Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I believe that our video represents the elements of the hard life, which is shown in the original video, although in our video it was toned down to a different level, where it was left as a dream than reality. Our video was inspired from the Snoop Dogg – Vato video, this was mentioned in our research on our discovery to this idea, this song is in the same genre as our music video, another video which was particularly inspiring to our own music video was on of The Game’s other music video’s ‘Hate it or Love it’, this came as inspiring to us. With that song we came to a conclusion with The Game’s song ‘Dreams’. The concept of our video was to illustrate the character having a ‘Dream’, although our main goal was to make the Dream make sense but later on changed our minds to make it confusing, this is because Dreams are not meant to be understood but give a general idea of what is happening. Our video broke away from the original video by using new effects the original did not consist of. Our video also includes exterior shots of rooftops, street alleyways and a church. This was different from the original, as it did not consist most of these shots.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Our video connotes the main character in a dream that he can not get out of .The dream shows quiet a dark side to life where people are in trouble with others due to drugs, money or rivalry gangs. In our Cd cover we decided to follow the theme of a darkness and mystery by making our cd background black and then to show the troubles that could be happening in the video we used a flame effect on the cd title. We followed the same theme in our poster with the flames and the black background to continue showing the dark maybe painful feeling behind our video. The cd cover also has a picture of the main character on it blended into the darkness to suggest that the song isn’t all dark and there is some of it in the light. This is also a marketing strategy to sell the star to the people who like this genre of music that would see him as an iconic figure. The advert is our main item that would help us to sell the product, as it is what the majority of people would see first to let them no about the music video. On the advert we have told people where they would be able to get the song and when it when it will be out, so people are clear on when it will be available to them. The advert would go up in all town centres around the country and on the internet so a lot of people see the advertisments therefore the advertisement campaign would be a success and the product would sell very well .

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

We learnt a lot from our audience, as they praised us on aspects of our music video such as the effects and camera shots we had. They enjoyed the use of green screen effects which made our video seem different from other as it had different aspects of effects and editing used. However the criticism we got from the audience feedback was that the end of our video did not create enough tension as the rest of the story did and also that our lip sync in some parts was a little off. Changes could not be made to our video as it was already handed in but, the criticism helped us see what changes we would have to make for our music video.

How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planing and evalution stages?

Before attempting to do anything else we first had to research which type of song we would like to attempt to emulate. We had decided that we had either wanted to do a song in the Hip Hop or Rnb industry, as we felt that we knew more about these two industries then others, as these were two types of music that we all mainly listened to. To research we mainly used the internet and mainstream websites such as www.youtube.com and www.muzu.tv, to explore different types of music, genres and artists. We also researched various music magazines such as “Q Magazine”, “The Wire Magazine”, to further research which song we were going to do.

In the planning stages of our we further used the internet to research the type of music videos were created in the Hip-Hop industry, and made various written pieces such as a storyboard, shot-list, storyline. In the construction stages of our video we attempted to use a diverse range of media technologies. This involved using various different camera techniques to give our video a unique outlook, and to create a video masterpiece that would stand out for the viewing audience.

Throughout the construction stage we constantly altered what we had originally decided to film as we thought of innovative ideas to improve our video. We alternated between different camera shots as we didn’t want our media piece to appear boring and repetitive. It involved us using a variety of shots including long shots, medium shots, close ups, extreme close ups, both high and low angles etc. At times throughout the video we also used equipment we had available from the college (tripod and dolly), to prevent us creating an amateurish video. The tripod helped us greatly as it helped us with the high and low angle shots whilst also maintaining a stable camera. Filming the whole song in the green screen room with a white backdrop was one of the first things we did, we filmed from three different positions and alternated between the three when filming, so that when we would start editing we would have more footage to work with. Most of our time consisted of us editing the video although we had thought filming would take up most of our time. Using final cut pro, we used many different transitions and filters. We decided that we wanted the whole video in black and white, therefore used desaturate to take the colour out. We also used many other effects whilst editing our video such as speeding it up, fading in and out using flash etc, as we wanted it to stand out (see below for older posts of screenshot of the timeline). Following the completion of our video we began with the CD covers and magazine cover. For this we used photoshop. The concept was to create a catchy photo so the CD is easily recognized or noticed by the viewing audience so we created a flame type effect on the text and on the whole cover itself.

