Test shots of potential actors

This is our first actor Rhiannon Elliot. We believe that she has potential to be our actor because she is very confident in front of the camera. When we were taking the photos of Rhiannon, she was happy enough to pose exactly how we wanted her and she was also happy to do her own thing in front of the lens. She also has the right look for the actor that we want. We would like someone that is from a particular ethnic background, and since Rhiannon is from Uganda, we feel that she would be the right person to use for our music video. However, we would prefer someone that would be able to be seductive in front of the camera and when talking to Rhiannon about this, she said that she wouldn't be too happy to act like this. This means that we would have to reconsider the type of person that we have for our actor. Furthermore, Rhiannon said she wouldn't be happy to consider changing her hair style for us. This is because we are aiming to have someone with different hairstyles in different situations within our music video. This means that we wouldn't be able to create the specific look that we would want within our music video and we would have to find someone that would be happy to apply themselves fully to the character and role that they will be playing. Overall, Rhiannon's attitude and look are the right things that we are looking for. However, due to her not wanting to do certain things or not being comfortable, we would be better off finding someone else for our actor.

This is another one of our potential actors, Balinder Powar. She is very confident in front of the camera and she is also a dancer. This means that she has said she would be happy to perform certain dance routines to go within our music video if she was to become the main actor. However, Balinder is more of an upbeat and fast tempo dancer meaning that her style of dance, wouldn't fit our song. Also, due to Balinder's ethnic background, she has the right look that we are aiming for, for our actor.  Balinder also said that she is happy to be styled in anyway that we would like her which is exactly what we need for our actor. Also, Balinder said that she would be happy to style her hair in anyway we wanted which is an upper hand that she has over Rhiannon when it comes to deciding who will be the best actor. However, just like Rhiannon, Balinder said that because she is more of a jokey person, she wouldn't feel very comfortable being seductive. Overall, Balinder would be a great actor for our music video because of her look and attitude, but due to her confidence and personality, we believe that we would be best off to look for potential within other actor.

This is the last of our three potential actors, Mikah Arnold. We believe that Mikah has the perfect style for our actor within our music video. She has the right ethnic background and has the right sort of style. She is very modern with her fashion, even within the photo shoot, keeping it simple but effective with a white blouse and black pencil skirt. Mikah also said that she is happy for us to style her how we need her including styling her hair. This is a huge benefit to us because it means that we are able to develop her look that already fits the part. Another great thing about Mikah is that she is very confident in front of the camera. When we asked Mikah if she would be happy to be seductive within the music video and she said that she would be happy to. This also helps us because it means that we are able to create Mikah into the perfect character for our music video. The only thing that could effect Mikah being our actor is that she wear glasses. We spoke to her about this and she said that she has contact lenses and would be able to wear them when we need her to. Overall, we have chose Mikah as our main actor because of her confidence look and attitude when it comes to our music video.  



Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Within his book, Andrew Goodwin proposed that there are 5 key aspects that are feautured within a music video.

1. Thought through beats

This is the first of Goodwin's key aspects and is all about seeing the sounds. Goodwin believes that the audience favour to see aspects where there is a correlation between the visuals and the music. For examples, cuts sounds be made on the beats. This is clear to see within Beyoncé's music video 'Formation'. You can clearly see even within the first few seconds that because there is a strong beat to the song, cuts and dancing changes are made on and to the beat.

2.Relationship between narrative and performance

Goodwin stated that in order for any misunderstanding to not happen, you should follow deeply into the meaning of the song in order for the audience to understand the narrative visually. This the helps them to then clearly understand what is happening within the song. This is shown within another of Beyoncé's songs. Within this song, Beyoncé is talking about what she would do if she was a boy for a day. The narrative not only shows links to the lyrics but it also shows the story that she is telling lyrically.

3. A trademark

In order for the artist to be recognised, Goodwin talks about them having a specific trademark. This then makes the artist well known and it also creates a statement for them to live by. For example, Sia's trademark would be classed as anonymity. This is seen with her wearing large wigs that cover her face when in the public. This also reflects n her music video where she has the same girl dancing as the artist throughout all her music videos, whilst also wearing a similar wig to which Sia is always seen in.

4.Multiple close-ups of the main artist

Close ups of the artist within a music video will often include that of the eyes looking at the camera. Goodwin stated that this is done in order to create a connection between the artist and the audience. This makes the audience feel like the artist is directing their actions and words at them specifically. Close ups are often shown within a female artist's music video in order to create the sexualisation of the artist. This is then linked the idea of the 'male gaze'. This is where the female is sexualised in order to appeal directly to the male audience. A music video where this is clearly shown is Rihanna ft. Drake- Work. This video is a pure sexualisation of Rihanna, with the first shot of her being a pan up her bare leg, then leading up towards her breast and the finally her face. The fact that this is the first shot of her also foreshadows the sexual content which is to be shown.

5.Technical aspects

The final element is technical aspects within the music video. This is where the lighting , editing and mise-en-scene is shown to clearly link in with the music and to create a theme for the video. For example, within pop music videos, bright lighting will be used in order to create a more upbeat vibe to the video. Also, it will create the video more enjoyable because if there was for instance dark lighting when the lyrics are talking about a sunny day at the beach with a boyfriend/girlfriend, the audience will become confused and it will create mixed reviews and ideas as to what the music video is really trying to represent. Another example is if the song is a ballad an there are quick editing cuts, it will not make the music video look professional or understandable. Mise-en-scene is also very important within a music video. This is used in order to portray directly to the audience what your theme etc. is within the video. For example, clothing and setting will show what you want the artist to be shown as i.e. minimal clothing in a nightclub will show you're trying to represent a party aspect of the song whilst sexualising your artist.

