Shots in Soul Music Videos

The typical types of shots that are found within the soul genre consist of close-up's ,wide shots,mid-shots.The majority of artist's replicate these in their music video as they heighten emotion and truly manipulate what the audience's sole focus is on.Some examples of music video's that had these types of shots were the following..

Amy Winehouse- Back to Black
In this particular product, the wide shots are used to create a greater emphasis on a sense of isolation  and formulate a sombre atmosphere to the music video.

Alicia Keys-If I Ain't got You
The use of a close-up allows the audience to see the depth of expressions and enhances the verisimilitude for the narrative in this music video.

John Legend- Ordinary People
Mid-shots are use in John Legend's 'Ordinary People' used to create a central focus on the singer and by having this type of shot consistently in the music video,we are able to see how passionate the singer is.

Overall,having done this research I am a lot ore familiar with the shots typically used,this will be really beneficial  as we have begun storyboarding  and will incorporate some of these in our product,however we will also seek to subvert some of the shot's used as we envision a more contemporary soul music video.

Typical Costume for Soul Music Videos Research

Costume can vary from being very glamorous and smart which gives a more elegant and sophisticated appearance to the music video or it can completely juxtapose this by having a simplicity in terms of costume.

Some common patterns I noticed when watching music videos within this genre were..

• Typically a performance video will have the more sophisticated aesthetic
• Whereas narrative videos within this genre opt for the more casual attire.

Below are some examples:

Maverick Sabre-I Need 

Leon Bridges-Coming Home

Conclusion:
As a group we have opted for more casual attire as our narrative is about struggling financially and the simplicity of the attire will aid in the verisimilitude for the audience.

Location in Soul Genre Research

The location in music videos within the soul genre typically involves the street or a home environment such as the living room and even diners.

A trend I noticed when watching soul music videos was the large variety of locations within the video as not a single video only had a single location for the whole duration of the music video.

Locations aid in creating a sombre atmosphere and follow the journey of the narrative along with the framing of the artists in the shots as it can be quite effective to have a wide shot in order to convey the isolated singer.

Amy Winehouse-Back to Black 

By having a variety of locations,the music video improves the viewing experience for the audience as a whole as the product is not as repetitive or predictable and the focus remains on the music video throughout .

Leon Bridge-Coming Home

Locations like the diner emphasise this retro feel and conforms to the aesthetic of the soul genre.

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Shots like the one above place greater emphasis on the loneliness and how separated the artist is feeling as well as appearing less into intimidating.

Keeping the Same Artist Name

As a group we have made the decision to keep the name of our artist the same as we felt our name ‘Inka’ can be seen as a gender neutral name, taking inspiration from artists like ‘Miguel’, we drew on the trend of one word names of popular artists.

1st Filming Day

Yesterday (Saturday 23rd December) we filmed the shots in Jana's House of our protagonist doing her repetitive daily routine,so we had shots of her waking up,eating cereal and going about her day to illustrate a constant cycle.

Filming was a success and we used a mixture of the tripod and hand-held method to capture our shots.

Filming Schedule

Before filming we created a filming schedule on Excel software, as a result of doing this we can prevent any props being forgotten or filming equipment as well having a plan of the locations we will film at on each particular day, allowing us to make full use of our time rather than spontaneously filming and recording unnecessary footage.

Below is the schedule which we will bring on shooting days for our music video.

'I Need a Dollar' Storyboard

 As we have decided on a music video and genre for our music video, we progressed onto creating a story board, this helps us have a clear idea of the shots we want  and by doing so we don't waste time by recording unnecessary footage that we may reject in the editing suite.In addition to this the storyboarding process has been useful in terms of lip-syncing as we will have specific shots we want to have our character lip-syncing.

 Below is our completed storyboard..

Storyboarding; Behind the Scenes

We began storyboarding our new music video idea in lesson as a group today discussing shot types,mis-en-scene,shot duration and lyrics.

Connotations with Soul Genre/Music Videos Research

Before storyboarding my music video,I wanted to familiarise myself with the features commonly repeated within my genre and gain a better understanding of the connotations the audience have with my genre as I will aim to incorporate these into my own final product in order to resemble elements of real media products.