The main part of our evaluation stage was the blog that we were constantly updating, it became like a diary and we constantly tried to talk about what we had done in that lesson. The evaluative questions that we all have done, has helped us to explain what we have done in this process and how we did it.

Directors interview

following the completion of all the main aspects of our video, we did a directors interview. Where we had an interviewer asking us questions about the video, how and why we did certain aspects, how we could improve upon the video, etc. We felt it would be better for one of us to answer the majority of the questions to prevent us interrupting each other and to stop the interviewer getting confused with our differed opinions. Overall however i think we created a great video piece and all of us are both proud and happy with our achievements as we put a lot of effort off effort into this coursework, but really enjoyed participating in it.

Audience Feedback

we asked the audience, and got feedback on how they saw and thought about our video. Each interview we had with them we asked them different questions, but they they where slightly similar with each other, so that we weren't asking the same questions for every interview we had. In the interview we asked them of their opinion and that no right or wrong answers where recommended for this interview, we also asked about their favourite clip of the video and also asked their opinion of how the video could be improved upon. We felt that the response that we received was positive.

Different audience's gave us different feedback, with each interview we had with the audience, we gave them different questions to see how our video seemed to them. the reason why different questions where asked was so that we could notice the good aspects and bad aspects of our music video from different views than just one view following the same type of questions.

Screen Shots

with this shot the location which was used was to establish the location of the area of Manchester, this is where our music video took place within the city. The black and white theme used was to give it a colourless feel and create tension

In this shot, the green screen effect was used, within the effect a picture and smoke effect was used. This was to give effectiveness than having it a plan white background. the clothing which we used was a big coat with a strip shirt, and jewellery . This was to symbolize the good life of a rapper.

The location used was a roof top with the view of the city. the clothing was a black jacket with a hat and a stud earing. The location of this shot was to emphasize the high life, indicating that the character is rich.

The location used in this shot was estate flats, this was to create an urban feel to the character and the situation he was involved. the blue stream effects used was to bring some colour to the dull black and white background.

The location which was used was the church as this shot was meaning to the song. this shot was full of effects, two clips where put together to create a sense of ghosts appearing as the character was rapping in the video, also among the effects a white flash was used to give the sense of the ghosts appearing. The white an d grey clothing was used to make sense of the situation of what was happening as both of the ghosts where dressed in white.

Editing

The editing software we used was Final Cut Pro, Our time line was complex as it included of editing clips, the format of the layers of clips where in five different layers. This was to simplify the editing process of the clips which where uploaded on the timeline. Green screen shots where edited into a black and white background with a blue stream of colour using colour collector key, as you can see from our timeline we have used a variety of different shots, and have a lot of edited footage. our chosen song which was 'Dreams' by the The Game is at the bottom of the timeline.

on this window these our clips we used within our music video, although we didnt use all of the clips we recorded and uploaded extra clips. the clips which were not used were left in the list to show that we recorded them, some clips where cut in half and had only half used. we named our clips according to what they were related to.

StoryBoard

We Began with a establishing shot of a building out in the open and the 2nd clip is when the protagnist is on the top of the building and is seen being targeted by two guys that are hooded up




This is were the protagonist is singing on the top of the building and then is shown jumping of the building. The next clip was the rewinded clip when he goes into the lift.



