Textual Analysis: If I Could Turn - R Kelly

1998 hit, "If I Could Turn" is a song performed by Hip-Hop Artist R Kelly. It was the 5th song release from his album "R..", the song gained much success and is still known today as one of his most famous songs. The song possesses a slow tempo which is typical of Kelly's style during his early career. The song not only received praise from his homeland, it also had international success peaking in the UK Chart at no. 2, aswell as making a top 10 place in the charts in 11 countries outside of the US.

This is one of Kelly's early more inspirational songs that we spoke about when we researched him earlier in the project. The theme of the song, is one of which many people can relate too. It also advertises his profile as a good guy working in the Hip-Hop/R&B genre. Showing his deep regret for past mistakes. The slow style of the song, brings out the emotional lyrics and this is a reason the song is so popular.

The relationship between the lyrics and visuals is easy to notice from almost the start of the song. As this is an emotional ballad. It is a perfect chance for the video to portray the artist as a multi-talented soul singer/rap artist. This is how he gains his unique "good guy" character despite working in the rap industry, where all artists are stereotypically involved with drugs and guns etc. The start of the video shows a lot of quick cuts including a close up shot showing the girl looking at a picture of herself and R Kelly and then a close up of her face follows, showing her crying. The rest appears to be flashbacks of the past times that have put him in the situation he currently finds himself. It shows him going with his friends and not answering the phone from a girl he is seeing. This shows R Kelly to be youthful and make mistakes, but also be able to admit his mistakes and try to make up for them. It also shows that he is not a player, like his R&B style shows him to be in most of his videos.

There is a long pan shot of him singing, this is in sync with the music and the long cut shows him writing whilst he is singing. This could have been included into the video, as he wrote the song himself, and he would have wanted others to know of his writing skills. This shows that he is not only a singer but he is capable of songwriting aswell. From here a series of shots which have been edited are shown in the video. It shows him doing simple things that he normally does, but backward. This promotes the idea of the song title. By seemingly having the power to turn back the hands of time. There are a wide range of shots showing R Kelly alone singing, this shows his loyalty to the girl involved in the video, and also that he is thinking whilst he is alone, about trying to persuade the girl to be his again. The video uses the style of him doing things backwards throughout the duration of the song. The cutting of the song is quite slow as the song is slow and it doesn't have to keep up with a fast beat. It mainly shows him on his own thinking about past mistakes.

In conclusion, this video is a great video as it is trying to construct the artist as a "good guy". It shows his other talents rather than a R&B artist, by showing him singing a slow ballad, and advertising the fact he can also write songs. This song appeals to a much more mainstream audience, showed by his international success with it. The lyrics and tempo of the song go back to his routes of soul singing at church. But shows that he can do it as a solo artist. It portrays his inspirational and sensitive side as a person. This video is very clever and shows you some of the talents of R Kelly that you might not originally think he had.

Lyrics and Song Original Video

I am a mountain.
I am a tall tree.
Oh I am a swift wind sweeping the country.
I am river down in the valley.
Oh I am a vision, I can see clearly.
If any one asks you who I am just stand up tall look them in the face and say..

Im that star up in the sky
Im that moutain deep up high.
Hey you made it
Im the worlds greatest
Im that little bit of hope in my backs against the rope I can feel it, mm
Im the worlds greatest.

I am a giant.
I am a egale.
Oh I am a lion down in the jungle
I am a marching band
I am the people
I am heaving head
I am a hero
If any one asks you who I am just stand up tall look them in the face and say..

Im that star up in the sky
Im that moutain deep up high.
Hey you made it
Im the worlds greatest
Im that little bit of hope in my backs against the rope I can feel it.
Im the worlds greatest.

Im that star up in the sky
Im that moutain deep up high.
Hey you made it
Im the worlds greatest
Im that little bit of hope in my backs against the rope I can feel it.
Im the worlds greatest.

Ohh
Im that star up in the sky
Im that moutain deep up high.
Hey you made it
Im the worlds greatest
Im that little bit of hope in my backs against the rope I can feel it.
Im the worlds greatest.

Im that star up in the sky
Im that moutain deep up high.
Hey you made it
Im the worlds greatest
Im that little bit of hope in my backs against the rope I can feel it.
Im the worlds greatest.




Here is the original video with the lyrics to the song so you can compare when we prepare our final piece. We have taken some small ideas from the video and incorporated them with our own ideas. Here you can see R Kelly with one of his inspirational song performances that we spoke about in the presentation we constucted about him when we were researching his career.

Update

We have completed our storyboards for the first couple of minutes of the song, and we are going to see how this goes before we finish off the whole songs worth of storyboards. We have an idea of what we are going to do, but just want to see how the first minute or so goes. We have all of the equipment that is needed and just really need to get out and start shooting the opening sequence. We have a slight problem going at the moment, our main character has just had a spot of illness. We are going to try and film some shots that he isn't involved in. Although this won't leave us with much to shoot. We will hopefully start shooting the starting sequence on thursday night as we need to film late at night for the first few scenes of the video.

Cars.

