Risk Assessment: Task 24

A Copy of the risk assessment reviewed by A-Cross Media.

Costumes and Props Collected: Task 23

With special aid from our fellow co-workers, actors and our team, we have gathered all the costumes and props needed for our music video. We will use different sets of indoor and outdoor wear and we will use very little extra props as we rely on the power of the setting and scenery.

Props collected:

• Skipping rope
• Basic Gym Equipment
• A Phone
• Chairs

I will add a view costume pictures as well.

Ready, Set, Casting!: Task 22

A-Cross Media has finished it's casting program and has decided to introduce the following actors for our music video production to you:

Victor "Ekoko" Mukete

as

50 Cent

We thought that Ekoko was the perfect guy to act as 50 Cent in our music video as he has the persona and similar characteristics. He also brings a lot of valuable own knowledge about Storyboards and films to the crew as he already has experiences with the media. His rapping and acting skills are formidable making him a very good choice for our music video.

Oluseyi Petinrin

as

The Game

We chose Oluseyi as he shows a unique way of integrity and understanding and possesses the skill to precisely copy Game's performance. He is comfortable and easy to work with and he has a vast amount of knowledge about this topic.

Nikita Konyaev

as

The Boxer

Nikita was the first person in our mind that could portray the boxer. His determination for his sport (that is grappling) and his will to never give up is excellent for this role as he possesses almost the same characteristics as the lead. As he spends most of his day training in the gym we will find no problems filming him during these sessions.

Location Shots: Task 21

The following pictures show the locations we will most likely use to shoot our music video:

This location will be used as part of the introduction of the main character. This should establish the sort of community he is in at the moment.

We will shoot part of the jogging scenes at this site. We have chosen it because of it being close to the first location and therefore it aids our chronological approach.

This is a possible location for another  alternative jogging scene. This might aid the sunrise scene we were planning to implement into our music video.

We will use the sports hall both inside and outside. Our sunrise scene will be shot here and many of our workout clips will be shot inside the gym and the old sports hall, as the old sports hall add to the effect of the boxer increasing his strength throughout the music video.

This is the perfect location for sunrise as just in the middle of the rugby pitch it starts at 8:30 (Scottish winter). It will be part of a reverse effect in the film.

Another alternative jogging site.

A different view of the sports centre. Unfortunately we weren't able to gain any pictures of the gym and it will stay as a surprise until a draft will appear.

We will have several shots of the boxer running in order to show the audience the repeated times he has to train and jog in order to become stronger.

Shooting Script: Task 20

Here is the shooting script we are going to use when shooting our final draft.

Animated Storyboard: Task 18, 19 with a Remake of Task 14

Attached you find a video of our animated storyboard. It includes B&W effect, slow motion, eye line match, fade to white and bokah(of couse in the final version.) Enjoy! Editing: Max Proksch and Lukas Kreimeier. Photography: Nikita Konyaev.

Story Arc: Task 17

This is a brief synopsis of our storyline:

At first we see a person working out and taking a break. the music starts to kick in and the scene changes to the rapper who starts off the song...
Our Music Video shows the struggle of an upcoming boxer (our underdog) who works hard in order to achieve success in boxing. The training scenes will be in black and white, a way to intensify the scene, while the rapper will most likely be shown in colour. This will create a sort of past to present effect. The song and the clip will come to a conclusion at the end.
Max Proksch

The Extra: Stop Motion!

This video is made with stop motion and our top actors: Anna and Paul! The music is an extract "Hustler" by Simian Mobile Disco, all rights belong to the artist.

Key Elements: Task 16

A-Cross Media decided to include following key elements that conform to our genre, our audience and what is expected from our video:

- Beat matching the video to the song.

- Visual effects such as Strobe, etc.

- XXL costumes: baggy pants, bling-bling (watches, necklaces), basketball shoes, caps

- Show luxury (clothes, cars, houses)

- Videos mostly take place in big cities or their so called “Ghettos”, we will try to add scenes that create a urban view.

- Storyline - Boxer trying to achieve his aim of getting better through training. This was chosen as a parallel to the meaning of the song.