This is were the protagonist is singing and lip-syncing in the lift, and the green screen where smoke is in the background


Here the protagonist in singing in the chapel and on the right is where in the chorus the two singers came together to sing




This is again where he was singing and on the right was an extreme long of him walking in the park

This is the close up of the protagonist opening his eyes, as the lyrics contemplated this scene. Next is where the singer is in the chapel holding the cross, and from a black and white clip, the cross is then full of colour when he presses it

Examples of CD covers from "The Game's" previous albums

CD Cover

We decided to firstly research the type of CD covers that artists in the Hip-Hop/Gangster Rap industry such as, "The Game", had. We found that generally the CD covers had the artist looking at the camera aggressively or with attitude to represent their power or in a specific pose that represents the feelings behind the songs. Sometimes the colours used on the album cover represent the mood that the album will create. For example The background colour on some albums in the hip hop genre are red which may represent pain that they've had through there life. Other genres may use a different colour to show a feeling. For example an artist my have a purple background on there cover to show calmness and relaxation.

We came to a decision that we would try to do something similar to the best of our ability with the resources we have availabe to make it suitable for the Hip-Hop/Gangster Rap industry. We decided we would keep our CD front cover as simple as possible and use Black to represent that the dreams could be dark and not pleasant. we also thought we could use flames and fire on our cover to show that the dreams could be crazy and outrageous.

Update

We decided that we would rewind the story from the ending for the start of our video for added effect. The video entails of the protagonist (Dominic), being chased and hunted down by his enemies and rewinds to how the story actually started. Although we had come up with a plan that we had intended to follow, as each lesson went by we slightly edited it as we came up with fresher and more innovative ideas for different shots and the storyline etc. In one of our previous lessons we went to town and the roof/car-park of Arndale to film the first scene where the protagonist is being chased and jumps, we found inspiration for this when looking at the song Tinie Tempah - Written in The Stars, where he is lip-syncing and performing to the camera on the top of a building. In the previous lesson we filmed at various locations and took many different shots of the protagonist lip-syncing. As we are now in the middle of the november and coming up to our deadline we decided that any further clips that need to be filmed will be done now, as the sunlight is beginning to fade as it becomes darker by the day, and we wished for their to be a continuity in the weather and lighting to prevent it looking like an amateur film. In another clip, of Dominic lip-syncing we managed to get the sun-shining in the top corner and we think as almost all of our video will be in black and white this will be a good effect. We also did a 360 degree shot of the camera going around Dominic, for this we had originally planned to use a Dolly but eventually came to a decision to film in handheld. Most of the video involves us telling the story but always goes back the protagonist narrating the video like in the original video the way, "The Game", narrates his story. Now that our timeline is almost full we decided to start experimenting with different effects and transitions that were available to us on Final cut pro to ensure that our video could be as good and catchy as possible. Many of the transitions that we tried out didn't fit with our video, but we used desaturate to take out the colour and used cross-dissolving and cross-fading between shots to link themots

In todays lesson we first applied the footage we had filmed in the previous lesson onto the timeline, this process is called log and transfer. We found out there was still quite a bit of filming to do as there was a gap in our timeline and we hope that today will be our final recording session and then we can begin to focus our efforts on to the blog.

First Filming Session

On the 7th of october, we began filming for our music video, following all the preparation and planning that we had done. We went to the top of hulme bridge, to film traffic from both sides as in our plan we had arranged a scene at this location. We aim to speed up the traffic for added effect and use it as a back drop for when the protagonist (Dominic) is singing. We then came back to college and began editing out initial scene using Adobe Final Cut Pro. In tuesday's and today's lesson we decided that we would complete the scenes we wanted inside the green room. Firstly we placed 3 cameras in their alternative positions and placed a grey/white backdrop behind the protagonist. We felt this would help us, as if later on if we wanted to use Chroma key which gives us the ability to put the protagonist in front of a location that was filmed at a latter date this would be possible. We used the three different cameras to alternate the shots as we cut to the beat. We also dimmed the lights for added effect. Lip-synching was also vitally important and we managed to film the whole song in the green room. Lip-synching and performance is often the "the meat" of the typical music video, as it used to promote and the artist and his album to the music world. It is often seen as the integral part of the video, and poor performance would give a negative perception of the artist and "spoil" their reputation. Although the whole song will not involve the footage we filmed in the green room, we felt that we would alternate with the protagonist, narrating the story and acting at the same time. It is important to film the whole song in the green room as a back-up incase we find any gaps to fill in our timeline.

