S.O. "So It Begins" Video analysis

"So it begins" fits into the same rap genre as "Goodnight",  but it also fits into the Gospel genre. The reason we picked this video is the theme, which has influenced our plans and ideas on how to make our video. With the lights, the urban vibe and the range of shots used like MCU and ECU and especially long shots featuring not just the protagonist but the surroundings, these are the techniques we are trying to put into our plans and hopefully the video.

Shot list - 50 seconds to 1.55

1) Medium shot of Kwame on Market St. stood against a wall or lamp post.
2) Panning shot which first shows Kwame walking through Ancoats down the canal, then switches to Deansgate then to Alex Park or Salford Quays. This is a continuous shot.
3) Kwame in the studio at the mic. line 5
4) "Agreed we all have choices but mine limited mostly by my decisions" - find in graffiti
5) Kwame again in the studio. line 7
6) "I'd a lived life different"- looking over the bridge in Salford Quays. Medium long shot side on. 

7) "I'd be a different me" - same location turn to the other side close up on Kwame's face, very emotive.
8) "but I didn't so this is me!" - very emotive, Kwame pushes away from the bridge and shouts this out to the heavens.
9) "Me, in my position what would you have done? Would you of done what I did? Am I what you would of become?" - Camera tracks away from Kwame, he follows looking straight into the camera. Location either Deansgate or Alex Park.
10) " My guess, my guess" - The first part of this line will be spelt out using magnetic letters while the latter part will be a close up of Kwame lip syncing the words.
11) "...is you would of succumb like i did" - An over the shoulder close up shot of Kwame will be used here.
12) “The decision was mine” – In the studio

13) “but I was too young an' I picked the wrong path, I went the wrong way.” ???

14) “Left school then got the grade” – Camera moves round the back of Kwame as he says this, location dale st.

15) “banged it out, got my pape's.” – extreme close up of Kwame lip syncing this.

16) “Stacked my p's copped a cake” - Camera tracks away from Kwame, he follows looking straight into the camera. Location either Deansgate or Alex park.

17) “I'm holding weight now” – graffiti

18) “made a brick of a ounce an' aint been in the jail house.” Camera tracks away from Kwame, he follows looking straight into the camera. Location either Deansgate or Alex Park. Or, find pictures of a jail house, something a bit new.

19) “I intend on staying free” – Medium long shot of Kwame, his back to the side of an old factory in Ancoats, arms out stretched.

20) “free for me don't mean free from stress.” – Showing the back of Kwame looking out over the canal at dale street or Salford.

21) “Lay in bed but I aint asleep” – In studio

Shot list - first 50 seconds

Up until the vocals drop into the track Kwame will be stood, head down, hood up nodding along to the track.

1) Long shot of Kwame accross the canal in the old industrial part of Ancoats
2) Then a medium shot, side on.
3) Location then switches to near Dale Street, showing Kwame looking out over the canal.
4) Then showing Kwame stood on Market St. head down as people pass by.
5) Location switches to steps on Deansgate, medium shot of Kwame sat head bowed.
6) Switches to a side close up of Kwame's face on the steps.
7) Then switches to a medium long shot from behind.
8) Location then changes to a bench in Alex Park, medium shot of Kwame sat.
9) Location switches to in the studio at college showing a close up of Kwame (in monochrome) stood at the mic, sunglasses on.
10) Long shot of kwame sat head still bowed, on the side of the canal.
11) Location switch to the middle of the fields in Alexandra Park, Kwame arms out streched head up looking towards the heavens.
12) 0.37 the drums drop in and Kwame stands up from a bench in Alex Park and walks out of shot.
13) Location switches to Salford Quays bridge, medium shot of Kwame's back as he walks away from the camera.
14) Kwame comes back in shot walking across the bridge at Salford Quays hood up still, panning/tracking shot used as he walks past.

Professor Green: Biography

Professor Green was born Stephen Paul Manderson on the 27 November 1983. He was raised in Hackney London by his grandmother from the age of one due to a turbulent relationship he had with both parents. His father, Peter, committed suicide in 2008 in Brentwood, Essex. Manderson has stated previously he feels his father's death has made him a better person, saying: "I'd had a turbulent relationship with my dad. He was always in and out of my life and I was raised by my grandmother Patricia. Mum, who had me at 16, was there for the most part but my grandmother was the most influential. I last saw my dad alive on my 18th birthday. He came over to see me but after that we just stopped talking. There was no real reason. He hanged himself and I had to go and identify the body in the morgue."

Manderson grew up on a council estate which he claims has made him a better person. He said he "fell in to rapping accidentally" when he was at a party at a friend's house, where everyone was free-styling, he was put on the spot and he said it worked for him. He took this up as a hobby regularly going to freestyle rap battles at a night called 'LyricPad'. After a short but successful time as a free style MC, Manderson was spotted by Mike Skinner from 'The Streets' who quickly signed Manderson to his record label, 'The Beats'.

