Props research

I used YouTube to research how to create a realistic looking bullet wound in a t-shirt with fake blood to go with the theme of police brutality.
I want to have Ella on screen after the gunshot noise in a white t-shirt, bleeding so that the audience knows she was the one who was shot

Production Risk Assessment

Storyboard

Location recce/ search

Following my song change, I did a new location recce/ search to get new locations for my new idea.



Location 1

This location is in my flat meaning I have easy access with Ella my actor as we live together.
The stairs look quite dirty but the white and black colour works well with the contrast shots I want to film.

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Location 2 + 3 - Chapelfield Norwich

The area just behind Chapelfield in Norwich is quite industrial and 'rough' which is typical of black neighbourhoods.

Location 2
The broken wall caught my eye and to me represents the broken system where black people are getting shot and killed over such small things such as selling CD's on a street corner, and even just innocently walking around.

There's also a black/grey wall here which is similar to a photo in my moodboard that i'd really like to film against.

Although the wall I'm going to use (pictured above on the left) hasn't got bricks showing in it, it's got quite a matte edgy look to it and I'd like Ella to walk past it just as Kendrick Lamar is in the photo above on the right.

Location 3
The danger of death sign will work really well in my music video as I hint more towards the police brutality theme

These locations are both in public and easy to get to, however the street lighting isn't very good at night so these two locations would need to be shot in the day time

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Location 4 - Norwich Wilko collection point

This collection point has grey corrugated doors which is a nice edgy background for Ella to stand in front of

The location is public and easy to get to, but again, doesn't have great lighting so this will be a daytime shot that I can later edit to create more contrast and darkness

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Location 5 - Peaceful protest, London

I'm still going to be shooting in London at the peaceful protest as it really helps to get the issue of police brutality across, especially as this protest is specifically to do with police brutality rather than just racism.

Just like before, I'm unable to go up to London to do a recce as it's too expensive, but I know I'll be able to get some good shots based on photographs and videos from previous protests etc

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There will be background noise in all of these locations but the sound will not be used in the music video and will be edited out in post-production.

Artist Profile

The person I previously casted is still perfect for this role, if not better for this role than the previous song.

She's a black lesbian female who looks quite masculine.  Although Jaden Smith is straight, he's a genderqueer fashion icon for the LGBT community and constantly challenges stereotypes and refuses to conform to the strict structures of his masculinity and embraces a more feminine look regularly.

Ella is constantly challenging stereotypes and like Jaden, does not conform to the strict structures of her femininity and embraces a more masculine look.  This means that she is comfortable in performing an originally male-sung song, but that she gives an insight into how police brutality affects both men and women.

Equipment List

For production purposes:

Canon 70D camera: I have decided to use a Canon 70D as it's an incredibly high spec camera meaning I can produce the high quality of music video I want to, and also because I am very confident using this camera.  I've used the 70D previously to film and photograph, and the quality is just outstanding compared to some other camera's I've used before.  I'm also lucky enough to be able to rent this camera out from the college free of charge meaning I can stick to my very low budget.

Sony a3000 camera: I have decided to use my Sony a3000 camera as well because it's of vast difference in terms of specification and quality.  The different uses of camera helps me to show a contrast between the protests and the actor / star  rapping in my music video without playing about with colour.  I intend to edit my music video in black and white, however if I was to edit in colour, I would use colour to represent the contrast instead.

Tripod: Using a tripod is essential for the quality of work I am aiming to achieve.  Having a shaky music video is unprofessional, and not up to industry standard.  The tripod I'll be using allows me to track and pan easily, creating smooth shots.

For post-production purposes:

Apple MacBook Pro: My Apple MacBook Pro is a great laptop for editing on.  It uses an Intel Quad Core i7 Processor, meaning it's very quick and the performance is of high standard.  It also has a dual graphics processor using Intel Iris Pro Graphics and NVIDIA GeForce.  These are very good graphics processors and it means I can edit my video in high quality meaning there won't be a big difference when it's exported and viewed again.  Sometimes if you edit using a slow computer, or one with a low-spec graphics card, it's near enough impossible to edit properly because you can't really see what you're working with.

