Analysis of other student music videos

Music video 1: The Worst - Jhene Aiko

This music video uses the song 'The Worst'  Aiko who is an R&B singer. There are various strengths and weaknesses to this video in terms of camera shots, mise en scene and editing. There are various camera shots that help strengthen this music video for example the close ups of the character help build emotion and show off the characters lip syncing. There are however a few shaky shots which makes it obvious that it's hand held which overall can give an unprofessional look. There are some nice establishing and scenic shots that create a chilled vibe. This fits into the genre as although typically R&B music features girls and rich rappers, the more slower songs by the female artists can look more artistic and contemporary. Jhene Aiko herself is classed under more of alternative R&B and neo soul which means there would be more of an artistic theme in her music videos. The mise en scene is effective in terms of costume as the main singer wears a red dress, to show off beauty, a leather jacket to show edginess, and hoop earrings which fit into the more typical conventions of the R&B genre. The locations seem to be in London which is effective as this city look fits into the genre as well. The editing has some weaknesses as a lot of the time the lip syncing is not in sync which creates an unprofessional look. However there are some strengths to the editing as there are slow motion edits and reverse shots which makes it less boring and more appealing to the audience. Although this music video is more of a performance music video of just lip syncing, there is a slight narrative with the texts from her 'bae'. This use of slang would help appeal to the target audience of this genre and the use of props (the phone) also appeals to the audience. The continuity in this music video is could be improved as the shots could be more quick cut to match the beat. This is something that I will make sure we do correctly, as the cutting with the beat makes it more effective. Overall I would say this music video has some strengths such as adhering to the R&B genre, however on the whole is quite weak. I've learnt from this video to make sure our lip syncing is effective and continuity flows more. We would also want to have more interesting shots with more angles.  

Music Video 2: The Internet - Under Control

This music video is a performance type video with no narrative. The song is by an Alternative R&B band called The Internet who also fall into the neo soul genre. There are many successful camera shots and angles within such as mid shots showing the singers shadow in front of a projector screen. Shots like this are effective as they create this artistic effect which fits into the alternative genre. This also creates an edgy look which may be something my group want to go for. There are also many long shots to show off the setting and costume. This mise en scene is very effective as the settings chosen are very artistic looking (art galleries, arcades, sunset beaches) which fit into that alternative genre. The costume of the singer is also very effective as she wears quite indie/vintage clothing. With the oversized denim jacket, caps, and nose piercing it gives the overall impression of the edgy style. This successfully adheres to the alternative R&B genre as this would appeal to the target audience who may have a similar style or interested in that style. The editing in this video is also very successful and professional looking. There is a lot of flash cutting that matches the beat of the song which is important. One example is at 0:15s where the camera cuts so quickly back and fourth between two shots as a lift door was closing. This created a distorted but cool effect which matched the beat. This may be something that we would include in our video as the more adventurous the editing is, the more interesting the video becomes. Overall I would say this is a very strong music video and one that I have gained good ideas from for our own music video.  



Artist Biography

http://prezi.com/w-yzvgrdphfj/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Target Audience Mood Board

This mood board is a visual representation of our target audience. Our target audience for our music video and artist would be mainly females aged around 17-24 as this is usually the age range for those who listen to the alternative R&B genre.  I have included some brands that represent what our target audience would be interested in such as clothing brands,  food brands, and sports brands. These brands such as urban outfitters would target our audience successfully as this sort of store would appeal to more alternative people with an edgy and unique style. As the target audience is older than the typical young teenage girls, the food brand I have chosen is Pizza Express as it's more classy, expensive and probably a more likely place for our target audience to eat. In order to therefore appeal to the target audience we may choose to include outfits that are from urban outfitters for our artist to wear. I have also included examples of films and TV shows that may represent our target audience. The TV show Empire predominately features black people and music which is widely popular within the black community across the world. There's also the film poster of 'Dope' which features alternative black characters that do not fit into their stereotypes. This could appeal to our target audience, especially teenagers and young adults as the teens can relate to the high school atmosphere and the young adults could be more intrigued with the drug storyline. The fashion in this film is also very alternative and has a '90s hip hop' vibe which could be the sort of style we incorporate in our music video to appeal to the target audience. I have also chose to include music magazines that feature R&B music with a more edgy and artistic theme. These may be of interest to our target audience so we may chose to feature some in our music video. There is also a picture of an iPhone as well as many logos of social media which represents the youth of today. Many young people own a social media account and use it to express themselves, which is why this has been featured on my mood board. To reflect this in our music video we could have sections where an iPhone is featured, to give this relateability aspect to it. Lastly I have chosen to include screenshots of some tweets made by the artist SZA. These tweets represent her views on the 'BlackLivesMatter' movement and how she strongly disagrees with the injustice of black people. These views would also reflect the views of our target audience, as a lot of the youth today also believe in this movement no matter what their ethnicity is.

Potential Logos

Here's an example of a record label logo that is of alternative R&B. This is also the record label that has the artist SZA on, which is the song we have chosen to do. The graphics of this logo is quite bold and has a metallic look about it which represents the more lavish aspect of R&B. The name 'Top Dawg Entertainment' also has this slang element which also reflects the R&B/Hip hop genre.














Example 1

This logo was created by Liv and has many strengths and weaknesses to it. The colour scheme she has chosen is black and purple which does fit into the genre R&B genre, especially the purple linking to our artists song SZA. The graphics used are a thin font of the letter 'V' which creates a simplistic but effective look.

Example 2

This logo was created by Laura and has many strengths in terms of graphics, font and colour scheme. The grey and black fits into the R&B genre however the lack of colour could be less appealing to the audience. We could incorporate both Liv and Laura's logos together.

Example 3 (cannot upload as my photoshop is not opening)










we have chosen this Logo for our record label 'Vibe Records' due to the graphics fitting into the genre of R&B music. Similarly there is bold writing and the colours consist of the simple black and white as well as a metallic feel.