Research into chosen artist

My interests in relation to my chosen artist is the particular style of dance genre that Shift K3Y produces which is a sufficient balance between vocals and instrumentals , it seems that this quite a popular interest that many people seem to have as our target audience is quite broad.The reason we choose to create a music video with this artist in mind is purely due to our combined interest in this artist, due to our enthusiasm in relation to the artist we also have quite a large amount of knowledge of this artist which will of course work in our favour.

Artist profile-
Shift K3Y otherwise known as Lewis Jankel is a DJ, songwriter, producer and singer from England. He produces as well as sings in the dance songs thats the makes which is are produced for a younger target audience of people from 15 to the age of 28. Shift K3Y has only been present within the music industry from 2011 which shows he is clearly a new artist, he has only 3 songs which are of his own however he has created a number of remixes. The remixes he created are "Trampoline" by Tinie Tempah, "Get Low" by DJ snake & Dillion Francis and "Talking Body" by Tove Lo.

Year	Single	Peak chart positions			Album
		UK	UK Dance	SCO
2014	"Touch"	3	3	6	Non-album singles
	"I Know"	25	6	23
2015	"Name & Number"	–	–	–
	"2 Doors"	–	–	–	Off The Record
	"Crying In My Sleep" (ft. Andrea Martin)	–	–	–
	"Still Love You"	–	–	–
	"Beep Beep"	–	–	–
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released. Shift K3Y was previously signed to Bullet Train in 2011 when he release his first EP "Step in the city".He gained large recognition and support from famous DJ's such as MistaJam who DJ'd on the popular radio station "BBC Radio 1", this of course was a major factor in Shift K3Y's increase in popularity.In 2012 Shift K3Y then gained recognition from the very famous dubstep artist Borgore who then featured one of his tracks on Borgore's music labels "Buygore Allstard Vol.1 compilation", this led to him producing another song called "Let you down" which again was released through Borgore's label. In 2013 he started to produce remix's of already popular songs, he remixed  AlunaGeorge's "Attracting Flies" which recieved heavy support from 1xtra. Throughout 2013 he released three free singles Keep Ya Mouth Shut (Things People Say)" featuring Griminal, "Make It Good"  and "Laughing At You" which features vocals by his girlfriend Ruby Francis. On 13 April 2014, he released his breakthrough single "Touch". On 16 April 2014, the song was at number 3 on The Official Chart Update in the UK. On 20 April 2014, the song managed to maintain its position and entered the UK Singles Chart at number 3, making it his first UK top 5 single. The follow-up single, "I Know", was released on 21 September 2014. It reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart. Shift K3Y is now currently signed to record labels Columbia Records and Sony Music Entertainment. The first song that i will analysing is "Name and Number by Shift K3Y. This music video follows Paradox 1 of Dyers stars theory as it understand that a person is ordinary, this shown as the artist in this music video seems to live a normal life for someone of his age having fun with his friends in a club or party atmosphere, the settings which are used are would also be considered normal as they are not lavish. The target audience for this music video may be a little higher then Shift K3Y's other songs as the video shows the life of young adults between the ages of 18-21 so therefore when that target audience watches this music video they may feel as if they are able to relate for more to what they see then anyone of a younger age, it will relate both genders and also people older then 18-21 as they too can relate to their younger years when watching this music video. Having said that it could still relate to people as young as 15 although it may not create as a big a relationship then someone of an older age.The artist throughout the music video is represented as quite a fun individual as in various scenes he is seen to be having quite a lot fun while socialising with other people. He is also represented as someone that likes to party quite a lot and generally enjoy himself as a large proportion of the video was set within a house part environment.In regards to the style of the music video a large proportion would be narrative as the song is focused on a girl and retrieving her number. The other proportion of music video would be both concept and performance as there is quite a lot singing in the music video from the artist.  The whole setting used throughout the music video has been a house, this has been used to possibly further relate to the audience more as the target audience may well have been in the same situations such as the house party which makes a continuos appearance within the music video. The house party is also seen to be quite a popular connotation of dance/house music which may have been another reason for its use to make the video appear more conventional.The costumes used throughout the music video would be considered 'normal clothes' again this shows the audience that the artist is just like them and it also far more fitting to the video as he try's to portray a normal student lifestyle within the music video.The 'normal clothes' would consist of a t-shirt and most probably jeans although the audience are not able to see the lower half of the artist. The large proportion of music video is not focused on the artist however on the parts that are focused on him it is clear that he has quite a clear open body language showing that he is quite confident throughout gaining all the attention in the proportions of the music video that he is in which shows the audience that he is  quite well loved. The facial expressions of the artist are constantly happy with smiles which would make the audience warm further to him as this type of attitude is what tend to make an artist more popular with the audience.The lighting within the music video has been split between high key lighting and low key lighting with the high key lighting used in all scenes apart from the house party scene. The colours used in the music video are very vibrant and colourful which gives a warm feel to the music video, there is also use of colourful lighting within the house party scene which is a common convention associated with parties and dance music.  There has been a clear use of a mid shot used on the artist within a 'selfie' position that shows the audience that he is carry the camera in order to relate more to the popular current trends, this also gives a more personal feel to the shot as it allows the audience to feel as if the artist is singing to them. Within the shot we also see many other individuals in the background this shows the audience that the people around the artist are all enjoying themselves at the party which again is a popular convention of dance music videos.The use of this mid-shot has also been used to show the target audience of the artist which shows them that he feels relaxed and in quite a positive mood while he is at this party, this will hopefully create a relationship with the audience as this is the same sensation that they may feel when they are at a house party. There is also a clear use of a close up of shift k3y in the beginning of the music video, the shot shows the male figure with a disconcerted look upon his face. The main purpose for this type of cinematography is to highlight the individuals facial expression to the audience, this ensures that they feel sympathy towards the artist and it can also help to create a deeper relationship with the artist which is often the case when the audience sees someone in dismay.The camera also tilts which is used to highlight that the artists world is quite unstable due to the situation that he is currently in.  