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Sindicato Hip Hop AngolaT

Who is Carlos?I am very driven and motivated to innovate in the area of digital

design. Having owned and operated my own video production

business for eight years, I have developed various skills in 2D and

3D animation, video editing, production techniques, 2d and 3d

motion track, photography and Visual effects.

My passion and commitment sees that every project is completed

through to the end, meeting deadlines along the way, taking

direction efficiently; and working within a team to solve problems.

Patience, persistence and a good eye for detail, allows me to

encourage team members, and instruct them within the constantly

changing environment of production. My objective is to become

a major art director in the motion graphics industry, and more

specifically, in broadcast design.

he Hip Hop market in Angola is beginning to

come alive. Unfortu-nately, we only have one Angolan TV chan-nel, which currently has no mention of Hip Hop music. With the growing Hip Hop community, it is an optimal time to cre-ate a TV channel solely dedicated to this genre of music. The channel’s purpose will be to fill the gap between Angola’s Hip Hop community and the media, as well as expose our own talent nationally and internationally.

“Sindicato” will be the name of this 24-hour Angolan music television channel, which is tar-geted at Angolan youth from �5-34 all across the country.

I’m taking on the chal-lenge of this project, because I’d like to become more familiar with branding and art direction. In order to go into greater depth of all I have learned, I will brand an entire Hip Hop music network channel for Angola.

To completely utilize this project practically, I would like to create a communications pack-age which showcases my abilities to design and work within a variety of mediums, and my famil-iarity with branding and art direction.

ResearchI started by researching the market and understand the

competition. As well as conduting primary research among the target audience. interviews were used to formulate a view of users perceptions of the music industry in Angola.

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Competitive Analyses

Target Audience

Branding

Breakdown

Competitive AnalysisI Began looking at my primary competitors. These are the market leaders, the companies who currently dominate your market. They are probably the ones who you find yourself bumping up against in your search for new customers. Next, i looked for my secondary and indi-rect competitors. These are the companies who may not go head-to-head with your, but who are targeting the same general market. After i’ve figured out who my competitors are, i determined their strengths and find out what their vulnerabilities are. Finally, look at opportuni-ties and threats.

very business has competitors, and you need to take the time to

discern who your customers can approach to get a product or ser-vice that fills the same need as yours does. Even if your product or service is truly innovative, you need to look at what else your customers would purchase to accomplish this task.

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MTV BaseT he primary competitor and market leader

I find myself bumping up against is “MTV Base.” It launched in February 22, 2005,

making it available to around �.3 million homes across 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa via satel-lite. The channel is programmed to appeal to young Africans aged �5-34, “satisfying their immense ap-petite for high quality contemporary music content that transcends national borders.” The 24-hour mu-sic channel is to broadcast ‘urban’ music genres and artists from across the African continent, as well as artists from around the world.

MTV Strengths“MTV Base” is a well packaged corporate pop culture machine, with a huge reputation. It’s a commercial monster and a very successful business. There is a heavier ratio of American and Interna-tional videos going on and as I know, in Africa, the initial appetite is American Hip Hop. They have a higher and better variety of good quality videos (with a lot of exclusives) and lifestyle shows with worldwide appeal.

MTV WeaknessesThey broadcast in English and play contemporary music videos from all over Africa. It is distributed via an African-wide network of cable, satellite and multi-channel, multipoint distribution systems. The studios and offices are in London, so they are not directly connected with a specific country in Africa. They see Africa as a country, and not as a conti-nent. It also costs to receive the channel.

Channel Ohe second competitor is “Channel O.” It is a popular TV station, originating in South Africa, and available in 44, African coun-

tries including Angola as part of a satellite TV offer. It plays 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in English. They play Hip Hop and R&B from Africa and the U.S.A.

Channel O Strengths“Channel O” is the only authentically African music channel, as it is very popular in South Africa and also in other African countries.

Channel O WeaknessesIt is highly driven by South African music, which sometimes makes it look like a localized TV sta-tion. They also play many low quality videos. It also costs to receive the channel.

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Opportunities think there are some opportunities for a new channel because “Sinidcato” will be broadcasting in Portuguese and will

be very local. The idea is to create an Angolan Hip Hop society, a place where they can show their culture and skills as artists and celebrities, with exclusives and lifestyle shows with a local approach. “MTV Base” and “Channel O” are broadcasting as satellite TV, yet in Angola, only 30% of the population has cable TV.

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Audience / user profileGeneral User Profile:The typical user is an Angolan male or female, from �5-30 years old, high school and university students, as well as Hip Hop singers. They have cable TV connections at home and usually spend between 2 to 3 hours watching TV daily and the channel they prefer is “MTV Base” because it has a greater variety of good quality videos and lifestyle shows. They like to follow worldwide trends and are very much into globalization. They want to see what’s going on in the entertainment business, with the big stars, etc. and “MTV Base” gives them just what they want- quality entertainment.