- Many Close-up shots of rappers in order to gain a Hip-Hop video feal.

Very Xtranormal Outline & Script: Task 15

This Clip made with tools allocated on this Xtranormal website should be a ruff outline of our script. The options were very limited: Only 2 actors instead of 3/4 (excluding extras) and no options on a storyline made this task particularly hard and painful. I though have to admit that the services I picked were without costs and probably if I had paid 10 pounds I would have more choices.

Hate It Or Love It, Voice Over and Lyric bits: Task 14

Although we still do not have permission from Aftermath records, we are keeping up the work:
(Orange indicates lyrics sung by rappers, Blue indicates voice over and Green indicates that Rappers & the main actor shall be present)

[50 Cent]
Ya, let's take em back 
Uh huh

Comin up I was confused my momma kissin a girl 
Confusion occurs comin up in the cold world
Daddy ain't around probably out commitin fel*****
My favorite rapper used to sing ch-check out my melody
I wanna live good, so sh** I sell dope for a fo-finger ring 
one of them gold ropes
nana' told me if I pass could get a sheep skin coat
If I can move a few packs and get the hat, now that'd be dope 
Tossed and turned in my sleep that night
Woke up the next morning niggas done stolen my bike 
Different day same sh**, ain't nothing good in the hood
I'd run away from this bit** and never come back if I could

[Chorus (50 then Game):]
Hate it or love it the underdog's on top
And I'm gone shine homie until my heart stop

Go head' envy me
I'm raps MVP
And I ain't goin nowhere so you can get to know me

Hate it or love it the underdog's on top
And I'm gone shine homie until my heart stop

Go head' envy me
I'm raps MVP
And I ain't goin nowhere so you can get to know me

[Chorus - 50 Cent]

From the beginnin to the end
Losers lose, winners win
This is real we ain't got to pretend
The cold world that we in
Is full of pressure and pain
Enough of me nigga now listen to Game

[Game]
Used to see 5-0 throw the crack by the bench
Now i'm f***** with ~5-0~ it's all startin to make ~sense~
My moms happy she ain't gotta pay the rent
And she got a red bow on that brand new Benz 
Waitin on Sha Money to land sittin in the Range
Thinkin how they spend 30 million dollars on airplanes
When there's kids starvin
Pac is gone and Brendas still throwin babies in the garbage
I wanna know what's goin on like i hear Marvin
No school books they use that wood to build coffins
Whenever I'm in the booth and i get exhausted
I think what if Marie Banker got that abortion
I love ya Ma'

[Chorus]

[Chorus]

This Picture is a more detailed outline of the first part of the song. Descriptions in black handwriting, Rapper 1 is distinguished with Orange highlighter, Rapper 2 with Pink highlighter, and Boxer (Lead, maybe 2 boxers) with Green highlighter

**/***...= Curses that won't appear in the clean version

Possible Institutions: Task 13

For Possible Institutions that might produce, distribute and exhibit our music video we immediately came up with Aftermath Entertainment and also with Def Jam Records.

 Aftermath Entertainment has been founded by Dr.Dre in 1996 and distributes through the Universal Music Group with their label Interscope Records. Aftermath Entertainment seems reasonable as they own the rights of the song "Hate It Or Love It" which we will hopefully film. Also some of the strongest hip hop artist in the genre such as 50 Cent, Dr.Dre himself, etc. are under contract with Aftermath Entertainment.

The other possible option: Def Jam Records. Def Jam Records was founded in 1984 by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons and has seemingly more of a history than Aftermath Entertainment. Although it doesn't have the rights of the song, It had legends such as Run DMC, Public Enemy and LL Cool J under contract. It also may offer more variety than Aftermath Entertainment, as artists from the R&B genre (Rihanna) stand aside with rappers such as Rick Ross, Ludacris and Kanye West.

Secondary Research: Task 12

On the Channel 4 website following statements were made:

• To give fans the celeb exclusives and juicy gossip
• We are the UK's number 1 music channel, beating MTV1 Total and Viva* with a 20.9% average monthly reach (10.1m) for individuals *
• It reaches 19.1% of ABC1 adults a month with a ABC1 profile of 32%*
• Our audience is female-lead and centred on 16-24s 
• There's massive cross promotion to entice even more viewers
  * Infosys/BARB MCH

A-Cross Media would also particularly aim for the same year group, but more a male market, because of the genre of our music video. We will also aim to reach as many viewers as possible through massive cross promotion, and use stars/celebrities to keep the audience on their toes.

