Nathan Kent A2 Blog

Nathan Kent A2 Blog

Monday, 27 September 2010

Record Label - Def Jam Records

Def Jam Recordings is an American hip-hop record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as a part of The Island Def Jam Music Group. In the UK, the label takes on the name Def Jam UK and is operated through Mercury Music Group, while in Japan, it is Def Jam Japan operating through Universal Sigma Music. The founder of Def Jam is Russel Simmons and he found the record label in 1984.



Artists linked with the label are , Kanye West , Rick Ross , Jennifer lopez etc.








This information is taken from the def jam official website and wikipedia researching website. I do not think that i will use this record label to promote my artist as it is based in the United States. I am looking to use a England based record label for my artist it is more relevant and local.

Record Label 2 - Konvict


Konvict Muzik is a record label founded by Melvin Brown and R&B singer Akon. Other then Akon there are other popular artists such as Kardinal Offishall, Kat DeLuna, Lady GaGa, American Yard, Brick & Lace, T-Pain and Sway signed to the label. At the beginning of most Konvict Muzik artists' songs there is the sound of the clank of a jail cell, followed by Akon uttering "Konvict". Sway signed to Konvict Record labels in 2007, being the only UK artist signed to the label. Konvict Muzik was founded in 2005 covering genres of R&B, Raggae, Hip Hop and Urban. Konvict Muzik is American located in Atlanta, Georgia.
Interscope records is the distrubutor of Konvict Muzik. Interscope records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.

Konvict Muzik records is a label being parented by Universal Music Group. It is the largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry. It is the largest of the 'big four' record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations.

I think that this record label will be best suited for my artist due to the fact that england grime artist Sway is also signed with the record label which shows that the record label has versatility to the music they produce and could be the best signing to promote my artist

Record Label - Young Money


Young Money Entertainment is an American record label founded by rapper Lil Wayne. The label is an imprint of Cash Money Records and is distributed by Universal Records.

It Was established in year 2005 and founded in the United States of America.


Other Artists That Are Joined With This Label Are :

Drake

Nicki Minaj

Lil Twist

Tyga

Gudda Gudda

Jae Millz
Founder Lil Wayne


Sunday, 19 September 2010

Low Budget Music Video 2- Stylo G - My Yout



In this music video we can cleary see the low budget quality by seeing a whole bunch of people just thrown in the video. It looks unorganised amd thats something my goup and i will have to avoid doing. The jump shots are very wild aswell which makes the viewres find it hard to stay tuned with the video and they end up getting lost.
If this video had a choreographed organised set amount people and dancers it will make it look less low budget.

Low Budget Music Video - P2J - Hands In The Air (Uk Grime)




Here is a low budget video , from the start we can see that the camera quality is much lower budget than music videos we have seen earlier in the blog. We can see also see the simple fade out effects they use which looks like something they have made on imovie.
The practical tips i can learn from this video is not to use simple cheap effects which makes the video look less attractive to viewers. Another important tip i have learnt from this is the setting of the video. In this video you see the setting in a run down block of flats which increases the low budget view/effect.

Friday, 17 September 2010

Analysis of Genre Collage

My Genre Collage

Funky House

In most funky house videos there is either a solo artist or a double act artist. There is normally bright coloured colours flashing in the videos and it is fulfilled of energetic and wild dancing.

The costumes they wear in funky house videos are very bright and sparkly dresses for the females and the males are often dressed casually. Funky house has a target audience of teenagers so females dress in costumes that will attract the male audience and the females will find the clothes they wear very vibrant and fashionable.

The location of the videos is normally in a party or night club atmosphere. I think they record in a night club because there Is natural energy and night clubs are a place where people can be their selves and express their selves..

GENRE COLLAGE

Tuesday, 14 September 2010

Analysis Of My Own Music Video

The Artist i have chosen to do is Drake and the name of the song is called 'Sucessful' featuring Trey Songs. The Song is part of the albulm so far so gone.



This albulm was released september the 15th 2009. The song was available for download in Feburuary 2009. The Genre of this albulm will be classed as Hip Hop / Rnb.
The song is about Confusion about his career and even though its just started he doesnt know what else he wants to do in his music career. The Chorus quotes ' i want the money , money and the cars , cars and the clothes . . i suppose? I just want to be successful.

(below is an image taken from the music video)



In this particular image in shows that he is looking upwards almost towards the skies as if he is looking for an answer from the heavens. It also looks like he is on top of a high building suggesting he wants to be alone, clear his head and figure out what he is going to do with the rest of his life.
Although he does not know what he wants, he kmows he just wants to succeed in life.




Analysis of Video :
Dark Background
Frequent Eye contact
Lip syncing
Medium Close Up Of Money = Success
Camera shots of both of them in the frame wearing expensive clothes
Close up Of Artist
PERFORMANCE TYPE VIDEO ( On the move , diffrent types of locations)
Lots of shots of blurred out lights which could imply their stardom
Shows less fortunate / people that are not yet successfull yet for eg. the boys playing basketball working hard to become successful, which can relate to the chorus of the song.
Also the little girl blowing on a dandellion presumably wishing to be succesfull.