Specific User Profile:Nkrumah is a 23-year old single Angolan male university student, who is balancing a life of study-ing with hanging out with friends and singing (so far it’s been limited to an audience of a few friends.) He dreams of becoming famous, having lots of girlfriends and money. He has just put together a Hip Hop band with a couple of his friends, and they get together a few weekends a month, in his garage to write lyr-ics and sing their songs. He is a big fan of 2PAC, Notorious BIG, 50 Cent, Snoop Dog, Ja Rule and Ice Cube.

User ScenariosNkrumah is a family-oriented, socially conscious follower of trends, who loves Hip Hop, and aspires to be a famous MC. He lives with his parents, older sister and two younger broth-ers. He loves to spend weekends with friends, partying, dancing, and meeting new people- mainly girls. He often has more than one girlfriend, and loves expen-sive things, even though he can’t afford to.

BehavioralNkrumah usually spends two to three hours watching TV. He wants to know about the Hip Hop world news, what’s going on, new music videos, new records and lifestyles. He dreams about being in a world like the ones he sees through Hip Hop. He looks at American videos, with their incredibly fantastic and perhaps unrealistic lifestyles, and is discouraged that the resources in his country don’t measure equally, and wishes that his country could have something similar- a famous music network TV that would help local singers achieve a higher level of success.

Branding

Brands are sources of promises to customers. They promise relevant differentiated benefits. Most people associate only

one or two attributes with any organization, product or service.

Brand Position

Brand Promise

Brand personality

Tag line

Name and logo

Typeface

colors

Breakdown

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Branding Brand Position indicato is a network free of charge, and

authentically Angolan, speaking the popular language, and filling the gap between the Hip Hop community and the media. Our goal is to revolutionize the Hip Hop market in Angola, provid-ing entertainment to all who are interested in tuning in. We want to be the leader of an innovative, authentic and revolutionary Hip Hop music network channel in Angola.

sBrand Promise Revolutionary

We will bring a new way of broadcasting Hip Hop music to Angola. For the first time, the Angolan market will have a 24-hour Hip Hop music channel, with extensive content for young people from �5 to 34 years old.

Innovative

It’s about delivering meaningful and exciting content of hip hop culture that improves people’s experience with its interaction..

Brand personality “Sindicato” is totally cool and down to earth, with a subtle sense of humor. Not nerdy at all. Witty, fun and creative. In its twenties, perhaps early thirties. Masculine and sensitive.

Relationship with target audi-ence: Cool and stylish, by watching it you feel comfortable, excited and popular.

Tag line

“ A revolucao ja comecou!”

That means that we are com-mitted to deliver service and solutions that are relevant and meaningful to you because they have been specifically designed to meet your needs. And because these services are innovative, they offer exciting new ways to meet those needs. Bringing live-broadcast shows, exclusives and music videos, we will offer our audience a personal experience of getting to know the artists who put out the music.

Authentic

The network will be authenti-cally Angolan, while providing a platform to blend the existing Hip Hop culture with many re-gional national styles in Angola. Angolan Hip Hop will have an outlet to express its uniqueness.

Name / Logocept with symbol, or icon. The C.C.C.P. icon, record and microphone iconography are the sorts of thing around us that can be used as tools and icons of revolution. The icon is taken from an Angolan flag that comes from the symbol of communism which we used a long time ago, as well as a record, microphone and someone with their arms raised, symbolizing protest and the victory revolution can bring about. For a television channel, the logo’s main destination is of course the network bug. As a mark, the channel is going to use the red sickle rather than the entire name. The logo reflects the idea of bringing people together in order to struggle again their social rights. It is important to safeguard legibility while creating a distinctive design feature within the logotype. The sickle can also be used separately from the logotype to act as a single and strong icon. The logotype design is based on the Eurofurence typeface, but redrawn to suit the concept.

A fter spending one month doing research, it was time for the network

name. I started writing down several names related to hip hop in general and some Angolan slang. From names like Brind (music), Emcee (MC), Urbano, Base, Batida, Rima and so on, to a combination of letter like HMC, EMC, and SMC. I decided to use “Sindicato”. Why “Sin-dicato”? Because it’s a name that relates to a group of people struggle against their social rights and in my brand position-ing we want to speak the popular language and as we know hip hop is about social critiques.

The “Sindicato” logo is set in a typeface arranged to fit the con-

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Typeface

E urofurence is based on a geometric design with rounded stroke ends,

visual distinctiveness and per-sonality. Generally best for short texts, print, screen and digital form. The sans was chosen as the corporate typeface on all factual information. Its combines ex-treme clarity with a distinctive, friendly personality.

ColorsThe colour red on the icon is associated with energy, strength,

power, determination as well as revolution. Yellow is the color of sunshine. It’s associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy. Black is a mysterious color associated with fear and the unknown, it gives the feeling of perspective and depth.

