RESEARCH INTO KANKOURAN

1983 was the year that KanKouran the West African Dance Company was founded by Assane Konte. It was founded as an extension of the arts and they aim to expose local and national and international audiences. The company produce lectures, performances and workshops for all kinds of people. Despite Mr Konte being a native African, (the origin of the dance) the company’s performing artists are from the District of Columbia are and represent a variety of different cultural backgrounds.
The company extracts its name from the people of Senegal, and the Mandingo culture. KanKouran “in Mandingo culture is a guide who teaches young boys and girls the meaning of manhood and womanhood as a part of their transition into adult hood.”

Considering the African dance origin of the name, Kankouran we wanted to intergrate the West African culture and our own idea’s/pre-conceptions together. Our friend Emily Chawawa has put herself forward for the role of the woman in our video. She fits the image we had in mind for the character, young, unique, individual style. She can suit versatile looks, which is what we plan to create.

Due to the generic aspects of the band, we thought it appropriate to have 'youths' acting in this video. This links in with the style of the dance, (the transition from childhood to adulthood) and the individual electronic/indie/pop genre the band represents. The aspect of rebellion is featured in all of these genres and the aspect of youth.

The style of costume we wanted to in-corporate is maybe features of the Victorian fashions, i.e. the long skirts. Maybe some West-African prints (bold prints) on some other costumes, maybe the male's costumes. We also wanted to include some modern day clothing, to appeal to our (intended) target audience, so style's influenced by the band and by the genre.

We think we have found Literature and Film inter-textual references just from the locations so far, and the meaning of the band's name. We have yet to decide on names for the characters and shots etc. However by using the Victorian clothing, we are inter-textual referencing it to 'The French Lieutenant's Woman' which was set in the 19th century. Our video and the film are both using the same location - The Cobb, on Lyme Regis Beach in Devon. We have yet to research'The French Lieutenant's Woman' further but it is a definite area of interest.

The band's name - Kankouran, as stated earlier is a west African dance, and so by incorporating aspects of Africa prints into the costumes gives a nod to the origin of the name and toward the African culture, linking back to the dance and of course the band.

The modern day clothing is going to be integrated into a mix of the other two styles of costumes, hopefully creating an outcome which will look unique and innovative to the audience and try to target the younger audience.

ANDREW GOODWIN'S THEORY

1 - MUSIC VIDEOS DEMONSTRATE GENRE AND CHARACTERISTICS

This can be shown through the costumes, the set design, mise-en-scene, conventions and cultural signinfiers.
For example a female artist like Beyonce or Rihanna performing a dance routine in a music video would be considered a pop music convention. Another way of demonstrating the genre through this video would be the costume choice, this style was in fashion and set new trends when the video first came out, establishing this video as a pop video.

2 -THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS - EITHER ILLUSTRATIVE, AMPLIFYING OR CONTRADICTING

These can be shown as enhancements/editing/animation on the video, props, costumes, mise-en-scene, set design etc.
For example in Stooshe's video 'Black Heart' towards the end of the video, the characters paint the backdrop/set design of hanging hearts black from pink. This visual is re-enforcing the lyric "He got a black heart" and supporting.

3 -THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND VISUALS

This is shown through the visuals of the music video and the pace and dynamics of the music video.

For example in Jamie T's music video 'Sticks 'n' Stones' it is an upbeat fast song, which is shown in the video, there are many shots of trains, people running, tracking shots etc, making it feel like a fast paced music video as well as song.

4 -THE DEMANDS OF THE RECORD LABEL WILL INCLUDE THE NEED FOR LOTS OF CLOSE UPS OF THE ARTIST AND THE ARTIST MAY DEVELOP MOTIFS ACROSS THEIR WORK

This could be shown as a visual style or something that the re-occurs in their music videos that is automatically recognisable.
For example in Mumford & Sons music videos, there are close ups of the lead singer singing and the musicians playing their instruments, in most of their videos they try and re-create the iconic image of the playing their powerful instruments, which is recognisable to their fans.

5 -THERE IS FREQUENT REFERENCE TO NOTION OF LOOKING AND PARTICULARLY VOYERISTIC TREATMENT OF THE FEMALE BODY

This is often shown through women in underwear, swimsuits or little clothing.

An exmaple of voyerstic treatment of the female body is shown in Nicki Minaj's music video 'Starships' where she is mainly featured in a barbie pink bikini and nothing else. There are repeated shots of Nicki Minaj wearing not a lot, but it is used to draw attention to the song/video to create attention and hype.

6 -THERE ARE OFTEN INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES (TO FILMS TV AND OTHER POSSIBLE REFERENCES)

An intertextual reference can be made through costume, set design, lyrics, prop mise-en-scene and many other ways. It link highlights the fact that the artist wanted the audience to think of the reference and link it to their video. It gives a deeper meaning to the video/song.
For example in Madonna's music video to Material girl (1985), she werars similar costumes, has the same set and the same style of men surrounding her as Marylin Monroe does in 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' (1953) song 'Diamonds Are A Girl's Bestfriend'. This reference is to make the link that Marylin Monroe was a very sexy woman and portrays a suggestive image in the pink gown she wears. Madonna tries to replica this image by making the intertextual reference to this video.