Coursework: Statement of Intent, pre-production and filming

MUSIC VIDEO PLANNING

Statement of intent draft 2:

I will make a 2-3 minute music video with an accompanying music magazine. The song i have chosen to do is called 'I'm not racist' by Joyner Lucas, the genre of the song is rap/ hip-hop. I plan on adopting some of the features of the original music video such as the cinematography used. I have chosen this genre because it initially gave audiences an insight into the lives of young, black, urban people and also gave them a voice. Tricia Rose has criticised commercial hip hop and suggests black culture has been appropriated and exploited by capitalism. I aim to use the genre of hip hop for what it used to be about and shed light on politics, race and history.  I will include Todorov's theory of equilibrium ,in the beginning both men have an existing state where they hold prejudice against each other and have suppressed feelings. The disequilibrium will be when they are expressing their feelings and anger, they both become aggressive and frustrated. The new equilibrium will be when they actually listen to how the other feels and their reasons for it and then they hug. I will incorporate Goodwin's conventions of a music video by including a relationship that amplifies and contrasts the lyrics and the visuals. I will have close up shots of the artist to highlight his 'star image'. I will also have inter textual references between the lyrics and other media texts.

The purpose of the music video is to highlighting the significance that racism isn't always overt and to subvert negative stereotypes of black men.I think my music video would appeal to a variety of different audiences as it can link to today's society for instance the black lives matter movement, gun violence and police brutality which are all current topics and are still relevant. More specifically i think it would appeal to younger audiences such as teenagers and young adults as they are more impressionable and are more involved in current issues and many of the black lives matter protests where organised by young people which shows that they have an interest in politics.I think using music to relate to young people is an effective way of targeting them as they typically listen to the genre of rap so they are likely to be interested in seeing the video.The music video would appeal to mainstream audiences as the concept of the video links to the Netflix documentary by Ava DuVernay 13th which is about the oppression that black people have faced and the systematic racism that caused so many black people to be incarcerated. Applying Blumler and Katz's Uses and gratifications theory, audiences will use the music video as surveillance as they will be learning about the experiences of black people in terms of the opression they have faced but in a way that they can engage with as it is in the form of a music video.Additionally, i think many people are likely to see the video seeing as the original video was well received with 142 million views and 3.4 million likes. This means that the sponsorship will give the headphone brand a lot of customers.

The music video will be representing black people, more specifically black teenagers. This will be achieved through casting of black people and scenes showing black youth. Applying the uses and gratifications theory, audiences may feel some personal identity due to relatability to characters when they see black people being represented. Gilroy's work on double consciousness can also be applied as the music video will give black people another lens to see themselves through that isn't from the perspective of the white gaze. Black diasporic identity can be applied as in the music video there is the sense of not belonging or being accepted from the lyrics and it will be amplified with matching visuals.

In terms of cinematography, i'm going to use similar camera movements and shots from the original video.My music will focus on the narrative and i will emphasise this with editing to and camera movements/angles. It will include many close up shots and camera movements. I will use cross cuts and match on action to help emphasise the clear differences and contrast between the two men. I will be using low key lighting  which creates heavy shadows around the characters and makes the environment seem cold and empty. This will also be used to highlight London urban culture. I will use blue and grey tones to emphasise the brutal conversation between the characters. This is also so that it doesn't take away from the important political message and narrative. For costuming i will use stereotypical clothing associated with black youth, this includes hoodies,trainers and puffer jacket. The effect of using stereotypical clothing to contrast with the actions he does everyday for example shots of him spending time with his family, going to the park, studying, doing homework. This will be visualising how society seems him and then contrasting it to show how he actually is. This will be linked to Medhurst's idea of stereotypes being a shorthand as my music video will include many stereotypes of black people that have been created by society such as the way they dress . I will use Stuart Hall's theory of race representations in the media by blurring race and class and the black character will fit into the role of ' The Native' which Hall describes as  primitive, savage, criminal which is how society sees black people. But i will also rebut these stereotypes when the black man starts talking about his side and perspective and showing shots from his everyday life, highlighting how black people are misunderstood and mislabelled. For mise-en-scene, the filming locating will be in Hayes in locations linked to urban environments, there will be shots in alleyways, roads,blocks of flats and parks.

