Friday 24 March 2017

MEST4 Linked production: Research and planning


MEST4 Linked production: Research and planning

Production brief
Music video of the track 'Sunkissed' by Mick Jenkins as a form of social commentary on the issue of police brutality.

Research
  • Kendrick Lamar - Alright
The music video for the Kendrick Lamar song ‘Alright,’ which has been heralded as one of ‘the songs of Black Lives Matter’ by Rolling Stone, shares most of its similarities with 16 Shots. Displaying a narrative where a fleeing suspect (black man) is shot by a white police officer and also accompanied by a monologue, this time by the artist himself describing the current racial discrimination that goes on, a real dark, harsh vibe is given of the USA today.

Elements such as the monochromatic, black and white filter which is present throughout the entirety of the video only help contribute to this but the visuals in the video itself are what really strike as being quite powerful in terms of social commentary. One scene in it for example shows Lamar and other members of the rap group he’s in being carried by 4 policemen in a car as he raps along to a different track. What’s quite interesting to remark on here though is that the audience could either perceive this as in some way at least, a form of representing ascendancy above the injustices that the police force have made over recent years or the car that the officers are holding the rappers in is a casket and they’re the pallbearers for it. As all 4 of the rappers are black men, perhaps it’s just going to show that anyone despite their position in society or success can often be a victim to police brutality simply on the basis of their skin.

The final part of the video shows the artist himself being a victim the hands of the police. Standing on top of the lamppost a policeman can be seen ‘shooting’ Lamar down and we’re presented with a shot of him in slow motion hurtling back down to the earth. Just after he hits the ground though after he’s supposedly killed, a close-up shot of him smiling is shown and maybe this is done with the purpose of matching up with the hook/refrain that’s sang throughout the track which is ‘we gon’ be alright.’


  • TI - Warzone
In this music video, the artist himself which in this case is TI takes more of a backseat just rapping along to the lyrics of the song. However what is really striking here is the narrative of the video and how it flips or inverts what we’re usually used to seeing in society where black people are the ones marginalised by other groups. Instead what we see is white people in this position through different walks of life.

Throughout the video there are clear re-enactments of cases of police brutality all the way from Tamir Rice evident with the kid playing around with a toy gun, Eric Garner as you can more or less tell he’s saying ‘I can’t breathe’ and also Philando Castile as we’re shown a shooting happening with 3 seated passengers, one of which being a baby and the other another of an adult filming the aftermath of the shooting for a live broadcast. The only difference in all of this though is that all of the victims were white and the police officers were black. It’s evident that this was done with the purpose of perhaps being a wakeup call to groups other than black people in America, to not just sit down and allow injustices like this to take place anymore. The audio extract of Jane Elliot asking a white audience whether they’d want to ‘be treated the way blacks are’ only helps further get this across as it really does work to galvanise audiences to stop being passive to things that they know aren’t right
.

  • Vic Mensa - 16 Shots
Vic Mensa’s '16 Shots' presents the issue of police brutality in both a more graphic and disturbing way. Displaying Mensa being riddled with bullets by multiple police officers, the video really helps reflect the hard reality that there is with each case of police brutality. Helping to get this across even more is the inclusion of the dash cam footage showing the shooting of Laquan McDonald. This is aided not only with a monologue describing the events that took place in his shooting, but also in another scene that there are jumps between with an actor mirroring the body language of Laquan in his final moments. This was particularly effective in conveying what is often the case time and time again, with cases of police brutality.


  • Ant Deko - Right Hand Man
'Right Hand Man' helps contribute to the production in terms of the location that it'll partly be set in. Being in Alexandra Road Estate, the aesthetics/connotations that we get are that of a place that is impoverished, grimy and to some extent run down. The chiaroscuro lighting that the location can offer is something that could be used to our advantage in achieving the visuals we want for the video.


Project schedule

The basis filming has been done. The filming including the cast should be completed by the break up of Easter and the editing will be completed by the first week of Easter with us coming into school on some days of the holiday to finalise it.

