hop artists visibly evident.
Inside Cover1
For the inside covers we kept the religious theme. We also did a photo shoot of the performer in the church which we felt would have been better than taking a screen grab from the finished version of the video itself. We also took a variety of shots with the camera and decided to use this one with the artist surrounded by angels because it looks like something that would be done by a professional hip hop artist.
Inside cover 2
We arranged time after filming to have a photo shoot in the church location which we used when filming the video. With the second inside cover it looks like there is a story being told and the over shoulder shot involves the audience by also getting them to look at the statue.
Magazine Advert When designing our magazine advert, we looked at one used to advertise the Foo Fighters album. Although the genres are completely different we liked the colour use and this is why we used a warm colour as the layout. This is also what Kanye West does, he doesn't always follow the conventions of hip-hop, he never stops surprising the media and his own fans and no matter what he pulls off he will always appeal to his fans. We also liked that idea and looked at a different genre when designing our poster.We also used a large font that stands out because of the bold outline and the black edges to show how the album is a headline. We also included the album itself and that adds professionalism.
Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our video was influenced in several ways by some artists within the hip hop genre. Kanye West was the major influence which is why we decided to base our production on his song. Kanye West is known to have massive iconography in his videos and album art. Iconography is a major element in hip hop and we followed this example by having religious elements in our video. For instance the video itself the song lyrics reference religion and we had the performer performing these lyrics in a church. A perfect example of iconography used in hip hop is shown in the music video for the song 'Ghetto Gospel' by the late Tupac Shakur featuring Sir Elton John. Religion is referenced in the song and the lyrics also feature communication between God and man. Two minutes and thirty seconds in the video we see the main character standing on a rooftop looking up in the heavens and posing with his arms stretched out. We did a similar thing in our video by having the performer pose in a similar stance on a rooftop. Although many believe the conventions of a hip hop video should all focus on sowing off prized possessions thus showing superiority, which is usually shown in the dress code and jewelry, we did follow these basic conventions but we mainly followed the Kanye West colorful theme which we see on his Graduation album. This is shown in the way we had the characters in the video dressed in bright clothes in some scenes and this is enhances the video by giving it a unique look. Hip-hop videos may also have green screen effects to give them an elegant look but we decided no to use the green screen and not to be flashy like most hip hop videos but instead have an original look.
Question 2
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
We are going to ensure the music video, the CD Cover and Magazine advert compliment each other by keeping the religious element throughout. A simple way of ensuring that the CD cover compliments the video is shown when we have some of the lyrics from the song placed onto the inside cover.This compliments the video because we will reference some of the lyrics that we have filmed in interesting locations.For example the lyric "I had a dream I could buy my way to heaven" was filmed in a church so we will have an image of the artist sitting in a church and also an Academy Engraved LET font which looks ancient and this relates well with the church location.The video itself has visual impact and we want to maintain that impact by producing print based items that really stand out. We will also have a large image of the performer which is usually done in hip hop marketing because the main objective in hip hop marketing is to really relate well with the target audience and produce a unique album cover which is going to be easily spotted when its on the shelves in leading stores.
