Letter of consent for song

In order to be able to use our chosen song, I remembered that we needed to ensure that we had consent from the record label of Ne-yo and so we ensured that this was finished early. His recording studio for the song is Def Jam and so we researched the contact details for this studio so that we could send a letter of consent. This was difficult however, as we struggled to find an e-mail address and so with assistance from Miss, we looked into the contact details of Universal who is the parent company to Def Jam. Within this research we found an e-mail address of a lady who's contact details also came up when researching Def Jam initially. We then agreed that this lady was the correct person to e-mail and so we used a template to type out the letter and send it to the e-mail address. If she does not reply then we are fine to use the song as she has not replied negatively to say that we can't. This would be the only reason why we wouldn't be able to use the song but we hope that this will not be the case and so for now we will continue with this record.

Production schedule

In order to make our production much simpler, Beth has created a production schedule for the group to follow so that we are aware of all of the tasks that we need to complete to be organised and ready to edit once we have our footage from filming. This is very helpful to have so that we can follow it and be sure that we haven't missed out any crucial stages of pre-production. We can tick off when each task has been done and we have dated the estimated time that we will complete each task. If we stick to this and complete it efficiently then the process will be very smooth and hopefully a very successful one.

Institution: Def Jam

The song that we have chosen is 'So Sick' by Ne-yo and his record label that helps produce the song is Def Jam. It centres around the genres of RnB, Hip Hop and other types of Urban Music and it is owned by Universal Music Group. Ne-Yo's track was produced by Stargate, a Norwegian production team in his debut album 'In My Own Words' and it was released as the second single from the album.

                         

The song charted worldwide with number 1 achievements in the United Kingdom as well as the United States. With Def Jam, Ne-Yo met with Stargate in New York to write the songs for his album and one of which would be 'So Sick.' Once finished, Ne-Yo released the song with Def Jam recordings and Stargate and the success came about from this very quickly.

Initial video thoughts

Recently, before we have started to film, we have needed to plan what will go into the video. We contacted Tavonga and together decided on the choice of song that we were happy to go with as well as Tavonga as he would be performing it. So as a 3, Eboni made a brainstorm of inital thoughts that she, Beth and I contributed to. I know that a common feature of RnB videos is love and relationships and I thought that this would be more realistic to create rather than one surrounding wealth and fast cars which none of us would have access to. I also listed some useful locations where we would not look out of place filming a music video and they consisted of urban areas where there are lots of people rather than a rural, green setting as this would be more relevant for a slower song and RnB is rarely associated with this type of setting. Our main idea is to conform to the actions of the actual song that we are using which is So Sick by Ne-yo. We therefore have planned a narrative structure where we focus on the man and the woman in the relationship and compare their lives after a break-up.

To avoid the video looking very similar to the original, we have included some ideas which challenge the original conventions to make the video our own. I firstly suggested to make the most of our technology and include a time lapse which would be effective to show how the time is passing now that their relationship has ended. Eboni then suggested that a flashback could be useful to show how they used to be in the good times previously. Finally, in terms of costume, I suggested that a suit could be appropriate in terms of costume in the way that Usher uses it. It would not be too uncomfortable to perform in whilst it still portrays a sense of class around the artist to show that he hasn't lost his way since the break-up. For scenes when he is in his bedroom or the music video however, they would be much more casual.

Song Choice

Over the holidays, we have spoken as a group to our performer (Tavonga) to discuss our original ideas for the music video that we will create together. We could not just choose any RnB because we needed to know that Tavonga was happy and comfortable with the song. This is why we contacted him and discussed the 3 songs that we were thinking about which were: Miss Independent by Ne-yo, Excuse me miss by Chris Brown or So sick by Ne-yo. Myself, Beth and Eboni were comfortable with any of these songs based on the videos that were originally constructed for them. The lyrics are all meaningful from which we have looked into and so we had to confirm with Tavonga, which one would be his preferred song.

Tavonga's personal preference was So Sick by Ne-yo and so we will research further into this video which includes the RnB conventions that are challenged and conformed to so that we can decide how we will conform to the video or challenge it. Now have decided on this, we can prepare in terms of location, props that will be needed, the types of camera shots along with general mise en scene. It means that we can begin filming very soon and begin edit any footage.

In lesson, we discussed the general, initial ideas in terms of location and discussed where would look professional whilst being realistic with the locations that we can get to. We discussed how we would get to these places and who would come to assist with the filming and performing. Miss has booked the room for Apple Macs in the next 2 weeks and so we know that we need to begin filming by then. Beth has also made a rough production schedule that we will try to stick to and this says that we will begin to film next week. We need to take into consideration our commitments to Sixth form and how early it goes dark based on our filming possibilities and so this we all be planned before hand.

This is the song that we have chosen.

Our artist research

Neyo is the artist of the song that we are using and we need to try to recreate his persona whilst challenging some of his typical conventions too. Obviously, we can't recreate his background such as his birthplace in America or record label but in terms of clothing and performance style, we will try to conform to. Neyo often wears hats during his videos and performance and so we will bear this is mind. Our artist is black skinned and so this matches the characteristics of Neyo whilst both are very confident and composed people.

Throughout his videos, Neyo changes his costume from smart to casual and so we have this choice of how Tavonga will dress. In some videos, he wears a suit and a hat whilst others he may wear a shirt and jeans with high top trainers and more of an informal baseball cap. Tavonga is capable of recreating both of these looks and so we will take on his decision too. In the video for 'So sick', he is dressed very casually due to the romantic narrative and so we will probably conform to this idea.


                                                       

Neyo often dances in his videos and particularly at his performances but I have noticed that in videos such as: So Sick and Mad that this is not always the case. To challenge some stereotypes, we will make the most of Tavonga's ability to dance and include this in our video whilst telling the narrative story of romance which we have begun to plan in our storyboard. It is important to model Tavonga on Neyo so that we don't challenge conventions too much that it is an unrecognisable video to the song that we have picked.

Group roles

To make our production much simpler, the group have assigned separate roles for us to take up. This will split the work and planning equally so that we can work on our areas to contribute and provide to the group for pre production.

Me: Camera shots and props

Eboni: Editing and costume

Beth: Location and lighting

As I have been the assigned the role of props, I will research what props are commonly used in RnB videos then decide if we want to challenge of conform to these conventions. I will also ask our performer Tavonga what props he will need to help us produce an effective music video. It will be my job to then order these so that they can be used in the piece.
In terms of camera shots, I will again look at existing texts of RnB videos to see what types of shots are used and how we will conform and challenge these conventions. During filming I will monitor the shots that we have an see if they look effective through the camera and judge how good they will look when editing on the screen of the Apple Mac.

These roles will share out the work to make our jobs more easier and more organised so that we know what we can work on. Once we bring these roles together we will be very prepared and have lots of research and planning to put towards our piece.