Music Video Analysis - Jayz

Music Video Analysis - Jay Z ft Alicia Keys (Empire State Of Mind)

Textual Analysis Of Music Video

The music video i will be analysing is Jay Z ft Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind. This video has many view on you tube about 150 Million. The video was directed by by Hype Williams. The video was filmed in New York. The Genre of this music video belongs to both Rap and R'n'B. The characteristics of both these genres are shown in this song/music video through Jay Z rapping to an instrumental and the vocals of Alicia Keys.

                                       Jay Z ft Alicia Keys -  Empire State of Mind

What is the relationship between the lyrics and visuals?

In most of the videos i have seen there has been a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. A few of these relationships can be found in Jay Z's Music video. For example at 0:41, when Jay Z says "Me, I'm up at Bed-Stuy, home of that boy Biggie Now I live on Billboard, and I brought my boys with me" we see an image of The Rap king Notourious BIG, and an image of Jay Z's name on a bill board.

As the song progresses at 0:58, the song says (Jay z and Alicia Keys) "Tell by my attitude that I am most definitely from
In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made, oh There's nothing you can't do, now you're in New York" at this point we see a shot of Alicia Keys playing a piano while singing in the middle of New York City. During this part we see several shots of different parts of New York.

The relationship between the lyrics and the visuals continue. At 1:41, Jayz says "Welcome to the melting pot, corners where we selling rock Afrika Bambaataa shit, home of the hip hop Yellow Cab, Gypsy Cab,Dollar Cab, holla back" at this point we see a variety of pictures which is mainly dominated by Yellow cabs as stated in the lyrics by Jay Z.

At 2:35, The song goes on to say "Lights is blinding, girls need blinders So they can step out of bounds quick The sidelines is blind with casualties" these lyrics can be related to the the visuals. This can be shown when we see a long shot of Jay Z in the room in front of a window without blinds and the bright lights are shining in his face.

What is the relationship between the music and visuals?

The video is full of relationships between the visuals and the music. The beat throughout the song is constant, it doesn't change and it is constant. Unlike Eminem (Stan) music video i analyzed, which the beat is based on the mood of the rapper. 

Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?

Location and Costume

Try our slideshow creator at Animoto.

Music Video Analysis - Chris Brown (Don't Wake Me Up)

Textual Analysis of Music Video

The music video i will be analysising is Chris Brown - Dont Wake Me Up. This video was performed by Chris Brown in 2012 and was directed by by Collin Tilley in the desert. The genre of the music in the music video is R and B, which is a very popular genre of music all around the world. The characteristic of R and B that this music video has is an Artist (Chris Brown) who is singing to a an instrumental which in this case is full with bass. This is the music video of the song:

     Chris Brown - Don't Wake Me Up

 What is the relationship between the lyrics and visuals?

Here are the lyrics for Chris Brown Don

Filming - Practice (TEST FOOTAGE)

  

Before the actual filming was done, we needed to practice filming some of the shots that we were going to be using during our actual filming. Sath and I filmed several shots, using a friend as the artist because we thought by having a person in the video would give us a real feel of what we will be up against and someone to use as a subject for filming.

Below is a short clip of the shots we filmed:

During the practice filming we came across several problems which made us think about how we could prevent it. For example, we did not know how to use the tripod with wheels properly as it kept making the camera shake. We found a way to overcome this by using two people to hold the camera, it was very weird and awkward but it worked.

Even though we only had four shots on our list, from seeing the number of clips you can see how many retakes we had to do. Having to repeatedly shoot one shot gave us a real sense of how it is trying to film anything in a professional manner.

Animatic - The Making of Our Animatic (Miguel Adorn)

The making of our animatic was a long process, we didn't complain as wee knew the making of the real video was going to be 10 times harder. Me and sath first had to watch the official music video and then wrote down all the shots and camera angles that were involved in the video

It was a long process but at the end of it seemed worth it. We ended up with several sheet of paper with each type of shot included and what time it was shown

After we had all of the shots, we started analysing them to show which shots were most used and how effectively they was used.

After we had analysed the different shots involved me and sath started writing down possible shots for our music video.

Once the shots were written down, we drew them out so we can put them onto our animatic.

Once we finished the drawing, we had uploaded them onto the computer and cropped them out into smaller pictures of each individual shots.

Once all of that was done, we opened up 'Final Cut Pro' and inserted all of the pictures and the song.

Once we had all we needed onto finalcut, we started putting pictures onto the timeline according to the song.

Music Video Shot Analysis - Miguel (Adorn)

Me and sath decided to take out some time to analyse every single camera shot and angle that was in the music video. This helped us as we were able to see what shots were you the most and why they were used the most. This would be helpful especially as a team as it makes it easier for us.