I created a pie chart on Microsoft word to presnt my data on. I had a sample group of 22 people and the results are as follows:




Using this to help me move forward with my music video,I plan on creating a sad atmosphere through facial expressions and low-key lighting  and the song we have chosen already matches some of the conventions as our song resembles gospel music and has meaningful lyrics.

Soul Moodboard

Lyrics for 'I Need a Dollar -Aloe Blacc'

"I Need A Dollar"

I need a dollar dollar, a dollar is what I need
Hey hey
Well I need a dollar dollar, a dollar is what I need
Hey hey
And I said I need dollar dollar, a dollar is what I need
And if I share with you my story would you share your dollar with me

Bad times are comin and I reap what I don't sow
Hey hey
Well let me tell you somethin all that glitters ain't gold
Hey hey
It's been a long old trouble long old troublesome road
And I'm looking for somebody come and help me carry this load

[Bridge:]
I need a dollar dollar, a dollar is what I need
Hey hey
Well I need a dollar dollar, a dollar is what I need
Well I don't know if I'm walking on solid ground
Cause everything around me is falling down
And all I want - is for someone - to help me

I had a job but the boss man let me go
He said
I'm sorry but I won't be needing your help no more
I said
Please mister boss man I need this job more than you know
But he gave me my last paycheck and he sent me on out the door

[Bridge:]
Well I need a dollar dollar, a dollar is what I need
Hey hey
Said I need a dollar dollar, a dollar is what I need
Hey hey
And I need a dollar dollar, a dollar is what I need
And if I share with you my story would you share your dollar with me
Well I don't know if I'm walking on solid ground
Cause everything around me is crumbling down
And all I want is for someone to help me

What in the world am I gonna to do tomorrow
Is there someone whose dollar that I can borrow
Who can help me take away my sorrow
Maybe its inside the bottle
Maybe its inside the bottle
I had some good old buddy his names is whiskey and wine
Hey hey
And for my good old buddy I spent my last dime
Hey hey
My wine is good to me it helps me pass the time
And my good old buddy whiskey keeps me warmer than the sunshine
Hey Hey
Your mom of mayhem just a child has got his own
Hey Hey
If god has plans for me I hope it ain't - written in stone
Hey Hey
Because I've been working working myself down to the bone
And I swear on grandpas grave I'll be paid when I come home
Hey Hey

[Bridge:]
Well I need a dollar dollar, a dollar is what I need
Hey hey
Said need a dollar dollar, a dollar is what I need
Hey hey
Well I need a dollar dollar, a dollar is what I need
And if I share with you my story would you share your dollar with me
Come on share your dollar with me
Go ahead share your dollar with me
Come on share your dollar give me your dollar
Share your dollar with me
Come on share your dollar with me

Our new song-'I Need a Dollar' by Aloe Blacc

We have decided that our new song will be Aloe Blacc's 'I Need A Dollar' which fits into the soul genre as we think it suits our group best due to the fact that we wanted an upbeat and lighthearted sound to the song.In addition to this,when thinking about editing, the song has a good beat which we can edit our shots to and I think our initial ideas on this song were the most developed compared to the other potential songs we had listed.

Our ideas is that the music video follows the central protagonist who has lost her job and as a result turns to other unconventional methods of earning some money e.g busking and washing cars. and the audience follows her journey.

Change In Song and Genre

After having our first filming day last week, we collectively decided that it would be best to change our song.

Our reasons for this being was we felt that the concept was difficult to portray as believable in terms of the argument. Another essential factor that influenced our decision was the  difficulty to arrange times when everybody was available as we had only had Yasmin from our group in the shots and then two other actors. Lastly after reviewing the shots we had at this stage we felt like the shots did not flow well together therefore we brainstormed the kind of music video we want and noted down songs as we went through playlists on 'Spotify'.The main songs that we liked were

We had decided it was best to choose a song first and then its genre. As we wanted our narrative to be completely based on our original thoughts and ideas rather than have the genre influence the narrative and concept.

1st day of Filming 'Better In Time'-Leona Lewis

We began filming  our music video shots on Friday 8th December 2017  at Jana’s house. Our main priority for this day was to capture the girl and boy in their own bedrooms along with the singer being present but not acknowledged by the couple.We also filmed the shots of the bruises on the male actor.