Question 3
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
We had really positive feedback from the audience when we showcased the video to the class. One group said the following in terms of their overall response to the video, " A really good video. Performance relates strongly to tone of song. Fast paced cuts keep the video interesting." This was really positive for us because we felt we achieved what we wanted especially the performer because in our initial planning we emphasized how much we were really going to have a strong performance in our video and the fact that the performance related well with the tone of the song links well with one of the key things that hip hop performers are known for which is dominance and the nerve to really give it a hundred percent when its time to face the camera and produce interesting music videos. The same group stated what they felt were the strengths of the video: lip syncing which also, variety of shots and locations, the cut rates and jump cuts. The choice of location was something we considered really carefully because we looked at some famous hip hop videos and they all seem to have great use of color and location. For example the video for the song 'Touch It' by Busta Rhymes is a good example of color to stand out and attract the audience. The one area that the group felt we could have improved from their feedback was in the classroom scene, when the rapper performs the lyrics "Oh am I late?". The feedback we got was that we could have had the performer open the door with a negative attitude towards the teacher. This was constructive for us because it would have really shown the intent of the performer to get one over the teacher. The audience also praised the editing of our video and gave detailed feedback, '' Cut rate is applied perfectly, each line of the song is given its own significance, the color and filters help vary the scenes. And almost 'force' the viewer into paying attention.'' We really felt that this feedback was uplifting because we were aiming to produce an eye catching music video which is something Kanye West is known to do every now and then. We also wanted to have something that would keep the audience interested throughout the video and the fact that the feedback we received says that the variety caused by the filters and color use shows we have produced a video that keeps the audience interested and waiting for whats next in the video. Our video was then videwed by another group from our class and this was their respnse to the video, " The video flows extremely well, all scenes and shots were well thought out. They fit together perfectley and with the use of so many locations it shows that alot of effort went into the planning stages. The look of the video is nice, its not too dark or too light, the lighting and filming suits the location. I like the fact that its not too heavy on the effects it fits in well with the theme of the song. Also where the effects are used does not look out of place and are executed expertley."This once again gives a sense of reward to us as both sets of feedback pretty much give praise to the video by showing how they like the overall look of the video. When we asked them about the 3 particular strenghts of the video they said they liked the locations because there were a lot of scenes in a variety of different places. They also liked the performance and they said it doesn't look forced and flows naturally. They also liked the use of shots and scenes that relate to the song they specified the classroom and church scenes by stating that they show a lot of creativity and provide the viewer with a clear link between the song and music. This also reinforces our point of attracting the audience by producing a piece that sticks in their mind. The one area that they said we could have improved was having the supporting character perform but they did say it was a minor suggestion. The audience gave a detailed analyisis of our camera work, they said in theri feedback "Alot of shots are framed perfectley, the rule of thirds was maintained well throughout. Theres a range of different camera shots, from high angle to mid-shots, to wide shots, with the variety of shots it keeps the viewer interested throughout. The filming was smooth, there was no shaky camera work. The rule of thirds was something we learnt in AS and we remembered it when we were filming which is why we did a number of takes to give us lots of footage to edit and to also decide which one looked better and really maintained the rule of thirds.
Question 4
How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?
In the construction we used different technologies to enhance the video. We followed the 180 degree rule when we had the performer sitting on the stairs and performing the song and we used a hand held low angle shot whilst panning from left to right. This gave the video an original look by following the performer's movements in a natural manner. The 180 degree rule was something we learnt at AS and we kept the rule throughout the music video production. We also used hand held camera work several scenes including the church scene and an outdoor scene and this keeps that originality flowing throughout. For our album cover we used the Adobe Photoshop software to produce 6 front covers. We didn't have much experience with the software but we managed to learn new skills and come to a conclusion over the cover. The reason designed six at first is because we had to consider some factors. We looked at Kanye West's covers and considered whether or not we wanted to do something similar to what he had previously done or if we wanted to have something unique that suits the hip hop genre. We used a digital camera to take some photographs of the performer in a new outfit which looked more casual standing outside a church. This inspiration was taken from the Kanye West Late Graduation album. This would go on to be our overall look and we changed several fonts throughout our contemplation and this was because we looked at the fonts we had chosen before including the color and style and asked ourselves, ''If this was released an was in a leading music store, would it be attractive an something worth looking at?'' .This lead to us using the software to edit the texture of the font and deciding on an overall style and color which suited the genre and song choice really well. We used Final Cut Pro to edit what we had filmed. We used learnt about marking scenes so that it would be easier to put transitions and effects on the marked scenes. We then used effects so that some of the marked scenes would change along with the beat.We also used the software to add filters and colour change during editing to give the video an urban look.When publishing on the blog, we used took embed codes from some of the videos that were relevant to our research and these videos are the ones we felt were the major influences to our production.
This is the Interview to students, asking them to review the music video. They gave us ideas on how we could have improved it but also what was good about it, E.g. Editing, locations etc.
