common letter to the free

Read this Billboard interview where Common talks about Letter to the Free, political hip hop and contemporary American society. Use the article and the notes we have made in lessons (also available above) to answer the following questions on the social, cultural and genre contexts for Letter to the Free.

1) What other projects has Common been involved in over recent years?

common has been working in other projects as well to do the same thing like he wrote lyrics for all glory to us by john legend.

2) What is the 13th Amendment of the American Constitution?

3) What were the Black Codes?

The black codes were laws which were passed against black people to work for minim wages.

4) Why do people suggest that the legacy of slavery is still a crucial aspect to American culture 150 years after it was abolished by the 13th Amendment?

This is because to make sure that everyone is aware about what the black people had to go through.

5) Why was Ava DuVernay inspired to make the Netflix documentary 13th?

This is because slavery is a very important that they need to show the world about how traumatising the american  culture was for the black people.

6) Focusing on genre, what was the most significant time period for the rise in political hip hop?

80's and 90's because this was the time when a lot of black people used racism as a genre in their music.

7) Common talks about other current artists that have a political or protest element to their music. Who are they? Are there any other hip hop artists that you are aware of that have a strong political element to their work?

he thinks Kendrick Lamar and  chance the rapper 

8) What album is Letter to the Free taken from? What was the critical reception for this album? You'll need to research this - the Wikipedia entry for the album is a good place to start.

black american is the album which the song comes from.

Close-textual analysis and representation

Re-watch the music video several times to complete the following tasks in specific detail:

1) How does the Letter to the Free music video use cinematography to create meanings for the audience? (Camera shots and movement).

camera shots-the tracking shot at the start to show prison
long shots to show the characters
no close ups
This is to ensure that people are understanding the message for black people is something very serious and how they don't have freedom in doing other things as there are no shots which are taken outside. 

2) What is the significance of the constantly moving camera?

This is to show that everything is moving but the black people are still not getting their freedom.

3) Why is the video in black and white?

This is because this shows that how serious the topic is and also shows that it is very factual.

4) How is mise-en-scene used to construct meaning for the audience - prison setting, costume, props, lighting, actor placement?

setting-The prison is portraying the stereotypes of black people being a criminal and being in jail 

lighting-

costume-no stereotypical costumes used like a hip hop video as common is seen to be wearing casual clothes which is a black sweater and trousers to show how normal black people dress.

props-The props were the African drums which showed the culture but the main props used is the black brick which is shown from the start of the video till the end to show that the black people are seen as objects like the black brick shown in the video.

actor placement

5) Focusing on the track, what are the key lyrics that suggest the political message of the song?


6) What is the significance of the floating black square motif? Discuss your own interpretations alongside Common's explanation of it in the Billboard feature linked above.

The black square mortifies that the way they are showing the black square in the shots is showing how black people are treated like objects shwon by the prsion shot in the cell and then shown outside at the end to show how black people are looking for freedom.

The significant of this is that it was representing black people.

7) How does the video reference racism, slavery and the oppression of black culture? Make reference to specific shots, scenes or moments in the video.

8) How can Gilroy's idea of black diasporic identity be applied to Common's Letter to the Free?

his idea can be linked to show 9) What other theories of race and ethnicity can be applied to this video? E.g. Hall, Rose or Dyson.

10) What current events in America and worldwide are referenced in the song and video?

donald trump is being mentioned 

music video theory

 


1) How does the This Is America video meet the key conventions of a music video?

The key conventions used in this music video is using narrative showing how the black people are stereotypical shown in america and how they are shown as a threat to society by showing guns and they also have shown performance by showing dancing/singing to entertain the audience watching this music video.
showing how people are seeing black people 


2) What comment is the video making on American culture, racism and gun violence?

The comment this music video makes on american culture racism and gun violence is that black people are shown as a threat to the society by showing how they are stereotypical using guns when the beat drops to "this is america" shooing how normal it is for a black person to use a gun and show how the society is being racist towards them.

3) Write an analysis of the video applying the theories we have learned: Gilroy, Hall, Rose and Dyson. 

Gilroy-showing the ideology of double conscious of how people are seeing black people from a  different perspective shown by the video of how stereotypical black people ares shown.


hall-The performance element is shown Read this Guardian feature on This Is America - including the comments below.