Detailed Analysis of Snoop Dogg - Vato

We decided to do a detailed analysis of "Snoop Dogg - Vato" to assist us with the preparation and production of our music video. The video begins with Snoop Dogg narrating the story with a panning shot and then moves to him using a voice over whilst also being the main protagonist. As he speaking, in the story he is approached by 4 men in full black clothing, black caps and we are unable to see there faces. This is a typical stereotype for gangsters as they are seen around the world to wear black clothing and are in groups. A handheld camera is used to add effect and is taken from various angles and combined to create the feeling of a real life situation. A new man slowly driving past in his car is introduced into video and he is sitting back in his seat relaxed, with 1 hand on the steering wheel and the other hand on the passenger seat. This possibly implies that he is a friend or knows who the protagonist is. The next shot is a point of view shot of the second actor and intends to show him driving right past.

As the protagonist opens the trunk the “gangsters” run away and the beat kicks in and Snoop Dogg starts to rap and continue the story. This indicates that he possibly displayed a gun which was in the trunk and this is what caused the 4 men to run. The protagonist refers to the men as “ lil’ G’s ” showing that he just thinks of them as “wannabe gangsters”. Whilst the men run for their lives as soon as they see danger, the protagonist coolly walks down the street without breaking a sweat. A close up of his face clearly showing his ear studs is followed by a upper body shot of him spinning his medallion whilst he is also wearing a watch and rings. This is another association given to gangsters as they are almost always shown to be wearing bling.

The next scene is showing Snoop Dogg catching up with one of the guys and attacking him, which causes him to fall. This is all a bit theatrical as he was only walking whilst the man was running yet he has already been chased down, this could be symbolizing the power of Snoop Dogg. There is then a crosscut between the violence of the protagonist and the 2^nd actor, taking his eyes away from the road and turning around to look at the protagonist whilst frowning. This could be emphasizing the possible disapproval of the violence shown towards the man.

The second actor is then shown to be meeting with friends of his whilst they are playing a game. His presence disrupts their game, which could be showing a sense of respect for him and he starts to narrate the story so far. A number of shots from different angles portrays him as the focus of the camera as he begins to rap and the protagonist also utters a few words in agreement. Although he was just in the camera for a few seconds, the protagonist clearly shows his confidence by coming up to camera. As the 2^nd actor brings the story up to date a parody is used to mock a real gunshot as it is exaggerated in a cartoon like manner. As the man is hit, there is a very quick stop motion image of him with his hands up and falling to imply that he has been hit. A close up of the protagonists is then shown as he is talking to the man saying, “ run, duck… ”. His face shows complete calmness and no distress although after having just shot a man. This could be showing the possibility that this is not the first time this has happened.

As he moves on to the next man, he is shown to be again walking with the added effect of slow motion using transitional effects whilst the other man is running. This displays the contrasting moods between the 2 with the man showing a sense of anxiety whilst calm and emotionless whilst also having a intimidating presence. Again chasing the man down and shooting him he moves onto the next one and catches him whilst the video is in slow motion again and shoots him. This scene implies the criminal activities of the protagonist that he could kill people with such ease and without any difficulty.

As he resumes rapping he displays a slight regret of the shootings although it is not significant, and is then picked up by a friend. The protagonist is then shown running which for the first time in the implies a sense of urgency to escape the scene of the crime although he is then shown smiling with his friend in the car. In his lyrics he then says he is going to visit his mother, however police are seen patrolling outside his house, possibly hinting that any sign of criminal activity and the protagonist is the initial suspect, which further shows his role as a gangster. Other youths “gangsters”, are then shown running with the added effect of a handheld camera, while the protagonist is just shown relaxed and chilled out with his back to a wall.

