Evaluation Activity 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

1.      Relationship of lyrics to visuals

As our music video’s genre is performance, the artist’s movement on screen is a very important aspect. This is why we tried to link the movements to the lyrics and their meanings as often as possible, without making them look fake or over-the-top.

This shot is on the line ' Cause I’m just a silly Asian…', which is one of the key lyrics, represented through the artists movement and the authority he has over the shot. The male artist takes his sunglasses on and off, showing his eyes to the audience while saying this line. This suggests power and respect as he is showing to the audience that he is proud of who he is and of his background/culture, which is proper of RnB/Hip-hop artists. We also added a quickly zooming in and out effect from the artist’s face to emphasize this line.

The costume of the artists and the props used in this shot such as the baseball cap and the sunglasses were crucial as they suggest the artist’s wealth and status, which relates to the music genre and to other R&B/Rap music videos.

2. Relationship of music to visuals

This shot is on the line' Eyes on the prize at the end of the line, I know that Imma get there it’s a matter of time” , which is a key lyric as it relates to the artists rise to fame and recognition, proper of the RnB/Hip-Hop genre. In this particular shot, the music and visuals link very well together as we added an zooming in and out effect that goes on the beat of the song. The colour of the image also changes to black and white and then back to colour really quickly to emphasize the beat of the song, and although this is a quick shot it links closely to the music.

As the artists sing the lyrics, their movements always go with the beat of the music. Furthermore, throughout the whole music video, we included a lively atmosphere of crowds of people dancing and quick shots which matches up with the upbeat tempo associated with the song and with the RnB/Hip-hop genre, making people want to watch it again.

3. Representation of artist with reference to record label's expectations

As our music video’s genre was a Performance-Narrative, the artist was the main focus of our music video and his image was important. We used a variety of different close-ups on our artists as all R&B/HipHop music videos include them to build the artist’s image. By making eye contact with the viewers and gesturing, the artist shows a confident and powerful image that people admire and relate to. Focusing the viewers’ attention on the artist is quite typical of this genre and links to Goodwin's rule 'The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style)'.

4. Genre of music and how it is defined

Our music genre was RnB/Hip-hop so we had to consider setting/location, mise-en-scene, props, etc according to this music genre’s conventions. We used a wide variety of different shot types, angles and camera movements proper of the RnB genre, such as pans, low angle shots and close ups of the artist. We also added different editing effects throughout our music video that fit the music genre such as the black and white colourisation and the fast paced shots, which help keeping the audience interested and focused on the main artist.
R&B/Hip Hop artists tend to use Narrative and Performance as their music video genres. That is why we included Performance shots that focus on showing footage of the artist acting and Narrative shots in black and white that focus on showing the story behind the lyrics (how the artists try to reach fame and recognition). We included a little bit of Narrative so that the audience can relate to the artists and their story.
Many R&B/Hip-Hop artists use choreographed dance routines (upbeat songs are more likely to have more movement) so we decided to include several quick shots of people dancing to make the video more interesting and enjoyable. We also tried to engage the viewers through the camera by using many close-up shots and gesturing, which fit the music genre.

Also the use of urban settings, fashionable urban clothing and props such as baseball caps and sunglasses is an important way of appealing to our RnB audience.

This shot shows an establishing shot of one of our main locations, London. This also fits the music genre as most RnB/Hip-hop music videos take place in big cities such as New York, LA, Sydney and London. 

5.Setting/Location

Throughout our music video, we showed a variety of different settings/locations that link well to our R&B music genre. Our first location was London, which is a very popular and well-known city where we found different urban settings proper of our genre, such as the graffiti walls shown in this shot. We decided to include the London Eye and Trafalgar Square in our music video as they are both famous and well-known landmark that viewers can easily recognise them. The car park rooftop and the brick wall are also an great urban settings that link closely to our music genre. We also had to create our own setting in order to be able to film the recording studio footage which is located at the Chaplains office in school (see picture below and picture 8). We chose this location because it has got a large window that can look like the small room where artist record songs in a professional recording studio.

