Lyrics/ Analysis of Fortune- Go on Girl

[V1:]
I can't get it back, but
I don't want it back, I
Realized that,
She don't know how to act
Never been a dumb dude
No I'm not dense
I Just had a slight lack
Of common sense
I was the good guy
She was the bad girl
I'm thinking one girl
She thinking me, earl James and jimmy
Yep she had plenty
But love for me, she didn't have any
I was inviting, her into my heart
But she was out riding in some other man's car
She was my night time, thought I was her star
Guess I was wrong, but see I'm strong
Wont take long for me to move on

[Hook:]
Please don't worry bout me I'm fine
(Please don't worry bout me I'm fine)
Only gonna play the fool one time
(Only gonna play the fool one time)
Trust me when I say
That I'll be ok

Go on girl
(Go on girl)
Go on girl
(Go on girl)
Go on girl

[V2:]
I can't get it back, but
I don't want it back, I
Realized that,
She don't know how to act
Tried to settle down and look what I get
Thought it was my time, but I guess not yet
She at the bar getting drinks from many men
I'm in the house, thinking she’s with her girlfriends
Just not knowing, truly not knowing
I look back now like, man, I was open

I was inviting, her into my heart
But she was out riding in some other man's car
She was my night time, thought I was her star
Guess I was wrong, but see I'm strong
Wont take long for me to move on

[Hook]

[Bridge]
The mistake I made is clear
(we never should've been together)
That’s the reason you're not here
(I know that I can do much better)
Not a single salty tear
Not a feeling in my chest
Baby I'm feeling no stress
I'm too fly to be depressed

Go on Girl
Go on Girl
Go on Girl
Go on Girl
[Hook]

Analysing the Lyrics: Fortune- Go on Girl

Section 1- Target Audience

 Age: 15-25 year olds

Gender: Mostly  Females ( A Minority) Males

Interests: Hip Hop/ Rap Music, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Socialising, Media Studies, Makeup, Sports...

Location: London

Ethnicity: British, Mixed Race.

Section 2- Analysing the Lyrics

As you can see, this song is about  a guy who seems to be writing about a relationship that ends up falling apart due to her cheating on him with another guy. This is obvious when he states "I was inviting, her into my heart, But she was out riding in some other mans car". He has written the lyrics in first person, almost as if he is writing this from his own personal experiences.

Section 3- Analysing the Music

The instruments used in the song seem to be a guitar, a piano and a soft drum beat. The sound within the song is very gentle and relaxing and the combination of these instruments make the song sound soothing to the ears. Between the Bridge and Chorus there is a break in the music where all you can hear is the instrumental which breaks up the lyrics.

Section 4- Analysing the Tempo

The tempo of the song shifts from slow to moderate. This is very important to the song as it helps tell the story of the song as well as present the emotion that's within the song. If the song was to have a faster tempo it would ruin the lyrics of the song as it would not be synchronous and disturb the image and audio with the lyrics.

Section 5- How I would use this song in my music video

I chose the song/lyrics based on the idea of music video I had in my head. Ideally, a popular Hip-Hop theme is relationships so seeing as I wanted to do this genre, I had to choose a song with lyrics that typically fit the conventions of this genre. After being inspired by the Rihanna- Unfaithful and Beyoncé- Broken Hearted Girl video, I have decided I would like to have the artist standing in front of a green screen doing a live performance/ lip syncing to the song as I will have the artist in the video as the guy in the relationship. I would like to do this because I can place him in any background I wish, preferably a white background as white symbolises cleanliness and purity, also can symbolise innocence and vulnerability which is just one of the ways he many be feeling at this point as his heart has been broken. And I also want to include scenes of him and her together, in black and white because the song has a very gentle melody to it, I want the video to be fairly interpretive like its telling the story of their relationship. I would like to have a pretty dull colour scheme, colours like black, white, greys would be ideal as they can help set the emotional mood and match the lyrics. I would like to shoot the couple together in London as it is a romantic place for couples to hang out, the camera can be following them spending time together for example walking along the embankment, walking past the London Eye and Big Ben as these are the Landmarks within London and anyone watching this can see why this location has been deliberately chosen.

Finding an Artist/ Permission Letter

The artist I have chosen to use is 'Fortune' who I found from the website Unsigned.com and the song I chose is 'Go on Girl'. Here is a link to his page on which you can find his details and information.

 http://www.unsigned.com/fortune

Here is the email I sent to the artist asking for permission to use his song, and his reply is still pending. Hopefully within the next few days he will be able to return my email.