Following this the second actor is shown again narrating the story to another one of his friends from the start through his rapping. A clip of the two actors is now seen as they are rapping together, and when the theatrical gunshot is heard. The words are shown literally coming out of the protagonist’s mouth letter by letter and enlarging as they come out. The protagonist is now shown in a dark room and then a man behind a glass window appears. This could mean he has been arrested and is now in jail, and for one of the first times in the video the protagonist’s eyes show a sense of fear. However almost straight away after this, he is seen with a group of vast amount of black people both male and female, which could be attempting to show he is part of a gang or has a lot of friends with connections. The other actor is then shown standing opposite, similarly to the protagonist, but the people standing with him are of white or Mexican descent. There is then a low angle shot showing both actors with their gangs and a war or fight looks inevitable. But the two actors then shake hands as if they are friends. They then for the first time begin rapping and dancing together in the same scene with their respective groups.

The scene once again reverts to the original scene of the protagonist being surrounded by the men and opening the trunk. The use of images is used again in the chorus referring to the theatrical gunshot, and the protagonist is seen smoking a Cuban cigar, which again is a stereotype of a gangster, as it is believed they lead lush lifestyles and are rich. A new member is then seen with the protagonist hinting that in real life he may be a part of his “crew”, or is a friend of his. The prison scene is then resumed as the soundtrack of the song ends, and a shot reverse shot and a close up of the protagonist and the police officer is shown. The two characters exchange a couple of words and an over-the-shoulder shot is shown to great effect as the protagonist gets up. The video then fades out to black and leaves us at a cliffhanger.

Through the analysis we have written and through elaborating between us we understood that the video is both a narrative and performance video and there is no disjuncture is involved, as throughout the video the video is seen acting in the scene and immediately after this is seen rapping at a different location. The scenes occurring in the video are also relevant to the lyrics due to the fact that as the story unfolds, we become more involved with the video. The performance of the actors is also incredibly important, as when they are narrating, their lip-syncing must be perfect and a variety of different shots are used. As previously mentioned the editing of the video involves very quick cuts, which is not unusual for videos in the Hip-hop/Gangster Rap industry

Lyrics

[Verse 1]

I woke up out dat coma, 2000 and 1
Bout the same time Dre dropped 2000 and 1
Three years later the album is done
Aftermath presents: N**** Witta Attitude Volume 1
Rap critics politicin
Wanna know the outcome!
Ready to die, Reasonable Doubt and Doggystyle in one
I feel like Pac, after the Snoop Dogg trial was done
Dre behind the G-Series and All Eyez On Me
I watched the death of a dynasty!
So I told Vibe Magazine
Workin' with Dr.Dre was a "DREAM!"
I had visions of makin' a classic
Then my wall turned black,like I was starin outa Stevie Wonders glasses
It's kinda hard to imagine,like Kanye West
Comin back from a fatal accident, to beat makin' and rappin'
But, we da future
Whitney Houston told me that, it's gon take mo' than a bullet in the heart to hold me back

[Hook]
Blushin' in this 40 ounce
Lettin the ink from my pen bleed
Cuz Marthin Luther King had a "DREAM!"
Aaliyah had a "DREAM!"
Left Eye had a "DREAM!"
So I reached out to Kanye and "brough you all my dreeam!"

[Sample playin "It's cuz I love you!"]

[Verse 2]
I had dreams of f*****' an R'n'B bitch like Mya
When I saw dat a** on a front of that King
Read the article in a magazine
She loved gangsters, loved nasty things
So I'm the glass house havin' nasty dreams!
Good girls neva' give it up
But anything is possible ,if 50 f***** Vivica
Hurdled life's obstacles,found my way through the maze
Then joy turned to pain like, Frankie Beverly and Maze
Used to dream about bein' Unsigned Hype
Till I was crushed my Dave Mase, almost let my pen fall asleep on a page
Daydreamin' yesterday
Dozin' on offback stage
I tought I saw Eazy talkin' to Jam Master Jay
So I walked over heard Jam Master say
It's a hardknock life, then you pass away
They say sleep is the cousin' of death
So my eyes wide open cuz a dream is kin to ya last breath

[Hook]
Blushin' in this 40 ounce
Lettin' the ink from my pen bleed
Cuz Marthin Luther King had a "DREAM!"
Aalyah had a "DREAM!"
Left Eye had a "DREAM!"
So I reached out to Kanye and "brought you all my dream!"

