R+P Post 33: Reflections on my role and contribution during research and planning

I think that I have been a valuable member of my group throughout this process as I have completed task in all aspects. For example...
Artist image
I had to style my hair and make up in a way that was appropriate for our artist. Being the only one in my group with any experience in this area, this responsibility fell solely upon myself. This meant that I had to make decisions about the types of looks that I wanted to create and also had to execute theses looks myself. This was a great learning experience for me as it forced me to develop my make up skills and experiment with make up outside of my regular everyday look. It also taught me a lot about time management and  highlighted the importance of image for an artist.

One of my planned make up looks

Rehearsals/acting
As the main actor of this video I had to learn the lyrics and choreography to our song. This involved extra time on me developing my characterisation throughout this process as well as memorising all of the basics.
Naming
As I have a Nigerian background I took it upon myself to research a surname for our artist. This took much deliberation within the group as we needy a name that was easy to pronounce and punchy. After going through a large variety of names I finally came across the name 'Obi'. This was a short and sharp surname that was easy to pronounce, yet also reflected Layla's African heritage.
Planning photographs
Despite not being a strong drawer, I completed the tasks of drawing the flat plan for our album panels. This task was made easier by my use of other forms of media such as Instagram as this is where I was able to collect a lot of my references for ideas. Drawing the flat plan involved a lot of drafting and re-drafting as we would have to change our design in response to our teacher feedback and target audience tips.

The flat plan that I drew

A mood board I made with inspirational Instagram posts

Making projections 
After researching various music videos such as Fight for love by Kwabs, I thought that it would be effective if we incorporated different projections to go over my body in the video. I then began experimenting with different shapes and colours on Adobe Premiere Pro until I came up with a simple, yet effective set of projections.

R+P Post 32: Test shoot and rough edit

Above is the first draft of our music video. Making this video was a huge learning curve for us and has taught us many essential lessons. By making a rough edit we are now aware of any issues that we may come across whilst editing our final video and will have a greater chance of being able to avoid them. Although this process was able to highlight the good aspect within our video, it also brought up some issues. When receiving feedback we were told that the narrative of the 'unnamed boy' was unclear and hard to follow. In response to this we began to re-storyboard this section of the video in order to prevent any confusion.

Doing a test shoot meant that we were able to experiment with different shot ideas without having to commit to putting them in the final video. For example, in our rough edit we have a sequence when Andy appears to be approached by two strange looking figures whilst he falls asleep on the carriage (as pictured). After shooting and editing this section we decided that this idea no longer worked with the rest of our ideas, so removed this from our final shoot board and video.

R+P Post 31: My Call Sheet

Our Call Sheet

Having a call sheet is essential to any shoot as it clearly states where all crew/cast members  must be and when. This makes for a smooth running shoot and prevents wasting time. Without this, there would be a lot of confusion on set which would lead to time being wasted. This is something that would be considered unacceptable on a professional set as wasted time is seen to be the equivalent of wasted money.

R+P Post 30: My Shoot-board

A snippet of our studio shoot board

A shoot board is very important for a shoot as it organises the order of shots depending on the set up. This saves time as we shoot all the shots required for a particular set up at once. Shoot boards also make it easy for an Actor to figure out what they are required to do in any particular shot as they are given a visual representation of what is required of them as it is easier if they are shown rather than told.

R+P Post 29: Rehearsals

In order to create an authentic character for our music video, it was important for me to develop my performance.

Above, I have included a short clip of me practicing lip-syncing to our track. It was important that I did this so that the singing in our final video would look as natural as possible. It also meant that I could practice learning the lyrics whilst also working on my characterisation of the artist 'Layla Ade'.

The projector we used 

We also had rehearsals in our studio for the technical aspect of our shoot. By practicing the different lighting options we wanted we could identify which were most effective. It will also make creating these settings easier and quicker during our real shoot. This process was very beneficial for me as it taught me the importance of using floor lights as well as coloured lights to ensure that I would not appear washed out when in front of the camera. It was also important that we practiced using our projector prior to filming our projection shots in order to create the optimum quality for these shots. Here, I learnt how placement of the projector affected lighting and was able to plan out different ways to position my body in front of the projector in order to prevent myself being blocked out by a lack of light.

A picture of our studio, including our sound and light desk 

R+P Post 28: My Kit List

Location kit list

Our Camera

• Canon Legaria HD camera
• Shotgun microphone
• 64 GB SD card
• Two batteries
• Tripod
• Headphones 

Studio kit list

• Canon 5D MK 11 Camera
• 650 ARRI Turret lights 
• Leap frog lighting desk 
• ARRI studio lights 
• Strobe lights 
• Projector 
• Fairy lights 
• Samsung monitors
• Mac and studio control tablet 
• Cyclorama 

The different lights that we used 

The different lights that we used 

R+P Post 27: Casting

We decided that it would be best for me to play the part of solo artist Layla Ade due to my previous performing experience. As I am part of the group it also meant that I would be a reliable person, preventing us from being let down by external actors.











