2. Written by: Tyler Noel
Released: November 2013
The song is dedicated to one of the hottest reality shows in
the United States, ‘Love and Hip-Hop Atlanta’. Written by
Noel, it sums up most of the relationships on the show that
have crashed and burned. A line in the song stating “I was
never disrespectful to your momma even though I couldn’t
stand her” refers to the tumultuous relationship of ‘Lil
Scrappy’ and his former fiancé, Ericka, and his mother,
‘Momma D’.
3. Tyler Noel began singing at the age of 5 in the church choir. At the age of
12, she joined an all-girl group called ‘Solo Tre’. The group was signed to
acclaimed producer, Derek Baker, also known as Bigg D, who produced
Jamie Foxx's hit ‘Unpredictable’. At 18, after this group and many others
that she had joined disbanded, Noel felt it was time to be a solo artist.
Ever since her solo move, she has been described as a “funky little RnB
diva” originally from Ft. Lauderdale, FL who now resides in Atlanta, GA.
She prides herself on being a “real” singer with dynamic vocals as well
as a passionate songwriter who writes relatable songs from her soul.
4. The song is about a woman who has been going through tough
relationship problems.
The woman has had enough of her self-centred boyfriend who is
always thinking about himself even though she's been there through
thick and thin with him and even supported him in situations; for
example, she didn’t like being around his mother.
She is now beginning to realise that the situation she is in isn’t
right, however she is old enough to move on without fuss and tears,
following the phrase that many people live by: ‘life goes on’.
She is a strong woman, and is not going to let anything get to her -
well at least to everyone else’s knowledge. She keeps a strong
exterior while inside she feels the pain of her boyfriend’s actions
such as being out late without telling her where he is going and the
jealousy she feels because of the other girls – “his fan club” - trying
to get in contact and closer with him.
The song is the ultimatum to their relationship. She is looking back
at the things they have been through and is now telling the man if
he wants to leave, he can leave because he has hurt her enough.
5. This song is suitable for a music video as it is based on a real life scenario. It relates to
real people and the things happening in their life for example, Lil Scrappy, Erika and
Momma D in Love and Hip-hop Atlanta. This allows us to work on a narrative based
on their situation. Furthermore, due to the song being about pain and people leaving
there will be a lot of emotion in the performance of the artist. This means that we
can apply Goodwin’s theory of Close up shots to get to know the artist and also see
the emotion that she is feeling in relation to the lyrics.
We feel these two songs below have concepts that we could replicate in our music
due to the similarity in the songs as there are about relationships:
Mary J Blige – Be without you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XNaPX6MKlU
Mariah Carey – We belong together
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0habxsuXW4g
6. In both of these music
videos the director gets
the artist to sing to the
mirror, and this can be
seen around 30 seconds
into both videos. The
rest of time before that
is used for setting the
beginning of the
narrative.
This shot can be
replicated as it shows
the artist looking in the
mirror thinking about
the pain they have
been through which
relates to our song.
Furthermore they both
take into consideration
the rule of third in
which the mirror image
of the artist is the main
focus on the right
centre line.
7. Close ups are very
common in R&B videos
due to their lyric
content which is mainly
about pain and
suffering. This means
you have to show a lot
more emotion due to
the pain they are
usually going through in
the song. In these two
songs the close ups show
this as Mary J Blige
looks stressed denoted
by the hands by her
head, her eyes closed
and the black and white
colour and Mariah Carey
by looking away and her
eyes looking quite
watery as like she was
about to cry.
8. Genre: R&B
Brief outline of the genre: Rhythm and Blues, also known as simply R&B, is a music
genre that combines elements of rhythm and blues, soul, funk, pop, hip hop and
dance. Within this genre lyrics are usually based on everyday life focusing on the
effects of relationships, work and drinking on a persons life.
Similar artists to Tyler Noel in the R&B genre include famous names such as Ashanti,
Whitney Huston, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey and Alicia Keys
Conventions of the genre:
Fashion:
In terms of males and females, within this genre it is common to see the male sex
topless whilst the female sex wears minimal clothes. These are done in order to appeal
to the genre’s predominately female audience whilst also pandering to its small male
audience. Similar to Beyoncé’s video for ‘Irreplaceable’; we decided that we would
challenge this convention as the female protagonist will be not be provocatively
clothed in order to portray a character with power and control as she comes to accepts
that her relationship is no longer worth keeping.
Music Videos:
Within this genre both slow and fast videos can be seen. Whilst slow songs usually
work around the premise of love over a slow tempo and fast song focus on things such
as parties to add to the sense of fun as well as excitement. We have decided to
challenge this convention due to the tempo of the song and the lyrics which cause it to
have both aspects. Unlike usual fast tempo songs which consist of bright colours and
flashy cars, we have decided to follow a narrative portraying the fall and cracks within
the relationship through-out the video.
