our pop questionnaire

This is an example of our Survey, we asked 10 varied questions for our 20 people to fill out

Mood board

This is a picture of the mood board we created for our chosen artist/song. As a group we were stuck on whether to choose Rihanna – PS I’m Still Not Over You or Adele – He Won’t Go. We got various pictures of the different ideas we had for each of the videos and we presented them to the class. We then felt that Rihanna was the better choice as we were more familiar with her music and although we may have had more ideas for the Adele song we felt our ideas for the Rihanna song were a lot more effective and would appeal more to our target audience. Our target audience is teenagers and we felt Rihanna is an artist that teenagers are attracted to more over Adele’s music.

Analysing music videos from different genre's

Jessie J - It's My Party (pop)

This song is a lot more upbeat and it is about her not caring what people think about her and she'll do her own thing. Jessie J has said this song is about how she feels about her life currently. By looking at the lyrics I feel it is about how she feels about peoples criticisms towards not just her but also her music too.This music video has a lot more vibrant colours used in it and Jessie J does not look anywhere near as serious as she does in Who You Are. She is joking around in the video with her lyrics and having a laugh with them. Even the surroundings of the video is a lot more electric and has a party vibe to the song.

Ed Sheeran The A Team music video analysis (slow song)

I will be analysing a music video by Ed Sheeran, my reason for choosing this video is the video uses a narrative structure which I feel is very different and will be portrayed in a emotional way. The video is told from another persons perspective, the person is watching another girls life.

Throughout the video there are many close ups which portray emotion from the girl in the video which creates feelings of sympathy from the audience as the lyrics are made in a way which is linked the what we are seeing in the video. This video is about how young people get caught up in doing drugs therefore I feel that this video will connect with the teenage audience(between the ages of 15-21)

Although there is a female in this video it will also connect to males as well because some males get caught up in drugs too.

This music video starts when it have been discovered that the girl lying down has been killed because of drugs which is a long shot. It can also suggest that she is unfortunate and doesn't have a place to sleep

or live. This makes the audience what to know more about her life. There is then a close up of her wiping her face and pulling the sleeping bag in around her which shows the audience she is cold, creating the audience to feel more sympathy for her.

The mise en scene also suggests that the girl is unfortunate not to have a home as she is in a park, also the bit where she is looking  that the girl is unfortunate because the costume she is wearing. She is wearing ripped tights and also a mans coat which is too big for her. Along with this she has thick make up on which suggests she has been trying anything for money. 

This video attracts it's target audience because they are people who could be involved and trapped and it shows that it isn't a way out. The circular structure intrigues the target audience causing them to be attracted to the video.

 J Cole Lost Ones (RNB)

This music video begins with a close up shot of a side view of a female, where it  is visible that she has been crying due to the tears and running down mascara, this immediately conveys that this song will be very emotional and deep.

 An extreme close shot is done which only focuses on the female’s eyes so that the audience can feel her hurt; this leaves the audience with questions from the beginning as to why this female is upset

The fact that the male (J Cole) is placing his hand on the window ceiling and not comforting the upset female conveys that there is an awkward situation going on in between them that is unresolved, it also shows that the female is rather strong as she is not looking to him for comfort, however this could also mean that he has upset her and is not remorseful about it.

However, J Cole then attempts to comfort the female and speak to her about their situation, the opening lyric of this song is “Baby girl, I can’t imagine what is like for you, I got you pregnant now inside there is a life in you”

This screen shot shows her turning away from him whilst he is attempting to talk to her, from this I can gather that they’re disagreeing on their decisions about the child he impregnated. 

 He then attempts again to hug and comfort her again whilst rapping “I know you going to think if this going to make me think about “wifeying” (marriage) you, like if you had my first child would I spend my whole life with you? The audience can gather that the male is not too keen on keeping this child or becoming ultimately serious with this female; from this they can finally understand why she is upset.

 She then forcefully/aggressively pushes him away, this conveys that his views on this situation differ from hers; she probably wants to start a family and move further on to a serious level with him whilst he doesn't want to.        

After, a mid shot is conducted whilst he raps “I aint trying to spend the night with you, I’m kind of lost”, this highlights the fact that he needs some space away from her as she is not in the frame shot with him.

Both of their hand gestures suggest that they’re in a very heated argument that has escalated the female’s mood from hurt into anger and she is continuously speaking with hand movements, portraying she has a lot to say.

However, J Cole then places his finger on the females mouth and raps “Hold on now, let me finish” which backs up my earlier point that the female is angry and has got a lot to say, yet he would like to be given the chance to give an explanation for his thoughts, and you can infer that he desperately wants her to understand his point.