Animatic (Miguel Adorn)

Here is the animatic for our music video which me and sath put together.
It show the variety of shots, angles and settings we would love to include on the main video. This is helpful as we can use this as both a template and for guidance as we make our music video.

The Cast - Miguel (Adorn)

The Cast of Our Miguel(Adorn) Video on Prezi

Album Digipack

This was our first option for our album cover

 

And this was our second attempt and and our eventual final piece

This is our digipak now:

 

What to consider when making a music video?

I decided to analyse the main things that would be needed to be considered when making a music video. I feel that it is essential that as a group we know what we need, what we are aiming for and how we are going to reach this goal. I put this analysis in the form of a flipbook presentation.

Chosen Song

As a group we have chosen to pick the song Adorn by Miguel, as we feel it is an challenging yet an exciting video to make. Its a video we felt was not too technical but also not too easy. The video will require a lot of thought as they are some things such as equipment in the original video that we do not have any access to at the moment. So we would have to change a few things in the video to meet both our needs and the grade we want to achieve as a group.

Here is the song choice and the music video....Miguel - Adorn

Before we picked the song choice we had to make sure that the lyrics were appropriate. We also made sure that most of the lyrics were able to link to actions easily, for example if he was talking about loneliness it could be linked to a sad/upset emotion. So there had to be a relationship between the lyrics and our desired actions.

Here are the lyrics of our song choice:



These lips can't wait to taste your skin, baby, no, no
And these eyes, yeah, can't wait to see your grin, ooh ooh baby
Just let my love Just let my love adorn you Please baby, yeah


You gotta know
You gotta know
 You know that I adore you
Yeah baby


Baby these fists will always protect ya, lady
And this mind, oh, will never neglect
you, yeah, baby, oh, baby
 And if they try to break us down don't let that affect us, no, baby


You just gotta let my love
 Let my love
Let my love adorn you
Ah, le-le-le-let it dress you down


You got to know
You gotta know
 Know that I adore you
Just that babe

I... oh oh
Let my love adorn you baby
Don't you ever
Don't you let nobody tell you different baby
I'll always adore you
You gotta know know
You got to know know know
Now yeah

Ooh, yeah
The same way that the stars adorn the skies yeah (every night baby)
Oh, look up suga (every night baby)
 Now, hey, hey, hey
The same way that my whole world's in your eyes (in your eyes baby)
Ooh, and this time now (and this time baby)

Just let
Let my love adorn you baby, hey
 Le-le-le-let it dress you down
You gotta know, baby Oh, you gotta know
Know that I adore you
 Oh, love aint never looked so good on ya
Ooh, put it on baby
Let my love adorn you

Music Video Pitch

Although me as sath were unable to make the music idea pitch, the girls went on to present it. They presented it very well to our teacher who would then decide whether or not our music video and song choice was good enough. With the great work Jessica and Seun put into presenting the pitch she agreed and allowed us to carry on with the song choice.

 

Here is some of the pitch and research into what we would need which I have put on to an
online presentation:

 

Target Audience

There are millions of young people, and they all fall into different social groups. Although they may fall in to hundreds of social groups, UK Tribes have narrowed those hundreds into a few. The main social groups which most of the todays' youngsters fall into, according to UK Tribes are:

Mainstream

Aspirant Mainstream

urban

Leading Edge

Alternative Kid

Aspirant mainstream is made up mainly of two different groups in which are slightly similar when it comes to the places in which they shop and the media brands in which they use. The two groups that fall into these categories are, Rahs and Trendies. Their media brands are Facebook, Channel 4, Vogue and Elle. The most popular brands amongst them are H&M, Topshop, iTunes and Amazon.

The Leading Edge group is made up of Geeks, Craft kids, Hipsters and Indie Scenesters. Their media brands are Flickr, Twitter, Vogue, XFM and the Gaurdian. The popular brands for this social groupo are Converse, Ebay, ASOS and Nike.

Another social group is the Urbans, they are made up of the Blingers, DIYers and Trackies. The brand that this group are associated with are big brand names such as Adidas, Nike, Blackberry and Playstation 3. The most popular media brands are Kiss 100, MTV, Kiss and Facebook.
 

Mainstream also consists of a few social groups. For example Sports junkies, Street Rats, Chavs, Boy Racers and Ravers. There brand and media types are similar yet different. For example there brands are Nike, River Island, Nintendo Wii, Primark and Sports Direct. There Media types are Facebook, Youtube, ITV 1 and the Sun.

