Group Meeting

Today we spent time finalising our pitch for our track and music video idea which we will demonstrate to the class tomorrow. We completed a treatment which contains our ideas so far for the music video and its visual style. We also answered some questions on the track itself, the artist, the genre, the target audience and how we can apply Goodwin’s theory of music video to our track (see group blog for all.) Overall I think we are really prepared for tomorrow and doing this has made us think about our ideas in more depth which is really helpful. The feedback that we receive tomorrow from the rest of the class should also be really useful and we can hopefully make changes or improve accordingly.

Location and Actors

So far, we’ve got our actor for our main artist; however we still need to find someone to be the featuring artist in the track. They must have certain qualities, the right attitude and the right look that we are looking for, so it’s been quite difficult to find someone.
For our location, we’ve got quite a few in mind for our music video. We’ve been in talks with a studio which seems ideal, as they provide the right backdrops (plain white and black), as well as lighting and is able to provide a deal for the weekend. Hopefully this works out, but if not, there is the possibility of using a green screen studio and then we can put in our own background in post-production. We’ll also need a bedroom which we’ve decided on for some shots of the main artist, as well as something like a living room for the narrative part where the young boys are playing video games or something, or a park for them to play football, but these are easy to arrange. We may also use one of these places for shots of the girl and her new boyfriend (the featuring artist).

Music Video Ideas – Camera Techniques

For our video, I was thinking it would be a good idea to conceal the second artist until their introduced properly at 1:43min. This would build up his character more and reflect the fact that he thinks he’s ‘all that.’ Therefore I thought it was a good idea to look at ‘Ego’ (see video below) which shows this well and is relevant to they key themes of our song. The use of camera work at the start on Kanye West who’s talking about his ‘big ego’ really reflects the effect we want to create on our rapper. The use of extreme close-ups do this well, as well as great lighting to create a silhouette. The video also demonstrates good cocky gestures such as re-adjusting his collar/sunglasses/jacket, smiles to the side of his mouth, posing against the wall, hands in pockets, certain mouth movements, cocky laughs etc.

It also gives us ideas about costume, such as a pair of glasses, dressed in black (connotes he’s a bad character..) etc..


Ego – Kanye West and Beyonce

Music Video Effects and Ideas

Here are three music videos that use the effect of stop motion. I think it’s such an effective technique and really grabs the audience’s attention. I think it would be a good effect to be used possibly in small areas of our music video, such as the flashback to when the two males were best mates as schoolboys (aged around 13.) The effect would be used to emphasise the fact that we are looking back in the past, kind of similar to looking at video filming them. However I don’t know how this would look against the rest of the editing and whether it would work. Also I don’t know how difficult it is to pull off.

Plan b – No Good:


Oren Lavie - Her Morning Elegance:


Metric – Sick Muse:

This one took 60000 photos and 3 cameras which they did in one day.

Obviously ours wouldn’t be as complicated as these and it would be on a much smaller scale, especially as if we did use it, it would be for such a small part of the video.

Group Meeting

We presented some ideas to both our teachers and have now decided to go ahead with ‘Anyone but Him.’ As a group, we discussed some ideas for the video which are all on the group blog and overall I’m happy with the song choice. It provides clear themes for the song and a meaning that we can work with. We will need two main actors and possibly a few other actors to play smaller parts such as two kids which will resemble the main actors as it was when they were younger as well as possibly a girl to include some narrative and to make the meaning more understandable. Our main idea for the video is to play on contrasts. These two ex best school friends are now competing for the same girl. One of them has already dated her and is now jealous, telling the girl to date ‘anyone but him’ (his best friend.)

To show this rivalry, we would show them as completely different eg. in their image, attitudes - confidence/cockiness, location – black and white backgrounds in a studio shows contrast and each has its own connotations (white – innocence, feel sorry for Mr Hudson, whereas black – dark, ‘bad’ arrogant Tinie Tempah), editing – split screen? etc. The over confidence of the second man who is now dating the girl is shown in lyrics such as ‘I see your girl want me,’ so we would use this when considering our camera work for him (See post on Ego – Kanye West.)

