Conventions of Trap and the audience

For the initial research for the target audience we used YouGov.co.uk

While we were unable to find results on the genre Trap itself, we went with using the artists Skrillex and Diplo, as they are useable representatives of the genre to the mainstream.

Diplo:

I noticed that this is a profile from the UK. Trap is not making a big name in the UK's underground/club music scene, and it is more prominent in the US. However, the audience found did not differ much. 

Skrillex:

From my own experience, this is a fairly interesting find. Trap may 'technically' aimed towards the clubbing audience (18+), however there are many younger people who listen to Trap. Trap has hit the mainstream, and has brought hip hop back into the charts, meaning target audiences can spread to other ages, leaning towards the younger spectrum.

When I think of Trap party/festival goers, I see this:

Youtube channels such Trap Nation not only cater to 'young adults' but also video gamers. A lot of the music that gets posted also get used by video game Youtubers, which from there gets exposed to younger teens.

The fashion in Trap is street urban. This can be seen in festivals, concerts, and clubs.

Filming the choreography - Prep

Today we will be filming the choreography scene. We will be taking the shots in Pooh's dad's studio, in order to create a 'sterile' set, similarly to josh pan and X&G's music video of their song 'Platinum'

We will be taking a variety of shots, ranging from long shots to close ups of the dancers. In the close ups we will abuse camera movement, in order to add to the effect of motion and movement. 

I'm hoping that we will be able to record in higher frames per second than the standard, so we can slow down the footage smoothly, and create 'speed ramps' in the editing. 

Tutorial explaining how it works briefly:

The reference we will use in the editing - Modestep's trailer for their album 'London Road'
(2:36)

While this does not have a choreography, and the style of music is very different, however we really liked the editing and wanted to do something similar

Preparation - Face Masks

One of the things we wanted to use in our music video were face masks. Face masks were originally a convention used from time to time in Asian hip hop. Asian hip hop was very obscure, and only recently it was popularised and noticed by the mainstream. Because of Asia's lack of hip hop being popular, the instrumentation for most songs are reminiscent of modern hip hop, which shares a similar culture to Trap.

This convention is used mostly in Japan, as face masks are used by many people on a daily basis. While most people use it for personal hygiene, it is also used as part of fashion, as well as a well to hide one's own identity.

An example of this convention is found in Keith Ape's music video of his track 'It G Ma'. This is also an example of Korean and Japanese hip hop.

Another example is from Vic Mensa and Skrillex's track No Chill. While it is not an Asian hip hop song, the music video is set in Japan, using the street fashion found there:

We wanted to do something similar to this, and decided to use face masks as part of the clothing for the dancers. This will add to the sense of lack of identity. 

When we decided on this, we also realised we could create meaning through the masks - the dancers would be the visual representation of the protagonist's emotions, which will be conveyed through using different colours for the dancers's face masks. 

For the scene where the protagonist gets assaulted, the three hooded figures will wear black. The black represents negativity, which is also a metaphor of the protagonist's mental situation. 

Music Video Planning #2 Plot

Now that we have enough research and ideas, we need to gather our ideas in one accessible bundle.

The images are not in chronological order

The plot we have revolves around a protagonist who sees his other half interacting with another person, who he expresses anger and jealousy over. He leaves, and the scene cuts to the camera closeup to the protagonist's back, where the logo of the record company is shown. The camera zooms out to the streets in slow mo. This is to reflect the music, as the vocals are pitched down, which may suggest a sense of altered state of mind.
As the first verse kicks in, the camera will cut to the artist singing and walking down the street. Eventually the artist and the protagonist will walk past each other, and there will be a long shot, seeing them both walking away from each other.
The song enters the buildup, and here we see the protagonist getting mugged by 3 hooded figures. Eventually he gets thrown in an alley, where the camera shoots this with a birds eye view shot. A close up to the protagonist's face will have the effect of the camera dropping, and it will cut to the choreography in a studio setting. This will be in the majority of the 'drop'.

Car shots - Friday 18 November

Today we will be taking shots of the car. We have asked a friend in Uni to help us with drone shots. We have decided on the different shots. The idea is to take as many and on top of what we plan, improvise in order to give the editing process as much flexibility as possible,
We have asked a friend of ours to use his car, a Mercedes Benz S Class.

With interior lighting, we will be able to use different colours in order to enforce meaning into our music video. This with work well in creating a connection to the dancers.

Equipment includes:

Tripod x 2
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EOS 750D
Stabiliser
GoPro Hero 4
DJI Phantom 4 Drone

The point of these car shots is to follow one of the hiphop/Trap conventions of showing off a 'whip' to show off status and wealth.

Examples include

 GTA ft. Vince Staples - Little Bit of This

Major Lazer - Night Riders (ft. Travis Scott, 2 Chainz, Pusha T, & Mad Cobra) (Official Music Video)

This shot will also be an opportunity to show the 3 artists in the song. While they won't actually have a part in the plot, it is often that producers and artists are present in the music video as if they were a prop.

Artist and producer Diplo, on Diplo x CL x RiFF RAFF x OG Maco - Doctor Pepper (Official Music Video) 

These are a few shots we took. We did the shots that we planned, and improvised further.

The drone belonged to a friend of ours, we told him what we wanted and Pooh and Ten directed the shots.