During his time at Skinner's label Manderson didn't produce any material and on the 12th February 2006 'The Beats' record label went under leaving Green filled with contempt. When asked now about his time on the label his words are never complimentary. In 2008 green won ₤50.000 from the jumpoff Myspace challenge. With this money Green went on to record 'The Green' EP. Shortly after this Manderson enjoyed a tour with Lilly Allen which enhanced his name greatly, allowing him to gain better name recognition. "Alive Till Im Dead" Manderson's debut album was released on 20th July 2010 peaking at #2 in the British album chart. His follow up album, "At Your Inconvenience" was released on 2nd October 2011.

CD Cover ideas

1
Front panel - close up of kwame's face/title of album
Back panel - back of head/looking into the view (significant)
Inside/CD(disc) - brain
Bar code, song list on CD and back of case.

2
Front side-Kwame (green screen)/title of album
Backside of case - significant urban location/buildings
Inside/CD - photo shopped image with list of songs
Inside right - picture of urban location with kwame

3
Front side - low angle shot of kwame (casual clothes)
Backside of case-night sky/moon. dark lighting
Inside Right - close up of half of kwame's face
Inside Left - Green screen image, kwame.

Kanye West Touch The Sky ft. Lupe Fiasco Video Analysis

Again this song falls into the hip-hop/rap genre, similar to our song 'Goodnight'. However, this analysis differs from our other analysis of Devlins, 'London City', because this song has been produced by an American artist who has international aclaim. Consequently, the budget of this video far outweighs that of 'London City' and it's interesting to see how much the quality of the video changes when you have far less financial backing.

In this video kanye portrays himself as being quite arrogant. This video was directed by Chris Milk and filmed as a '70s style short movie about daredevil Evel Kanyevil and his attempt to fly a small rocket across the Grand Canyon (a parody of Evel Knievel's unsuccessful jump across the Snake River Canyon in 1974) In addition, there are ‘star’ appearances in this video such as Pamela Anderson who plays the role of Kanye’s controversial girlfriend. This promotes the video greatly as she is popular and very glamorous. This also goes to highlight the stark difference in finance between US hip-hop stars and UK hip-hop stars as it is very unlikely that a UK hip-hop video would feature the likes of Pamela Anderson. There is also some handheld camerawork, which gives the effect of someone actually being at the scene. The lip-syncing is very effective and seamless, there are parts where the words are delivered as if they were in a conversation, like a TV program. The colouring has been changed to give the video a nostalgic effect. The video also has very bright lighting, which reflects the message of the song as being happy and joyful. Almost every shot is of kanye, highlighting the fact that he is the star and the centre of attention; there are many mid and high angle shots of kanye alone in the clouds, which is a reference to the title of the song “touch the sky’ and makes him look superior. In addition, there are many high angle shots when hes sizing up his jump, this promotes the scenery, mise-en scene and could suggest that hes looking down on himself from the clouds. There is also an extreme long/vertical tilt shot before he performs his stunt, which suggests something will go wrong, also is when Kanye says ‘for the day I die’ there is a close up of his rocket, showing us that that something is going to go disastrously wrong later on. Later, when the plane crashes there is a mid shot of his plane crashing in a dramatic fashion into the gorge fulfilling the prophecy. Another effective feature of the video is that the editing is cut to the beat which makes the video seem much more upbeat and joyous.

The Origins of Grime

Grime is a style of music that emerged from Bow, East London in the early 2000's primarily as a development of UK garage, hip-hop and dancehall. Pioneers of the style include Dizzee Rascal, Newham Generals and Wiley. In the beginning it was primarily on pirate radio and stations such as Deja Vu Fm, Freeze 92.7 & MajorFm.com were essential to the evolution of the genre. At this point the style was known by number of names, including "8-bar" (meaning 8 bar verse patterns), "Nu Shape" (which encouraged more complexed 16 bar and 32 bar verse patterns), "Sublow" (a reference to the very low bassline frequencies, often around 40 Hz). This indicated the movement of UK Garage away from its House influences towards darker themes and sounds. Among the first tracks to be labelled "Grime" as a genre in itself were 'Eskimo' by Wiley and "Pulse X" by Musical Mob.

The first grime artists to recieve some wide sacel attention, especially from the media, were Dizzee Rascal and Wiley with the 2003-4 albums 'Boy In Da Corner' and 'Treddin on Thin Ice'. Dizzee Rascal garnered broad critical acclaim and commercial success with 'Boy In Da Corner' winning the 2003 Mercury Music Prize. Grime has received exposure from television stations including Channel AKA (formerely Channel U) as well as from radio stations like BBC 1Extra that was created for the growing 'urban' style of music that would soon be sent around the world.

As time has progresses Grime has become more and more widespread in popularity, and today there are thousands of young artist making their own grime tracks as a hobby, they then post the tracks on various websites such as Facebook, Youtube and Soundcloud to gain exposure. This genre shows no signs of slowing down on it's take over of the mainstream and break through into the world markets.