Our video would be mainly performance based and we would therefore rely heavily on our two actors, however if we can pull it off then I think it can look really good.


Lyrics:
[Mr Hudson:]
Anyone but him
I'd rather hear you’d had the whole football team
than have to watch his filthy lips on your skin
Anyone but him

Anyone but him
With schoolboy fists, we can take this outside
But knowing my luck that ___ would win
Anyone but him

Who's gonna take you home, who's gonna take you home
Who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me

Anyone but him
My blood boils as my eyes turn green
Is this the best of the best of the scene
Anyone but him

Anyone but him
With schoolboy fists imma take this outside
But knowing my luck that ___ would win
Anyone but him

Who's gonna take you home, who's gonna take you home
Ohhh who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me…

Anyone but him
Look past the leather in the dash and the rims
And you will see his whole hustle wears thin
Anyone but him

Anyone but him
He's gonna take what you can't take back
And then's he's gone out the door on a whim
Anyone but him

Who's gonna take you home, ohhh who's gonna take you home
Listen, who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me…

[Tinie T:]
Yes, Yes, Yes
Umm, Ye
Umm
You win some, you lose some
I ring ‘em, I take ‘em out for Dim Sum and use ‘em
I can hear the two of ‘em, whispering in the loo,
They’ll be like he’ll sex us and he wont even text us
Like Houston, I’m reckless
English like my breakfast
And she date my manager, said he look like Kanye West does
I press her, then I press up
I sex her then I dress up,
Schoolboy fists but I throw punches like I’m Lennox,
I never heard a man so jealous, so jealous,
So tell us about those letters,
You know she let me open every single one you sent her,
When you cry for her attention, just remember I’m the centre
And on the first night she let me enter, HA!

[Mr Hudson:]
Oooh
Who’s gonna take you home (I’m gonna take her home)
Who’s gonna take you home (I said I’m gonna take her home)
Noo, who’s gonna take you home, if it isn’t me… (Me! Me! Me! Me!)

Who’s gonna take you home (I’m gonna take her home)
Who’s gonna take you home (I said I’m gonna take her home)
Who’s gonna take you home, if it isn’t me… (Me! Me! Me! Me!)

Who’s gonna take you home
If it isn’t me…
Who’s gonna take you home
If it isn’t me…
Who’s gonna take you home
If it isn’t me…

Group Meeting

In our meeting today, we looked at all of our possible track ideas and also spent time searching for other songs as a group. As the song Anyone But Him seems to be our favourite in the group so far, we decided to look at it in some more detail. We went over the basic story behind the song and decided on how we interpreted the song and its lyrics. Here’s our thoughts:
We decided that the overall basic story is that Mr H. dated a girl quite recently but they broke up after they had problems. He then found out that his best friend has now gone behind his back and started dating her – the ultimate betrayal for Mr H. In the song, he is telling his ex that he accepts that she's moved on but doesn't want her to move on with his best friend. Mr H. has now lost his friendship with his best friend who has now become really arrogant (shown in his rap verse later in the song), and at the same time, his girlfriend.

Ideas for the music video visuals:
• We could make the two artists complete contrasts and play on the rivalry through what we actually shoot (shot content – photos, narrative – the girlfriend, them as young kids), the camerawork (slower and faster, high/low angles), location (contrasting backgrounds – black and white) and the editing (eg split screen).
• We thought we could show ECUs and the silhouette of the best friend until he starts his rap verse making him more interesting and building up his profile, to play on his arrogance and cockiness.
• We also thought that we could do flashbacks to the two artists as childhood best friends. This would suggest that they have been lifelong friends and therefore highlights and emphasizes the betrayal.
• We also thought we could cut to shots of the girl a couple of times, and cut to shots of the girl with the new guy.

