RAY KAY.MUSIC, FILM, FASHION AND PHOTOGRAPY DIRECTOR

CASE STUDY OF CHOSEN MUSIC DIRECTOR

Ray kay's work is very unique and his style is very engaging which is why i have chosen to look more into his what he has done, for my case study. The camera work is always imaculate, glossy and reflects his fashion & photography side. I am interested in both fashion and photography which is way i am going to use some of his elements to put into my own video.  The artist am working with is heavily involved in pop and has a background of producing hip-pop beat so i will be looking at the much slower videos that Ray Kay has directed, this will then give me an idea of what it is that i want for my music video.

MUSIC VIDEO TEND TO LOOK THE SAME RAY KAY VIDEO ANALYSIS.

Looking at Ray Kay's videos i can see that his trade mark is very essentric, he has worked with so many people from many genres e.g. pop, hip-pop, R&B, electronic, and his style always manages to show throughout tall his work. The only thing that changes is that it's put together differently whatever the genre maybe.   s

Ray Kay tries to come up with something unique  wether its a concept, shooting style, colour,fashion,or editing each time it has to be different. Below shows some screen grabs of the artists his worked with recently and how his trade mark style remains the same no matter what genre, but each time he manages to make it look unique for the specific artist he will be working with.

BOTH VIDEOS ARE FROM TWO DIFFERENT GENRES POP AND R&B, YET YOU CAN STIILL SEE THAT THE SAME DIRECTOR WORKED ON BOTH PROJECTS BECAUSE THEY AQUIRE SIMILAR STYLE BOTH VIDEOS ARE VERY CINEMATIC, SHARP AND VIBRANT AND REFLECTS BOTH OF THE STARS ICONOGRAPHY

THIS IS AN R&B GROUP

This is a pop singer

ALL THE VIDEOS RAY KAY HAS SHOOT HAVE BEEN CHART TOPPERS SPECIALLY ON THE HIP-POP AND R&B MARKET. ALL HIS VIDEOS ARE HIGHLY VISUAL AND WITH HIS EUROPEAN BACKGROUND HIS VIDEOS ALWAYS HAVE AN EXTRA EGDE OVER OTHER VIDEOS HIS STYLE IS VERY SIMILAR TO OTHER VIDEO DIRECTOR HYPE WILLIAMS.

These are just two separate clips showing a little bit of how music videos look like behind the scenes, BOTH VIDEOS WHERE DIRECTED BY RAY KAY.

CLICK ON THE CLIPS TO VIEW THEM

Ray Kay is an award winning film director his also a photographer whose taken many fashion and album cover photo in addition he has directed music videos for many artists. 

BACK GROUND INFORMATION

Ray Kay is well known for his cinematic videos which reflects on his very diverse background of photography,film and fashion. This is a quote from Ray kay describing how he views his work. "All my videos are highly visual. I’m not sure if it’s a typical European touch per say, but more of a personal style for me. My European background defines me and my style. Some times it’s an advantage to be from another part of the world, because I can see things differently. When we were shooting in Miami’s Liberty City, a very rough hood area, I saw the beauty in this place – the soul in the streets, buildings and people. It was interesting to me, because I’m not used to that back home. When I saw the beauty of these rough textures, others would pick up on it as well. This video was for Trick Daddy, Lil' Kim and Cee-Lo, and when I watched the Access Granted ‘making of’ program on BET, I saw Trick Daddy saying “That’s the director back there. He’s not from my way, not from your way – he’s from Norway”. "

"The pre-production is an organic process for me. While the producer gets everything going and the scout looks for potential locations, I start out planning shots, style, lighting, storyline details, fashion etc. When more and more pieces of the production come together, I can finalize the details of my plan"this is quote from Ray kay just basically talking about how he plans out his work and how it all ends up coming together.

