Music Presentation - Rihanna

Rihanna, one of the best selling artists of our time, helps us understand her music through her music videos.

The music video for 'Stay' show us Rihanna in a bath naked in a vulnerable state. The music video could be seen as a narrative but I also feel that it focuses on the performer(s) as well. The narrative that I understand is that Rihanna and Mikky Ekko are failing to resist each others love and we see this when the camera cuts between the two artists as one another are singing.
There are a range of shots such as close ups to show the emotion on Rihanna's face but also see that she is miming the lyrics to the song. Rihanna being in the bath shows us a different side to her. A more mature side to her as she sits in the bath naked it shows us that she's vulnerable and lost in thought, when she mimes the lyrics they help communicate what she's possible thinking. The video switches between the two artists until it ends with a tear falling from Rihanna's eye. 

Another technique that is used is the music cutting to beat, after a number of beats the video transitions into another shot. Shots that used are mostly extreme close ups and close ups with some mid shots for Rihanna and for Mikky Ekko there is range of close ups, mid shots and long shots. Using a long shot for Mikky means we see his body language as well as his facial expression.

The video for Rockstar 101 focus on the performer who of course is Rihanna. Most shots have Rihanna in them in various costumes and looks, she looks sexy and strong and thats a representation of how she is as an artist. But also is a interpretative music video as visual it interprets the lyrics of 'Rockstar'. Her image is very grunge and dark like the cliche 'rockstar'. Rihanna is also the main focus in front of a live rock band in the first chorus as she mimes to the song. 

From her recent album 'Unapologetic' the 'Pour it Up' video was released on 2nd October 2013 and this video focuses on the perfumer who is of course Rihanna. The video often cuts to dancers who are dancing quite explicit and on poles. I feel that the lyrics were her way of trash talking and in the video she wears near to nothing but jewels and a really short shots. Each shot was cut on the beat and you can see that Rihanna is miming to the lyrics. There were as variety of camera angles such as close ups and mid shots of Rihanna but long shots of the dancers so we can see what they're doing.
Many people thought that the video was to explicit for young teens to watch as the dancers were near to naked and Youtube blocked it for a while for anyone under 18. But many argued that Rihanna is a controversial artist and we shouldn't expect anything less.

Completed Voiceover - Finally!

https://soundcloud.com/audrey-chelsea-muanza/aimee-and-audrey-complete

The voiceover workshop was stressful but at the same time really fun. Doing this workshop with David allowed us to find and develop skills using render but also creating radio adverts. I am really proud of my end product and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

At first the editing really did get on nerves as I didn't know how to use the software 'reaper' but as I got used to the software it became easier to work with. Aimee and I decided to record our material again as I felt that there were too many errors in our previous one.
We began re-recorded and it turned out better but I chose to chop up both recordings as I found that the ending of the first one was better than the second recording. So I mixed and matched the recordings trying to perfect the edit.

I think when promoting an Apple product it has to be quite mature and serious as I find it to be a sophisticated and mature product. I took all my thoughts into consideration when choosing background music for the advert. I chose 'M83 - Midnight City' which is used as the Made In Chelsea intro. The instrumental worked well because I felt that it didn't distract from what was being advertised and it also set a mellow mood.

Of course the iPhone is an Apple product so I thought why not end the advert with a siri sound which relates the product.

Marina's Lesson - Kerrang!

Bauer Media Group publishes Kerrang! a music magazine devoted to rock.

The Kerrang! magazine in which 30 seconds of mars features on the cover. I love the whole idea of Kerrang! Magazine and the way they target a niche audience. 

This particular cover has me drawn as the colours as well as the front stand out. The red background can be connated and seen as a pun as the band are called 30 seconds to Mars and 'Mars' is a red planet. The white font also stands out amongst the red background.The lead singer of the band also covers a majority of the magazine name implying that we should already know what the name of the magazine is. 

Storyboard Workshop - Some Shots

One of my favourite shots from the workshop was the close up of the phone as we wanted to establish the relationship between Sam and Talebah before we see Beverley and Sam. The close up was a great shot because it showed the conversation but if was a long shot we wouldn't know what the texts said.

The next shot is Talebah walking to the scene and we use a wide shot to show the surroundings as well as Talebah. This shot is great because we see where she is and how she approaches the next scene.

Storyboard Workshop with David

Alongside Talebah and Aimee we chose to film shots for the scenario of 'A Relationship has ended'. We set of to find a location and a male lead as we needed a male to play a role in our shots. On the college grounds we used the sport fields to shot our scenes as we thought it was the perfect place. A lovely boy called Sam agreed to play our male lead on his free period which was very nice of him. Thanks Sam. 

Sam played the role of a two-timer who got caught out with one of his girlfriend's, played by sister Beverley, by his other girlfriend, Talebah, who he was previously texting. The girls get into an argument as they were friends and feel betrayed by one another. The argument ends by Talebah walking away and we see a very awkward looking Sam walk away in the middle of the argument. 