Treatment


Outline

  • Artist name - Mick Jenkins
  • Song title - Sunkissed
  • Record label - Cinematic Music Group
  • Genre - Hip-Hop/Rap
  • Target audience - young people 
  • Style of music video - performance

Overview/concept

The production will be a performance-based video offering different takes and representations on black culture that have and do exist. This will be done of course through the very lyrics of the song itself but also things like clothing items such as dashikis which will be worn by different people at different points within the video. It'll take place over a number of different locations with some of them featuring people in the background which is something that we're used to seeing in hip-hop/rap music videos of today. The locations that are shown in it will exhibit more of an urban look which a place like Alexandra Road Estate exemplifies particularly again, fitting into the conventions that we see rap music videos have.

Equipment and resources you will need
  • Tripod
  • Camera

Shot list

Producer: Ladan & Abayomi
Production:


Shot No.
Shot Type
Details of Shot
Timing
1
Medium shot
Blurry tree coming into focus
00:01
2
Medium shot
Cut to blossom tree
00:02
3
Hand Held shot
Another cut to blossom tree
00:04
4
Medium Shot
Abayomi sitting on bench 
00:06
5
Right Angle shot
Abayomi rapping
00:09
6
Left Angle shot
Abayomi rapping
00:11
7
Long shot
Abayomi walking while rapping
00:15
8
Panning shot
Abayomi rapping
00:19
9
Tracking shot
Camera following the cast
00:22
10
Rotating shot
Abayomi rapping while walking
00:25
11
Handheld shot
Abayomi rapping
00:28
12
Medium shot
Abayami sitting with cast/rapping
00:32
13
Low angle shot
Abayomi rapping 
00:34
14
Handheld
Camera following Abayomi 
00:35
15
Tracking shot
Abayomi rapping
00:37
16
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
00:42
17
Handheld shot
Abayomi rapping
00:43
18
Slow motion shot
Abayomi walking
00:44
19
Long shot
Abayomi sitting down rapping
00:47
20
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
00:49
21
Long shot
Abayomi sitting down rapping
00:51
21
Slo mo
Abayomi walking
00:55
22
Low angle
Abayomi sitting down rapping
00:59
23
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
01:03
24
Medium shot
Shot of cast
01:02
25
Tilted shot
Back to Abayomi rapping
01:07
26
Low angle
Abayomi rapping01:12
27Hand held shot
Camera following cast
01:14
28
Tracking
Abayomi rapping
01:15
29
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
01:17
30
Long shot
Shot of London skyline at Primrose
01:19
31
Close up
Shot of one of the casts 
01:22
32
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
01:26
33
Hand held
Camera following Abayomi rapping
01:29
34
Close up
Shot of one of the cast
01:32
35
Long shot
Shot of the whole cast/rapping
01:34
36
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
01:35
37
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
01:36
38
Hand Held shot
Camera following Abayomi 
01:40
39
Low angle
Abayomi rapping
01:42
40
Panning shot
Camera following Abayomi 
01:46
41
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
01:48
42
Panning shot
Abayomi sitting down rapping
01:53
43
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
01:57
44
Long shot
Shot of cast
02:00
45
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
02:03
46
Left Angle shot
Abayomi sitting down rapping
00:04
47
Hand held shot
Shot of cast
02:07
48
Hand held shot
Abayomi rapping
02:10
49
Right Angle shot
Abayomi rapping/with cast
02:13
50
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
02:16
51
Close up
Shot of character
02:22
52
Tracking shot
Following Abayomi rapping
02:24
53
Medium shot
Cast saying a few words of the song
02:25
54
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
02:26
55
Medium shot
Cast saying a few words of the song
02:30
56
Long shot
Abayomi rapping
02:32
57
Tracking shot
Abayomi rapping
02:34
58
Tracking shot
Camera behind cast following Abayomi 
02:36
59
Hand held shot
Camera shot of cast with abayomi 
02:39
60
Panning shot
Abayomi rapping
02:41
61
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
02:43
62
Medium shot
Shot of cast 
02:45
63
Hand held shot
Abayomi rapping
02:46
64
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
02:47
65
Panning
Abayomi rapping
02:49
66
Hand held shot
Abayomi rapping
02:51
67
Medium shot
3 of the cast members together
02:53
68
Long shot
Camden estate, cast walking away
02:55
69
Hand Held shot
Abayomi rapping
02:57
70
Low angle shot
Abayomi rapping
03:00
71
Medium shot
Shot of cast together
03:02
72
Long shot
Shot of cast together
03:04
73
Long shot
Abayomi walking to camera rapping
03:05
74
Long shot
Shot of location 
03:06
75
Medium shot 
Abayomi rapping
03:07
76
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
03:10
77
Long shot
Shot of cast
03:12
78
Tracking
Camera following Abayomi rapping
03:13
79
Hand held
Abayomi rapping
03:15
80
Hand held
Abayomi with cast
03:18
81
Hand held
Abayomi rapping
03:22
82
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
03:23
83
Slo mo
Black power fist pump with cast
03:25
84
Long shot
Cut back to Abayomi
03:27
85
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
03:29
86
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping with cast
03:31
87
close up
Close up of character 1
03:34
88
close up
Close up of character 2
03:36
89
close up
Close up of character 3
03:39
90
Medium shot
Back to Abayomi rapping
03:41
91
Close up
Close up of character 4
03:43
92
Long shot
Cast walking out of Leake street tunnel
03:45
93
Long shot
Cast at black history monument
03:47
94
Long shot
Abayomi rapping
03:49
95
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
03:52
96
Hand held
Camera following cast
03:56
97
Medium shot
Back to abayomi rapping
03:58
98
Medium shot
Abayomi rapping
03:59
99
Slow motion shot
Abayomi walking out
04:00
100
Long shot
All cast standing together
04:02






