Uptown Funk Video Analysis

Watch Puff Daddy and Pharell Williams into a monochromatic pegged music video with pumps of color and hue as the song progresses. Both singers were given enough exposure all throughout the track emanating a jumpy, catchy rap and tune to all those listening and watching. The official music video shouts out the hip hop and R&B's retro aura, with a hint of modern video making by setting out pops of colors over a black-and-white backdrop.

Funk was an element that was highlighted within hip hop. Many people argued that funk was the beginning of hip hop. James Brown helped to promote black music in general and he was known as the King of Funk. Hip Hop didn't exist when dance started, that all dealt with

With the recent increase of diverse characters being depicted in media, people are becoming more tolerant towards other cultures and ethnicities. One such character is Black Panther. In most popular sources of media, people of color are not given the role of the main character; rather, they are supporting characters who are often overshadowed by the typical white protagonist. The scarcity of people of color in media has resulted in many children of color not having a role model to revere who shares their same culture and experiences regarding their race. Black Panther is the first black superhero in mainstream American comics (Johnson).

The Black Power Mixtape follows momentous events between 1965 and 1975. It is directed by two Swedish directors, and their nationality is very important for the layout of the film. The film takes place during the Civil Rights Movement, and included leaders such as Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis, Malcolm X, and Medgar Evers. This was also during the time of the Vietnam War, whom Sweden saw a useless war. The heads of this country were the Nixon Administration, and Lyndon Johnson’s administration.

Amanda is a grade 12 student that is thrilled to be part of Magee’s Mainstage production of Cabaret! Amanda has been in the drama program since grade 8. She has been apart of the backstage crew, front of house, an actor, director and is now one of the executive producers for Players. From the two years she has been in Mainstage, she has gained many valuable skills along with unforgettable memories from her peers and director that she is incredibly thankful for and will treasure for the rest of her life. Amanda is ecstatic to perform Cabaret for you as her last production here at Magee and hopes you enjoy the show as much as she enjoyed working on it!

The Ken Burns' Jazz video was extremely interesting- I learned quite an immense amount of material in less than 90 minutes. A key impression that stood out to me was how a couple famous jazz musicians became so depressed and scared of others, who might steal their materials and styles of playing. Freddie Keppard even turned down the offer to possibly be the first jazz musician to be recorded, because he was afraid that musicians would begin using and stealing his work.

“The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was recorded in 1981 and released by SugarHill Records on July 1, 1982.

Be yourself. In the video, the band performs in some dingy basement. Not a fancy ballroom stage like in ‘All The Right Moves’. The house is in bad shape. Heck, the lights are not even working properly – curiously though, the way they flash on and off kinda mimics a disco, so it even ends up looking good.

Tonight (August 17, 2015) on 'Love and Hip Hop Atlanta' it started where it ended off. Jessica Dime had Margeaux perform "Start A War" at the show, Mimi put together but things did not go well after the performance. See clip below.

After the rise of hip hop films based on music and energy with a twist of youths, another genre of hip hop films revealed with “the Blaxploitation depictions of violent black urban inhabitants.” (Sanchez 26) As gangsta films began to stream, the history behind the hip hop genre has captured audience’s attention. One of the ways films attract the audience is by use of mise en scene, the arrangement of scenery. For both film Straight Outta Compton and Drumline to demonstrate similar and dissimilar struggles within the black communities, the analysis of mise en scene helps to conveys the message to the audience. While Drumline depicts on urban Black youth struggling from the educational issues, Straight Outta Compton depicts on heavy violence from gangsters, specifically dealing with law enforcement inequality, discrimination, and struggles they face from brutal society. Although both films are vastly different, one exceptional similarity between the two is a passion towards music despite their background. By analyzing on both films’ mise en scene by settings, dialogues, and background music, the comparison between the two are well depicted.

Hip Hop has been a thread of music that is deeply rooted in the struggle within the black communities of America. It acted as a window for people outside of the black community to acknowledge and experience, to an extent, what endeavors those communities encounter. Although Hip Hop’s central purpose is to denote the subjugation that was implemented on the black community, Hip Hop began as a mere offshoot of 1970’s jazz, funk, and soul.

For this week’s discussion post, I decided to pick “Upgrade U” by Beyoncé to compare with the dance performed by the Les Twins. But first I want to explain the cultural of Hip-Hop and Jazz, and why it took a long time to be accepted in the United States. Jazz was one of the earliest genres performed by African American’s and white people did not accept it during the time. But as the 1940’s came around Jazz grew into something big and was widely accepted in the America. The videos we viewed this show so much culture and value because originally these dances originated from African and it resembles the same type of moves as some traditional African dances. That is why I picked ”Upgrade U”, even though Hip-Hop was originated in New York, they still have resemblances from African Dances.

Hip Hop was birthed in the neighborhood, where young people gathered in parks, on playgrounds, and neighborhood street corners, to verbalize poetry over spontaneous sounds and adopted melodies. Hip Hop was not just the music; it was also a way for the young to show their skills in break dancing, gymnastic dance style that was valued, and athleticism over choreographed fluidity. Hip hop was also fashion such as: hats, jackets, gold chains, and name-brand sneakers. Hip Hop was a form of graffiti, to a new way of expression that engaged spray paint on the subway walls as the canvas. In addition, today’s hip hop have changed as where the DJ was once is now the producer as the key music maker, and the park is now a studio.

In our concept video, we explored the concept of friendship. Or central idea was “the key to life is friendship and love.” We chose the images of us with each other and other friends because the friendship that we personally have together is one we’d never be able to live without. We have grown into one person almost. The other girls presented in the video are bonds that we hope will never break. These ladies have made us who we are today and the thought of going without them almost feels empty. We had no specific order to our content, we really just wanted to show how important these people are to us and our everyday lives, whether it’s being silly or serious or all dressed up for a dance. The soundtrack we chose is “If I Ain’t Got You”

In the beginning of the video, notice how the viewer is tricked into thinking Lamar was driving around with a couple of friends in the car. When in reality, we see that the car is being carried around by police officers. But the way these police officers are working hard to carry Lamar and his friends in the car depicts them more like servants and not police officers. On the other hand, if you think about it Kendrick Lamar isn’t actually in control of the car either, the police are. Lamar could do anything he wants, the police officers are the ones in control of the car he’s steering and he can’t do anything to change that. In other words the car is like a coffin and then police officers look like pallbearers. This states how the cops will