Blog Reflection 3

During this week, the key concepts we analysed, were representation and genre. We looked at the different theories in relation to these concepts and learnt about how music videos generate certain messages and exactly what the denotations represent to the audience. Some of the theories include 'The Male Gaze', which I have shown an example of in the image above, 'Repetition and Difference' Theory, 'Bordwall's Theory'. Of all of these theories the ones I will use in particular would be the Male Gaze as the artist of my song is male and so the woman in the video will be there to make the singer look good almost as a show piece trophy girlfriend, also engaging both men and women equally, as women are often made to see other women through the male perspective as stated in the theory. Bordwall's Theory will be very relevant to my final idea, as having any theme in any genre video can help me create a unique video, without having copied any existing video styles of music videos. I can also adapt my idea, simplifying the video, by using these themes as a guideline rather than sticking to a specific theme throughout my music video.
This week, I also had to analyse music videos and state why they appeal to me. As I am in the early days of research, I chose to analyse individual videos to each other to keep my options open and show that I have quite a broad imagination when creating my music video. 

Beachcombing

Kanye West- Good Life

This has to be one of my most favourite videos ever because the way it has been edited. The animated theme for this Hip/Hop/ Rap is very unique. I have never seen a video made like this, considering animation has become a lot more popular now. The costumes have been kept true to the genre of music for example the big flashy watches and big leathery jackets. Also, there are parts where they are looking directly at the camera, towards the audience, as is done in these kind of music videos. There are a good range of camera shots within the video, the long shots are very effective as they show different animated backgrounds forming behind him and the close ups show his facial expressions in a very detailed way when he is singing to the audience. I find the animation in this music video very effective and eye catching to watch. The bold colours make the images and animations stand out on the screen against him dressed in all black. I will try and incorporate this in my music video in some form or another as I find this video very inspiring.

Justin Bieber- Beauty and a Beat

This is a perfect example of a house party style fun video, which I have always thought would be fun to shoot. In this video, I particularly like the use of camera movement and shot types as it shows Justin holding the camera and films him, filming himself. The frame within a frame is a very effective technique as it makes the image look different and more interesting. The background dancers in the music video make it more entertaining for the audience and yet again are mainly female, making Justin Bieber look good and seem to be desired.

N Dubz- Ouch

The reason I chose this video is because it matches the narrative of the song and fits the interpretation theme where the video acts like an image of the words, almost telling a story. The short shots edited together add mystery to the music video as the audience do not know what they will be seeing but the lyrics give them an idea. N Dubz are a band who have been born and raised in Camden Town in North London estate flats and are seen as the "hoodrat" type.Their career in music has only just started to take off and this is well shown through their costumes as they haven't yet transformed their image and the costumes have been kept true to their image. For example in the video, the girl is shown wearing a tracksuit and these are identified as "chavy" clothes which is what the girl in the video is wearing. Also, there seems to be violence in the video which again makes it realistic in terms of matching the lyrics of the song as well as their image. Seeing as the song I have picked is about descending relationships, unfaithfulness and cheating, I thought it was a good song to relate my thoughts to and I would like to keep the idea of a story within the song an option for my own music video.

Blog Genre Theory

Neale's Theory of Genre shows a system of orientations, expectations and conventions which circulate between industry, text and subject. In relation to this, we watched Biggie Smalls video 'Sky's the Limit'. This is a perfect example of a text that meets the audience's expectation of the Genre. The Genre of this song is Rap/Hip Ho which is typically represented in the music video through the mise-en-scene and other typical conventions such as the big expensive mansion they have filmed majority of the video in and the flashy cars. Also the use of a panning camera movement and establishing shots of the location emphasise these features. Showing off wealth is a main convention of a Hip-Hop song as it makes them look like powerful dominant figures, like role models to those who wish to be like them. In this video, just like every other music video, there is a live performance by the singers where they are looking and singing directly at the camera engaging the audience.

The Blink 182's 'All the Small Things' music video is a good example of a rock genre video where the 'Repetition and Difference' applies. The typical conventions in this video would be the live performance by the band with the guitars on stage, performing to an audience. However, the comical parody makes this subvert the typical video, thus making it both entertaining for the audience and different. In addition to this, the exaggerated and dramatic use of mise-en-scene makes the ridiculous costumes and the beach/sunset locations humorous and original, because rock bands would not be seen to perform or present themselves in this way.

Bordwall's Theory of 'Any Genre can appear in any music video' will be beneficial towards me when making my own music video, because I will not have access to millions of pounds to be investing in this music video, unlike professional Hip-Hop/ RnB videos. I will not be able to have a typical fancy house, cars and big performing artists. Being able to mix up the music videos and Genre will also enable creativity, so I can make the video however I wish, without my work being copied from any other video.

Representation Theories

Blog Reflection 2

This week we have returned to the A2 year where we have seen the result of the Thriftshop video remake we had completed. By watching this remake, I have learnt in more detail of all the different themes and styles as well as what they mean and how they can be portrayed. For example, I knew what the theme parody was about but didn't know how this could have been portrayed in  the song we were given. 

The mash up video is a good example for me to evaluate each of the styles. The theme I was allocated was animation and I really struggled with this because to produce a good animation, as you can see in the image I created above, it is very time consuming, and I didn't have very much time. It taught me exactly how successful and unsuccessful certain styles are and the likelihood of us being able to create the effects we want with the themes.