Track Ideas

Mr Hudson – Possible Tracks

If we decide to use actors in the music video that are outside our group then we can use male stars. I really like the sound of Ben Hudson (stage name: Mr Hudson.) He’s an artist based in London and was originally part of Mr Hudson and The Library, a band with members from both London and Birmingham. The band members have listed influences from various genres of music including Chet Baker, David Bowie, The Police, Andre 3000, Marvin Gaye, The Specials, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzee Rascal. His sound is unique and he makes certain music with a slight jazz sound, but then collaborates with artists such as Kanye West. Its been described as cocktail jazz meeting hip-hop.

‘Anyone but him’ is a song off of Mr Hudson’s new album, ‘Straight No Chaser,’ and features Mr Hudson and Kanye West. This song evokes key themes of jealousy, rivalry and competition between two men. The message of the song is clear and I think it presents two completely different characters. This means we can create a real contrast in the music video between the two artists. This would be displayed through their image, attitudes eg. confidence/cockiness, location, editing etc. The over confidence of the other man is shown in lyrics such as ‘I see your girl want me,’ which would be clearly reflected in the shots based on him.

LYRICS:
Anyone but him
I'd rather hear you’d had the whole football team
than have to watch his filthy lips on your skin
Anyone but him

Anyone but him
With schoolboy fists, we can take this outside
But knowing my luck that fuck would win
Anyone but him

Who's gonna take you home, who's gonna take you home
Who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me
If it isn't me, if it

Anyone but him
My blood boils as my eyes turn green
Is this the best of the best of the scene
Anyone but him

Anyone but him
With schoolboy fists we can take this outside
But knowing my luck that fuck would win
Anyone but him

Who's gonna take you home, who's gonna take you home
Who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me
If it isn't me, if it

Anyone but him
Look past the leather in the dash and the rims
And you'll see his whole hustle wears thin
Anyone but him

Anyone but him
He's gonna take what you can't take back
Then's he's gone out the door on a whim
Anyone but him

Who's gonna take you home, who's gonna take you home
Who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me
If it isn't me, if it

[Kanye]
Now when she go black, she ain't never coming back
I'm sorry Mr. H, I thought you already knew that
You'll see her on a black street like Chauncey
I'm a bad boy like Sean C.
Roc-A-Fella like Shawn C.
Keep them Apes with me like Don C
Like Jay, keep Beyonce
I'm just talking nonsey, so nonchalantly
See my Mark like Ronson
Pop my collars like Fonzy
Paparazzi is on me
I see your girl want me, I'm filling up her glass
Feeling on her ass, feeling so upper class
And your boy, so fresh
I might even flash cash
So at the end of the night, you ain't even gotta ask

Who's gonna take you home, who's gonna take you home
Who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me
If it isn't me, if it isn't me

If it isn't me
Who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me
Who's gonna take you home, not if it isn't me
If it isn't me

Who's gonna take you home, who's gonna take you home
Who's gonna take you home, if it isn't me
If it isn't me, if it isn't me

The video would be mainly performance based; however there could also be some narrative. Editing could also reflect the theme/message of the song, for example there could be use of split screen to emphasise the fact that these two men are parallel to each other, each competing for this girl.

There has also been another version of the song produced live on BBC Radio 1 which is similar but features Tinie Tempah as a replacement for Kanye West and with different lyrics in his verse. The rivalry and jealousy is clearly shown in this performance with lyrics from Mr Hudson asking “who’s gonna take you home?” and then with sharp replies repeating “me,” as well as “I’ve never heard a man so jealous, so jealous.”

I actually prefer this second version as its more passionate (maybe because its live) and the lyrics in the rap verse are better as they lend better to the themes of the song.


This is another song (Time by Mr Hudson) but I think it’s a little too slow


This is another possibility (Everything is Broken by Mr Hudson Ft. Kid Cudi)