The social group Alternative kids are made up of, Emos, Scene kids, young alts and gamers. There brands are musch different from others. The media brands most popular with these groups are Eurogamer, 4OS, Youtube, Myspace and NME. The brand names associated with this social group are fairly big branded names such as X-Box 360, Amazone, Topman and Vans.

Music Genre Research - Hip Hop/ RnB

HIP HOP

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, Rap music or hip-hop music, is a music genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted. It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MC-ing/rapping, DJ-ing/scratching, break dancing, and graffiti writing.sampling (or synthesis), and beat boxing. Other elements include

While often used to refer to rapping, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture.The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music,though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of hip hop culture, including DJ-ing and scratching, beat boxing, and instrumental tracks.

Over the past few decades, hip hop music has evolved. This is evident through the flow of the music and the way the lyrics are put forward to us as an audience. For example is you take one of the hip hop legends like Notorious B.I.G and compare it to the likes of Lil Wayne the difference is evident.

RnB

R'n'B is a music genre that combines elements of Hip Hop, Soul, R&B and funk.

Although the abbreviation R&B originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in the 1980s.

Contemporary R&B has a polished record production style, drum machine-backed rhythms, an occasional saxophone-laced beat to give a jazz feel 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.

Also these are some of the most influencial and famous artists in the two genres:

Christopher Maurice "Chris" Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, rapper, and actor. He made his recording debut in late 2005 with the self-titled album Chris Brown at the age of 16. The album featured the hit single "Run It!", which topped the Billboard Hot 100, making Brown the first male artist as a lead to have his debut single top the chart since Puff Daddy in 1997. The album has sold over two million copies in the United States and was certified double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Brown's second studio album, Exclusive was released worldwide in November 2007. It spawned two successful singles; his second U.S. number one hit, "Kiss Kiss" featuring T-Pain and "With You", which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 

Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986), who records under the mononym Drake, is a Canadian recording artist and actor. He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation.

In June 2009, Drake signed a recording contract with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment.  Drake has also won several awards, including two Juno Awards in 2010 for Best New Artist, and Rap Recording of the Year.

Tremaine "Trey" Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), better known by his stage name Trey Songz, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. His debut album, I Gotta Make It, was released in 2005, while his second album, Trey Day, was released in 2007. His third album, Ready, was released in 2009 while his fourth studio album, Passion, Pain & Pleasure, was released on September 14, 2010.

Miguel - Adorn (Possible Visuals)

LYRICS:

These lips can't wait to taste your skin, baby, no, no
And these eyes, yeah, can't wait to see your grin, ooh ooh baby
Just let my love
Just let my love adorn you
Please baby, yeah

VISUAL:

In these first few verses we could have a a short clip of our male actor facing the wall, with his eyes closed looking up with one of his hands sliding down the wall. Whilst we see this happening we can show a clip of our female actor with her back on the wall stroking her neck. Then we can go back to our male artist, who is using one hand to touch the wall and the other hand clench and held towards his chest-(Just let my love adorn you), he'll also need to look very passionate.

LYRICS:

You gotta know
You gotta know
You know that I adore you
Yeah baby

VISUAL:

At this point of  the song we could have him hold onto the girl and looking her straight in the eyes, we can also have a clip of him standing on his own outside singing the chorus.

LYRICS:

Baby these fists will always protect ya, lady
And this mind, oh, will never neglect you, yeah, baby, oh, baby
And if they stay trying to break us down don't let that affect us, no, baby
You just gotta let my love
Let my love
Let my love adorn you
Ah, le-le-le-let it just adorn you

VISUAL:

We can have our artist standing in a dark low lit room with some smoke, holding both of his fists up.  When it gets to the second verse we can have him stroking the girls cheek, will she looks down on the floor ( a little bit insecure/reluctant)

LYRICS:

You got to know
You gotta know
Know that I adore you
Just that babe

I... oh oh
Let my love adorn you baby
Don't you ever
Don't you let nobody tell you different baby
I'll always adore you
You gotta know now
You got to know know know
Now yeah

VISUAL:
At this point of  the song we could have him hold onto the girl and looking her straight in the eyes, we can also have a clip of him standing on his own outside singing the chorus.

LYRICS:

Ooh, yeah
The same way that the stars adorn the skies yeah (every night baby)
Oh, look up suga (every night baby)
Now, hey, hey, hey
The same way that my whole world's in your eyes (in your eyes baby)
Ooh, and this time now (and this time baby)

VISUAL:

We could have our main man looking up in the sky whilst we see a clip of the main girl looking straight into the camera.

LYRICS:

Just let
Let my love adorn you baby, hey
Le-le-le-let it dress you down
You gotta know, baby
Oh, you gotta know
Know that I adorn you
Oh, love aint never looked so good on ya
Ooh, put it on baby
Let my love adorn you