The screen then splits into two whilst he is explaining his point, the effect of this split screen conveys that they both need to understand each other’s point of views, to make things equal for the both of them.

In this point of view shot you can infer that there are feelings between the couple as they’re holding hands and at this point the female isn't fighting it as she was in the previous scenes. Conveying that she is giving into him, which highlights how strong her feelings for him are.

99 problems essay.

In what ways are the traditional aspects of the hip-hop genre are broken or re-made in the music video for ‘99 problems’?

 

Jay Z’s ’99 problems’ music video was produced and released by Mark Romanek in 2004 which was a very controversial video at the time as it broke many of typical conventions or a rap/hip-hop genre video which is most probably what made the video and single such a success and remain significant to viewers, in particular to an audience who would have never listened to hip-hop music. The music video aimed to illustrate the struggles that Jay Z went through growing up in Brooklyn, New York whilst trying to pursue his career and elevate his position in the industry.

To begin with, the abstract representations of people, cultural elements and social problems deviate from the original representations of the hip-hop genre. For example when a rapper aims to show off their wealth, they use many expensive cars, flashy jewellery, name-brand clothing and alcohol in many close up shots such as in the ‘I Get Money’ video by 50 Cent which is a direct way of displaying their wealth. In the ‘’99 problems’’ video, one of his aims is to represent how disproportionately wealth is distributed in New York and the poverty in his neighbourhood. The close up of the black teenage boy wearing (what looks like) a black beanie is used to show that he is a victim of poverty, but a few seconds later he pulls down the balaclava to cover his face, inferring that he is about to commit a crime. This challenges the representation of the poor because it implies that what the rest of society may see as the consequences of being poor, those who live in poverty have other means of obtaining money through committing crimes and being involved in illegal activity and so the problem of ‘poverty’ is a social construct from outsiders and the richer, middle class people made to exploit the white race for their prejudice and discrimination.

Also, another way in which some of the traditional aspects are broken is through his lyrical content, the famous line ‘‘I got 99 problems but a bitch ain’t one’’ clearly suggest that Jay Z has a low opinion of women, as he labels them demeaning words such as ‘b*tch’ signifying that he has more power over them as they gave no ability to affect him. Yet through the use of voyeurism Jay Z attracts more male attention to the female, instead of completely disregarding them through the shots of women in bikini’s ‘booty-shaking’ and dancing in front of a car which flick through the clip at fast rates to capture male attention suggesting that they cannot get enough of women. He is able to portray the message effectively through synaesthesia as his lyrics collaborate well with the visual images to connect with the audience in a way that they can relate.

In terms of keeping with the traditional aspects of the hip-hop genre, the black and white theme of the video is similar to hip hop music videos from the late 1980’ and early 90’s by groups such as ‘Jazz’ by A Tribe called quest and ‘Rock box’ by RUN DMC, which is in a sense goes back to the traditional roots of hip hop where the lyrics were the most important part of the music video and there were lines dropped in about life and social issues instead of just displaying wealth, drug referencing and explicit lyrics. By going back to the roots of the hip hop genre the message of the song is displayed clearly and the ‘abstract’ aspects of the video have made the message of the video easier to understand. To sum up, the music video did divert away from many of the traditional aspects associated with the hip hop genre including the way the message was portrayed, through the technical elements such as camera shots and movements but in terms of rap the lyrics relate to and are similar to other artist’s music.

Analysing music videos from one particular artist

Song choice

Song choice option for Nicole & Rosette.

1.       Toni Braxton ft Trey Songz – Yesterday.  Years active: 1989-present.

Toni Braxton: American R&B singer; Sold over 66 million records worldwide. “Yesterday” served as the first single from her new album in 2009 named “pulse”. She has also starred in the 7^th season of the reality show dancing with the stars. Occupation: Singer-songwriter, record producer, actress, musician, composer, philanthropist, television personality. Labels: LaFace, Arista, Background, Atlantic.

2.       Shaffer Chimere Smith aka Neyo- Together. Years Active: 2005-present.

Occupation: Singer–songwriter, record producer, dancer, actor.  Genres:  R&B, pop, hip hop, soul, dance. Grammy award winning American R&B recording artist. Neyo has starred in several films; has worked with many other artist e.g. Rihanna, Keri Hilson, Pitbull and the list goes on (literally).  Labels: Compound, Motown, Def Jam

3.       K-Ci & Jojo- All my life.  Years Active- 1996-present

 American R&B duo, they were also a part of the chart-topping r&b group jodeci. K-Ci & JoJo's first sign of independence came in 1994 when K-Ci covered Bobby Womack's hit "If You Think You're Lonely Now" for the movie Jason's Lyric. Labels:MCA, Formula Recordings, RPH Records/EMI Publishing.