The Perfect Audience Member: Task 11

As a media company we see everyone as part of our market, but the people who we target specially are Blingers/Street Rats, Townies and Chavs (Terms extracted from UK Tribes). The given definitons of these are:

You are a Street Rat! You’re always out and about, ducking and diving, trying to make a few quid. To do that, there’s a lot of hanging about on park benches, drinking a can of Tesco’s own lager and smoking your last fag – while getting in the face of any innocent bystander that happens to go by. The back of the bus is another hang out – the perfect place to listen to three year old drum’n’bass tunes on your mobile.

You are a Townie! Your job might be a bit boring but it brings home the bacon and helps you save up for those two weeks away to Spain. Your weekends are set in stone – trip to the shops in town, buy yourself something nice, head to the All Bar One with friends, have a laff, maybe go for a club, as long as there’s none of the indie weirdo music. Keep it straight, you say.

You are a Chav! No one likes you but you don’t care. Why would you when you have a high street to hang about on? Grab a bunch of your mates and put in some mooching time, with a bucket of KFC for company. With your matching uniform of trackie pants, Reebok Classics, and gold jewellery, chav isn’t something you grow out of: this is your tribe forever.

I think that most people who fit in these genres might like Hip-Hop/Rap as the lyrics and the music videos express emotions about the current state of the world and what is happening to them. Also they show the struggles of every day life.
The Blingers are people who are more well off and thereby use their money to promote themselves through nice cars and good lifestyle. We want to attract them as well to our music video and we think their will be a lot of links to each of those 4 genres.

"Ears On!" Audience Research: Task 10

For Audience Research we intended to use focus groups of people and interviewed them seperately.

Here is a short clip of the MP3-Files of the Interviews, starring various students and teachers of Gordonstoun. Interviewers: Max & Nikita. Editing: Max (on Edius).

Goodwin's Wonderful Prezi: Task 9

Check out this Prezi about Goodwin's Theory about music videos! It's worth a look and its all set in the context of Hip-Hop/Rap.

Can't find the link?
Here it is:
http://prezi.com/bprhdnm4s4v-/goodwins-theory-a-cross-media/

Mood Board: Task 8

Here is the mood board of our music video.

"Mama Said Knock You Out", LL Cool J : 9 Key Screen Shots Task 7

I have chosen this music video because of its importance to the future project of A-Cross Media. There are a lot of good ideas we could use for our video. Here are the main ideas we could use from each picture (From Left to Right, Top to Bottom):

Picture 1:  LL Cool J stands in the ring at the start of the video, the microphone hardly visible. I really enjoy the black & white effects of this video, although it is an old clip. We are thinking about using this effect for early on scenes and than maybe adding some colours as the music video progresses.

Picture 2: A close up on the singers head is shown. Another good idea would be using the rapper in our music video as an announcer in a fight.

Picture 3, 4,5 and 6: Several mid shots and close ups are displayed of the artist working out. We definantely want to get some shots of the main character(s) working hard to become a good boxer.

Picture 7: A long shot of the ring. It might be almost impossible to get a ring, but we will try hard to get at least an old fashioned micro.

Picture 8: A close up of a person taking a hit to the face. There will be a boxing fight.

Picture 9: I have chosen picture 9 because of its great meaning. It shows that a dream isn't reality and that everything sounds easy, but the way to the top is long and rocky.

Inspirational: The Art Of Boxing!

This video is a very good inspirational source for the music video we are going to make. It shows how hard boxing is and how much effort is needed to become a good boxer. This video even offers a surprise (for some people) at the end, so go check it out!

Introducing: The Logo

I have chosen this logo out of three others, because doesn't include any too strong religious bonds, but rather a crossing, maybe adds a connecting feature. This artwork has been done with the programme Paint.

