Possible Song Choice

I have started to send out emails and tweets to some artists, asking if I could have permission  to use some of their music. The first person I got a reply from was a young artist from London called Randolph. The genre of his music is Hip/Hop Grime.

So from listening to his music I have narrowed it down to 2 possible song choices. Please click the song name to view it on YouTube.

The first one is called Beg 2 Differ.

Randolph - Beg 2 Differ

The second one is called Kick & Snare.

Randolph - Kick & Snare

Above is his album cover, called Fame, which both of the songs are from.

The first thing I need to do, is type out all the lyrics for both songs, so I can evaluate what he says, think of ideas to match the words, and have my actors revise it.

Beg 2 Differ Lyrics:

Randolph, Making big moves
Got the big feet, For the big shoes
Got a new mind, Got a sweet touch
Little bit of talent, But it's more luck.

I do it on the daily, I do it for the fame see,
I do it for the fake world, thats what made me,
I'm still make-able, but unbreak-able,
Watch the fire around me, because I'm flame-able.

Randolph, Done it before,
I'm the type of guy you can't ignore,
This type of track you can't dislike,
It's the type of track you got me for.

I'm ready for the world, I'm 'bout to take over
I wrote this song when I was straight sober,
'bout to see the new me, coming soon version 2...
the next volume.

Watch what you say to me because it might come back round and bite ya
Watch what you say 'bout me because it might come back round and spite ya
I got a, creative mind working over time,
see I've been sat in the dark, time to open up the blind.

I've been pushed to the ground
and I've been told I ain't worth it
... and I've been told I'm not good enough, been told I'm not perfect
and I've been told it all before
but I kinda just beg to differ
I, I, beg to differ, said I kind of beg to differ go...

2 Shots in the air for the millionaire want-to-be
that's what I want to be
lying on the ground with the money stacked high on top of me

In a black room, with red paint on the wall where the creepy crawls,
pencils, with no led
and paper all over the floor

Watch what you say to me because it might come back round and bite ya

Watch what you say 'bout me because it might come back round and spite ya 

I got a, creative mind working over time,

see I've been sat in the dark, time to open up the blind.

I've been pushed to the ground

and I've been told I ain't worth it

... and I've been told I'm not good enough, been told I'm not perfect

and I've been told it all before

but I kinda just beg to differ go.

Kick & Snare Lyrics

Evil Laugh X6

Yeah!
Randolph!
Looking for the Fame,
I said I'm looking for the fame,
Yeah!

Yeah you don't know what you got yourself into, you went straight into my trap (to my trap)
yeah that's right the young chemist is back
mixing all these different styles straight into a rap,
infact I got more in here than you got skittles in your back pack,
I'm serious, I told you that I'm serious
the way I could cut it and chop it, sends you 
delirious
I ain't playing I got me pistols up in the air, shooting them off at the same time just because I don't care
and I'm trained for this, been practicing my whole life, you said that I couldn't do it, but I am sat here right? You said I wouldn't take off, well I'm on the next flight, say whatever you want, 'coz I ain't backing without a fight. Look, there's nothing for me to lose, I'm going in with it, got my teckers to let me know, so I don't need a critic, I'm just a youngster, still got time to grow up, so music is a hobby for now, until I blow up.

Yeah, there's no need to worry,
'coz we all have ups and downs,
It just happens that my ups coming back around now
said, I  got ma crown and its covered in roses, Im just happy that this life chose us.
Coz we be getting the good life, bright life, crowed going crazy,
I guess this is the way that the kick and snare made me
(Evil Laugh)
The Kick and Snare made me
I guess this is the way that the Kick and Snare made me

This is me uncovered, its just how I am,
you don't have to like me, I understand.
I feel good, my minds in a good zone
I'm kind of comfy sitting high up in the throne,
yeah.

Life's about, just finding the right balance,
see I found it myself for longer than decent talent,
now I'm, picking it up and trying to make it apparent,
but it seems it was true transparent.

But that was long ago, no need to relive it,
Now I'll be back up on the podium, I'm about to get in it,
See I be arrogant,
Cocky and stubborn,
but that doesn't matter to me,
coz, I'm not running from my weaknesses,
I'm just improving my strengths,
I don't need you in my life,
yeah I gotta enough friends,
It's all about time, and how much left I got,
'Coz I be working to these dead lines, running down the clock
yeah,

Yeah, there's no need to worry,

'coz we all have ups and downs,

It just happens that my ups coming back around now

said, I  got ma crown and its covered in roses, Im just happy that this life chose us. 

Coz we be getting the good life, bright life, crowed going crazy, 

I guess this is the way that the kick and snare made me

(Evil Laugh)

The Kick and Snare made me

I guess this is the way that the Kick and Snare made me...

Location Research

The first thing I have decided to do, was to look at local locations which I could easily use for my music video. The first one these brightly coloured boxes, which I thought could work quite effective for certain scenes of my music video. I think it looks well if the sky behind it is white and cloudy, as it makes the boxes and the actor stand out the most. 

Music Video Research

Hi guys, my name is Adam Rodriguez and I will be showing you the process of me creating my music video for my A Level Media work as well as showing the art cover and an advert.

The first thing I will be doing, is watching other music videos and try and view a variety of content to help gain ideas to use for my own music video.