6. Camerawork and Editing

We included a wide range of shot types in our music video: close-ups of the artists making eye contact with the audience, long and mid shots showing the artist’s movements and actions, establishing shots, pans following movement, etc.

This is the shot where the female artist is initially introduced to the audience.  It starts with a zooming in and out effect that goes on the beat. This editing effect was also included in other shots of our music video because it matches up with the upbeat tempo and makes the shot have a stronger impact on the audience.

The camera was set at an extreme low angle because we wanted to show the artist to the audience as confident and in control of the situation. We used this type of camera angle quite often throughout our music video because low angles are very common in RnB/hip-hop music videos as they help give a sense of power within the action of a scene, inspiring insecurity in the viewer, who is psychologically conquered by the figure on the screen.

The footage’s colour scheme was also edited, making it look more effective and professional.

We included fade in and out transitions as part of our editing to make the shots run smoothly. Cutting the shots matching up with the beat of the song also helped us to achieve a sense of continuity and verisimilitude.

We also edited the speed of several shots in order to emphasise the action taking place on the screen and the artist’s movements. This is a very effective way to grab people’s attention, as it makes it be more exciting and enjoyable for the audience.

7. Lighting

Natural lighting was mostly used throughout our music video. However, we also had to use artificial lighting, especially during the second chorus where the two artists were located in this night scenery. Lighting was particularly important in this night shots as the artists’ faces needed to be seen clearly, so we had to position the artists effectively near a streetlight so that the overhead lighting shone down on their faces lighting them up. Thanks to this, their lip syncing and movements can be easily seen.

Lighting was also an important element in the transition process between the second chorus and the rapping parts. This is because, in order to create continuity, the night time shots and the day time shots of the second rap had to be gradually introduced by changing the lighting of the shots progressively, showing a change in day.

8. Mise-en-scene
Mise-en-scene is a key feature in RnB/Hip-hop music videos so we had to wisely consider costume, appearance and make-up that fitted our music genre.

The artists’ clothing, make- up and props used such as the leather jacket, the gold jewelry and sunglasses fit the R&B genre and show their self-confidence and determination to become famous and recognised. Many R&B/Hip Hop costumes take inspiration from American sports such as basketball or baseball, symbolizing that the genre itself originated in the US. That is why the male artist and some people from the crew wear Baseball caps and baseball jackets. The people behind the artists are wearing more ordinary clothes as we wanted the artists to be the main focus.

In this particular shot, we paid special attention to the mise-en-scene as we needed to make people believe that we were using a real recording studio. In order to do this we had to cover the wall with black cardboard and include props such as a microphone, headphones, music sheets, a keyboard, a laptop, etc. and film the shots from strategic angles.

9. Intertextuality or influence of other music video

Tinie Tempah’s “Written in the Stars” music video had a big influence on our music video. Both songs are within the RnB/Hip-Hop genre and talk about getting to the top and reaching fame and recognition. It uses similar aspects of mise en scene with our music video such as key props (sunglasses and leather jacket) and the use of soft natural lighting throughout most parts of the music video.  We also used similar settings and backgrounds proper of the music genre on our music video, such as the roof top with the urban view and the bright sky as a background, which connotes power and infinity.

We got the idea of this particular shot from Tinie Tempah’s music video, where there is a very similar shot of him doing the same movement (below there is a still of this shot).

 For this shot we set the camera at an extreme low angle because we wanted to show the artist as very strong and powerful character, as extreme angles are more symbolic and heavily-loaded. The main artist dips down towards the camera in a dance move (on the beat) and then quickly backs away from the camera. We achieved this effect by using the original shot and then reversing it. Then we changed the speed of the shot to get a more striking effect it and to match the time of the music and lyrics on screen. The colour of this shot was also edited. We turned the artist into a silhouette against the bright blue sky, which relates to the song’s theme of fame, wealth and recognition.

Tinie Tempah’s music video also influenced our digipack as we used a still of the main artist doing this same movement on the album cover, creating a link between our music video and our ancillary products.

Furthermore, there is an intertextual reference to film and TV in our magazine advert, as the artist is wearing a top with Superman’s famous logo on it, connoting strength, hope and power.