1. Idea Treatment
The song that my group and I have chosen to make a music video from is ‘Always
on my mind’ by Big Quan. We discovered this artist on Music Alley which is a website
whereby new and legendary artists can showcase their talent through the music
they produce. Big Quan is a young African American from New York City. His
influence comes from deceased rappers such as Notorious BIG, 2pac, Jam Master
Jay (Run DMC), Big Pun, Eazy-E and more. The genre of his music varies from Rap
to Hip-Hop to R’n’B. ‘Always on my mind’ is an R’n’B song, released on Music Alley
on 23rd April 2008. The song is about a girl who has left him yet still remaining on
his mind even though their apart simply because he dwells on the past and cannot
believe that she has left him for another guy. He makes it very clear to us that this
song is for her and how very special she was to him which is shown throughout as
he speaks about their past experiences and how he thought he was her ‘main
boogie’ - meaning main guy. Despite him being there and she leaving him he slowly
overcomes the situation to the end of the song whereby he says that he no longer
needs her. We gathered this information from the analysis of the lyrics and intend to
showcase the main ideas in the best way possible.
Within our music video there will be a number of characters, props, locations and
camera shots. It will also be a hybrid between narrative and performance and follow
a non-linear narrative. The narrative for this video will be based on a boy and girl
who was once in a loving long term relationship however, the girl has now left him
for another guy so he has to try and overcome his situation in the best way he can.
As ‘Always on my mind’ implies that the girl is forever dwelling on the boys mind, the
video will display flashbacks of the couple’s relationship with one another. For
example, the times when they use to go out to restaurants, the park etc., the times
when they would chill relax and hang out at each other’s houses and overall the
quality time that they spent with one another (performance) – these will be the
settings for the music video. The memories shown will present the good times that
they shared with one another which will contrast with the way he is feeling now.
Throughout the video, the main character who will be the teenage boy/rapper will
illustrate a range of emotions and feelings throughout the period in which he raps.
This consists of smiles and laughter when he thinks about the good times, frowns
and depressed looks when he realises that the relationship is actually over for good
and undefeated and strong expressions when he comes to terms with the change
and is able to move on. Just like the emotions and feelings displayed that constantly
changes, the mood changes also which is replicated by the lyrics.
In this video there will be the main characters who are the boy and the girl, the guy
that she leaves him for and the general public. The main male character is a good
By Larelle Benjamin-Forrester

2. looking black boy who dresses nice and has a nice personality to match. He is laid
back, caring and funny. In contrast, the boy she leaves him for is your typical light
skin boy who takes a lot of pride in his appearance, has his own car and has a lot of
money. The main girl is pretty, dresses very high fashion and has a nice friendly
personality. However she is portrayed differently when she is with both guys from
being laid back and dressing casual in trainers and leggings etc to being very
fashionable in designer clothing and adapting an older mind frame in terms of the
way she acts, looks and dresses. The public are shown as how they would normally
appear.
We will be using slow paced editing, camera movement, angles and a range of
camera shots such as close ups, extreme close ups, eye level and wide shots in
particular to capture the performance effectively, in order for our audience to get a
better understanding. By the use of extreme close ups and close up shots the
audience will also be able to relate to the characters. These techniques are very
common within an R’n’B and Hip-Hop genre which we intend to stick by so that it fits
in well with the conventions of the genre. The locations have also been chosen to fit
in with these conventions too. By using realistic props, the audience will be able to
relate to what is being used and get a better perceptive of everything in the video.
Moreover, they will be relevant to the locations.
Lastly, the target audience for this music video is people between the ages of 16 to
22 (teenagers and young adults) who can relate to a situation such as this. A reason
for this is because the characters within the video are 18-21 years old. It also sheds
light on a topic which is relationships that many people in this age group can
understand, relate to and may have experienced within their life.
To conclude, the mise-en-scene has been chosen with great consideration along
with the editing, camera shots, style of video and more so that the conventions of
the R’n’B and Hip-Hop genre are met and so that we can create a music video that
will not only be relatable but interesting for the audience to view. As well as being
well planned and thought about, it will be structured accordingly so that it can create
realism and overall a successful music video to entice.
By Larelle Benjamin-Forrester