Adobe Premiere Pro: This is industry standard software and fortunately I'm really confident using this.  I've previously edited YouTube videos for my friends, and other videos for my family using this software as I aspire to go into this industry when I'm older.  I wanted to practice so I was up to industry-standard or at least very confident using it.  Adobe Premiere Pro is such good software and gives you the ability to edit using it's own audio and visual effects, or you can create or download your own.  You can also edit text using fonts provided or you can download your own fonts to use with this software.  Whilst I am confident, I'm always eager to learn more and intend to watch YouTube videos are research more things I can do to further enhance my understanding of the software and hopefully improve my music video.

Music Video Treatment

Music Video Proposal

Music Video Proposal

Artist & Track Name: Jaden Smith - Scarface

Running Time: 02:45

General style of music video. The overall style of the music video will have quite a young feel to it to reflect the young artist and young person starring in the music video, but it will also deal with the serious issue of police brutality in America so there will be an equal balance between the young feel and the serious feel. I intend to shoot the music video as a performance narrative piece as the lyrics are very important but so is the performance so I can get the message about police brutality across The visuals will have a direct link to some of the lyrics but it won’t necessarily be driven by the lyrics.  When it says “we dance to the music, it’s crazy ‘cause all of them sound so the same” we will see lots of people of different racial backgrounds dancing and having a good time.  The song has a very strong beat and the editing will be driven by this. I intend to stick to the codes and conventions of hip-hop music videos which I will research further.

Briefly describe what will happen in your music video.       What will we see? The music video will mainly be of the person starring in the music video and she will be lip synching to the song as well as performing.  There will also be one or two clips from New York, a few from a Black Lives Matter Protest in London to link with the police brutality theme, and the rest will be shot in Norwich as this is where I live and have the easiest access to. I intend to use widescreen bars in Adobe Premiere Pro, meaning that there will be quite a few wide shots.  With the actor, I will be using mostly close ups, mid close ups and long shots, this will help me to capture her prominent black features which is harder to tell as it’s being shot in black and white. I will mainly be using establishing shots as well as long shots and mid shots for the shots of buildings, as these are to establish the feel of the song and will only be quick clips. This video will be a typical hip-hop music video, touching upon topics of racism and black lives matter which are seen quite regularly in hip-hop videos. There will be intertextual references to the movie ‘Scarface’.  This is partly due to the name of the song, and also to the scene in ‘Scarface’ where Al Pacino gets shot by lots of bullets and then finally gets shot down by one, this is very similar to a story where a young male called Laquan was shot multiple times for over 16 seconds by police officers in America and I’d like to reference this.

What resources will you need? Props, styling, location, recording and lighting equipment, actors, etc.: Props and styling – Street style hip-hop clothing, jewellery, grillz – referring to moodboard Location – New York (buildings), Norwich (stairs in flat complex) + (broken wall by shopping centre) + (walls by industrial area near shopping centre) + (graffiti near flat) + (Sprowston police station) + (plain white wall in flat)  London – (UFFC Annual Remembrance Procession Protest) Recording equipment – Canon 70D, Sony a3000 Camera

Who will you need to organise for your music video shoot?  Are they reliable? Ella Campbell         - Very reliable         - I live with her         - Knows how important this is to me          - This is important to her too

How will you access/organise location(s)?  Is your idea ‘do-able’ in terms of resources and time scale? This is very do-able in terms of resources and time scale.  I live in the centre of Norwich and can easily travel anywhere in Norwich to shoot.  I live with Ella and we have a very similar schedule so she’s almost always free when I am.

Practical Production Treatment

Please see below my Practical Production Treatment.

To see the text more clearly, please use the zoom buttons.

Moodboard

Analysis of Lyrics

Analysing the lyrics has helped me to understand what I want in the music videos to help express the lyrics.  I am creating a promotional package and a marketing tool and if this was a pitch to the artist, I would need to send the right message that Jaden Smith intended.

Please hover over the lyrics to view the analysis via ThingLink.

Production Schedule

Due to the change in song, I've created a new production schedule to keep me organised in making sure everything is done in time.
Understanding time management is an important thing, especially in the media industry because there are lots of deadlines to meet and a lot of people can be relying on one person to finish something before they can continue another.

Participant Release Form