[Sample playin "It's cuz I love you!"]

[Verse 3]
The Dream of Huey Newton, that's what I'm livin' through
The Dream of Eric Wright, that's what I'm givin' you!
Who walk through the Whitehouse without a business suit?
Compton had Jerry Curl drippin' on Ronald Reagans shoes
Gave Mike Lim my demo came here to pay my dues
Started of with Whoo Kid then I started blazin' Clue
It was all a Dream like BIG said it be
Don't sleep on me homie I bring nightmares to reality
Rap Phenomenon defyin' the rulez of gravity
Studied all the classic start revisin my strategy
Cuz Marshall Mathers made it
Curtis Jackson made it
Head in the clouds wonderin where the hell Marvin Gaye went?
How do I say this, I'm livin' for my son but I can't figure out, why I'm at my temple with this gun
Wake up to a Jesus Piece like a Catholic Nun
The War to be a rap legend has just begun

[Hook]
Blushin' in this 40 ounce
Lettin' the ink from my pen bleed
Cuz Marthin Luther King had a "DREAM!"
Aalyah had a "DREAM!"
Left Eye had a "DREAM!"
So I reached out to Kanye and "you are my dreeam!"

[Sample playin "It's cuz I love you!

In the music video there were a few expletives but this is common in this type of music genre ( hip hop). We decided to do a radio edit where we would mute these expletives so that it would be suitable to play during the daytime. We had agreed to film a music video in the hip hop industry but struggled to find a song that didnt have offensive language. In the lyrics the word N**** is used which was a word that was commonly used as a racist term for people of african origin. This word is still used today as a offensive remark but is also used by many black people to show togetherness in their communities.

Hook Act

"Lettin' the ink from My pen bleed"

SET : White backdrop and a Table and chair in front.

COSTUME : Preferably a white shirt or a gray hoodie together with a red cap to enhance the shot and give it more definition.

ACT : Rapper sitting on a chair attempting to write on a piece of white paper but at the last moment realizes his pen is "bleeding".

"Cuz Martin Luther had a dream, Aliyah had a Dream, Left Eye had a dream"

SET : Urban area, a brick grungy wall as the background.

COSTUME : Black shirt or hoddie or a black leather Jacket with some form of obvious jewelry.

ACT : Rapper at the left side of the screen in front of a graffitied wall with the picture of

Martin Luther King sliding into the shot from the left of the screen

" So I reached out to Kanye and and brought you all My dreams"

SET : Isolated Area

COSTUME : White/Cream Suit

ACT : Rapper on a vehicle reaching for the clouds

We intend not to repeat this sequence because we want to avoid any repetition. So we came up with a different sequence for the same section of the song. There are two people in the shot at the same time and behind them is a plain white back drop to brighten the shot and give it a soft soul look. Added effects include a continuous cross fade between the two characters. We used 3 cameras and positioned in different places so we could have different shots we could refer to and save us time instead of recording the full song in the same location but at different angles which would be a hassle. A lot of planning went into the lighting, because we were filming part of the shot in the dark we had to take control of the shadows most of the time we had to position the light set so the shadows wont be in view of the camera, all this to give a professional touch to the shot.

Planning Process Of Video Production

During the planning process for our video production we have had many discussions about how our video should start, what will happen through out the video and how the video will end. The first idea we came up with for the start of the video was that the main character dies from being fatally shot and goes into a dream. However we decided that this would possibly be too long to fit into the start of the video. The idea that we came up with next was that the main character will be sat in his house playing on his game console but then falls asleep. We then started elaborating on this idea by the character going into a dream after falling asleep and then waking up in the dream on his bedroom floor. This is the idea we decided that we should use. When we began talking about the middle section of the video we found that is would be easier if we decided on how the video would end and then link that back to the middle section. We came up with the idea that the main character would open up a door and a extremely bright light appears then the screen would go white and he would return back to reality.