9. Male Protagonist: For this role, we want to portray a character that is only and
always thinks about himself. This character must be cocky and brash in order to play
the role of the antagonist within the narrative. By doing this we want the audience
to understand aside from the lyrics why this relationship deserves to end; evidently
supporting the decision that the protagonist is making.
Female Protagonist: For this role, we want to portray a female protagonist who
contradicts the usual stereotype of a weak willed woman within a relationship but
instead a powerful female that accepts that she doesn’t need a ‘man’ in her life. In
doing this we hope to connect to and empower the female audience watching this
music video whilst within the type of relationship portrayed within the song.
Mother: Due to the line “I was never disrespectful to your momma even though I
couldn’t stand her”- we will need an older woman to play the role of the male
protagonists patronising mother who will need to engage in a small conflict with the
female protagonist.
Extras: The use of both male and female extras will be needed to act as the friends
of both protagonists. This is to further exercise the extent to which the male
protagonist spends time with his friends partying more than he spends with his
girlfriend. As well as play characters that will be there to comfort the character in
times of heart ache. An example of this being the line “No more heart break lies,
tears on my pillow case” for this scene we could use extras to act as friends that
comfort the protagonist as she weeps.
10. The main shot will be performance based with high angles during the verse
to make her look vulnerable and weak as she is hurt.
‘I accepted all your ish, picked you up when you was down’
When she says ‘I ain’t gon stress on it, I’m way to grown’ the camera will
began to pan down as she gains more confidence to leave the man behind
and ‘just move on’.
By the time she says ‘let this go’ the camera will be in a low angle to show
her power and courage to cut loose the relationship she feels isn’t working.
The camera shots will vary from medium shots to close ups. Medium shots
will be used to show the women and her environment. These shots will be
used just before she reminisces as the environment she is in will dictate
what she is reminiscing about.
The close up shots will be used for the audience to see the pain that the
woman is going through because of the situation. Fans of R&B like to
connect with the song and feel the emotions and to do this the artist needs
to show it.
11. The editing will involve a lot of cross-cutting
between performance shots and flashbacks of the
protagonist's troubling relationship as she
contemplates how to move forward in life
The footage of the flashbacks will be slightly over-exposed
in order to make it easy to distinguish
between present reality and memories. It will also
give these scenes a dream-like effect as the
woman wishes all these tough times were just a
dream that she could wake up from
These cuts will be edited to match the beat of the
song where possible in order to make the visual
relate to the music of the song - this was stated as
a music video convention by Goodwin
12. Long path - used during performance shots as the
woman reflects on her relationship during a long walk
House - this will be the home of the protagonist and
her boyfriend and will be the location in which some
of their arguments take place; for example, when his
mother comes over, there will be clear tension. Some
performance shots will also take place here as she
sings into the mirror to reflect upon who she has
become in this relationship.
High street - night-time shots will be used of the
boyfriend and his friends while they are on a night
out while the protagonist is at home trying to call
him. Day-time shots can also be used in a café in the
high street as she tries to be affectionate (e.g. hold
his hand) but instead, he behaves distantly.
13. Cards
One of the shots for the music video will be a game of poker. Poker is a independent game rather than
a team based game where only the winner reaps the benefits. This relates to the boyfriend who is
represented as that type of person by the line ‘All you ever thought about was you yourself and you’
Phones
The boyfriend is seen as popular and has a ‘fan club’ of girls. She wants him to ignore them, so the
phone will be used to show that he is still replying to their messages.
Mirror
The mirror will be used to represent what reality is and she making the choice to let the boyfriend
leave based on what she is seeing which is her hurt. Its also a metaphor, she thought the relationship
was going well but when she saw reality she realised doing all the work for him ‘I made you who you
are’ but it wasn’t being reciprocated.
Bed
When people are in bed they use it as an opportunity for them to reflect on the past this
allows people to relate it increasing it repeatability. Furthermore she says ‘No more heart break
lies tears on my pillow case No more late night texts and lying that is your friend’ and this would
involve the bed to showcase this.
14. Loungewear
The main protagonist is at home and she is just reflecting about her life.
She wouldn’t look too dressed up due to the location if she was too dressed
up the song would lose realism.
Shirt and jeans and Suit
The boyfriend is self centred meaning that he will care about his
presentation. Furthermore, he gets a lot of female attention due to his
success so he has to look the part.
Plain T-shirt and jeans
His friends will be dressed in more casual wear to show how much care that
the man puts into his presentation even though their from the same social
group