In relation to Goodwins theory there is a clear a relationship between the visuals and lyrics when Shift K3Y says "It's impossible to hide us even though he bought you diamonds" it shows a set of cards being placed on the table which are all of the diamond suit, this doesn't necessarily relate to the audience in anyway however the lyrics do in fact tell the audience that artists affection for the girl that he is singing about is very strong despite her having another boyfriend who likes to buy her expensive items.    The first song that i will be analysing is "Touch" by Shift K3Y.The general concept of the music video is the lust for the femaln icon in the music video as the male icon constantly sings about never wanting to give her and to feel her touch.The target audience for the music video would be both genders between the ages of 13 to 28 due to this song being quite a relatively commercial dance song that would most likely appeal to a vast range of people which may have been one of the reasons as to why it had been so popular in the UK charts.The artist is represented to be quite normal as the music video has a very simplistic concept and is more focused on the editing of the video, dance genre artists don't tend to commonly feature in their music video however shift k3y has made a relatively large appearance in this video as he is in fact the male singing throughout the song, he could represented as skilful to his singing otherwise he is represented as quite an ordinary person like many of his target audience will be.The style of the music video is mainly performance as the large majority is the male figure singing throughout the music video, there is small proportion of concept and narrative which shows the male figure lusting after the female. The setting used throughout the music video is dark setting that does not reveal anything to the audience, this may have been used to highlight the artist that is shown in the whole music video. Another reason for the use of this setting is that also highlight the colourful lighting that is used, this is a very popular connotation of the dance genre and Shift K3Y as it seems to be a popular technique that he uses in his music videos such as "Name and Number". The audience may be able to relate to this setting as this type of environment is similar to what is used within in a nightclub which may also make the music video more appealing to the audience due to the increased relationship. The costumes used by the male artist and the female individual are also conventional of the dance genre as they similar to what the audience may wear to a house party or a nightclub, it shows that the artist is considers himself quite normal. This again further builds the relationship between the audience and the artist as they are able to see that the artist considers himself who is similar to his target audience. The costumes used for the male artist is a simple shirt and a pair of jeans. The body language that the artist uses is quite open which shows the audience that he is quite confident as he is singing about a girl. In regards to the facial expressions of the artist the large majority of the video is not focused on his face and instead focused on the rest of his body as the song is focused on his touch. However when the audience are given the opportunity to see the artists face we can see that he is looking quite lustfully at the woman within the music video which reinforces the lyrics that he sings in the same scene. Throughout the music video there has only been low key lighting which used is used to represent a party or a nightclub, this allows for the vast amount of colours used in the music video to be highlighted to the audience which again related to the connotations used in the dance genre. The cinematography used in this music video is mainly a midshot that shows the artists hands to relate with the title of the music video which is "Touch". Within this midshot we see the hands of the artist illuminated with many flashing bright colours which I used to emphasise the touch of the artist which again links deeply with the lyrics as the overall concept of the song is the artists feeling the female individuals touch. The  midshot also shows the artist frantically moving his hands with the melody of the song which subliminally shows the audience that he is enjoying himself while he is singing to the audience, it also further highlights the emphasis of the artist brightly colours hands. There is also use of a closeup showing the artist moving closer to the female individual with his hands getting close to touching her face in a sensual manor. The purpose of a closeup is to accentuate to the audience of the actions within that particular scene. In this case it shows the artist finally being able to 'touch' the female in the music video which of course is quite a significant moment. It also shows the facial expression of both the artist and the female which shows the audience it is quite an intense moment as they are looking deeply into each others eyes. This created a greater relationship between the audience and the artist as they are able to see how profound the moment is for both the individuals within the scene. This music video follows Paradox 1 of Dyers stars theory as it understand that a person is ordinary, which is shown in the music as both the male and female are dressed very normally and similar to how most of their target audience will dress. The male figure within the music video clearly has star element as throughout the music video he is singing which shows the audience that he is the skill to sing well which of course can be seen very desirable and make him seem quite skilful. In relation to Goodwins theory there is a clear a relationship between the visuals and lyrics when Shift K3Y  says "We can hold each other's hands just that slow" he is clearly shown holding on to other female icon within the music video, this shows the audience that he clearly feels quite affectionate towards the female especially as he mentions that they can hold hands "just that slow", this is also clearly shown in the visuals as that particular scene is then slowed down to match the lyrics.The music video also demonstrates genre characteristic, this shown as the environment is very dark with brightly coloured objects such as the hands of the male character along with the coloured smoke and strobe lighting. The research on my chosen music artist will hopefully assist me with the planning of my own music video as I have been able to identity key conventions that Shift K3Y like to incorporate into his music this could potentially give myself and my group inspiration to think of similar ideas that will satisfy our chosen target audience. In relation to the mise-en-scene there are key elements such as the low key lighting that will most certainly incorporate into my own music video as it seems as it is a very important element to include within a dance genre music video which has been evident through my research in both the genre and the artist. The use of the colourful lighting will most certainly be incorporated in our music video also along with the use of strobe lighting which can be seen in the "Touch" music video.