Group Work: Costumes

Our main ideas in terms of costumes, was to emphasis how lucky R.I.C.O is. Therefore
 when we decided to use a female in our production, we thought it would be a good idea to
present her as an angel in order to show how "blessed" he really is. Also his attire too, shall
also emphasis his blessings as he will be wearing jewelry and fashionable clothes such as
timberlands etc. However his clothes will be dark, not only would this make the brightness
of the girls stand out even more, but it also shows the dark aggressive side that rappers
have despite their fame and fortune. The same will apply fro Drake's part in the music video
however wont be as flamboyant as R.I.C.O because the main focus will be on him.

Group Work: Meeting no.4 9th October 2015

I looked at various different music videos that are mainstream and chose multiple videos that we could choose.
Big Sean - Blessings
Big Sean - IDFWU
Kendrick Lamar - Don't Kill My Vibe
Jeremih - Don't Tell 'em

We came to a vote to see what music video could be a possible choice for us and overall the majority of us voted for Big Sean’s Blessings.

Big Sean – Blessing ----------------> Performance and Concept

Conventions in the song:
-Minimalistic set
-Product placements
-Props

Extra Ideas:
Chairs, Crown, Girls, Money

I was then to look at different songs similar to Blessings in order to refer to the videos and see what main conventions appeared and which of those we could apply in our own video.

Songs I Found:
Drake – Energy
Meek Mill – I be on dat
Krept & Konan – Freak of the week
YG – My hitta
B.O.B – Out of my mind
A$AP Rocky – Problems

These are all similar as they all use minimalistic sets, usually girls aren’t included in the video (besides female artists) and sexualised or there are product placement and props used due to the minimalistic set as it makes them stand out although the audience ar subliminally advertised the products passively. Due to these conventions being common in mainstream hip-hop, we want to portray this in our own music video when we come to produce it.

We also set tasks for us to complete,
Jody – Analyse record label questions
Kyle – Analyse age gender questions and continue with logo
Bradley – Analyse music videos/artist questions and storyboards of our video
Jerard – Analyse the other questions and storyboards of our video



Also Kyle's progress on the logo:



 He kept the R the same in its style and had to also improvise the rest of the letters to make them all seem like they are in the same style while trying to keep it restricted in a box shape. He liked the style and we agreed that it would be a good style to use for the logo. It captures the graffiti element or rap and applies it in the logo also. The paint is still dripping and there’s splattered marks at the end which could connotate to the artist has brought a new/raw talent due to the dripping paint implying it is still fresh and unique. Also the fact that it is in a box makes it look like a stamp which could connotate to him being popular as otherwise his name wouldn’t be on a stamp. On the top half of the logo there’s dashes in between that 1. Completes the box 2. Splits up the letters with dots and 3. Completes some of the letters such as the I. This is effective as it multitasks in the logo to fit multiple purposes. The splat on the right side also looks like a smudge mark that has been whipped away and the right angle is all smudges to complete the box which make it also look effective because it gives a rebellious look it.

Group Work: Meeting no.3 3rd October 2015

When creating the logo, Kyle designed various logos, some of which are original and other he got from inspiration of rap artists logos which he developed into his own style to fit the name R.ICO and give it its own unique touch.

The smaller logo above was inspired by Drake, as you can see the R is the same as Drake’s logo, however the rest Kyle had to improvise. I think it looks good because it’s simple but effective and if you put it in colour it would look good and change how it looks depending on the house colour. It however in my opinion looks slightly childish as it looks like bubbly writing so it sort of goes against rap conventions to some extent as rap is usually aggressive and sexual yet this doesn’t portray that. Compared to Drake’s you can see he has a little dollar bill sign and hearts in his logo that could portray he is highly affluent and sexualised due to the hearts. Due to him having more than one heart, it could show he is a player and can’t settle for only one heart which is a common convention in rap.

The third logo down, the inspiration came from a snowboard company which is also called Drake. The R is also taken from this logo and the rest Kyle also had to improvise but in the same style. I like how the letters are cut of like it’s been sliced and in my opinion makes it look urban which matches rap as it is usually set in estates or the hood or the artist has come from these locations. When creating it though with R.I.C.O he found it hard, especially for some letters like C and the O because you have to cut off the top but because it is curved at the top it was hard to determine whereabouts to cut it as it had to still be visible of what letter it was.

