Photoshoot 1: ADVERT

For our Artist's debut advert we took a photoshoot of Clinton aka Jeremiah in Waterloo Graffiti Tunnel. We decided to shoot in this location as it conforms well with the hip-hop genre and follows the conventions, and just by looking at the graffiti background you can instantly tell that this new artist is hip-hop.

Below is the image we have chosen to use for our advert:

The reason we chose this image was because we felt it was the strongest out of all the images. The pose that he is taking makes him come across as though he has 'dominance' and 'power', which is what all hip-hop artists come across as having, this appeals to the audience as it follows the conventions of a hip-hop artist. Further, he is looking directly into the camera which allows the audience the familiarise with him as he is a new artist. 

Lupe Fiasco - KICK PUSH lyric analysis of chosen song

Before doing any filming I did a lyric analysis of the song. This is so I have more of a clear idea of what the song is about, and therefore I'll have a more clear direction when it comes to filming the video. Below is the lyric analysis of my chosen song 'Kick Push':

 

Music Video Pitch.

LUPE FIASCO - Artist Research

Lupe Fiasco energized hip-hop when his highly anticipated 2006 début Food & Liquor leaked on-line before shooting into the Top 10 of Billboard's album charts upon its release. Critics hailed the rapper as the savior of the genre on the strength of tracks like the skateboard anthem "Kick, Push" and his mellow, Ggrammy-winning duet with soul-jazz singer Jill Scott on "Daydreamin'." 

Born Wasalu Muahmmad Jaco on February 17th 1982, in Chicago, Illinois, he is the son of a gourmet chef and engineer father. When the rapper was a child, his mother gave him the nickname "Lu" by shortening his first name. By high school his friends began calling him Lupe and he picked up Fiasco from a track by hip-hop super group the Firm. A fan of rapper Nas, Fiasco began rapping at age 19 with the group Da Pak, which signed with Epic Records and released a minor single before splitting up. He then signed with Arista, but the deal was cut short when he released a minor single before splitting up. He then signed with Arista, but the deal was cut short when the label folded in 2004. Fiasco forged on, eventually finding himself on the hip-hop radar when he released a series of critically acclaimed mix tapes. He signed with Atlantic Records, released 'KICK, PUSH' as a single and appeared on Kanye West's 2006 song 'Touch the Sky'.

After his début leaked, Atlantic rushed the release of Food & Liquor, and the album met with rave reviews for its strong storytelling, mature subject matter grounded in his Muslim faith and inventive mixes from name producers including West, Jay-Z, the Neptunes and Mike Shinoda. The disc earned three Grammy nominations including Best Rap Album. The Cool, a loose concept Album that follows aome of the characters on his debut, also received positive reviews and yielded the single "Superstar". In 2007, Fiasco also formed a super group with Kanye West and Pharrell. 

Lyrical Style

Fiasco has been credited as a pioneer of the conscious hip-hop movement, which focuses on social issues. Subjects touched upon on his 'Food & Liquor' album include absent parents, terrorism, Islam and religious war, and prostitution. Fiasco attributes his interest in social issues to his highly cultured upbringing, as he describes his mother as 'very intellectual' and his father as a 'Renaissance man'. He rejects the misogyny common in hip-hop, which he discusses in the song 'Hurt me soul'. Despite this, Fiasco is strongly opposed to censorship in music,: "If we're going to censor things that are offensive, then we are going to have to blind and deafen everyone. Come on, man. Let's focus on education and literacy and poverty."

CHANGE OF SONG.. AGAIN

Once again we have had to change our song as we realised that we didn't have enough time and tools required to create a video to the highest of quality, plus the our female star Sachelle was unable to play her part (due to personal reasons). So now, we are extremely pushed for time nevertheless we are going to do as much work as we can in the short amount of time that we have left.

Speaking of which, we have already chosen a new song - 'KICK, PUSH, LUPE FIASCO'. We have stuck with the Hip-hop genre as that what me and my team-mate enjoy the most. This also means we can keep our Digi Pack idea the same, meaning that out photo shoot, colour scheme and chosen font will not change.
This song is more of an old-school song and has the typical old-school beat to it. The song contains a lot of repetition and rhyme so throughout our video you'll be able to see a theme running through and this will in turn hook the audience to the song. We have come up with a concept for the video and have chosen our filming locations and hope to begin filming ASAP!

Below is the audio of the song...

Chosen Fonts & Colour Schemes FINAL

Rough Album Cover Flatplans

Here are two flat-plans I have created for the Album  Cover. I have gained inspiration from both Drake and Tory Lanez who are Hip-hop artists. Personally I prefer the second one with the close-up shot of the artists as it grips the audiences attention quicker, also because it is the Artists debut album it would make the appeal a lot stronger as the audience will be able to familiarise with the artist quicker. 

Production Diary 8.

We have begun branding our 'Digipack', so far we have chosen the different fonts that we'd like to use and have also chosen four color schemes that we have to narrow down. We have come up with ideas for our Advert and Album cover so we plan to take the photo shoot of Clinton this week. 

Colour Scheme Ideas

Here are four color palettes that I have designed using the software 'Coolors', I have created very similar color palettes all consisting of black, white & gold. I have decided to go with these colors as they are bold and definitely stand out. Further, these three colors, particularly gold, are usually associated with the Urban/Hip-hop scene so it would make sense to apply them to our Digipack. 

                                                        

Chosen Name and Font ideas

The name we have decided to go with for our Album is REDEMPTION, and for our star Clinton is JEREMIAH. We have chosen this name as we feel it fits well with the Image we want to give him. I feel that this name links well with the hip-hop scene and definitely follows the generic conventions of Hip-hop.

We used 'Dafont.com' to come up with a different font ideas for out Album Cover. Here are some font ideas for both our Album Title & our Artist.

For the Album Cover Name - REDEMPTION:

For the Singer's name - JEREMIAH:

 

Filming Locations

Me and my team-mate Esther decided to film the different locations for our music video. Watch below:

Production Diary 7

PITCH - 'Make Me Proud'

As me and Esther decided to change our song we had to do some alterations on our pitch, we consolidated the main ideas that we have and all that needs to be done in order to produce the video. I am going to upload another post of me and my team-mate Esther presenting our pitch.

Lip-sync skills

As Sachelle is going to playing Nicki Minaj, she has a substantial amount of lyrics to rap in the music video. Therefore, I asked her to a sort audition and film herself, this was so I was able to know that she could perform the lip-sync as needed. 

Album Cover Ideas

I have begun coming up with some initial ideas for my Album Cover. As it is the Star's Debut Album we definitely want a close-up shot of Clintons face so the audience can get to know him. We want to go for dark colours for the album cover, preferably black, gold, white, red so we can ensure that the cover has that 'bold' look. I will blog another post for the colour schemes we wish to go for. Below are a couple of Hip-hop Album covers that i have used for inspiration.

 

Out of these Album Covers my favourite two were Tory Lanez and Kirko Bangz ones. This is due to the close-up and poses both artists are taking. If I had to lean more towards one I would choose Tory Lanez one as the close-up shot instantly familiarises the audience with the artist, it is also follows the generic look for a hip-hop artist.

Story Board

I created a storyboard for the music video me and Esther are going to create, it contains the initial storyline that we're going to have for our video. I wrote it out on paper first and then did a second draft where I drew it out so it gives me more of a visual idea of what the video will turn out like. I will later on create an 'animatic' whereby I will put the song behind the storyboard so I know which scene goes with what.