4) What are the three interpretations suggested in the article?

three interpretations
1.)showing a performance of black man dancing
2.)showing how black people are seen by white people
3.)showing how black people are getting arrested by police 



5) What alternative interpretations of the video are offered in the comments 'below the line'? 

The comment section interprets the music video to be very interesting and good shown by the character played by Donald Glover.

introduction to music video

Music Video: An introduction

Our next topic is Music Video - with two brilliant Close-Study Products.

Music video is a targeted CSP which means we need to focus on media language and representation. The CSPs are Common's Letter to the Free and Michael Jackson's classic Billie Jean so we'll also be looking at the representation of race and ethnicity and incorporating post-colonial theory.

An introduction to Music Video

Music videos typically feature movement – often fast paced either in terms of actors, camerawork or editing. Many contain a performance element or narrative. Music videos can also feature visual effects and intertextuality.

Music videos were originally designed as a promotional device to sell the band or artist’s music but have developed over time to become a recognised artform or product in their own right. Modern music videos no longer have the huge budgets of the 1980s and 1990s but digital media means they are now more accessible than ever. Videos such as Psy’s Gangnam Style have received over 3 billion views on YouTube.

Intertextuality

Intertextuality is when one media text references another media text – through genre, conventions, mise-en-scene or specific cultural references.

Music videos often use intertextual references – often to classic films but also to television, popular culture, news, videogames or even other music videos.

Notable examples of intertextual music videos:

 

Music Video introduction blog task

Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet #69: Music Video. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets - you'll need to save the factsheet to USB or email it to yourself in order to complete this at home. Read the factsheet and answer the following questions:

1) What is the purpose of a music video?

 The purpose of a music video is to sell products, the most obvious of which is the song featured in the video.

2) How has the digital age changed the production and distribution of music videos?

the digital producttion and idtribution allowed music to be avaliable at all times as before their were ecrtain times wherre the music was being played in  the television and radio but howeveer now it has changed and is avaaliable wheneveer we want to access it.

3) Which three major record labels are behind VEVO? What is VEVO and why was it created?

Sony Music
Entertainment, 
Universal Music
Group and Abu Dhabi Media

4) What are the key conventions of a music video?

Th key conventions of music video is movement- perfomance,intertexuatility and narrative.

5) How can narrative be used in music video? Give an example of a music video that uses a narrative.

narrative can be used in a music video as the lyrics can be very similar to the st=ory that they are showing for example shiro's story by rapman.

6) What examples are provided in the factsheet for intertextuality in music videos?

 examples-The Blink 182 video for All the Small Things makes references to videos by pop artists such as Backstreet Boys (I Want it That Way) and Christina Aguilera (Genie in a Bottle) by directly copying scenes7) Why do audiences enjoy intertextual references in media products?

This is because the audiences can very easily connect to the way they are showing the music video  and they feel very pleasured when they see themselves being represented in a music video.8) Read the music video example analysis on page 3 of the factsheet. Select a music video of your own choice and write your own analysis using the following headings:

• Conventions (movement/narrative/artist)narrative showing how to best friends had a fight with each other because one of them cheated on with the shiro's girlfriend. movement-singing/lip syicining  involved by the singer rapman
• Intertextuality-this is very much similar to power
• Representation- they represent the people living in London represent the dark streets of London full of crime and danger.
• Audience-the young adults and teenagers are the audience that they have targeted this in as this is in you tube and it is a music song which is created by rapman.

9) Watch the video for Ice Cube's It Was A Good Day (1993). How did this video set the conventions for later hip-hop music videos?

 

10) How important do you think music videos are in the marketing and promotion of music artists in 2018? Are music videos essential to a band or artist's success?

music videos are very much important to a artist because these music videos are representing the artist's work and what he stands for which means it shows the personality of the artist.

music video analysis

This is my current favourite music video as this has a lot of different music video conventions which are shown.They use the narrative convention to show a normal black persons live and show how they are lving by montage editing.Additionally they show this is being shown by Dave singing  lyrics throughout the video showing  where the black people are coming for and how they want to live a normal life but they are being judged through from the media shown by the celebrities shown in the clip stormy and ahem, sterling showing his tattoo of gun showing how black epole are associated with guns and violence.furthermore the music video is good example of showing how black people are represented by showing how they are locked in jail and how they are trying to fight this and live a normal life.