The whole process was fun as I got the chance of playing director, I was in charge of the angles and shots that we used whilst film and Aimee was camerawoman. So we worked as a team.

 I am quite proud of how the shots came out and I can't wait to edit them. 

Below are a couple shots that we shot : 

Promoting the iPhone 5c

We spent the past two days in media writing and creating our radio advertisements. I commend people that do this as the career because a lot of thought and work goes into creating a radio advert.

Writing the script was the easiest part but at first it proved to be difficult as we needed to appeal to a particular audience.

Next came the recording. It took me and Aimee awhile to build the courage and record the advert as we lacked confidence doing the task but we managed and came out surprisingly well. 

Our next task is to add in background music to engage our audience. 



Our end product - Promoting the iPhone 5c
https://soundcloud.com/audrey-chelsea-muanza/voiceover-with-aimme

What I learnt today in Marina's lesson.

Orginality is key. It's as simple as that. If someone wanted to read an essay copied and pasted from the internet than I'm sure they would of looked at the original source. 

Of course we can pull ideas from articles and sources but you need to put it in your own words otherwise it can be taken as plagiarism, which could get you in a lot of trouble. 

So Marina taught me today that the work I hand into her or any other teacher in fact, should be my own or my take of an article, blurb etc and who knows my work could be better that the original. 

Music Video - Thank me later

PARTYNEXTDOOR - BREAK FROM TORONTO

This year has been a good year for party as he signed for Drake's OVO Crew label. He also released his mix tape 'PARTYNEXTDOOR' and my favourite song has to be Break From Toronto. The song itself is quite chilled but with a dance element to it. The music video seems to take us around his hometown Toronto and shows us the party and his life in Toronto.
The video matches the song in every way as i find it simple and relaxed to watch. I look forward to listening to his second mix tape.

Questions - Getting to know Aimee

We were set a task which required us to get to know one of our media classmates. The questions were meant to be about background,personal interest and use of media. I found it quite hard to come up with the questions but i managed and the questions were roughly straightforward.  

My Questions

1.What genre of music are you into?

2.What country do you come from?

3. What three things do you know about your home country?

4.  What secondary school did you go to?

5. Do you have any siblings?

6.Do you have a favourite film?

7.Are you interested in a particular field of media?

8. What type of media do you use on a daily basis?

9. What do you use more Facebook or Twitter or neither?

10. What other courses do you take in Coulsdon College?

Aimee was my interviewee and I chose her because she was one of the first people I spoke to and I wanted to know more about her. As an interviewer I felt fairly confident until I had to ask the questions on a recording on the software reaper and my confidence decreased. But me and Aimee were equally nervous and worked with each other to get the job done and it turned out surprisingly  good. 

I enjoyed the task overall and I found it really interesting to find out a little more about Aimee. 

Radio ad: Dove: Smile

Radio ad: Dove: Smile



Hollie Mcnish, a woman who won UK's Slam poetry, spoke on her take on beauty. She speaks about how after getting ready for a night out, laughter is the best thing about them. Dove allowing Hollie, a 'real' woman, to speak inspired many woman to relate to her words. Dove has said that their mission is to make every woman in the world to feel beautiful.

Radio ad: Dove: Auto Tune

Radio ad: Dove: Auto Tune



Dove are known for their 'real beauty campaign' and this advert reminds you that beauty is not a trick of technology. The advert consists of a woman singing a song that is auto tuned about how magazine models make her feel worse and worse about herself but the sing finishes by her singing that she is reminded that the models are not real, implying that they are altered by things like photoshop and like the itself which is auto tuned. We are reminded that it is all technology and not real.

Monster (Radio Advert)

Monster (Radio Advert)



The advert is based on narrative where there seems to be a race and one of the drivers seems to have hit a problem with his vehicle. The driver goes on the sidelines and consumes the monster energy drink and ends up winning the race. This shows the product in a powerful light implying that the product gives you energy and strength.

Music Video - Never Forget

Kanye West ft T Pain - Good Life 

Being a huge Kanye West fan, I like to go back and reminisce on his old material as well as his recent material. I came across the 'Good Life' music video and I must say I still throughly enjoy the music video. It's fun and attractive and really grabs your attention! The graphics really make the video stand out amongst others and it reminds of a time where Kanye West was on top of the game.

Music Video - One of my many favourites.

J. Cole - Lost Ones.


Recently J. Cole has grew a massive fan base after the release of his recent album 'Born Sinner'. But being a fan from before I've always preferred his older stuff and this song is one of my many favourites. What I love and appreciate about this song is that there is a meaningful narrative about young pregnancy and J Cole tells both the male perspective and the female perspective. Along with the lyrics, the music video helps bring the narrative alive and allows us to feel the emotion from the lyrics. The simplicity of the video doesn't distract us from the lyrics but it's still very powerful and shows a common situation that happens in a lot of people's lives.