We decided to cast Andy as the unnamed boy that carries the non studio based narrative in our music video. We knew that we wanted a black male for this role as relations between Police and people of colour is a difficult and relevant topic. We also picked Andy due to his previous modelling experience which helped as he was already comfortable and confident in front of the camera.

R+P Post 26: Set design, location and props

For our location shoot we decided to film in Shoreditch. We felt that this was a very colourful and vibrant area that would provide many opportunities for great shoots. The large array of graffiti gave us a lot of choice and helped reflect the urban culture within London. This is also a very familiar area for those that live in London, so would make the video appear more personable and realistic to members of our TA. Below I have included some images that I took around the area during our "rekkie" tour of the area...

We decided to have very limited props on our studio shoot s we felt that the minimalist feel was very effective. Rather than concentrating on props, we decided to concentrate on our lighting. We thought that using a large variety of colours would help us to build atmosphere within our video and connote different emotions. For example, we will be using red and blue lights in order to represent police sirens. The colour red can also connote anger and even represent blood, highlighting the large amount of emotions that we may be able to convey.

R+P Post 25: Costume, props and make-up

Costume, make up and props are essential to an artist as it makes up their identity. If an artist does not have a look that is deemed cool, edgy or fashionable, they will struggle to stand out from other artists in such a saturated industry. Therefore, it is very important to create a unique look in order to be seen as memorable.

One way that I decided to do this for the artist Layla Ade was by changing my hair to big, bold and curly hair. We thought that this would help her stand out more and could also act as a visual motif for her. This use of a visual motif through hair has also been used by other artists such as Ella Eyre and Sia...

My big curly hair

I decided on a range of costumes so that they could change throughout the course of the video. We felt that this would keep the video visually interesting, whilst also showing the audience a different side of Layla Ade's personality with each look...

Outfit and make up look 1

For this look I decided to go with a Tommy Hilfiger Sports bra, an army print jacket and black leggings. There was no need for shoes in this outfit as we were not shooting any shots that would include my feet. It is usual for artists of this century to show more skin during their performances, especially younger ones. I tried to achieve this whilst also keeping an air of class about our artist by wearing a sports bra with high waisted leggings. This, in addition to the jacket meant that enough skin was covered, whilst also allowing some areas to be revealed. I chose to wear a Tommy Hilfigher Bra as it is a well known and respected brand that out TA would be able to recognise. I picked the camo jacket as I felt that it was striking and has been worn by artists such as Rihanna (as pictured). 

Outfit and make up look 2

This look shows the more 'artistic' side of Layla Ade due to the Moschino shirt. Its unusual print which includes the repetition of the word 'Moschino' amongst images of pants, armour etc and is very unique and therefore helps our artist to stand out more. This unique vintage shirt is an unusual piece and adheres to the London fashion culture as many members of our TA strive to achieve a collection of unique, vintage, designer clothes. Once again, by opening the shirt and putting a bralet underneath, we give our artist a younger feel and adhere to the culture of showing more skin which is popular within our TA. 

Outfit and make up look 3

For Layla Ade's final look I decided to go for a cropped Ellesse turtle neck, a green bomber jacket, a black skirt and white Adidas Superstar trainers. I went for this turtle neck as it is rarely seen, in fact I could not even find any pictures of this shirt on the internet. This shirt paired nicely with my bomber and created an aesthetically pleasing look. I chose to wear this jacket rather than revealing the no sleeve element of my shirt as I felt that it looked better and created some variation. I chose these Superstar trainers as they are unique limited edition shoes that add a bit of character. 

A close up of the make up from this look

For this outfit I also decided to go for a bold blue, slightly smokey eye look. I felt that this bold colour would help provide the drama required for a music video, and would draw attention to my face which is a very important asset to an artist.

To conclude, this process has taught me the importance of  image for an artist as it what makes them stand out against other artists.

R+P Post 24: Planning my digipak panels

During our planning we have been collecting different ideas for possible album covers. This has included looking at already existing album covers and seeing which we found to be effective. For example, we were heavily influenced by artists such as Amy Whinehouse due to their use of movement. We felt that this was very effective as it made the image appear like it was a snippet of a story and made me want to find out more. In response to this, we also wanted to created an album cover that used movement and came up with ideas in order to achieve this...

