A2 Music Videos

'Duke Ellington' or formally known as Edward Kennedy, was born in April 29 in 1899. His career began to bloom when he was 23 as he became a pianist then later becoming a composer then finally a band manager of a jazz orchestra. He was born in Washington DC however was raised in New York but gained his fame when he started performing in Harlem with his fellow band members, from that point his career sky-rocketed. Some of his records sculpted the jazz music we hear today hence why i consider him such an important aspect of this genre of music, these tracks include 'Mood Indigo' (1933), 'Sophisticated Lady' (1933) and 'Solitude' (1935). During the great depression in America, his record label let 90% of their artists go however he remained due to his raw talent. 

Louis Daniel Armstrong was born in 1901 on August 4th in New Orleans, one of the birth places of jazz music. He started his career as a trumpeter, singer and composer and occasionally got involved in acting. His career spanned five decades from 1920s to the 1970s and he eventually made it into the Rythmn and Blues Hall of Fame in 2017. He was very popular during his prime and was often referred to as 'Satchmo' or 'Satch'. In 1964 he won a Grammy award for best male vocal performance for his song 'Hello, Dolly'. Overall he was a huge icon in the jazz culture and i feel he helped me massively as he was an inspiration towards my project.

Jazz  first emerged in the black cultures of New Orleans from the mixed influences of ragtime (songs with a syncopated rhythm), blues, and the band music played at New Orleans funerals. The term jazz derives from a Creole word that means both African dance and copulation. Some will say that Jazz was born in 1895, when  Buddy Bolden  started his first band. Others will say 1917, when  Nick LaRocca  and his Original Dixieland Jazz Band recorded the first Jazz record, " Livery Stable Blues ." The most influential jazz artists of all time, according to the BBC, are Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong or Duke Ellington. The most successful Jazz orientated record labels are Early Bird Records and East Wind Music.  Jazz music is referred to as the most hybrid form of music and there are over 40 sub-genres. 

As my choice choice was a mix of the jazz/ soul genre i felt it was necessary to keep my digipak design in theme. When researching other jazz artists didgpaks the common theme was using darker colours as the background and using brighter colours more subtly. Due to the modern twist in my music video i decided to give my digipak a more vibrant appearance however not making it over the top, small yellow details and yellow font was all it took to separate my digipak from being dull from being eye catching and unique. I also followed the theme of having the artists in the centre, as the main focus. I used an editing software called Wondershare to adjust the colouration of the main image in addition to obtaining additional font which is not found on Microsoft Word aswell as distorting the image. Lastly, Wondershare helped me lay one image of a flower on top of another whilst changing the saturation of one to create a more sophisticated look. I also included a rose as it symbolises love howe...

Marvin Gaye was an American jazz/ soul artists who helped to shape the sound of motown in the 1960s. During the 1970s he recorded the albums 'Whats Going On' and 'Lets Get It On' and became the first jazz artists in motown, as well as Stevie Wonder to break away from a production company. He was a solo artist however he had hits with Diana Ross, Mary Wells, Tami Terrell and Kim Weston.  His most successful song was undoubtably 'Sexual Healing' on his 'Midnight Love' album released in 1982. Another great piece of work created by Marvin Gaye was 'Inner City Blues', I especially like this due to the black and white theme. Researching fellow jazz artists will be beneficial as I'm starting to become more familiar with the genre and as my knowledge of jazz and soul music increases so will the quality of the ideas i have for my music video.

When deciding what music video to create we got stuck on deciding a genre, at the start of the year i wanted to make a video to a rap/ R&B song however i then learned these types of music video soften have very high budgets and as a result would be hard to recreate using minimal funds. Looking deeper into genre choices we realised many other groups are going with genres such as pop and indie so we felt like it was a good opportunity to be different and ambitious and go for a totally different genre, jazz.  

When researching jazz themed albums it was clear to see the recurring theme of dark colours, only occasionally were bright, vibrant colours used. I believe this is due to the style of music as you would associate brighter colours with pop or rap music as it is more fast paced and lively. When creating a digipak i will stick to the theme of simplistic and restrained colour scheme as it fits with my song choice as it is slow paced and soul-ful opposed to more modern music.