Mise-en-scene

Casting/model details

  • Abayomi Atiko
  • Rashida Dowding
  • Sumeya Omar
  • Masika Ismael
  • Ladan Abdulle
  • Julian Ntow
  • Sharife Anderson 

Costume and make-up

  • Abayomi Atiko - wear clothing that is predominantly casualwear, however in at least one location wear a dashiki as a representation of the black culture we see the lyrics of the audio track itself describing 

Props
  • History book - 'I mean who's history's author'

Location scouting with photographs


Leake Street - the graffiti on the walls has connotations of more of an anti-establishment culture which is something that could be said to be inherent in the subject matter of the song. Also from a more visual standpoint, the location could help provide a change to what we mostly see throughout the video


Canary Wharf - a time lapse of a shot of the Canary Wharf skyline could help the video from an aesthetics standpoint and bring home this idea of a fast-moving city plagued with a problem that most refuse to pay attention to which is the 'routine' discrimination of black people by the police. 


Gilt of Cain - sculpture in commemoration of the abolition of transatlantic slavery. This can be seen with the '17 sugar canes which rise dramatically from the ground surrounding a slave auctioneer’s pulpit.' These are too accompanied with a poem by Lemn Sissay which lends its name to the sculpture itself. Its appearance could potentially link into the black pride sentiment that the anti-police brutality topic could arguably be said to contain.


Alexandra Road Estate - aesthetically having looked at other music videos filmed here, a location like this could really help the video from a cinematography front with the more grimy look that the estate has.


Classroom - similarly to the Leake Street location selection, having a scene where the lyrics of the track are rapped along to in a classroom would help provide a difference to what see for the majority of the video. As well as this this, it could play into the line: 'Who's history's author, you was never right if you read it right,' if a prop like a history book was also used.


Primrose Hill - this location would act as a good complement to Walpole Park with the greenery that's present there. As well as this, the London skyline in the background could contribute to the whole urban look that the majority of the video has.