Aiman's A2 Blog

 Ribs by Lorde We have finally finalized the soundtrack we are going to use for our music video.  Here is my duo discussing the potential shots we could include in our music video. We also began shot planning at this point. 

Short Pitches of My Ideas:  Ribs  (Lorde): showing the friendship of two girls, emphasis on lighting. includes montage portion during the pre-chorus. includes time lapse of them sitting still while everyone around them moves around. Shows the ache of being apart and having to grow up without each other.  Nothing New (Taylor Swift): an overachiever, brilliant student facing a downfall, feeling insecure watching other people replacing her. includes a scene of her celebrating her birthday alone while everyone else is celebrating with the replacing prodigy.  Are You Satisfied? (Marina and the Diamonds): showing an overachiever workaholic prioritize these accomplishments over relaxation, love and family and then realizing in the end how lonely she has become. Slipping Through My Fingers (Meryl Streep): a young mother finds herself struggling to maintain a relationship with her daughter, who is drifting away as she becomes a teenager.  Zuha's Suggested Additional S...

Goals and Audience: The target audience can be determined based on the genre, style, symbolism, message and narrative of the music. It can lay out demographics including age, gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity.  Create Assets:  This includes gathering all the means for the promotion of music products. Listed below are the three most significant aspects of music promotion that I will be prioritizing in my portfolio:  Music Video: This consists of music track, conceptualization, story, visuals, location, performance, creativity, lighting and props.  Digipak: Digipak is a kind of packaging used for CDs and DVDs. For my advanced portfolio, I am supposed to design a virtual Digipak, and for that, on the music video set, I am supposed to take multiple pictures of the artist to use as my digipak cover. These are supposed to be in a theme, preferably one that coordinates with the music video. That would somewhat define the artist's style/mood for the song.  Social Me...

 Before the spread of social media, music was promoted much differently, and it was a lot more difficult and expensive. Promotion was done in form of radio promotion, music videos shown on music television channels, artist displayed on billboards in different cities, tours (which included both small and large venues, depending on the arist's popularity). Music artists would sometimes even collaborate with famous product companies such as Coca Cola and use those advertisements in order to promote their singles, albums or even entire catalogues.  Lately, with the spread of social media and internet, digital promotions have successfully replaced traditional promtion methods. This includes artist engagement with fans, social media apps such as Tiktok, Twitter and Instagram. One of the most effective boosts in music recently is the use of Tiktok trends. This may either be Tiktokers dancing to a snippet of the song, or lip-syncing to a song, or doing makeup to a song, or showing a b...

 Performance Based Music Videos: This is the most commonly used style, and has been around for a long time. It usually shows the artist or the band performing their song, with instruments and lip-syncing. This may also include dancing and clips of them playing live. This type of music video is usually low-budget and it can me made meaningful with locations. Examples are "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" by Arctic Monkeys  and "Heaven" by Bryan Adams. Narrative Based Music Videos: A narrative based music video is one which captures and follows a story or plot. It is even considered a short-film based on the song by some. It includes a structure; beginning, middle and end. It often displays no lip-syncing or performance. Examples are "All Too Well" by Taylor Swift and "This is America" by Childish Gambino. These usually have relevance to the lyrics.  Concept Based Music Videos:  These usually have a storyline that does not necessarily have ...

  My partner Zuha and I have finalized what main roles each of us will play in this project.  I am the director, co-producer and the editor of this music video, and Zuha is the producer and camera-person. We have both agreed to be open to suggestions, and we plan to decide the cinematography of the music video together. 

  Representation of Social Groups and Issues Representation of Genders: Females:  Women in music videos are often shown in a sexualized way, specially in hip-hop/rap music videos. They are in skimpy outfits, and predominantly revealing. This can be linked with Laura Mulvey's "Male Gaze" theory and Naomi Wolf's theory about women shown as "sex objects" in media.  Males: Men in music videos are shown as powerful, excessively wealthy and glamourized, and as "alphas". This can be linked with Earp & Katz theory about masculinity glorified in media and displayed via strength and aggression.  LGBTQ+: This community is now celebrated and glamourized in music videos, and can be shown as entertaining; having fun and being friendly.  Representation of Ethnicities: Now a diverse range of ethnicities is represented in music videos, showcasing Black, Hispanic, Asian and South Asian, and White cultures. A very interesting example is the " Youth " mu...

 The music industry is comprised of individuals and organizations that write lyrics, compose music, perform and produce these songs, and distribute and market them in an efficient way to maximize profits and showcasing a catalogue of music, both artistically and commercially. Each person plays their role, with the key roles in the industry being those of songwriters, singers, composers and producers. Moreover, record labels, music publishers, recording studios, audio engineers, retail and digital music stores, and performance rights organizations also define the music industry. EMI, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group. Music consumers contribute greatly to the functioning of the music industry. They have, throughout the years consumed music in traditional forms/methods including vinyl and CDs, to radio and TV music channel, and there has recently been a shift to digital streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. 

  I have decided to work in a duo for my Advanced Portfolio.  My duo consists of me, Aiman Saeed Khattak, and Zuha Imman, who was also my group member during our Foundation Portfolio.  That experience made me realize that we both work well together and have developed an understanding and coordination, and make a great team.  We have not yet finalized the roles, but this year, we plan to keep all the roles open and flexible, so we can both use this opportunity to learn and enhance multiple skills. 

  Music is a euphonious, pleasant form of expression, and over the years, it has been paired with music videos to magnify the charm. Here is my list of songs I have brainstormed over the past three days, that I could potentially use for my Advanced Portfolio.  1. No Surprises by Radiohead. This is a song that can go very well with a strong narrative and storyline, with a relatively less emphasis on the visually aesthetic appeal and editing. The song lyrics could be paired with a music video which follows the life of a low-income worker, showing the impact of capitalism on the working class. The character could be shown working hard, day and night, in harsh and unsafe working conditions. They could be shown returning to a mainly unfurnished, crammed room/apartment. They could be shown commuting in undesirable conditions. The following lyrics (copied from azlyrics.com) show how the lyrics are a voice for the narrative that I derived:  A heart that's full up like a landfill...

  In my Advanced Portfolio, I am supposed to produce a music promotional package, which consists of a music video, social media page, and digipak.  I am supposed to promote a new, rising artist and deal cooperatively with them through the entire production process.   I want to ensure that I can bring my vision to life using different elements of media and  polish my skills and creativity.