In Marvin Gaye's video for 'Sexual Healing' we see a performer on stage singing the song, fortunately we have the resources to re-create this scene at Enfield Grammar School however we will add our own twist as Serine will be acting in this scene. This will work better than using a male character like in the Marvin Gaye's video as my groups song choice is sung by a female singer.    In this scene there are continuous slow paced shots, i feel this works well as the song is slow paced so constantly changing between shots types will not flow with the song. I feel we can effectively adjust this to make it our own. However we may alter the lighting and make it more high-key rather than the low key lighting in the shot above as it will show the significance of the character as she will stand out more.

For the establishing shots we looked for other soul/ jazz artists for inspiration. One musician that caught my attention was Marvin Gaye. The video for 'Sexual Healing' is an old fashioned and classical, i hope to achieve something similar as it will make my production look professional when comparing it to similar pieces of work.   In the opening shots we see two models as the main focus showing females play an important role in soul music videos, as a result we will get Serine to wear make up and use her in the establishing shots.

After looking at a variety of songs in the jazz/ soul genre, we have all agreed this is the final song. Straight forward lyrics give us an opportunity to create a possible performance or narrative music video. The song is 3:44 and we are planning to create a full video from start to finish. We are currently developing ideas deciding whether to chose a narrative or performance approach. I put a spell on you Because you're mine You better stop the things you do I tell ya I ain't lyin' I ain't lyin' You know I can't stand it You're runnin' around You know better daddy I can't stand it 'cause you put me down Oh no I put a spell on you Because you're mine You know I love you I love you I love you I love you anyhow And I don't care if you don't want me I'm yours right now I put a spell on you Because you're mine You know I can't stand it Your running around You know baby daddy I can't sta...

Comments The lyrics for this song are very straightforward and therefore we feel we can create a good narrative music video with some creative elements. We will continue developing ideas for this song unless we think of something better however we feel this genre will work for us and we will most probably stick with it. "I'd Rather Go Blind" Something told me it was over When I saw you and her talking Something deep down in my soul said, 'Cry, girl.' When I saw you and that girl walkin' out Whoo, I would rather, I would rather go blind, boy, Than to see you walk away from me, child, no Whoo, so you see, I love you so much That I don't wanna watch you leave me, baby Most of all, I just don't, I just don't wanna be free, no Whoo, whoo, I was just, I was just, I was just Sitting here thinkin' of your kiss and your warm embrace, yeah When the reflection in the glass that I held to my lips now, baby, Revealed the tears that was on my face,...

After a period of time discussing several ideas regarding music genre we have finally agreed that we will use a Jazz song for our project. We feel this idea is unique as no one else is doing a jazz video however we feel we can create something brilliant and achieve a high grade if we stay focussed. To find the song we want to use we have been researching jazz artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis and Frank Sinatra.

As a group we have decided to use the song 'I put a spell on you' - Annie Lennox. I put a spell on you Because you're mine You better stop the things you do I tell ya I ain't lyin' I ain't lyin' You know I can't stand it You're runnin' around You know better daddy I can't stand it 'cause you put me down Oh no I put a spell on you Because you're mine You know I love you I love you I love you I love you anyhow And I don't care if you don't want me I'm yours right now I put a spell on you Because you're mine You know I can't stand it Your running around You know baby daddy I can't stand it 'Cause you put me down Ooo I put a spell on you Because you're mine Because you're mine Oh yeah

Migos, the trio from Atlanta come together to create the performance based music video for their song 'What the price'. In the Video we see actors playing a variety instruments ranging from guitars to hand held keyboards and signing into a microphone. The lyrics which promote their wealthy and lavish lifestyle match the video as large amounts of money are being shown like its nothing to them, this would support Andrew Goodwin's theory as the lyrics. Gotye created an abstract video for his song 'Somebody I Used To Know'. I don't really feel an abstract video like this can fit into Andrew Goodwin's theory as i don't think abstract visuals can match relate to a song as the lyrics can't really be 'abstract'. We see a lot of close up shots of his face in addition with vivid colours painted all over him and the background.