We have been to a local garage to ask about possibly using some of their cars with the filming, and we have had some positive replies. They have said we can use the cars to film our music video. This will hopefully allow us to recreate the high profile life that our main character appears to dream about in our video. We do have a slight problem, as the garage has informed us that we have a limited amount of time to film the cars with, as it is being shut down in around a months time. This shouldn't pose too much of a problem, as we should hopefully have finished filming by then. But we are planning to ask a couple of other garages whether it would be possible to use their cars aswell.

Some rundown areas.

Here are some location shots, we are thinking of using these for the start of our film. This is an idea for our rundown area. We are looking to have a look round for some more rundown areas locally but so far this seems the best place for our scene where the main character in the film jogs home from his gym session.

We have looked at various other places and have taken pictures, we are hoping to upload them shortly. Other areas include, the Long Walk, our various Gym areas and more built up city areas.

Textual Analysis

Fireman - Lil Wayne



Fireman is the first single to be released by Wayne from his 5th Solo album "Tha Carter II". It was produced by Doe Boyz and at the time of release quickly had success to become his second most successful song release behind "Go DJ". The song however possesses lyrics that are not deemed appropriate so a different version had to be released for radio play. The song has received mixed reviews from critics as some people granted the song to have a great rhythm and tempo.Whereas others dismissed Wayne's lyrics and rapping style. In defence of the artist, the success of the track Worldwide speaks for itself. The song carries on with the hip-hop style that Wayne had been working with since his first album, "The Block Is Hot". His rapping style and voice is unique, although his mentality fits the stereotype of a modern day rap artist. He is happy to advertise his love for money, girls, cars and in some cases violence. This is how he has sold himself as a rapper and he has continued this throughout his whole career. The song peaked at #32 in the US Billboard Hot 100, #10 in the US Billboard Hip Hop Tracks and was his first song to reach the Billboard Pop Tracks. This allowed him to gain commercial success as his song was featuring across a wider scale of music. The video was produced by Aaron Courseault, who had previous success with other Hip-Hop rappers such as Warren G and Nate Dogg. The video uses conventions that are used in making music videos, but it focuses on using a Hip-Hop style throughout.

The correlation between the visuals and lyrics shows connections at various parts of the songs. With a number of specialised effects and fire appearing with the lyrics "Fireman" being repeated at the start of each verse. At some points of the video, text of the lyrics are superimposed onto the screen as he is about to sing them. The background of most of the sets he is in have some sort of fire in them, re-establishing the thought of him being the "Fireman". There are a number of close ups of the artist himself, this is typical of rap/hip hop songs as the artist generally portray themselves through music videos. Whether it is to show them living a high life, or bringing out a personality, it is a great way to construct their personality. Towards the end of the song it cuts to close up shots of his tear drop tattoos that are situated around both of his eyes, and throughout the video he advertises his hairstyle which has become his trademark as a artist over recent years.

Throughout the video, Lil Wayne costumes all show his wealth. He is wearing a gold chain with a cross showing his wealth in what he wears for jewellery. He doesn't have all the exotic locations that you might normally see throughout his other videos, but he definately shows at the start that he has money. With superimposed images on the screen appearing as he is saying the words, "Cash, Money". There is a sync between visuals and lyrics at this point. He uses a lighter and it cuts between images every time he presses down the button and the flame appears. This is the intro to the song, but does enough to advertise his wealth. He carries on with his rich, gangster characteristic which he had originally built throughout his career. This is proven when he often reverts back to being a "Young Money Millionaire" in more recent songs that he has released.

In conclusion, the video has small clever effects that are embedded such as the lighter/changing cuts idea. The constant fire in the background, in all different type of cuts work well as the idea is forfilled that he is the "Fireman". It also has time in the video to portray his overall character as a successful artist, with his gangster ways and his love for money, which he has lots of. The lyrics aren't too hard to understand, they are quite simple, but the song still is easy to listen to and the video is easy to understand and watch. This song promoted the rest of his album "Tha Carter II" and showed everyone what he was trying to do with his second album. It brought him success over different genres and more people were able to realise his music. It was a great success and is still one of his most successful songs despite the massive success he has had with his most recent album, "Tha Carter III".



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Official Music Video

Same Girl – Usher + R Kelly



How is the video used to construct the image of the artist/band?
The video starts with a close up of the artists that are performing the song. They both introduce themselves to promote each other. This is shortly followed by an establishing shot showing a mansion. Showing the wealth of the two artists, they both are known for having large egos and this promotes them to be rich. It is also typical of R&B videos to show glamorous cars and buildings in the videos. The song is a narrative and the lyrics are stated at a slow tempo so you can understand the story it is trying to tell. There is a lot of relation between the on screen images and the lyrics. Showing a number of close-ups of the girl that the two artists are both describing. There is a clever shot in the video that lasts for a while, the screen cuts in half and you can see both artists in different locations talking to each other on the phone. It has close ups on the phones, which appear to be modern and worth a lot of money, this carries on with the glamorous style of the video. Both the settings appear to be modern and full of technology showing them both to be rich. This cuts out into shot showing all three of them and close ups of the girl they are describing, showing close ups of different body parts. The girl is used as a center of attention in the video and it is based on her, this is used in many videos and she is used as eye candy. It then goes onto them driving in sports cars once again promoting their wealth. It then cuts into many different exotic locations showing them each individually with the girl in the video. The lyrics show them to be clean-cut people and give them a reputation of treating people well; this could be used as they both have a well-known history of dodgy relationships. After this a number of quick shots are used showing the two artists playing basketball, showing them to be sporty and that they take care of themselves.