The logo with the O inside of the C came from a mixture of logos but the style mostly was inspired by especially this one due to the CO as the O’s gave Kyle the idea of a darts board which sort of influenced the O being in the C making a gibbous shape like a moon. I found this extremely effective as it sort of reminded me of a bullseye target or a cope which shows conventions of violence and could suggest the artists rap lyric are on point, hitting the target every time. I think the O being in the C makes the logo look unique which is what we want in order to show individuality.

With the other logos, they were mostly original by Kyle. One of them he did in jail bars in the R and the O which applies to conventions of prison themes or crime in rap that is seen typically in gangster rap more than others. The one beside it he did in a graffiti style as this style too is seen in rap a lot so it would be appropriate to see a logo in that style so I could be recognized easier and makes the artist look more urban and could portray his upbringing as stereotypically he would be classed as having a rough background.

When first hearing the name R.I.C.O, Kyle instantly thought of the protagonist in a video game called Just Cause who had the same name which lead to him thinking of the scorpion due to its involvement with the game’s logo. It inspired him to do one of his own as many rappers are associated with animal such as their names, therefore the idea of a scorpion would be effective and the traits of a scorpion tends to be fiercely independent. They are able to accomplish anything they put their minds to and they won’t give up which is a good trait for our artist. This could present our artist as determined to be noticed and make good music and is highly competitive.

Through research of the symbolic connotations of a scorpion, Kyle found that they could symbolise sex, control, death, passion and protection which could link to the characteristics of a rap video/artist as they usually promote this therefore, because of this reason this would be a good symbol. The scorpion will mate in an exotic dance of passion and control. The scorpion sex dance is one of beauty, control and calculation which could apply to rap due to the lyrics being sexualised and they objectify woman or how it’s delivered is sexualised. They also symbolise strong headed in a way that whatever is in their path, they will sting. This representation fits in with a rappers identity as they tend to boast about their love for destroying anybody who gets in their way of succeeding and becoming rich.

In terms of semiotics, the scorpions signifier is a hostile animal, much like rappers these days. They threat, commit crimes and rebel, at least that's what they say. However the signified is actually a strong personality that is strong headed and prepared to do what needs to be done. Much like rappers doing anything for money, even breaking the law. 

Group Work: Meeting no.1 2nd October 2015

Meeting times (taken by Jerard)

In this group session we had to allocate different roles within our group for our production:
Director – Jerard
Cameraman – Kyle
Editor – Jody
Soundman – Me

We also set each other tasks to be completed.
Artist logo design – Kyle
Song decision – Me
Record label research – Jody
Questionnaire – Jerard

After looking at all the possible name suggestions and discussing other names, we added an extra two definite names. Kyle suggest Freq (short for frequency) and Jody suggested R.I.C.O. Overall we decided to vote for R.I.C.O as it had a certain ring to it that sounded catchy and also the letters could mean something. After choosing the name, it will allow Kyle to begin creating the logo.

We discussed the conventions to our chosen genre and applied theorists that we plan to follow.

Group Work: Meeting no.1 25th September 2015

     §  Genre decision

  §  Group/artist name decision

  §  Record label research and decision of label for your artist band

  §  Post Production Questionnaire Questions (7-10)

     In this group meeting we didn't mind which genre we were going to do as a group but we eventually came to the conclusion to do Hip-Hop as we all felt comfortable to do this genre as we could bring our knowledge to the group relating to this genre. We know that Hip-Hop has various of sub-genres show we decided to focus on mainstream Hip-Hop as we fought it would be the most efficient to apply the conventions of rap to it.  

Our next decision was to represent a solo artist as from our knowledge of the genre, alot of mainstream Hip-Hop artists currently, are solo and its more rare to see a rap group in this decade. However we included this in our questionnaire to see what the audience would prefer 'Solo' or 'Group' and get an idea of some of their favourite artists. From here we discussed possible artists names that would fit both solo and group artists as this decision wasn't made yet. 