We looked at the orginal Can't Tell Me Nothing music video by Kanye West and looked at areas to follow or change within our video. One area which we looked at was the camera work. In the orignal video a high angle shot is used when Kanye is performing to the camera, we took an idea similar to that in our video for one of our scenes but then we changed the sequence by using a high angle shot in a church scene. The idea behind us using a high angle shot in a church scene was to give an impression that God was looking down on the performer who was kneeling down. We also looked at the locations used in the original version of the video and there was not a variety of locations so we then analysed the lyrics and then we saw that the lyrics had so much on offer to portray. One other area which we found really interesting to work on was the performance of the star whilst the camera was following his movement. We did the same thing by panning the camera when the performer was moving at the graffiti area. This we found interesting and influential because it shows how the rapper is the central figure and is being followed so that more can be learnt about him and what he is portraying in the video.
The reason we changed the locations was because we were also influenced by major iconography in music videos so we also wanted to add more elements in the video. For example in the opening scene there is religious reference but instead of just performing it in town we will perform it in a church and also use statues of Saint Mary and the Crucifix to name a few
Here is a still from Eminem's Toy Soldiers video which was one of the influences for the graffiti scene in our video. We took this idea but then we used a brighter graffiti area and also filmed during daytime to brighten the video.
From the same video we see some religous element although not in the positive and desirable circumstances. This also influenced our religious theme and iconography by allowing us to link hip hop with religion.
The Kanye West Can't Tell Me Nothing original video:
Here is the complete music video. We took the same ideam from Kanye's original in terms of camera work. We used hand held camera work for some scenes, this was to give the video an original look. One other are we decided to change was the number of characters used in the video. In the original version the rapper is the lone star spear-heading the video. The reason we decided to have another character to support the rapper was because this will strongly emphasize the story telling concept as the rapper is teling the story to someone else. We also added props to enhance the overall look of the video and add realism. For example when the rapper is performing the lyrics, "Wait till I get my money right..." we all decide to bring real money and this also allowed the rapper to flaunt the notes during the performance. We also had a Louis Vitton scarf to add to the professionalism and to relate with the lyrics. We also enhanced the video by including a variety of locations and shots which received high praise from the audience when we showed the video.
Here is the front cover of our CD. We took inspiration from the Jay-Z 'American Gangster' album cover in the sense that the performer is the central figure in the image. We also emulated Kanye West's 'Late Graduation' album but made a few changes to our cover. We had the performer stand outside a church rather than on the inside and this gives the cover an elegant look.
For the inside covers we kept the religious theme. We also did a photo shoot of the
Here is the front cover of our CD. We took inspiration from the Jay-Z 'American Gangster' album cover in the sense that the performer is the central figure in the image. We also emulated Kanye West's 'Late Graduation' album but made a few changes to our cover. We had the performer stand outside a church rather than on the inside and this gives the cover an elegant look.
For the inside covers we kept the religious theme. We also did a photo shoot of the
When designing our magazine advert, we looked at one used to advertise the Foo Fighters album. Although the genres are completely different we liked the colour use and this is why we used a warm colour as the layout. This is also what Kanye West does, he doesn't always follow the conventions of hip-hop, he never stops surprising the media and his own fans and no matter what he pulls off he will always appeal to his fans. We also liked that idea and looked at a different genre when designing our poster.We also used a large font that stands out because of the bold outline and the black edges to show how the album is a headline. We also included the album itself and that adds professionalism. 
When designing our magazine advert, we looked at one used to advertise the Foo Fighters album. Although the genres are completely different we liked the colour use and this is why we used a warm colour as the layout. This is also what Kanye West does, he doesn't always follow the conventions of hip-hop, he never stops surprising the media and his own fans and no matter what he pulls off he will always appeal to his fans. We also liked that idea and looked at a different genre when designing our poster.We also used a large font that stands out because of the bold outline and the black edges to show how the album is a headline. We also included the album itself and that adds professionalism. 