Friday, 10 September 2010

Grime UK Music Videos

For our music video we have chosen the UK Music genre of rap/grime.

Grime is typified by complex 2-step breakbeats, generally around 140 beats per minute and constructed from "different" sounds. Stylistically, grime takes from many genres including UK Garage, dancehall and hip hop.The lyrics and music combine futuristic electronic elements and dark, guttural bass lines.



Above is an example of a grime based group called Roll Deep

Bordwell and Thompson





Bordwell and Thompson are 2 theorists that come up with their 4 corners theory in 2001. In their theory there a
re 4 different sec
tions; Graphic, Rhythmic, Spatial & Temp
oral.

Graphic

This editing is all abo
ut the mise-en-scene, what we are shown on the scre
en thinking about the pictorial qualities within a video.

- Patterns, light and dark, colour similarities and differences.
- Can be used
to create 'smooth continuity' or abrupt contrast.
- Graphic match - shots link together.
- Graphic continuity - Point of interest staythe
same througho
ut
cuts.
- Graphic discontinuity - Everything keeps on c
hanges, plays around with juxtaposition.

Rhythmic


Editing the footage and thinking about the duratio
n of each shot. Rhythmic ed
iting will show that each shot cuts on length according to the beat and tempo o
f the music. Different shots will give different effects.
- All shots same le
ngth
- Some which lengthen steadily
- Shots which get shorter and shorter in length
- Longer shots
- Rapid series of q
uick shots


Spatial

Basically, maintaining continuity through thinking about the space where the event of the music video takes place.
- Continuity - Using an establishing shot (
where taken)


Here is an establishing Shot taken in the video Beyonce - Crazy in Love.

Temporal - The unfolding of time

This is all about continuity and based on the time that the action is taken in and how the video footage manipulates time.
Order - order of events can be manipulated = the story/plot change to interrupt the normal order of time. (Flashbacks must then change to flash forward)
Duration - The events that take place can be altered through use of ellipsis
Frequency - In continuity editing - and event happening tends to only occur once. If the event is repeated it can become a powerful way of building tension and audience expectation.


Andrew Godwin Theory






Goodwins Theory helps to identify the diffrent juztaposistions happening within a pop video explaining the relationship between music, lyrics and image.
Goodwin argues that pop videos can be catergorised in three diffrent ways:
Music
Goodwin argues that The Illustration of Music Always Cuts on Beats , The Amplification of music is that the film cuts on the beat but also off to emphasise features. He argues that the disjunction of music videos cuts off the beat-sometimes it is a sign of a badly made music video.









Lyrics


Illustration - Imagaes illustrate the literal meaning or feeling of the lyrics , often with a band or singing and dancing.

Below we have screen shotfrom Trey Songz -Cant be friends. W
e can see that he is FEELING in pain or in agony due to his hands situated on top of his head



Amplification - Images amplify the lyrics , a specific narrative may be that would not neccessarily be picked up from the reading the lyrics alone.

Disjuncture - Images which do not relate to the lyricas are used sometimes by bands who are already very well established who can afford to risk take.


Band Image

Illustration - Band area - singing.dancong/playing instruments dressed as would be expected.

JLS - Beat Again Screen Shot
Amplification - The band take on fictional roles in the narrative

Disjucture - The band take in a image that is nothing like or the complete opposite of their image e.g the lead singer of texas dresses up as Elvis

Vernallis Theory


Rhythmic

  • Editing the footage and thinking about the duration of each shot - how long each shot runs for before cutting to the next
  • rhythmic editing will show that each shot runs on length according to the beat and tempo of the music
  • Different shots will give different effects ( the faster the beat, the shorter the shots).

Spacial - basically maintaining continuity through thinking about the space where the events of the music video takes place.

  • Continuity (establishing shot)
  • The "Kullshov effect" (no establishing shot)
  • Crosscutting ( parallel editing)


The pictorial qualities within a video.

  • Patterns, light and dark, color similarities and differences
  • Can be used to create smooth continuity or abrupt contrast
  • Graphic match - shots link together by graphic similarities
  • Graphic continuity - point of interest remaining contrast throughout cuts, maintaining a color theme, same lighting levels.

Temporal
Still uses continuity
Based on the time frame that the action is taking place in - and how the video footage maniplates time.

  • Order (order of the events)
  • Duration (how long for)
  • Frequency (how often)

Carol Vernallis

MTV Stlye Editing:

  • Frequent
  • Disjuncture
  • Different to film editing

Pop video editing has many functions, these change rapidly. Not one element must gain the upper hand and it must keep up in the present moment.

These changing rapidly, not one element must hain upper hand and it must keep us in the present moment

Shots and edits:

  • Pop video editing
  • Hollywood editing
  • Continuity rules
  • Prevents time and space overtaking
  • Preserves time and space