Artist Biography - Kehlani

 Kehlani was born on the 25th of April 1995 as Kehlani Parrish in Oakland, California but has previously described her ethnicity as a mix of black, white, Native American, and Hispanic. Raised by her aunt due to her father dying when she was young and her mother constantly in and out of prison, Kehlani attended the Oakland School for the Arts initially with a focus on dance. However, whilst training in order to follow her dream to attend the Julliard School, she injured her knee which meant she turned her focus to singing. With her aunt mostly listening to R'n'B as she grew up, Kehlani said that her early influences in life were the likes of  Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, and Jill Scott among her early influences. Later on when she was 14, she was recruited to join a local pop cover band known as PopLyfe. In 2011, they auditioned for the sixth season of America Got Talent, and end up finishing in fourth place in the finals. Piers Morgan told Kehlani in their final performance that she had 'real talent' but she didn't think she needed the group. With fear of being sued by the groups management, Kehlani didn't pursue any type of music career after the group split up shortly after America's Got Talent finished. In 2012 and 2013, Kehlani became homeless, moving from house to house and often sleeping on sofas. She later was offered recording deals with a rap group by Nick Cannon (America's Got Talent presenter). She later rejected and moved back to Oakland. She then released her first solo track on Soundcloud called "ANTISUMMERLUV." Cannon called her back after hearing the song and set her up with an LA apartment and studio time. This lead to Kehlani releasing her first album called 'Cloud 19'.

The album ended up being ranked 28th on Complex's list of the 50 Best Albums of 2014. In April 2015, she released her second album 'You Should Be Here' which was named by Billboard as the 'year's first great R'n'B album and debuted at number 5 on the States 'R'n'B/Hip Hop' charts. In order to compliment her album, she went on the You Should Be Here tour which sold out every North American date and European dates. Complex went on to call her one of the "15 Artists to Watch Out for in 2015" and Rolling Stones magazine named her one of the "10 New Artists You Need to Know." She was also nominated for a 2016 Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album. Kehlani also went on to collaborate with Zayn Malik on his single 'Wrong which was on his debut album.

Kehlani went on to record the single 'Gangsta' which was released by Atlantic Records on the 1st of August as a part of the Suicide Squad soundtrack. It was written by Kehlani, Myron Birdsong, Skylar Grey, Andrew Swanson, and JMIKE. Andrew Swanson and JMIKE also were the producers of said song. At the end of 2015 Kehlani released songs, 'Champion', 'Tore Up', 'Did I' and '24/7' which are all non-album singles. Within 2016, she has also released two singles 'CRZY' and 'Distraction'. Both of which are on an upcoming album which is to be distributed within the near future.

Our Logo

This is our logo for our record label named 'Grunge Records'. We have named our record company Grunge Records because we wanted something that would relate to our artist Kehlani. We also believe that this would easily relate to our age range (16-22) because grunge is the term that would normally be used to describe a lot of things such as fashion etc. which is current. We chose the same design as Sony's brush stroke which is used within their logo because we liked it's simplicity and stylishness. However, we have retouched it by changing the texture and the colour of the brush stroke. Previously, the texture was just a simple 2D brush stroke. Now, we have changed it so it looks glossy and 3D allowing it to stand out. Furthermore, we have chosen a new colour which we feel represents the idea of grunge. We didn't want to use the colour red of which the brush stroke was initially because we didn't believe that that would fit with our style. We have instead chosen a darker purple because we believe it is still a stylish colour but it also is quite dark and 'grungy' which is what we feel relates to our artist. We have also chosen a specific font for our logo. We feel that the italic style of the font gives it the stylish feel and the texture makes it look weathered and worn down which is a foreshadowing the fact that our actor is from a rougher area within the music video. Overall, we feel that our logo foreshadows and represents our artist with them being stylish in the way of being a gangster but also, weathered and rundown in the sense that she is from a not so glamorous lifestyle.

Logo ideas- Beluga Heights.

This is the record logo for Beluga Heights which has artists such as Jason Derulo and Sean Kingston. They are an R&B record label situated in America and were founded in 2006. This then explains why the 'glitzy' and 'flashy' 00's look is out-dated and look cheesy. This therefore doesn't represent the type of look that we want our artists to be about. This also looks like the target audience will be maybe between mid 30's to early 40's. This then is the wrong type of audience that we are aiming for since we are looking to interest young people between the ages of 16-22. The logo also has a casino feel about it meaning that they are looking for glamour and glitz, Again, this contrasts the look that we are going for because as you can see during our target audience mood board, my group are aiming for more of a simplistic and stylish look. The silhouette of the world in the background could represent that they are a worldwide company even though they only have four artists signed to them. Furthermore, the added sparkle contains the connotation that they have stars within their company, although it does make the logo look somewhat tacky.

Logo ideas - Domino Records.

Domino Records is home to artists such as The Artic Monkeys, The Last Shadow Puppets and Franz Ferdinand. As you can tell, they deal with artists that aren't very well known and that aren't from a R&B background or genre. This means that they wouldn't be the best record label for our artist because we would prefer a label that specialises in R&B aritsts and has previous knowledge and history of the genre. Furthermore, the logo represents the idea that the target audience is of people of an older age. For example, the black and white colour scheme shows the idea of a timelessness which can in some cases is an excuse and a way to justify something that is old and outdated. Also,m the font and the style of the logo reminds me of an old American car, ie like the film Grease. The film itself is set in the 1950's so the connotation of the font is that it is aimed towards more of the elder side of the population. This, therefore, doesn't apply to my group and our logo ideas. This is because we would like something that is aimed and targeted at younger people.