Inspiration For My Music Video - SB.TV

I am currently subscribed to a YouTube channel called 'smokeybarz'. This channel was created by Jamal Edwards who is the founder of SB.TV. I have followed SB.TV since it started becoming more well known.

I go on their channel everyday to check the latest video uploads. Jamal focuses on bringing rap and hip-hop artists together and he makes music videos to songs they have written. He also has videos that feature stars such as Devlin, Ed Sheeran and many more.

SB.TV inspires me and I believe that the majority of the videos Jamal uploads, are going to be used in some way, shape or form as inspiration for the music video I will be making this year as part of my A2 project.

Here is an example of a video that I really like.

This video appeals to me because the shots used are exactly what I am to achieve when filming my video. I like the way that the footage switches between the artists recording in the studio and then him outside in various locations. I am to achieve a similar sort of theme when I come to shooting the video.

Inspiration For My Music Video

I found this video on YouTube today and was immediately drawn into it.

I think that some of the shots used such as the low angle and tracking shots really make the artist look more powerful in the video. This is exactly what I want to achieve in the video to 'Unorthodox'.

This is the sort of shot I would want to imitate in my music video. As well as this the video uses a lot of cuts throughout which makes the video more interesting and appealing to its audience. 

The experimental aspect of it also caught my attention. The mix between narrative and performance worked successfully in this video and I will aim to create a similar mix when it comes to making the video to Wretch 32 and Example's song 'Unorthodox'. 

Final Song Idea Decision

After a lot of talk and discussion about what song we will use to make a music video to, James and I have decided to use Wretch 32's 'Unorthodox' featuring Example.

This is the video we aim to recreate.

I think that this video is fun and energetic and is exactly what we were looking for. I have lots of ideas as to what sort of locations I would like to use and James has some ideas as well. When we get back to school after half term we will bring our ideas together and begin planning in detail so we are ready to film over the Christmas holidays.

I would like to film in London with a variety of different locations such as rooftops, shopping centres, public transport, parks and Liverpool Street Station. I think that if there are a lot of recognisable locations in the video then the audience will respond better with the text and become more engaged.

When we film the video I will play the part of Wretch 32 and perform the rap verses. Either James or my friend over the road will perform Example's verses. Personally, I want my friend over the road Nick to perform Example's verses as James could then film. I would film all of the parts that I am not required to feature in so James won't be filming everything.

My Music Video Ideas

After a lot of thought on what video James Lilley and I are going to use for our A2 Media music video project, we have finalised what video we wish to use.

Originally we were going to use a song that I decided to make a cover too. The song is called 'I Need A Dollar' by Aloe Blacc. My friend sang the chorus and I wrote rap lyrics to fill in between. This is the original song by Aloe Blacc.

This is the version that I recorded at my house. 

James and I were pretty certain that we would use my version of the song for our media music video project. However, after some more thought, I decided that I did not want to use my version of the song as I do not believe it will be appreciated as much a some of the other song ideas I have. 

Generic Conventions

Thoughts About 'Radar Love' Finished Video

After uploading our video to YouTube it is clear that there is room for improvement.

I think that we could have spent less time on deciding on the location of our video and more time on a wider variety of shots and more accurate instruments. In my opinion, this would have made the video a lot more successful and would have reduced stress as there was a lot of debate as to whether we bother with a fancy location.

Luckily, I have a drum kit, microphone with a stand and two guitars at home. However, we did not have a bass guitar between us meaning we were forced to use a 6 string guitar as a bass replacement. There was no way that we could hide 2 strings in the footage we got. Next time we would plan more in advance and get hold of a bass guitar and not have to improvise.

As well as the instrument problem, we did encounter some minor timing problems. For example, our drummer wasn't in time for a lot of the shots that included him. At times it is not very obvious but in this shot onwards it is clear that he is not drumming in time with the music.

I think that Annie and Becky's footage of the boy clicking in time with the song and the tambourine being shaken in time really worked well. If we had more time to plan, we would have most definitely used a tambourine in our video as it does feature in the original version of the song. We did not have a tambourine so unfortunately we were unable to create an accurate perception of the orignal version of 'Radar Love'.

I think that this tambourine shot is very effective and in Annie and Becky's video, it really engages the audience and makes them feel the music rather than just hearing it.

Final Edit 'Radar Love' Music Video

Editing Finished For Radar Love Video

It took us two lessons to finish editing our Radar Love video. The first lesson consisted of putting all of the footage into Final Cut Pro and then dragging it into a chronological order. After this we realised we had a lot of footage, we had a lot to work with.

Unfortunately, a few of the shots consisted if the camera moving around a lot. Next time we would need to use a tripod to make sure the shots are steady. I will make sure I do this for my A2 music video project.

We have made our 30 second video look as good as we can and used all of the good footage.

The next stage is to upload it onto YouTube and then stream it onto my blog.

Beginning Editing On The Radar Love Video

Yesterday, we began editing the footage we took for the video. We have a lot of footage which is good as it means we have lots of room for error. Some of the footage wasn't as good as other bits so we had a lot to work with meaning there was more than enough good footage to use.

So far, we have managed to get all the footage into Final Cut Pro on the Mac but haven't properly started editing. We have only cut a few clips and arranged them in order to match the tempo of the song.

We also lined up the clips with the instruments that were playing in the song so that we had a rough idea of how much footage we had to work with etc.

Next lesson we will begin editing properly and make sure all clips are cut down and put together nicely.

Filming My Radar Love Video

Last week James, Frank and I began filming our video for the Radar Love song. We had a lot of talk about the location of the video. After filming it we realised we spent to much time debating about where our video should be filmed rather than the criteria we had been told to follow.

This was a mistake; however, we did film every shot we planned to film and after looking back at the footage, we are all happy with what we shot.

I feel that the groups organisation skills could have been improved and I will remember this for when I begin my A2 music video project in a few months. On the other hand, I think we worked well on the day of the shoot and managed to successfully shoot what we needed too.

Next lesson we aim to start editing the footage and piecing it together with the song. I am more than confident that we got enough footage on the day meaning that we have room to get rid of some footage that we may not like and replace it with other clips.