Here are the suggestions:

- Jumpman

-Swerve

-LDN

-D-5

-Kid Icon

-C-Note

-Deep Base

-D-Work

-Kid David

-Phantom

-Dark Below

-Prototype

-K-Buck

-Chase

-Dark Malone

-Dice

-Cube

From these names we thought the most appealing names were LDN and Kid Icon, however personally I liked Prototype and Dark Below as well. However there were all problems in this names. Some of them were really specific to the actors who we considered will feature in our video such as 'Kid David', 'D-Work' and 'K-Buck', whereas others were too similar to references of real artists such as 'Cube' to 'Ice Cube', 'D-5' to 'D-12' and Jumpman references a song by Drake and Future. This therefore meant we didn't get an overall decision of the artist's name as we needed to know from the audience if they preferred groups or solo to narrow down our suggestions as some may not be appropriate for either a group or solo artist.

When choosing questions suitable for the questionnaire we had to consider what type of questions to ask in order to get our target audience to respond with valuable answers that could help with our future choices. We made a questions relating to their favourite artists or what they like to see in music videos so we could look at the answers, then what they like in music videos, whatever artists matches that description we would look at the record label.

Questions discussed:

1. Do you prefer solo artists or groups?

2. What genres of music do you prefer?

3. What type of music videos do you like?

4. Who is your favourite artist(s)?

5. What should the artist wear?

6. Do you prefer a signed or independent artist?

7. What's your favourite colour?

8. Do you follow any of your favourite artists on social media?

9. What do you think the most important thing in a music video is?

Look at answers. What they like to see in music videos, whatever artist matches that description we would look at that record label.





> Ludacris
> Jeremih
> Logic
> 2 Chainz
> Big Sean
> Kanye West (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam)


> ASAP Rocky
> Kid Inc


> Rick Ross
> Meek Mill
> Ty $
> Wiz Khalifa
> T.I


> J Cole
> Jay Z (Roc Nation/Roc-A-Fella)


> Drake
> Nicki Minaj
> Tyga


> Kendrick Lamar (Interscope/Aftermath)
> Rae Sremmurd
> School Boy Q
> Dr Dre (Interscope/Aftermath)
> Eminem (Interscope/Aftermath/Shady)

Finally we looked at possible songs from our own knowledge that are popular and other artists who labels are unknown for our artist(s) to cover:

    Bobby Shmurda- Hot Boy

    Wiz Khalifah- Black & Yellow 

    Omarion- Post To Be

    Big Sean- Blessings, IDFWY

    Drake

    Meek Mill- All Eyes On You

    J. Cole ft Kendrick Lamar- Forbidden Fruit

   YG- My Hitta

   Krept- Don't Waste My Time

   Fetty Wap- Trap Queen

   Rae Sremmund- No Type

   Jay Z- Ni**az In Paris

   Kanye West- All Day, Otis

   Rich Homie- Ooh Ooh

   Nicki Minaj- Only

   Ace Hood- Bugatti

   Chief Keef- I Don't Like

   Wale

We discussed assigning roles: 
- Jerard took charge of creating the survey

- Jody took charge of researching record labels 

- Bradley took charge on researching the song choice

Group Work: Record Label Research

Completed by Jody

Group Work: Questionnaire Analysis 1, 2 and 4

Based on the survey results the majority of people who answered were aged between 15-18 which is an appropriate age group which we will primarily target and then as a secondary target mostly 19+ as they will still have an interest in mainstream hip-hop as they would more likely to be students in  university or just starting out in their career which is what we want to target as according to the mosaic scale they would more likely be going raves/festivals/concerts where you might hear this kind of music from the artists originally.
Mostly who answered were females which is kind of usual for more females to answer due to rap mostly objectifying woman and men as more dominate when woman are in their perspective (Laura Mulvey, Male Gaze) . Due to females mostly answering we therefore would try to make the video universal however the song does sort of objectify woman so It could appeal more to men.

Usually in hip-hop you get a combination of either narrative and performance or performance and concept so either combination would be relevant to our music video people mostly answered that they prefer narrative in a   video, then concept, then performance. 