I have taken inspiration from music magazines like Billboard for the concept of my magazine. I will include synergy by using the same character in both the magazine and music video. I also intend to you use similar colour schemes in both the magazine and music video including grey,black and blue. The typography will be in the font 'Profoma' as it is a conventional font for many magazines and it is clear and easy to read. For the central image i will have both the white and black character in my music video back to back with building behind them that mirror their backgrounds to highlight the contrast between them. Levi Strauss' theory of binary oppositions can also be applied here as it shows the opposing main characters and this helps thicken the narrative. Their posture will look as if they are rivals which will create enigma codes for the audience which will engage them and questions in their minds. I will have cover lines related to the music video to promote my artist as well as a cover line to promote the headphone sponsorship.

Shot list

Shot No.	Shot	Filmed ?
1	Establishing shot of upper middle class neighbourhood
2	Panning sideways of buildings, shops
3	Dutch angle tilt of buildings
4	Low angle of white man walking
5	Close up of his shoes- fast paced-montage
6	Close up of h is watch- fast paced-montage
7	Close up of his tie-fast paced-montage
8	Panning upwards from feet to head
9	Medium shot of him walking
10	Close up of him lip syncing
11	Long shot of him walking and lip syncing
12	Zoom in on his hand as he waves the camera into the sky
13	Over the shoulder shot of him walking in the neighbourhood
14	Next scene is a luxury cafe
15	360 shot of the cafe
16	Zoom in to the man sitting
17	POV Shot of the surroundings
18	Close up of lip syncing
19	Establishing shot- of working class, urban neighbourhood
20	Close up of his shoes as he is walking
21	Panning shot, low to high of the area
22	Close up shot- feet of a man walking
23	Panning shot up his legs stops midway
24	Panning shot sideways of the neighbourhood
25	Medium shot- waist up
26	Over the shoulder shot while walking
27	POV shot of the neighbourhood
28	Close up shots on his shoes, jacket, hoodie- fast paced editing-part of montage
29	Close up on his face
30	Extreme close up on his eyes
21	Medium shot of him walking
32	Close up of him walking
33	Panning up blocks of buildings
34	Extreme long shot of both men walking towards each other
35	Quick zoom in of both of their faces
36	Close up as white man gets into the black man's face shouting
37	Zoom out of their face to long shot
38	Panning shot upwards of their bodies
39	Medium shot of them waist up facing each other while one is lip syncing
40	Camera moves out of frame sideways to the right
41	Camera comes back into shot from the left- transition
42	Long shot of them both sitting facing each other on the opposite sides of a table
43	Camera rotates around white man’s head and transitions to rotating around the black man's head
44	Medium shot of him rapping
45	Back and forth close ups of their faces
46	Close up of the black man’s hands as he slams the table
47	Zoom in on white man’s face while he is shaking his head
48	Long shot of them sitting leaning against the table
49	Zoom in to medium shot
50	Over the shoulder of the white man
51	Over the shoulder of black man
52	Medium shot of both of them in the same frame
53	Zoom out to long shot
54	Transition to white man as he listens
55	Flashback-Medium shot of black man studying
56	Close up of him writing
57	Close up lip syncing
58	Long shot of him with friends
59	Close up of the friends laughing
60	Long shot of him walking towards the camera
61	Medium shot -360
62	Medium shot- lip syncing
63	Panning shot up his body
64	Long shot -presenting in class
65	Close up of his hands moving
66	Close up of his face while talking
67	Extreme close up of his lips while talking
68	Medium shot walking toward camera
69	Establishing shot of school
70	Zoom in of friends
71	Long shot of him socialising with friends
72	Medium shot of him sitting on a chair
73	Zoom in of his face
74	Extreme close up of his eyes
75	Extreme close up of his mouth
76	Close up of his hands hitting the table
77	Long shot of his body from the side
78	Close up of his face from the side
78	Long shot of him walking- angry and frustrated
79	Medium shot of while lip syncing
80	Close up of his hands and they move to the sky
81	Shot of the sky
82	Panning downwards from the sky
83	Shot of puddles and mud
84	Moving low angle shot of his feet
85	Long shot of him walking from the back
86	Over the shoulder shot- can see the neighbourhood
87	Establishing shot of the setting- bridge, trees etc
88	Shot of the river
89	360 pan around him
90	Zoom in when the 360 goes back to his face
91	Extreme long shot of him and the setting
92	Close up of a lake
93	Moving shot of the lake water moving
94	Panning shot upwards towards the sky
95	Panning shot back to the artist
96	Shot of the silhouette of the artist
97	Zoom in to the shadow
98	Zoom out of shadow back to the empty room with the table
99	Zoom in to them sitting across from each other
100	Close up of black man lip syncing
101	Extreme close up of the white man’s eye
102	Zoom in of the eye
103	Zoom out of the black man’s eye - transition
104	Zoom out to close up shot of his face while he is lip syncing
105	Close up to his lips
106	Close up of his hands moving on the table
107	Long shot as both men stand up
108	360 rotating around both their bodies
109	Panning upwards
110	Long shot as they walk toward each other
111	Close up both of their faces- fast paced
112	Medium shot as they hug
113	Rotate around them as they hug
114	Zoom out to long shot
115	Zoom out to extreme long shot until it goes blurry