Here are a list of professional music videos I have analysed, please click the links to view the video on YouTube:

Drake - Started From The Bottom - This video was interesting because you could see how they tried to add humour during the middle, they also have clips of Drake singing the song, then cutting to a point in his life, and they go back and forth throughout the video. There were also many uses of location used, to represent that he has been many places in his life, as well as lots of costumes used, each to use as a connotation to show his wealth.

Eminem - White America - I wanted to watch a variety of videos, so I analysed Eminem's White America video because it is animated, which was original, I believe it was done as there were lots of controversial lyrics spoken so it can be safer for the recording artist to show a video in animated form to as it makes the video look less serious. However, from watching the video it has helped me develop my understanding on the different things you can do for a music video, and that it doesn't just have to be all real life footage, it can also be animated.

Kanye West - Homecoming - This video was a very effective video, as it is shown in black and white, which has made me consider the colour effects which can be used really well, black and white helps create an atmosphere of something being in the past, so perfect for flash backs, it can also be used to show the atmosphere being emotionless as there is no colours to represent mood. There are also special effects used in this video where there is a grey background, a white figure singing with actual footage of Kanye West behind it, this was interesting to view, and made the video more enjoyable, so it has helped me consider the possibility of using original effects for my music video.

DJ Fresh - 'Gold Dust' - The slow motion effects were used well in this video, and helps build suspense  which engages the viewer. They also match the tempo of the song with the action in the video, so when the beat picks up, so does the movement on the video which I thought worked very well.

2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa - We Own It - This music video was interesting because it was used to promote the movie Fast and Furious 6, so the footage used was from the film. In this video there were lots of edits and short cuts to show that it was going to be a fast tempo film, and they also mixed it up with action scenes and then slower scenes to show a bit of the storyline.

Rizzle Kicks - When I Was A Youngster - What I like about this music video is the use of costume. As they had an older version  and a younger version of the singers and they made sure they both had the same clothes on, which worked very effectively. Also they used an astronaut costume to symbol their dreams as a kid. This worked very effective as the song was about their youth so it was important they could show that, furthermore it has helped me see the importance of having the right costume for my music video.

Smiler - Top of the World - This music video is a very simple one, however it helped me realise that it doesn't always need to be complex. The background looks like it is done by a green screen and is usually a grey or purple colour. They also had certain shots which involved having the words on floor, which I thought was a creative idea. There also were moments where both of the singers were on the scene at the same time but separated by a border, which was also an interesting idea to think about.

Random Impulse - I don't Really Care - I really enjoyed this music video, mainly because it was quite different, I thought the special effects used were done very cleverly, and it made the video entertaining to watch. It was also done in black and white which I thought was an interesting idea.

Nicky Romero - Toulouse - This video was interesting to see because it didn't have any lyrics, so they had to match the video clips purely with the tune, which they done very well. It is quite a popular video as it can be seen as very funny, and random, because it is quite unexpected.

Professor Green - I Need You Tonight - In this music video, we could see lots of green screen effects being used, which I thought worked quite effective, as instead of trying to make the footage look realistic and as if there isn't a green screen there, they done the opposite and instead ripped through the green screen. They also had lots of people appearing from one scene to the other instantly, which worked very effectively and made for a good transition.

I also have looked at other A Level Music videos:

A Level Music Video (1) - This video had a nice variety of shots, and used the effects quite well, for example the use of fast forwarding it was quite effect to show time passing, there was also some interesting transitions used, however overall I think the creativity of the film could of been improved, as it felt very basic and as though not a huge amount of effort was put into it, as the locations seemed quite limited.

A Level Music Video (2) - I enjoyed this music video, mainly because it was different, and the editing techniques were very creative. It was in black and white and some of the special effects used made the video really eye catching.

A Level Music Video (3) - This one was very good in the way that the video matched the tempo of the song, for example the speed of the song started to get faster, they match that with the video with shorter cuts.

A Level Music Video (4) - This music video has shown me how important it is to have an actor who is enthusiastic and putting maximum effort into it, I thought that each shot was carefully chosen and the locations used were very effective. I also liked the bit at the end where the actor looked at themselves when there was two of them in the same shot.

A Level Music Video (5) - This video, like many, show shots of the band singing then they show shots of some action, which I think is what I will do for my music video as the mixture of the two can show the artists performing as well as keeping the viewer interested.

A Level Music Video (6) - I enjoyed this video and it showed me the importance of costume, and how effective it can be, furthermore there were bits where a torched was used as lighting and it showed me that lighting is vital and needs to be done properly for the best effect. Once again it showed me the importance of having an enthusiastic actor.

A Level Music Video (7) - This video used the effects of black and white very effectively, as it helps represent the mood for the music video as it was quite a sad video. So it has helped me understand that special effects can help the audience feel a certain way and can be used effectively to express feeling.

A Level Music Video (8) - The use of costume is once again effective for this video, it was also very creative and used drawings and paintings which I thought was a very creative idea, and has helped me develop my understanding on the creative ways I can film my music video.

A Level Music Video (9) - An effective technique used in this video was to have how people are feeling, written on a piece of paper, I have also seen this done in many other videos, so I will consider using the technique of having feelings or lyrics written down on paper and hold it up in sync with the words for the song.

A Level Music Video (10) - This video used locations very cleverly, and it helped matched the song. It showed me the importance of having the music video set in the right place. The colours of the background are very important, so bright colours usually resembles a  happier mood and darker colours, a more negative mood.