R+P Post 22: Planning My Promo Shots

As these shots will be used to represent Layla and her personality, we wanted to create a variety of images that presented her in different ways...

For example, we wanted some on location shots to show Layla in her natural surroundings. Other artists such as MNEK have done this and we decided that we would also like to do this as it created a 'realness' for the artist. This urban, gritty feel is something that we would definitely want for our artist .







We also wanted to capture Layla in a more professional light by taking some studio shots. However, like Jorja Smith (pictured left), we wanted to keep a casual feel to the picture. We will hopefully be able to connote this through our choice of wardrobe. By sticking to urban clothing and street wear we think that we will be able to stick to the urban image of our artist.









We also wanted to incorporate the more feminine side of Layla through these images. Here, we would have her wear a simple dress with simple yet glamorous make up in order to show her versatility. Artists such as Rihana have also used this method to show the many different sides to the artists and is a method we would also like to adopt.

Overall, promo shots are a great oppurtunity for artists to show different aspects of their personality. Image is a crucial for an artist, especially a new one, making this process a very important one.

R+P Post 21: My Key Shots Storyboard

We created a key shots story board in order to visually represent the ideas that we had for our video...

Our storyboard

A close up of my key

This was very helpful as we were able to see whether or not our ideas actually worked well in order to make an entertaining and aesthetically pleasing video. We used post tick notes as it meant that we were able to change the order of shots easily when we found fit. The different colours on our storyboard represent different shot types. This helped us to keep track of whether we were sticking to music video conventions by encouraging us to have very dramatic shot changes.

R+P Post 20: My Music Video Timeline

A picture of our timeline 

We created a timeline in order to properly map out all the ideas that we had for our video. In order to create seperate sections of the video we decided to split our chosen song into different verses. This was very helpful to us as it meant that we were able to decided how we were going to encorporate our two seperate narratives together. For example, the close up that I have included below shows our decision to keep the chorus section of the song as the 'studio narrative', i.e lip synch section, then switching to the 'unamed boy' narrative during the chorus. These decisions were vital to our video as it effected how well the story was able to flow. It also meant that we were able to decide how long each shot would last within our video. This is another key element to a music video as it is important to create a variety of different shot lengths. For example, originally our idea had been to create an opening with very long shots, however, we soon realised that cutting our opening shots to the fast beat would be more effective.

R+P Post 19: My influences and vision for the project

Above, I have included my group's 'Steal-o-matic'. This is a compilation of different shots from influential music videos which acts as an effective representation of what we hope our final music video will look similar to. This exercise has been extremely helpful as it helped us to actually visualise all of our ideas. This also meant that we could see what was or was not working within our idea and get constructive criticism. For example, we were told that some of our ideas for extreme wide shots would be unattainable due to the limitations of our studio space and so we decided to alter some of our shot ideas.

This video allowed us to map out the narratives that we wanted within our video. As well as having an artist lipsynch to the song, we also wanted to create a story line in which a young black male was running away from danger. The lyrics of this song as well as recent tensions with police and civilians inspired us to make this video. I think that it is important to reflect society within any art form and by doing this we will be keeping our video ideas current and including intertextuality.

R+P Post 18: Analysis of my tracks lyrics and instrumentation

A snippet of my lyrics analysis

Blue lights is a very powerful song with lyrics that explore the difficult relationship between youths and the police. We interpreted the line "I wanna turn those blue lights into strobe lights" as the narrator of the song wishing to turn the emergency situation that they have found themselves in, which is suggested by 'blue lights', into a party/rave (strobe lights) as she would rather be enjoying herself than in danger. To visualise this idea we will be using a lot of strobe lighting which is very striking and will help emphasise the difference between the studio shots and the exterior narrative. The use of these lights may be interpreted in two ways as the could suggest the party vibe aforementioned, however, they also resemble police siren lights, blurring the lines between these two ideas and effectively combining the separate meanings of the song.

Our actor Andy

The constant use of the personal pronoun 'You' gives an element of anonymity to the song and suggests that the character addressed within the song could be anyone. This emphasises the grand scale of distrust and fear towards the police. This is further emphasised by lines such as "There's no need to run... if you've done nothing wrong". The uneasy relationship between society and the police is especially prominent in the black community which we have chosen to reflect by using a black male actor to play the part of the 'unnamed boy'.




These lyrics were very hard hitting to us as they spoke of issues very relevant to our society today. The fact that they were written by an artist (Jorja Smith) that is a similar age to ourselves made this message even more potent as her youth gives a unique perspective and reflects a mindset that we felt able to relate to.

Post 17: My Chosen Track

We have decided to used the song 'Blue Lights' by Jorja Smith. Jorja Smith is an unsigned British artist who released this single on to her Soundcloud account in January 2016. Since then, she has also made a music video for the song which was uploaded to Youtube in March 2016.

We chose this track as we felt that its strong themes such as police brutality would give us the opportunity to make a bold and entertaining video. We also felt that its soulful vibe was fitting to my look and would make it easy for me to embody the character of Layla Ade in a believable way.

R+P Post 16: My Band or Artist

Layla Obi 

Layla Obi is a young, trendy Londoner who is strongly motivated by her beliefs. We have chosen to name our artist Layla Obi as we thank that it is a snappy and most importantly memorable name. The surname Obi was a way to suggest her African heritage, which she sees as a key part of her identity, without giving her a name that would be difficult to pronounce and therefore remember. Layla is keen on fashion and can often be seen wearing cutting edge styles and brands. She represents London's gritty urban scene and uses her music as a way to reach out to those that can relate to her. Below I have included a mood board that I have created which I feel encapsulates our Artist as a person...

my mood board

R+P Post 15: My Record Label

We have chosen the record label Virgin EMI records. This is due to its highly prestigious reputation, We feel that our artist will be given educated guidance at an institution such as this, whilst also leaving her enough artistic license to thrive. In summary, we feel that this company has a very respectable repertoire and client list which we would like to be associated with our artist. For example, being with the same record company as well respected Singers such as Emelie Sande would immediately put our artist in a good light. In addition to this, the fact that this is a British company appeals to us as it means that they will have expertise in how to appeal specifically to a British TA. The large scale of the company also means that our artist will have great financial investment which can be spent on important areas such as marketing in order to grow and succeed.

R+P Post 14: My Target Audience

The main target audience for our artist will be young British adults between the ages of 16 and 25. As our artist is British and has songs surrounded around British themes and cultures (e.g references to other British artists like Dizzee Rascal), we felt that it would be easy for this audience to relate to our artist. As our artist is also a young adult we also felt that this age group would be able to easily relate to our artist's issues. Layla will appeal to people who are considered to be socially and politically aware due to her open views of the world, therefore, people from the 'artistic' London scene may enjoy her music most.

Politically aware young adults