Mise-en-scene:

Costume- urban, street style clothes- big jacket, hoodie, trainers, durag, formal trousers,shirt,shoes

Lighting- natural lighting, low key lighting, shadows

Setting- poor, working-middle class neighbourhood, rainy, cloudy day- adds to the harsh atmosphere, middle/upper class settings, alleyways, roads, blacks of flats, park, school,house

Cast- young black man for the preliminary task, black youth

Props- headphones, phone,basketball, pen, paper, computer

Treatment:

Scene 1: Consists of establishing shots of the setting which is an upper middle class neighbourhood with high rise buildings, cafes etc. 

Scene 2: Slowly introduces one of the characters using a series of shots like close up shots of his shoes, watch, tie etc which creates a montage and slowly reveals the character

Scene 3: When the character is fully revealed there will be close up shots of his face while he is lip syncing which is part of the performance element of my music video

Scene 4: The man is in a nice cafe which seems like it is luxurious and for wealthy people, he is sitting and this scene focuses on acting as if this is part of his normal life

Scene 5: This consists of an establishing shots of the environment which appears to be an urban working class neighbourhood which fits the conventions of rap/hip hop genre

Scene 6: Introduces the artist/ main character- like the other characters there will be a variety of shots which will be edited in a fast pace to make it seem like a montage- this will include shots of his shoes, jacket, chains etc which fit the stereotypes of black teenage men

Scene 7: More of the performance element as he is walking towards the camera, lip syncing acting as if he is frustrated and angry while there will be a range of shots and camera angles of him

Scene 8: This will include a lot of editing that will contrast the environments of the two men and the editing will make it seem like they're walking towards each other to find a common ground and resolve conflict

Scene 9: This is where the characters meet and there will be 360 degree shots, long shots, close up of when they meet each other and highlights the conflict/ divide between the characters

Scene 10: They are in a low lit, eery, empty room both sitting with a table between them further highlighting the divide and hostility between them, close up camera shots of their faces while one is rapping and the other is listening, the one rapping gets angry and starts walking around the table and slams it 

Scene 11: This is a flashback scene of the black man in school studying and with his friends, the purpose of this is to contradict the white man's view of black people being dangerous/ savage etc

Scene 12: Continues the flashback scene with establishing shots of the school and zoom ins of the man socialising and having fun with his friends

Scene 13: This is of the black man alone while he is walking in a dark neighbourhood with a bridge, lake, park, trees etc, he is walking towards the camera while he is rapping, variety of camera shots such as low angles, long shots, 360 panning etc

Scene 14: Back to the two men sitting in the room in front of the table while the black man is rapping and in this part of the song his voice goes low again

Scene 15: This is where they come to an understanding as they both listened to each others perspectives and display empathy, they both stand up and hug eachother