Evaluation Part 1

What Brief Were You working To?

The brief I was working towards, was to create a music video, a Digipak and a magazine advert, each of these media products were to promote our chosen artist. For this task I worked as an individual as opposed to working with a partner or group.

Brief For Media Coursework

 I was also told by my teachers that my music video either had to be completely copyright free, otherwise I would have to obtain first hand permission from the owner of the copyright song or at least have evidence that I attempted to gain this information. My song 'San Andreas Mentality' owned by the artist himself Bugzy malone was copyright, therefore I had to ask for permission to use the song in my music video. I did this by emailing Bugzy Malone directly and asking him whether I could use the song. To make things easier I attempted to find royalty free songs that I could work with however constantly trying to do this, I had no creative connection and therefore found myself choosing a copyright song from an Artist I am more familiar with.

The other part of this brief was to create two ancillary products which both were to exist to promote my artist and music video. This would include both Digipak and Magazine Advert for the ancillary products. I had to ensure that both of these media products included synergy; meaning that all products some how tie in together on each platform and show exact similarities. I was able to do this through Mise-en-Scene, typography, layout and colour pallets. It was very important that I included synergy as all three of the media products I created  had to have a strong link to make it clear who my target audience was and for the audience to identify the artist instantly. I did this successfully, as in pre production I researched many existing media products that used synergy and showed similarities to identify their target audience. An example of this is seen below;

                                                             
                                                 (Example of synergy across two media products.)

Who Was The Artist? How Did You Find Them? How Did You Seek Permission?

My artist was Bugzy Malone, a British grime MC from Manchester, England. He has been described as a key artist instigating the 'Grime Revival' moving the UK urban scene away from more commercially orientated music. I found Bugzy Malone years ago on YouTube, as this is typically the genre of music I would originally listen too and Bugzy Malone is an Artist I am very fond of and enjoy listening to his content. The song I used from this artist was 'San Andreas Mentality' one of his least well known songs, however shows the more personal introverted side of the artist. I aimed to use this song in particular as I had lots of ideas in terms of camera shots, mise en scene and more conventional features. In terms of permission, I personally emailed the artist directly, asking whether I could use the song for my A Level Media Coursework and that I would not use it for revenue purposes. Evidence of this is seen below:

Explain The Music Genre And What Attracted You To The Artist?

My song is a Grime and UK Rap genre song. I wanted to create a gritty but yet emotional music video and this song worked perfectly, as it explored the more emotional and introverted side of the artist, as oppose to typical rap, which conventionally discusses drugs, money and women. I felt that this type of song would make it easier to create a Narrative, as it would be of slow pace and would allow time to show the story as well as the performance.  I instantly knew what kind of music video I would create when listening to the song and deciding that this was the song I was going to use. I regularly listen to this genre of music, as it is the kind of music I have grown up with from the influence of my older brother. I find myself leaning on the side of conscious rap as oppose to typical gangster type rap, this is because I find more meaning in these songs and also they explore real life issues that hold meaning not just meaningless gibberish. I like the idea of looking back into somebody's past and seeing how they have progressed into the individual that they are now and this was the case for the Artist Bugzy Malone, as I felt that this progression is to be admired and shown through a music video. Including the Flashback Narrative device, allows me to explore more into narrative devices and become better at Media Studies as a subject. I was inspired by music videos such as Eminem Not Afraid, where the artist describes his journey as human and the hardships that he has faced, that evolved him into the person he is now.