In return has became partof his trademark style. His uniquestyle has opened doors for him to work with such big artists like Beyonce,Lady Gaga, Amerie, Backstreet boysCherly cole, The dream etc

RAY KAY MADE THE TRANSITION FROM FILMING DOCUMENTARIES, AT A MILITARY RECRUITMENT TO TV AND TO WHAT HIS KNOW WELL KNOWN FOR HIS VERYSTYLISH MUSIC VIDEOS WHICH ARE ALWAYS GARANTED TOBE A CHART TOPPER.

Ray kay's videos are very visual and usually tap into the artists style really well for example, he recently worked with lady gaga for her song poker face which they both won a award for below examples why Ray Kay is such an important music video director.

        LADY GAGA'S BACKGROUND  

Musically Lady Gaga is inspired by rockers such as David Bowie and Queen, as well as pop singers she is inspired by artists like Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Michael Jackson and Gwen Stephani. Fashion is an essential part of her star image thats why its put across in every video she is in. BELOW IS JUST A FEW IMAGES DEMONSTRATING WHERE LADY GAGA GETS HER STYLE FROM AND HOW RAY KAY MANAGED TO USE THAT TO INCORPORATE IN HER VIDEO POKER FACE.

SCREEN GRABS OF LADYGAGA'S POKER FACE VIDEOS IT SHOWS HOW RAY KAY TOOK HER ESSENTRICSTYLE AND ADDED THOSE UNIQUE ELEMENTS TO EXAGGERETEHER STAR PERSONA

CLICK ON video clip of Ray kay and lady gaga

 

RAY KAY'S WORK

RAY KAY'S WORK IS VERY INTERESTING BECAUSE IT'S VERY EXPRESSIVE AND UNIQUE. HIS BACKGROUND OF FASHION AND PHOTOGRAPHY IMMEDIATLY COMES THROUGH HIS VIDEOS ALSO THROUGH THE ARTISTS HE THAT CHOSE TO WORK WITH HIM. IT SAYS SOMETHING ABOUT HIS STYLE AND THE ARTISTS HE ATTRACTS. WHICH IS WHY I CHOSE TO LOOK AT HIS WORK FOR MY CASE STUDY AND VIDEO ANALYSIS, BECAUSE I AM VERY MUCH INTERESTED IN PHOTOGRAPHY AND FASHION AS WELL.

THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE BIG NAMES INTHE INDUSTRY HE HAS WORKED WITH. LADY GAGA, DESTINY'SCHILD AND FRANKIE J. THESE PHOTOS JUSTSHOW HIS PHOTOGRAPHYSKILLS.

http://www.raykay.com/this link can show youthe different artists and photography he has done during his career and it would give a better idea of what kind of work he does and what type of style he has.

RAY KAY HAS ESTABLISHEDA VERY CINEMATIC STYLETO HIS VIDEO'S WHICH IS WHY SO MANY ARTISTS WANT TO WORK WITH HIMBECAUSE HIS VIDEOS ALWAYS REFLECTSTHERE OWN STAR IMAGE WELL.

Narrative ,Genre & visualsRay Kay works with mainstream artists therefore his work is always big buget music videos. The videos he produces have all been big chat toppers. His work is very interesting because it really does have a narrative, the artists he works with will have there own star image that they are publicly known by and he will manage to convey that through his videos for them. I like his work because its very visual and the cinematic elements are just unique.he does not usually do fast editing unless his working with hip-pop artists because there is usually dance routines involved in hip-pop videos. unless his working with rnb or pop artists the editing tends to be much slower this so that he can show off the visual side of his work and it engages the audience with the artists. His style is very diverse and althought his trademark is distinct, it awalys manages to look different the same time that is why i am going to use some of his style to incorporate in my own video. 

All his videos always reflect the mood of the song, in this case the screen grab below is of a dancing genre therefore it will vibrant, bright and dance routines will always be involved to convey a certain mood to the audience. this definetly adds a very creative and exciting element to the song and video.

EXAMPLES OFRAY KAY'S PHOTOGRAPHY