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MY LITTLE SECRET
Xscape
Director: Darren Grant



We fade up to a silhouette of a man as he makes his way up a flight of dimly lit stairs, passing through patches of light as he nears the top. He makes his way up the stairs and down the hallway, we flash-cut to Kandi in her opening performance. Throughout the video we catch glimpses of our mystery man, but we never really get a good look at him.

Kandi's opening performance will find her laying on a "stylized" shag carpet, we'll see "flock" green and gold wallpaper in the backdrop of the room. The camera creeps through the thick carpet (really low) to finally reveal Kandi performing as she lay propped up on her elbows. Kandi performs directly into the camera, and during this performance we capture macro close- ups of her beautiful brown eyes as they peer innocently into the camera. We'll capture this performance from "straight on" angles and in another angle we capture Kandi performing as she look slightly up at the camera.

LaTacha's sequence...
The man stops at the first of four doors -- we see a close up shot of his fingers searching for a key that's hidden above the door. He finds the key (antique and intricate in design) and tries it in the lock; it doesn't work, so we now see the man peering through the antique keyhole. The camera pushes through the hole from the mystery man's POV (innovision lens) to reveal LaTacha sitting on a piece of furniture in her scarcely furnished performance space. The lighting in this set-up is romantic and soft as we see LaTacha close her eyes. Here Tacha will flash-back to a room where we see her observing two people embracing passionately, "I like being in the same room with you and your girlfriend..." This scene is similar to the Mickey Rourke film, "Wild Orchid," but they don't know Tacha is there. All of a sudden we see the guy look over his shoulder and seductively smile at LaTacha. We cut back to Tacha sitting on the couch alone, performing the lyrics of the song. We cut back to our mystery man watching Tacha through the keyhole. At one point during this scene Tacha walks directly up to the keyhole and peers through it herself, as if she senses someone is now watching her.

Slightly frightened by Tacha looking directly back (through the keyhole), our mystery man pulls away from LaTacha's door and moves on to the next door in the hallway. Behind each door a different member of Xscape will be revealed. The intricate shots, such as: the key, keyhole, doorknob, etc., will be covered in mini and macro close angles. The spaces behind the doors won't be apartments in the literal sense, but more of a photographic canvas, where at times we even forget where we are.

Tiny's scene...
One of the doors will be slightly ajar as he peeks in. We cut to an overhead shot of Tiny as she performs while looking up at the camera. Tiny will be sitting on what appears to be a clear ceiling that allows you to see an extravagant crushed blue velvet bedroom below. A dimly lit floor lamp barely lights up the room (very moody). We see the mystery man enter the bedroom and click on a light. Tiny is nowhere to be found, as the camera shoots down past her to reveal the man in the bedroom below. Tiny continues her performance as we see the man pull the comforter off the bed as if he's frustrated at this point.

Tamika's encounter...
We cut to our lead man back in the hallway, trying the third door where his key doesn't appear to work either. He looks under the door (we see a woman's bare feet crossing a hardwood floor). The camera pushes under the door to reveal a room with richly textured walls (see photo references from July in Essence Magazine) set off by hardwood floors, a lone couch (50's in style) is the only piece of furniture we see. The frame is empty until we see Tamika walk into view, here she begins to perform and vibe to the song. An (unseen) e-fan gently blows on her as she performs, during this intimate performance we focus on her face, eyes, and lips. In a closer shot we capture a tight shot of a hand come into view and begin to touch Tamika in ways that are sensual, yet tasteful, i.e., touching her shoulders and moving down to arms; or we can see a hand caressing her face and then slowly wandering down her neck.

Kandi's rendezvous...
We cut to the man standing in front of the last door, where this time the key easily slips into the lock. Kandi is still laying amidst the thick shag carpet (seen in opening performance). An additional angle will feature Kandi leaning seductively against the "flock" wallpaper. The camera will capture this sexy shot from a profile angle that travels the length of the wall that Kandi is standing against. When the lead man enters the room, Kandi's performance now shifts towards him. The man seductively walks over to her, we see the two sexily interact and at one point we see the man rub the key across her stomach (macro close-up shot). Throughout the video we'll explore Xcape's performances and their interaction with the mystery man in great detail. This will be accomplished through unique performance set-ups and insert shots that draw us in even further.

Group Performances...
Inter-cut with the individual vignettes we will feature dynamic group performances. One such performance will feature the girls performing while standing staggered in the dimly lit hallway. Another group performance will feature Xscape performing in a four compartment revolving door: Kandi will be seen playing the guitar in her compartment; LaTacha will seductively sit in a chair; Tiny will lean up against a wall; and Tamika will perform as she sits on a stool in her compartment. During these performances, the camera will remain stationary in front of the revolving structure, and will capture the girls as the platform rotates in front of the camera. As the doors revolve we see only one girl fill the frame at a time. As one girl enters the frame, the other girl is exiting out (revolving doors). The third performance space will feature Xscape performing as they are laying down, their heads almost touching at a center point, (very similar to the "Hav Plenty" movie posters). This performance will be covered by an overhead shot as the camera rotates above them. This shot will be set in a black abyss as the girls will all lie on a clear ceiling (plexi-glass, similar to Tiny's individual performance space). At one point during this performance a vintage black car pulls into view underneath them, where we see our mystery man exiting the car below.

**Note** From the three above group performances, we will pick the two favorites to film and feature in the video.
Look and Style...
The video will be shot in 35mm color film, and special attention will be paid to the photographic approach in an effort to insure cinematic integrity. Along with art direction, and an intimate lighting design; wardrobe, hair and makeup styling will also play an important role in the overall look of the video, so only an A-List "glam squad" team will be assembled. Extra attention will be paid to giving Kandi a seriously sultry edge. This video will be all about Xscape and highlighting their newfound versatility, while at the same time showcasing them in a different light!

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