Treatment

Our music video is The game 'Dreams'. The length of the original track and video is 4 minutes 39 seconds, but we plan on cutting down to around 3-4 minutes. The genre of our music video is hip-hop and is targeted to males aged between 15-25, with the 'rap' hip-hop fan base.This video may also appeal an rnb fan base because of the background behind the video and the concept and meaning of the lyrics, also this video may appeal to an older generation of hip-hop fan base because of its genre and background. This video contains scenes that may not be suitable for younger children because it shows how some people are submitted to violence and how people can become involved in gangs. However compared to the original video we will be making the video less violent and more child friendly as we know that hip-hop and rap does have a younger fan base aswell. Another reason why our video might not be suitable for a younger children is because at parts in the the lyrics there is bad language that can be seen as inappropriate, but there is only a small amount of 'bad language' so it isn't to much of a problem. Also the language used in the lyrics appeals to an older urban generation as the words used are aimed at them and this emphasizes the world that they live in.

The clothing used in this video shows typical american gangster styles. The first time this is noticed is when the protagonist (The Game) is indoors when he is wearing dark baggy jeans with a white vest top on aswell as a 'du-rag' covering his head, (These are items worn on a daily basis in urban areas around america) this gives the audience the feeling of reality. Another part of the video wear this style of clothing is found is when there is a group of males wearing black trousers and black hooded jumpers this symbolizes the gang culture in america, and attracts a lot of young people to become the music videos audience. Another reason why young people feel like they can relate to this video is that the protagonist uses items of clothing which symbolize his own personal gang affiliation. Even though gangs shouldn't be promoted, this video suggests to other young people who have gang affiliations that they can also have dreams and do something constructive with their lives the same way 'The Game' has, even though he has come from the same background. This gives them something to relate their own lives to and adds to the target audience.

In the video the protagonist has many items of jewellery including big gold chains and expensive watches. this suggests to the target audience that he has become successful and made a lot of money. This gives the young audience the idea that their 'dreams' of becoming successful and rich can become reality (this is maybe why the song is named 'dreams'). Tattoos in the video symbolize gang culture and urban lifestyle that can easily be related to. To the young audience this seems like a 'cool' idea and can be very influential.

In this video and most other hip-hop videos girls are used in a provocative way where they wear vey few cloths and are used for a sexual motive. Even though some people would find this offensive the target audience to this video (aged 15- 25 hip-hop fans) like to see a video with 'good looking' women, for an older hip hop generation seeing women in hip hop videos would be pleasing to see women with few clothes and in a provocative way.

Although this video could be seen in a very negative way because of the relation to gangs, violence and sex there is a very positive message behind the songs lyrics. This message is portrayed in the chorus when he mentions some influential people who had big dreams but were cut short by death. However they still achieved their dreams as they worked hard towards them. These people are; Aaliyah ( a young female r&b artist who had potential to be one of the best of her generation) Lisa 'left eye' lopes ( a member of the r&b girl group TLC who were very influential with there music all over the world) and last of all Martin Luther King Jr ( an iconic figure in world history and arguably the most influential black male of all time). The message behind the song is that everyone can have dreams and with hard work and patients those dreams can be achieved.

Introduction

Bilal Kadiri

Vundu Tembo

Dominic Cook

Ifeoluwa Amusan

The music video we have decided to emulate is The Game - Dreams. We originally came to an agreement to do an R n B or rap video due to the popularity among the adolescent age range. Following our research with numourous songs including (R Kelly Ft Usher - Same Girl, Drake - Find Your Love, Ying Yang Twins - Whisper Song, The Game Ft Lil Wayne - My Life), we came to a conclusion that the best possible option would be the song we have chosen due to the differing lyrics from the other songs. We chose the main protagonist to be Dominic. We also looked at other "The Game" songs (I got a Million, State your name, Put me Under etc) to compare the contrasting styles. We found that the songs portrayed story lines and we felt that this would help us when we began filming.