The sound in the background is a sample used, there are no instruments and the beat is ongoing and being spoken over. This is how rap music is typically made and works well with the song. It also shows them to have a good relationship and it helps with their on screen chemistry. The lyrics in the song are well balanced to allow all ages to watch the video and listen to the song. This also goes with their clean-cut image they are trying to portray. The mise-en-scene in the video mainly consists of exotic locations, fast cars and modern and expensive things; it shows a life that many people want to live. This is typical of most R&B artists that like to show their money and prowess. The editing in the music video is very well used to construct the characters that the artists are trying to portray. There are a number of different ways in which they have done this including a shot showing all three people on the screen at once in different locations. This puts the girl at the center of attention as she is in the middle and goes along with the narratives of the song as she is based to be coming in between the two friends.

In conclusion, the video is well constructed between the two artists, this is one of the first videos created since R Kelly was cleared from his paedophile scandal. He was proven not guilty and now he is trying to use that to reboost his career before he was given a bad name. The video advertises his upcoming tour, "Double Up" in which he will feature with other artists in a tour around North America such as Keyshia Cole, J Holiday and Ne-Yo. He also promotes himself as a rapper that loves beautiful woman and loves money. His characteristics are stereotypical of the modern R&B/Rap artist. He isn't quite as edgey as most Rap artists which allows him to appeal to a more mainstream audience. This video is very successful in showing his desire to come back into the music industry and become successful again. He appears to have put the bad publicity behind him with this video, another clever thing was to work with the other artist in the video Usher who has been extremely successful and has become increasingly popular amongst the younger generations over recent years. The video is easy to watch and tells the story well. The lyrics and video sync well and it is easy to interpret what happens almost without listening to the lyrics. The girls used in the video are all glamorous and beautiful which is what is normal of all R&B music videos. This video is very well made and I think it done well to rebound his career after the end of his bad spell.

This is the official music video to the song that I have analysed above. It is called Same Girl and is performed by the same artist that performs our final piece song. R Kelly stars alongside Usher in the hit that was very successful in 2008.

Presentation - Researching our Artist Choice.

Research into Artist

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Music Video Synopsis

Media Synopsis

(Intro) Diegetic sound will be imported into the video. We are using a song that is also sung by R Kelly. This will promote the rest of his album and the upcoming songs.

Main character working out inside a gym for the first few quick shots. Extras in the background showing it is a public gym. Short sequence of him running through a rundown area. (We have chosen to use an area locally. Pictures will be uploaded shortly. He is listening to another song on his iPod whilst we are filming this sequence. As he enters his house and throws his equipment to the side, we will focus a close up shot of his iPod changing song to our actual song we are promoting, "World's Greatest". This happens simultaneously to him falling asleep and into a dream. We are going to use a blur effect that is used in other music videos and has proven to be successful. We will use a blur effect to try and create the sense of our main character falling into a dream. Whilst he is in the state of a dream we will show him being built up using a selection of different lifestyles. We will show him training, and fighting his way to the top. We will hopefully be able to show him living the dream lifestyle at the end of the video. Being the "Worlds Greatest".

We have secured the following filming areas..

Garage (To show him purchasing a new car)
Local Gym (Training/Fighting)
Recording Studio (Cutting to shots of character singing)

Names: Adam McNamara, Arjun Raja and Adam Sutherland

Blog Address: Group 1

Name of Artist and Song Title: R Kelly – The World’s Greatest

Why have you chosen to promote this band/artist?

He has been very successful over a sustained period of time during his career that has spanned out over 15 years. We all like the genre of music that he works in.

Why have you chosen to make a promo video for this song?

We all have agreed with the song, as it is one of his better songs. The video isn’t recognised as other songs in the genre, and we feel we can work with the lyrics.

What are ideas for your video?

Settings – Gym/Urban Areas

Characters – Main character only. With extras involved.

Props – Gym equipment.

Clothing – To personalise the characters. Show a transformation from his real life to his dream life.

A2 Start

This is a quick update just to let you know we are back at school and starting our A2 coursework. We are going to be constructing a Music Video and we have chosen the song, "World's Greatest" performed by cultured Hip Hop/RnB artist R Kelly.

We have decided to keep the same group as before, but we have lost one member of the group as he has left school. We had the chance to add others to the group but felt that we worked well together before and we are confident in completing the task between the three of us.

We are looking forward to getting into grips with the work as we are all fans of the song that we have chosen, we thoroughly enjoyed last years work and hope we can improve from our experience.