Coach Rick The Art of Technical Boxing Mittwork Unique Mayweather Boxing Focus Padwork Training: Analysis Task 6 Part 2

Not only the title, but also the video is a very long take. We see a coach and a boxer fighting in a boxing studio with several equipement lying around in a long shot. He (coach) is training her (boxer) with various padwork techniques. About halfway the scene dissolves just to see the same shot again, probably hiding any errors made. We here her punches in the padwork and a bit of surrounding foley studio sounds (phones, etc.). At 2 minutes past we see another dissolve going on this time showing another area of the studio with a completely different boxer. The coach isn't wearing a black t-shirt anymore but now a yellow t-shirt and a Do-rag. The boxer isn't female anymore, but a black male in a gray tank top and boxing trousers. they start over with the same type of technique. In the background Hip-Hop/Rap (No, not "Hate It Or Love It") music is heard. Another dissolve appears and it shows them at a later time in the same part of the room as the female boxer was in with the coach. The music has changed to something more relaxed and eased. At the end they stop training and the video suddenly stops. The reason why I have chosen this video is not because I am lazy and I didn't want to write as much about a video than last time, but because I wanted to point out the uniqueness of the training that A-Cross Media wants to show in the music video. We also want to display how hard it is to keep up with the strong competition.

I Still Got a Soul (Boxing After Dark): Analysis Task 6 Part 1

The video starts of by fading in a close-up of a black man with a beard wearing a wooly hat. His head rests on a piece of newspaper. The horn of a train wakes up the person. The scene quickly jumps (jump cut?) to a close up of what the man is holding: a golden money jar. Another quick jump cut switches to the train just passing by under a bridge. We see the same man lying in the middle of the extreme long shot on a (old) matress. The grafitti and the dangling moss of the bridge make the area seem very dark and derelict. He looks down. A eyeline match transitions the shot to a close up of rubble and a red sock next to a couple of white socks. We also hear the beginning of a melody. The shot jumps back to the overall extreme long shot. The man stands up clutching the money jar to his body. He walks off until suddenly the scene changes to a close up of his upper body, showing the tight grip on his money jar, and him sitting in an underground train. We can hear underground-train sounds in the background. a jump cut again changes the scene to a close up of him looking up. He has a golden chain with a cross on and this shot also allows more attention to his dirty clothes. It seems that this man is in a poor condition. A short back and forth between two shots views that the middle class people stay away from him, as a long shot is displayed with him sitting in a seating row all by himself, watching the other people. The next shot shows a close up of him again looking around in a grocery store. a match on action occurs as he grabs a small, silver package (close up). He does this in a very fast motion, making it seem like he steals it. Another shot (jump cut, again) shows him unraveling the package in a close up, revealing the inside: a piece of soap. he washes himself in a bathroom, possibly a public toilet, as he uses the sink to wash his back and his shirt. A scene views him in a mid shot entering a house. He walks through a short alley, which at the end reveals another black man in a boxing ring. The music changes to an inspirational melody. On the boxing field he empties his money jar (close up). The person, who is probably in charge of the boxing club, passes him boxing trousers and starts giving him training. A montage appears of him training with his new coach, sleeping outside, going for work, donating blood, fighting, earning money and giving it to the coach. A short close up take of him selling his crosses and chains is also shown in the montage. At the end we see a jump cut of him praying in the altar in a long shot. this changes into various outside, thoughtful shots at night. He is also shown in a boxing cape in a mid shot going towards his fight. It ends with him in the boxing ring looking at the camera, ready for the fight.

Permission: Task 5

What you see above is part of an e-mail asking Aftermath Entertainment for permission to use the song "Hate It Or Love It" for educational use in our A-levels. We didn't get an answer back yet and we hope it'll change in the next couple of days.

Hate It Or Love It: Task 4

The Track that A-Cross Media has chosen is "Hate It Or Love It" by The Game and 50 Cent. The Genre would be Hip-Hop/Rap. In most ways this genre is very stereotypical. Often things such as do-rags, caps, tank-tops, muscles, low rider cars, hoodies, gangsters, a "hood" and gangs appear. We will try to fit these things into a Gordonstoun surrounding and mix and match a bit.