Group Meeting: Friday 13th November / Storyboards

Prior to this meeting, we had gathered earlier in the week to discuss ideas for the story board as one pf our given tasks. I had taken up the task of drafting the first few ideas for the storyboard and writing them up in our treatment to accompany the storyboard. Bradley had taken up the task of writing the synopsis of the video; a brief description of the video and what would happen. Kyle had taken up the task of doing the location recce, which included looking at the sets for any dangers/hazards. Jody had taken up the task of adding detailed research into the record label we had chosen and why we had chosen it.

With the storyboard ideas, we had similar ideas in terms of the beginning of the song.

Jody had pitched the first idea of having the artist's name in bold in a black background with the set being seen inside the letters. We all had the same suggestion for the beginning and agreed to put it on there.

With the second shot, I suggested that at one point there be a high angle shot of RICO. The others had suggested the same with Bradley and Jody suggesting we have money on the floor at that point as well. For the third shot, we all suggested that there be an extreme close up of RICO's mouth as he raps a certain part of the song. As we became conflicted with what to put in next, we decided to gather our own ideas that Friday and then pool them in together in order, rather than having to come up with it as we went along.

On that Friday we had each brought our own ideas to the table, me and Bradley had brought our own storyboards while Kyle had a video to show us. 

Bradley's storyboard of up until near the end of RICO's first verse

Bradley had added a few suggestions to the storyboard, with a shot of money being blown from a fan off set, while there are shots of the video vixens posing and a shot of the vixens either side of RICO sitting on a throne. Although we agreed that the shot of the video vixens and RICO in those positions worked due to the authority shown through RICO's posture and the vixens either side of him resembling servants, the rest of the shots, including the ones of the video vixens on the floor.

Jerard's storyboard of up until near the beginning of RICO'S verse

With the beginning, I interpreted the idea of having the graphic of words at the beginning and expanded on it, with the artists name, song title and record label all being included, with the set seen inside the words. I then added a shot of RICO walking across the first set, as part of the abstract direction we were going in the video. The other members of the group suggested that we have money on the floor at that point. I agreed and noted to include it on the next draft.

Jerard's storyboard page 2

With the next shot, I included an extreme close up of RICO's mouth as he begins his verse. This was to obscure the full view of RICO's face to create a building up effect. This shot would appear throughout most of the verse until the beat drop. Meanwhile, I included the shots of RICO in the first set with his hand in the air at the line "blessed" in the middle of his verse. The other shots were medium shots of the both the video vixens posing while looking away from the camera, I hadn't decided fully on what those poses would be but Jody had suggested to change the shot to ones with them and RICO together. I suggested against it as the interpretation was that they weren't the the subject of the song, but then he suggested that the vixens not interact with the artist. This worked as they did not need to draw any attention away from the artist but they add value to the scene as it is part of the themes that hip hop artists rap about in their music. On that note, Jody had also suggested moving that shot to a different one where there was a different line as the line currently in place didn't link with the shot at all.

Jerard's storyboard page 3

With the next shot, I wanted the graphic of the lyrics to appear just when the beat drops. The line "Whichever comes first" is the line just before the drop and it emphasizes the arrogant attitude that hip hop artists have as he is able to brag about having the luxury of expensive choices. This line is significant then, and is the reason I thought it would be a good reason to add as another graphic with the same effect of having the set seen inside the letters. The others agreed with this idea and w moved forward.

The next shot, although written as a tracking shot is actually supposed to be a hand-held medium shot of RICO performing his verse after the drop. I suggested this as I thought it would deliver a dynamic view of the performance with the beat having dropped and creating a "hyped" atmosphere. This would also be another shot that continues with the verse up until the chorus. An example of where this also appears is in Jessie J's video for Wild which also features Big Sean.

Medium shot of Big Sean using hand held camera movement. This adds to realism in the scene and involves the audience as well.

The other cuts I wanted to include were of low angle and high angle shots to appear at specific moments, for example in the 12th shot there would be a high angle shot of RICO on the line "...father forgive me these are all my confessions" to suggest a point of view from the "father" he is referring to (religious link). The group agreed but also suggested that we would need more cuts so that it wasn't just empty space of RICO in the hand held shot. Jody had suggested that there be cuts to the video vixens in specific poses. He also suggested there be shots of RICO where there are two of him, in reference to the line "I treat the beat like its a reverend". This would be similar to the original video where Big Sean is seen talking to a reverend. 

Example of editing technique used in the original video where Jody had the idea from.

Another example of the editing technique Jody had mentioned where the multiple versions of the artists are frozen in place from where he was before.

Although we hadn't drawn them up, we had some ideas of what to do with the 2nd verse including Drake. I suggested that we included a smoke machine to produce smoke across the floor, something that was also used in the original video (although enhanced with effects). We also had ideas of having the video vixens in shots separated from the artists, which also appeared in the original video.