We intend to use these results effectively. For example, we will analyse all the music videos that people have recently watched and look for any conventions that they all have in common and look for the features in those videos that appeal to their audience such as they way the artists delivers the song or the effects used etc.
The fact that most of our responses were from females was a good thing because we are already aware of what males tend to like in hip-hop videos as we can see it from their perspective (being males) and a very high majority of the artists already being males (e.g Lil Dicky), we would be able to just use their conventions. Also we could expand our audience by appealing to females too. 

Group Work: Genre Conventions

1.Will your video go with or against typical genre conventions? Why?

Our video will go with the typical genre conventions that come with Hip-Hop. We will include conventions such as slang, showing off, the artist' race (black) and women.These conventions tend to only appear in the lyrics rather than their actions in the original video of the song we are using, unlike many other Hip-Hop music where these are the main aspects of their videos, whereas as we will present these features clearly. Also, women, and woman of a darker skin tend to be sexualised and presented in a provocative manner which conforms the theories of both Laura Mulvey (Male gaze) and Bell Hooks (The colour codes), however we will go against these theories as the women in our video will be covered up and dressed in normal clothing. Multiple outdoor locations tend to be the most popular choice for the artists in Hip-Hop videos, unlike our video, we will be filming it all inside a studio with different lightnings etc much like the original video. 

2.What video style and artist are you trying to recreate or will you try to create a completely new idea?

     Our video will be a performance based video much like the original and other traditional Hip-Hop

videos.We will be creating a video similar to the original whilst implementing our own ideas and scenes. We will  certain things the same such as the background colour, style/colouring of clothing, smoke effect and camera angles. The things we will introduce is woman and more of a boastful demeanor to the artist with things such as money on the floor. These will create more of a general Hip-Hop vibe to the video. 

These images fit into the typical hip-hop scene, not only are they from mainstream hip-hop music videos, but they follow conventions. Conventions such as objectifying woman, boastful and being flashy, criminal activity (smoking drugs) and the setting of a popular location. 

Group Work: Questionnaire Analysis (5, 7 and 8)

The purpose of the following questions, was to give us an idea of what our audience look for and enjoy in an artist and their videos. We can analyse these responses and plan our video accordingly such as choose a song which we can apply our audiences taste into the video.

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What are your three favourite artist groups?
The answers for this question differed greatly. However, the only Hip-Hop responses were artist which are very mainstream such as Chris Brown, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Jay-z, Kanye West, 50 Cent and YG. Big Sean was the most popular Hip-Hop artist, with 9 out of the 12 people who listed Hip-Hop artists included him.

Do you follow any of your favourite artists on social media?
Out of 36 responses, 22 (61.11%) of people said yes and 14 people said no (38.89%).

What are the three things you normally see in music videos?
Our responses were mixed with this question, but the one that came up the most was woman and their promiscuity. Other answers ranged from lip-syncing and their performance of the video to money and product placement.

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After looking deeply into the answers of these questions, we have chosen Big Sean' Blessing featuring Drake and Kanye West as this song includes most of the artists within the responses we received. Woman, money and performance based videos appeared to be the three main things our audience notice most. After the majority of people saying they follow their favourite artists on social media, we have decided to create a social media account for our artists as it seems an important aspect for the artist to have in our audience's opinion.

These results effected our decisions greatly as we chose the most favoured artist. We also chose a song that include two other popular artists.
Also, we wasn't going make a social media profile for our artist, but due to the high percentage of people saying they did follow their favourite artists on social media (60%), we decided it would be best to make a profile for R.I.C.O.
For questions 8, the most given answer was the promiscuity of woman. We wasn't going to use females either just because we simply wouldn't be able to represent them to the same extent as hip-hop, however we realised it is a big convention in hip-hop so we will be using a female in parts of our music video. Another thing that came up in that question was money. We was aware of the convention of rappers flashing their cash but we aren't as wealthy as them therefore would be harder to get our hands on that amount of cash. But, due to its high response rate on the questionnaire, we have found a way to do so. We will print off 100 dollar bills with paper.
Therefore the use of a questionnaire is vital in the lead to our production.