4.       Aaliyah- I miss you. Years active: 1991–2001. Aaliyah and eight others were killed in an airplane crash in The Bahamas after filming the music video for the single "Rock the Boat". The pilot, Luis Morales III, was unlicensed at the time of the accident and had traces of cocaine and alcohol in his system. She was an American recording artist, dancer, actress and model. She was born in Brooklyn, New York. Aaliyah is estimated to have sold 24 to 32 million albums worldwide. Labels: Blackground, Jive, Atlantic, Virgin. Aaliyah's music has continued to achieve commercial success with several posthumous releases

5.       Tynisha Keli- I wish you loved me. Years: active 2002–present. She is best known for the single "I Wish You Loved Me" which was written by Rico Love and produced by Tha Corna Boyz. Genres: Pop, R&B. Labels:  Warner Bros. Records (2006-2009). She is not currently signed to a label and still working on her third album, which will release sometime in 2013.

6.       Chris Brown- With you. Years active: 2005-present.  Christopher Maurice "Chris" Brown is an American recording artist, dancer, and actor. Born in Tappahannock, Virginia, he taught himself to sing and dance at a young age and was involved in his church choir and several local talent shows. Five albums.

7.       Trina ft. Kelly Rowland-Here we go.

8.       Big brovaz- Baby boy.

9.       Jamelia- Thank you

Music treatment

Rihanna- P.s I'm still not over you.

The scene commences with a female who is upset and is writing a letter which every sentence will be filmed, this letter will be about her explaining that she is not over her ex, there will be various previous ones scrunched up around her, she then finishes writing the letter but rips it up as she is in two minds about sending the letter.

The next scene then cuts to a flashback of when the female and her boyfriend would be around his little brother playing, this will be her reminiscing so to symbolise that this is something that happened in the past, a black and white effect will be used. Furthermore, the next scene will be split in four screens and one by one old video clips/pictures appear of memories of the couple

Several calendar pages flick counting down the months that she has not seen him.

Whilst looking through her phone at old pictures of them, she receives a missed call from her best friend is not very happy as she excitingly goes to look on her screen and realises it is not her ex.

She then runs upstairs rapidly locks herself in his room, picks up a jumper (the scene will then quickly cut to a mid-shot of the male, her ex wearing this jumper) and cuts back to the female in her room who is clenching tightly onto this jumper and begins to weep.

Clock slowly rewinds back the time to the first day they met, when they were young kids and she moved down to his neighbourhood and they commence to play with each other’s toys.

Feedback:

Deniece- WICKED!

Precious- It's good, it's in a lot of detail, the concept is very contemporary with young people and love which is a good thing. I just don't understand the beginning part of why she rips the letter.


Jessica- It's really good, it's described in  a lot of depth , whilst reading it you feel as if you yourself are in the music video. Criticisms- get straight to the point, too much waffling.

Key features of the music genre I'll be focusing on

The music genre I’ll be focusing on is pop and R&B as these are the two main music genres that Rihanna’s music falls into.
 

Pop music is a very popular genre of music and it has been for a very long time which developed from rock and roll in the 1950’s. Pop music is very diverse and can borrow elements from other styles of music. Pop is listened to all of the time and various worldwide artists are in the genre of pop music.

 

Musicologists often identify the following characteristics as typical of the pop music genre:

• an aim of appealing to a general audience, rather than to a particular sub-culture or ideology
• an emphasis on craftsmanship rather than formal "artistic" qualities
• an emphasis on recording, production, and technology, over live performance
• a tendency to reflect existing trends rather than progressive developments
• much pop music is intended to encourage dancing, or it uses dance-oriented beats or rhythms

R&B is also a very popular genre of music and is listened to by many people all over the world. The term R&B was traditionally from rhythm and blues music but today the term R&B music describes the style of African-American music originating after the decline of disco in the 1980’s.

Contemporary R&B has a polished record production style, drum machine-backed rhythms, an occasional saxophone-laced beat to give a jazz feel (mostly common in contemporary R&B songs prior to the year 1995), and a smooth, lush style of vocal arrangement. Electronic influences are becoming an increasing trend, and the use of hip hop or dance-inspired beats are typical, although the roughness and grit inherent in hip hop may be reduced and smoothed out. Contemporary R&B vocalists are often known for their use of melisma, popularized by vocalists such as Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey.

About Rihanna