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ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTU1234567890

abcdefghijklmnopqrstu1234567890

StoryboardsStoryboard provides me visual layout of events as they are to be seen through the camera lens. One advantage of using storyboards is that it allows me to experiment

with changes in the storyline to evoke stronger reaction or interest. Flashbacks, for instance, are often the result of

sorting storyboards out of chronological order to help build suspense and interest.

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Stinger

Lower thid and crawl

Promo

Breakdown

Stinger table and the DJ in the frame for 8 seconds. Then, the camera starts rotating and the DJ and the turn table disappear, as the record is transformed into the icon followed by the name “Sindicato.”

stinger is a very short ID used to bridge any gaps that may occur

during a switch from a local to network programming. The concept for “Sindicato” stinger is very simple. What I’m trying to convey is the icon’s meaning. The animation is �0 seconds long, starting out directly on the top of the record above the turn table. The camera enters as a close up, as it rises up, keeping the turn

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In video and television, the lower third refers to the lower portion of the frame which contains graphical information such as station ID, name/title keys, etc.

In a talking head shot like the one pictured right, the lower third graphics sit somewhere below the presenter’s shoulders.

In most cases the graphics don’t actually take up a full third of the picture. If the only requirement is a name/title key, not much space needs to be used.

Lower Thirds and Crawl

big screen

Promo B ased on my brand

promise which is “Authentic, Innovative,

and Revolutionary,” I decided to pick “Revolutionary” for my promotional. The concept is based on the constructivism style, confronting the relation-ship between social ideals and political realities. Focusing on the existence of only one TV channel in Angola, as well as any Hip Hop show on TV, I am going to bring the idea of a revolution of social communication policies to a brand new TV channel.

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Having a really strong general concept, this piece required a clearly defined storytelling arc. I did this task by subdividing the story through the basic narrative structure and establishing specific shots for each stage: The movie begins with a camera slowly tracking movement through the living room with a supposed communism painting on the wall. First turning point: the camera move toward the paint getting inside. Inside the painting, you realize that it was not a communism symbol, but a hip hop concert taking place. Challenge: The revolution begins with a fist coming into frame from bottom to top. Climax: arrows and the “Sindicato” icon start moving from the bottom left of the frame to the top right with some words in the background like “Pub-lic TV” and other channels in Angola. This gives the idea that the past of Angolan TV is now replaced with the more powerful TV movement of “Sindi-cato.” Resolution: People protesting, graffiti artists

start painting on the wall, b-boys (break-dancing boys), and girls dancing giving the meaning of free-dom, happiness and a mission to accomplish. After that, the “Sindicato” logo comes from the bottom of the screen moved by a hook into the middle of the frame, followed by the slogan “the revolution has just begun,” heightening the tone of inspiration and creating the peak point of the story.

Pre-Production , storyboards

The concept design allowed me to explore the idea of a revolution-ary new TV channel, recreating a feeling of grandiosity and power. The exhaustive attention paid to colors, and accuracy to the industrial look, and communism icons gives depth and gravitas to the construc-tivism style.

Concept Design and Boards

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Creating the crowd in the music concert and the people protest-ing were one of my biggest challenges. Reality is infinitely complex, especially if you start to consider real people in a 3D scenario. Factors such as scale, depth of field (d.o.f.) and perspective have to be taken into consideration. Sets of tests have been done to ensure that it will work perfectly in the final product.

A deep blue screen, 20 feet wide and �0 feet tall, provided a perfect canvas for very dynamic shots that allowed for great movement from the actors inhab-iting the space. After �0 hours of intense shooting all the coverage was achieved. Four weeks of post-production created this TV promo. It challenged me techni-cally and artistically to create a very appealing and emotionally charged piece, by mixing motion graphics and live action. I hope you enjoy the final result as much as I do.

Testings Execution

ConclusionI am extremely happy with the final results of this project, for it also signifies my future endeavour of bringing this actual network to frui-

tion in my home country of Angola, when I return.

Prior to beginning this project, I didn’t believe in the validity of research necessary in creating a brand. Through the process of

conceiving an idea for a brand, to the realization of a functional one, I finally understand that the sole reason the final result is a success, is beacuse of the extensive research and foresight prior to designing

it visually.

The meeting with the external advisors, Dougal and Sebastian, helped me immensely. The insight they provided in pointing out the inconsistencies and lack of fluid transitions, and the possible solutions thereof, was indespensible in completing a high quality

video. Thank-you for all of your efforts! The experience and skills I have learned from all of these collaborations and instructions, are

invaluable.

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Kalvin Lyle Sebastian de Castell Dougal Muir Stefan Belavy Natasha Ali Sheila Mazhari Eric Wada Danny Chan Jeff Greenberg Marco Ceravolo Ryan Clark Trevor Miles Katy Thomsen Katie Dallas Liliane Chapple

AdvisorHead of DepartmentExternal AdvisorAssistant Art Directior Camera OperatorAssistantProduction AssistantPhotography DirectorActorActorActorBreak-dancerDancerDancerDancer

Thank-you VFS and Canada. I will always remember you in all of my endeavours.

Thank you!