Analysis of 'The Yellow Tape'

The meaning behind 'The Yellow Tape' was to show what it is like to be a young musician in the Sheffield scene an exactly what it is like from an artists point of view, also where the art Yusuf Yellow took inspiration from to stand where he does today. I have made the short film in yellow which connotes happiness, sunflowers, colour and sun. The artist Yusuf Yellow was based on these things, his name comes from the Arabic translation of Joseph and he was always inspired by all thing yellow, he grew up always being colourful and wanting to spread his inspiration to the ears of music lovers. This denotes that the artists music is upbeat and joyful rather than using dark blues which connotes bleakness and depression.

The artist is shown as a cheap living artist, having enough to get by. We can see this from his surroundings, this is also a use of mise-en-scène, cheap music equipment, small flat, gritty skateparks and gritty looking baggy clothes. The artist doesn't come across as a clean cut business man but more an individual just getting by with enough money but a lot of happiness. Yusuf Yellows surroundings are built on working class backgrounds, he lives in a cheap flat with his brother which is shown on the documentary. This allowed me to show the passion Yusuf has for music, instead of working 9-5 in a suit he is at uni making music daily, living on cheap food and cups of tea just so he can fulfil his dreams as a musician.

I was heavily inspired by the short film 'A New Place 2 Drown' which follows an artist Archy Marshall through his journey recording his first project under his own name rather than King Krule which is his band. In this short film they show Archy drifting through South East London where he grew up with his brother and good friends, Archy also gives an insight into his life and where his inspiration comes from. I was analysing this short film for a few weeks and realised exactly where I could use this inspiration in my short film, both these artists grew up in gritty working class areas but they're doing all they can to get out with their love for music, basic shot types and cheap production film left me with a bunch of ideas and how I could portray Yusuf's love towards the music. I used basic transitions of just simple cuts and very basic shot types/angles with no professional look, I didn't use any pans around the artist so that I could make the production look cheap and gritty which also helps connote the music is a passion not a project for money as he is still living cheaply.

I am with how the effects helped bring meaning into 'The Yellow Tape' and how they working out during production, I used a tape warp, a VHS effect, Colour Balance and a filmic blend to create a cheap production with a gritty homemade aesthetic. I used 'Colour Balance' to create meaning while also linking to the artists name 'Yusuf Yellow' the colour yellow connotes sunflowers, happiness, summer and positivity. These are things the artists wants to spread to his listeners as he is a very upbeat artist and speaks from personal experience on how he is challenged with negative thoughts, emotions and experiences and how he views them in order to help him get through this. These effects were satisfactory for the artist 'Yusuf Yellow' as he really appreciated the gritty aesthetic of cheap production and how I helped portray his as a positive being through the use of these effects in the short film/documentary. I am more than happy with how the effects turned out and I would not change anything if I was to edit the project again, after showing some friends and family members they instantly asked if I had shot the film on a VHS compact camera which was the look I was aiming for since the planning stage. The effects are also suitable/satisfactory for the audience as I have also thought about the target audience in the production of this short film/documentary and had knowledge of some of the artists fans and the things they are into, being vintage clothes and retro aesthetic. Many of Yellow's friends are creative in some way and are inspired by the older equipment and grainy looking footage so I brought all these ideas in together to also attract an audience that are hung up on this aesthetic.

L01: Treatment - The Yellow Tape Short Film

'The Yellow Tape' is short film that focuses on the Sheffield based artist Yusuf Yellow, the short film will follow Yusuf around his surroundings and capture what he gets up to while being an artist in Sheffield. I will ask the artists some questions about himself and a bit about his music so that people will learn more about the up and coming artist, the viewers will also see what it is like to be an up and coming artist in Sheffield, they will hear what the scene is like from an artist in the middle of it all. This will be important to young musicians and the Sheffield audience as it will educate the young musicians and also give an isight to them while also showing the Sheffield audience what the youths of the city get up to. The narrative that ''The Yellow Tape' will follow is both educational and entertaining, I not only want to entertain the viewers but also give an insight into the music industry through a musicians point of view that could help certain viewers, I will achieve this by asking the artist questions about the subject.

To film the short film I will be working by myself, this means I have to have all my times organised and ready for recording. I will be using my phone to record the short film on as I am wanting to capture a gritty, cheap production effect, I will be editing the footage in the post production stage adding grain and other effects so this also saved me time, rather than having to carry around expensive equipment and setting up tripods etc.

For post production I will be using my laptop and Adobe Premiere Pro, I will be using this software as it is industry standard editing software. This will allow me to cut up clips for the parts I want, create my VHS effect, add grain and change the colour of the short film to yellow, because the short film is based on the artist Yusuf Yellow I will be recording the short film inside his flat and have some short clips around Sheffield, I will also involve a few clips of the artists friends to show who he has personal bonds with and who he enjoys to spend his free time with. Using the short clips of Sheffield will also be entertaining to the Sheffield audience as they will see familiar local locations to where they live.



Here is the production schedule I created, this will help keep me organised and to know exactly what needs to be done by a set date, this will also help when going to record with the artist we both know when to record by, I have laid out the production schedule by dates and tasks, also pre-production, production and post-production so I know where I am with the short film. I also have made a section for contingencies so that I have backups which will help if any files get lost.

L04: Final short film

LO4: Proposal for certification classification for The Yellow Tape

Once it came to reviewing my short film/documentary on Yusuf Yellow and his music, I decided that a 12A certification was suitable because the guidelines for the BBFC rating were almost too similar when reviewing them next to my film. I believe music is a thing young people can fall in love with, I started heavily getting into music around 5 years of age and I never look back on doing so, for this to be seen by younger ages would massively inspire me to make more short films like this, however there is a scene in the film where Yusuf Yellow swears but it is only subtle and happens once, besides that there is no fighting, no drugs, dangerous behaviour, sex or violence.
While I was reviewing my age rating, I contemplated making the documentary slightly higher with the age rating but I believe one swear word shouldn't be too offensive as long as the parents are there to tell them not to repeat it if they even pick up on it. However, this swearing could be taken to heart if seen by the wrong people, we had to make sure that this was the right decision in the end as if the swearing was taken to heart we could receive a lot of frustrated complaints.

      

I decided to analyse my short film/documentary along side Johnny Cash's 'Walk the Line' which was a film in 2005 rated 12A, in this film Cash is seen throughout with subtle uses of language, sex and violence. These things are approved with the chosen certificate and I haven't used any nudity or violence, there was very mild use of language during the Yellow Tape so I decided that 12A was the suitable certificate to give before being released.