Next steps analysis.

Now that our group has progressed in analysis for the rap genre and rap videos and we've looked at the demographic's we need to cater to, we can now specify our analysis on what we'll do for our own music video. We've really focused on two aspects of the video and have extensively thought through what we'll do.

Now as we've picked Swimming Pools to be the song we make a video from, it's important to explore different aspects of the video. In the original, there's a marginally negative representation of gender. I say marginally as it's not overly negative, however the females in the video are shown to be objects of desire, as they don't add anything to the video, they are just there to look good. Now some people may see that as a huge negative, I believe as they aren't meant to be the focus of the video and they're not being mistreated or grossly misrepresented, I believe it's only marginally negative. With our video, there won't be a focus on gender, so men and women will be represented equally, as we want the focus to be on the negatives of excessive drinking. The narrative will be mixed, with the main focus being on the main character and how drinking is affecting him, whilst depicting other people drinking and also with visceral shots to represent drinking and to fit with the lyrics of the song.

OUR VIDEO
For our music video, we want the setting of it to be in a party. The idea of it being to represent the negatives of drinking and peer pressure in getting someone to drink excessively. This isn't stereotypical of rap videos, as usually drinking alcohol is associated with partying which is what rappers usually advocate in their songs and videos. We also think the setting will be entertaining and will appeal to an audience, as an entertaining video was the most voted for in our questionnaire. Some problems will be organising a 'party' for us to get the necessary footage and also as some of the actors are under 18, making it realistic will be a challenge. However we can these are problems that can be worked around.

50 Cent - In da club

Schoolboy Q - Collard Greens

Usher - Yeah

R Kelly - Ignition

To submerge our audience and make them feel like they're at the party, we're thinking about using hand held camera work. This is again to make it entertaining, as they can feel like they are at the party. Also we feel this will be the most effective way to show the negatives of excessive drinking and peer pressure as well, thanks to the handheld camera not being fixed to one spot, can capture a lot more footage of the party.

Our take on the music video is positive, as we plan on subverting the stereotypical messages of drinking loads and partying is great by showing the consequences of these actions. We want to set it up by drawing people in and then subverting their perceptions of rap videos and the lifestyle most rap videos condone. We hope by going against stereotypes, we will catch people's attention and the music video will be memorable.