Mise-en-scene

Setting/Location

For Setting/Location we wanted to use a mix of different urban locations. We wanted to use places with graffiti in it and that had an urban vibe to it. We thought that the streets of Brighton would be perfect as there is a lot of urban culture in Brighton that we could use a back drop to our video. We wanted to do this as it is common in Rap / Hip Hop music videos and we wanted to follow this convention.

We thought that, like the videos we looked at, we could a lot of filming while tracking the actors walking down the street performing into the camera. Having graffiti and other urban aspects in the background would improve the shots. These types of things are scattered throughout Brighton for example the corner of Cheapside and Station Street where the second photo was taken. Also In the lanes in Brighton would be perfect as the urban culture is at a high point here.

Also several friends of ours can drive and have their own car so a possible setting for some scenes could be in a car whether it would be stationary or moving depends on the actual ability to shoot and if it is possible to do so.

The idea to change from an urban setting like Brighton to the Studio was because of several factors that could affect it. We wanted to a get a really professional finish to the video and we felt that using a studio would be more in tune with that. We felt we could get more consistent lighting over several weeks of filming as well being able to control the weather in the shots. Another bonus is that Brighton is quite densely populated and we thought it would be difficult to control this. We also felt that if we used the studio the equipment would be closer and more easily available. Plus we could get more help from technicians which means it looks more like we want to. Lastly we would have had to get permission from the council to shoot in certain places where the studio is very easy accessible.

Props

We decided that the main feature of the music video will be the people performing so the emphasise will be on costume. We are doing this to make the audience focus on the performers which is a common convention in videos of similar genres as its almost showing off the success of the performer. Some props we are going use include; cigarettes or cigars, money (lots of notes), microphones and possibly a car. These will all be used to support the image of the performers portraying a rap artist. Hopefully it will give a balance between the glamorous and the urban feels we want. Cigarettes or cigars are typically seen as 'bad' and 'cool' and also associated with urban culture. So, having the performers smoking or holding them it will add to their status. The money will be used to show the wealth of the singers. This is common in this kind of music video as it is being showy. Microphones will be used to sing into and wave around in the way that hip hop / rap artists would. Finally the car might be used to sit in, or to drive around and show wealth again and status as well as being linked with urban culture. Driving around with friends at night.

Costume

Costumes we're going to use will be a mix of typical urban clothing and glamorous clothing. Things like over sized hoodies and jeans will be contrasted with brightly coloured jackets and jewellery to emphasise the lavishness of the performers.

Colour

The colours in our music video will be very bright, the costumes being worn by the performers will be extravagant and loud colours to show their presence and status. Also the colour of the urban setting will contrast the bright colours of the costumes and props.

Make-up

We aren't using make up that much, just on the 2 female performers. We want it to be subtle to bring out the features of their faces while leaving them looking natural. This is to keep the main focus on the content of the video; the lifestyle as opposed to the effects we use.