Our plan for digipak panels

The top left section of this flat plan is our planned album cover. It depicts the artist Layla Ade mid air in front of a background, We decided that we wanted a graffiti background in order to give a grungy and street feel to our album, so went looking for locations that we could possibly shoot this. We eventually picked the are of Shoreditch and found some colourful graffiti which we felt would be fitting for our album cover.

The top right corner shows our plan for the back cover of our album. It shows a silhouette of Layla, made out of graffiti, surrounded by a black background. We were largely inspired by the artist Pell's art work as we felt that it was very effective and aesthetically pleasing.







The bottom left corner is our plan for our left inner panel. This is a profile shot if Layla with hand written notes and memos surrounding her. We felt that this stuck to the graffiti lexis of our album, whilst also adding a personal touch to it. It also reveals vital information about our artist to the audience which is essential, especially in a debuting artist.

Our planned panel

We wanted the bottom right panel to be a 'candid' picture of Layla. We went on location to practice different poses for this shot, however, we came to the conclusion of the one drawn as we felt that it highlighted the desired 'candid' nature of the shot, whilst also meaning that the artist will not be completely masked when the physical CD is placed in its case.

One of our practice shots

R+P Post 23: Planning my web pages

A website is a crucial element of a marketing campaign as it acts as a hub for all of an artist's information.Through our research we have sought out inspiration from many different artist's websites. For example, After seeing the website for Izzy Bizu we would like to create a video to act as the background of our website. We felt that this was extremely effective and would help to engage the audience immediately.

This design for the opening page of our site

Izzy Bizu's site

We also wanted the name of our artist to be large and bold as soon as the website was opened. This convention acts as a form of branding and helps to effectively establish the artist.

Our chosen font

Our web bar design (as seen in the design for our opening page) was inspired by the artist MNEK's website as we felt that its layout was simple and aesthetically pleasing.

MNEK's website menu

We also felt that the options included on the menu gave a large choice for a viewer of the website to explore. This is very important as it makes the website more entertaining and enjoyable for them, meaning that they are more likely to stay on the site for longer and eventually become more likely to listen to or buy the artist's music which is the ultimate goal. The pages that we have chose to include are: Home, Music, Gallery, Live, Merchandise, Bio and Sign Up.

Our Home page will act as a hub for all the information contained on our site. Here, the menu bar will be clear so that our audience may easily navigate themselves around our site. The menu bar will be available on every page in order to make the different options explicit to all.

The Music page will give the viewer another opportunity to purchase/ stream our artist's music. We will include our final music video on this page as well as the album track list which we will create in order to stick to convention. We were inspired by Beyonce who also has a large variety of options to consume her music.

Beyonce's music options

The Gallery page will consist of exclusive pictures and videos of our artist. This will act as an incentive for fans of the artist to view the website as they will be able to view exclusive content. We will also include pictures from Layla's social media pages in order to promote them and create a following.

Beyonce's inspirational 'Vault' page

The Live page will detail the dates and locations of all the concerts that will be planned for our artist. There will be buttons which will be linked to Ticketmaster so that our fans can buy tickets for these events.

The Merchandise page will showcase all the products available to purchase that have our artist's brand. Merchandise is very important for an artist as it is a way to differentiate their source of income. Due to online music streaming services and piracy, less and less people are actually purchasing the music that they listen to, so by selling merchandise we will ensure that the artist and ultimately the record label are still making money. Artists such as Chance the Rapper have even gone to the extreme of making all of their music free, profiting soley from the sale of merchandise.

Chance the Rapper's merchandise

The Bio page will give viewers a chance to learn more about the background of our artist. This will make the website more personal and reveal exclusive information/ quotes from our artist.

The Sign Up page will encourage viewers to sign up to our mailing list so that they may be notified when any events/promotions occur regarding our artist. Many artists have this option as it is a way to directly interact with their fans. This means that the TA will be made aware of events and therefore more likely to attend/ buy products.

Alessia Cara's mailing list

Due to teacher/TA feedback, we have also decided that we would like to create a landing page for our website as this is a convention used by many artists. For example, Alicia Keys has a landing page on her website (as pictured), which uses this opportunity to advertise her new album. We would also like to do this as it is a good way for us to immediately push our artist's album.

Whilst researching, I found that many artists had websites in which the viewer could 'scroll' through the entirety of their content. For example, artists such as Dua Lipa have used this on their websites. We would also like to use this format for our website as it makes navigation around site very simple and allows the viewer to quickly see all that the site has to offer.

Dua Lipa's website

I thought that it would be a good idea to create 'gaps' within our pages so that our background video could be seen through them. This will be a way to separate our pages in an engaging manner. I recently discovered that other artists such as Dua Lipa have also used this technique (as pictured left). I feel that this looks very effective and has made me more confident in our decision to do this.

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