The song we have decided to use for the music video.

The song that me and my partner have decided to use is 'Lifetime' by Emeli Sande. After researching different genres of music we have found that this song has a has a mixture of different sounds which make it seem as though lots of sub genres are used. This includes a bit of pop, soul, upbeat with instruments such as the piano etc.
Emeli Sande is a British artist who is most well known for her soul/RnB/Jazz ballads and records although after looking at some of her other music from her album we have seen that sometimes she has upbeat songs as well as slow songs such as her song 'Next to Me' which has made it to number one in the UK. We thought of good ideas to do with this song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpdhNFFk5yY

For this song we have noticed that you can only hear one singer throughout which means that if you were going to use a band for the music video we would have to address them to play just the instruments so it looks like more of a band. In the song you can distinctively hear what instruments are playing such as a drum set, tambourine and a piano. As there are three members of our band we can have each of them playing each of the instruments. To make the band more different we want one of the band members to play the keyboard with the keyboard stand while the other is playing the tambourine. The reason we chose one of the band members playing a small instruments such as the tambourine is because we said that that band member was usually the 'drummer' but for this song she wanted to 'show her musical versatility'.
We are trying to follow conventions of bands such as Maroon 5, The Script as these bands have a lead singer with the other band members playing other instruments on stage.

The video below shows British boy band Coldplay music video called Fix You which shows some of the ideas that would be good to follow in our music video. There are quite a few close-up and pans in the video plus the jump cuts that switch to the performance scenes. The video is both narrative and performance based.

The Script-Hall of Fame

The reason I have shown you this video to look at is because it clearly follows a narrative and performance based video.

Background Information into RnB/Soul/Blues music

The Definition:

Soul music is a combination of R&B and gospel, and began in the late 1950s in the United States. Soul differentiates from R&B because of Soul's use of gospel-music devices, its greater emphasis on vocalists and its merging of religious and secular themes. Soul traces its roots to four different sources: racial, geographical, historical and economical factors. The 1950s recordings of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and James Brown are commonly considered the beginnings of soul music.

Where It Comes From:

Broadly speaking, Soul comes from a mixture of the sacred (i.e. gospel) and the profane (blues). Blues mainly praised fleshly desires, whereas gospel was more oriented toward spiritual inspiration. Soul music exploded in the 1960s and ruled the black music charts throughout the decade, and inspired many other music styles. Although Soul's popularity has waned over the years, it's impact and influence can still be heard in many musical styles, including Funk, Neo-Soul and contemporary pop.

Common Artists:

• Mary J Blige
• Joss Stone-(I would say Joss stone is more of a retro soul singer as she has a hippy style and more of the 'jazz' style of music.
• Antoney Hamilton

Analysis of Soul/RnB/Jazz music video

Emeli Sande

The general sound of the above song by Emeli Sande is quite similar to the song that we have chosen for our music video as it is quite upbeat with a variety of instruments used. This included drums, piano etc. As the music video starts of with an establishing shot it shows the 'emptiness' of the room as it is a big space connoting 'isolation', which in turn links to the song lyrics as she starts of with negative lyrics but the chorus 'next to me' connotes something good. The shots change quite a few times within the first few seconds. this includes high angle shots and close ups of the artist playing the piano and the drummer. In general the colour scheme for the music video is quite 'dull' i.e. the concrete floors of the open space and plain walls making it seem even bigger. The artist is dressed in fairly casual clothes such as a long brown coat and high boots, this shows sophistication as well as the brown coat connoting that she is maybe trying to hide something as in 'feelings' inside her self. This in turn changes when the lights go out in the middle of the video and spot lights come on to highlight the artist playing on the piano and the drummer. Within the shot I also feel that there are quite a few close up and low angle shots used to show power in a way and maybe linking to the lyrics as problems can be solved 'if you have that special someone' and so she is a bigger person. The spotlights also connote that all concentration should be on the artist and her music which is a juxtaposition with the establishing long distance shots in the beginning to the close ups used after. The location of the artist changes again at the chorus as she is in a white background connoting the good aspect of the song which links again to the lyrics 'next to me'. The close up show she is trying to capture the audiences attention who may feel her emotions and to connect with them. The main camera angles used here are long shots, close ups, and a great establishing shot in the beginning, as well as an eye line match when the drummer looks down at the drum set while playing.

Mary J Blige 

This video is a narrative based video which may be linked to how most RnB/Soul are set out. This particular video is to do with a 'relationship not going well'. The video seems to have quite a glamorous opening as it shows an expensive car first which then jumps to a hotel room and the writing at the bottom goes with the piano playing and makes it seem more elegant. The editing used are quite 'slow motion' to go with the theme of the song. There is a lot of light in the video but contrasts with the night setting. The colour scheme of gold, white and black connotes a wealthiness. There are a variety of shots generally used throughout the video such as close ups and mid shots. Through the middle of the video the location is changed to a party setting with campaign  Near to the end however, there is a performance based story line as the artist starts to perform on stage. I would say that all in all it is quite a conventional RnB/Soul music video as the artist is dressed in 'glamorous' clothes showing the 'RnB' side to it, while her ethnicity is black African. The main camera angles used here are close ups because it is quite and emotional song. There is also tracking used to follow the artist while a editing technique called 'slow montage' is used to show how serious she is, and make some scenes seem more dramatic.

Alicia Keys

Unlike the other music videos I will be briefly analyzing this video on the Mise en Scene, costumes and conventions of a stereotypical Soul/RnB artist.

• Alicia Keys is obviously a mix race singer but yet again the image that is conveyed is that 'glamorous clothes' linked to this sort of music because it is quite upbeat but slow too. 
• There is also a narrative behind the music video because it seems she is showing some sort of role play. In contrast to Emelie Sande's song 'Next to Me' which is just performance based because she is playing the piano.

• The setting has a 'sensual' feel with the deep red colours and other dark colours this can connote that she is relating the song to a love interest or is about a love interest. 
• Her dress code in the music video is quite elegant with the long dresses and vibrant colours contrasting with the dark lighting of the background 
• The camera angles used are long shots to show what she is wearing which is supposed to give of a 'sex appeal'.
• While the mid and close up shows how she is feeling which is happy.
• The cuts are quite frequent to the next shots.