Evaluation

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge conventions of real media products?

Uses Conventions- (Hip Hop/ R'n'B Genre)

- Black and white footage was used in our music video. This is typically seen in real Hip Hop/ R'n'B music videos for instance in Trey Songz- Love faces music video. We used this not only because it is aesthetically pleasing but also because it signifies the past and we used it during an interlude in our music video as a flashback showcasing what has happened in the past between the female and male performer.

(top to bottom: Our music video and Trey Songz- Love faces. It is evident that we both used black and white footage in our music video however the difference being that he used it throughout the music video for it to connote a certain time period- the 1920’s- however we used it to connote the past)

-The Mise- en-Scene within our music video adheres to codes and conventions of the Hip Hop/ R'n'B genre. The costume of our male performer conforms to the codes of Hip Hop/ R'n'B as he is wearing a 'doo-rag', baggy jeans, trainers and a hoodie. Also our female performer uses the conventions associated with this genre and in real music videos. We decided to choose an attractive female performer of dual-heritage to act as the male performer's love interest. The use of light-skinned black females or those of dual-heritage are conventional seen in Hip Hop/ R'n'B music videos.

-We included sexual qualities in our video which is typically utilized in Hip Hop/ R'n'B and stereotypically objectifies women. Voyeurism is evident in our music video (erotic pleasures gained from looking at a sexual object that is not aware of being watched) in order to please males within our target audience. When Sarai (female performer) is getting dressed we included an extreme close up of her zipping the back of her dress and a Medium close up of her skirt going up her leg but she acts unaware of people watching as she is getting dressed in her bedroom. The close-up of these parts of the body are commonly seen as sexual therefore makes it easier for us to convey this message. Although we included voyeurism, we still subverted the fact that women are objects of sexual pleasure by including the post-feminist approach which states that women are not objectified but are in control of their sexuality. We promote this by Sarai getting dressed by herself and wearing what she wants which highlights that she is in control of her attractiveness but also as she leaves her apartment to get to the club by herself which signifies independence.

-Within the ancillary tasks I included typical information found on real media products. For instance on the CD package I have included elements such as the track listing and bar code; alongside the record label logo and copy at the bottom of the CD (on the back cover) and the name of the album and artist (on the front cover). On the magazine advertisement we included information such as the release date and comments from other institutions such as XXL magazine commenting on the album which are aides to persuades the consumer to purchase the album and are typically found on real media products.

- Performance shots were included using Green Screen which are constantly shown in Hip Hop/ R'n'B music videos. This helps gratify audiences as it meets their expectations.

Develop Conventions

- We developed conventions by including a narrative into a genre that is predominately performance based.

-The type of shots we used helps develop the genre. We used the Justin Timberlake's music video of 'My Love' as inspiration in terms of the type of shots we used. We used tilt motion shots which are very subversive of R'n'B music videos as it is not commonly seen and it helps develop the genre and introduce something new to our target audience and helps retain their interest.

-Including a movie element into our music video allows us to entice the audiences' and retain their interest. We did this by including an interlude which develops the narrative and makes it more like a movie, making the music video widescreen and having a movie style opening whereby there is dialogue between the male and female performer and typography introducing the music video appearing. This was done to set off the narrative and conform to the post-modernism approach. The main aspect of the post-modernism approach that is highlighted in our music video is the breakdown of barriers between genres and styles. By combining the typical movie style and the Hip Hop/ R'n'B genre breaks down the divide between these two aspects.

(Here is the opening scene from Bow Wow and Omarion- let me hold you music video. As we saw they had a movie style opening through including text in the beginning of the video inspired us to include this in our's.)

- The choice of location helps develop the Hip Hop/ R'n'B genre. We included iconic areas such as the Tower Bridge and other areas in Westminster which helps give a different perspective of this genre as typically deprived areas are showcased to show where they come from, however we decided to show where they are after wealth or aspire to.

Challenge Conventions

- The couple staying together

- The use of Special Effects dancing scenes. The use of these dance scenes is not normally seen in the Hip Hop/ R'n'B genre, however we decided to include it as it creates an element of interest as it is not commonly associated with this genre and will provide audiences with something different.

- Using unconventional transitional effects. Normally in Hip Hop/ R'n'B straight cuts and fades are normally used however we included other effects like blurs, zooms and additive dissolves to make the music video more interesting and subvert the codes and conventions of this genre.

- By not over-sexualising the female performer helped us challenge the conventions seen in real media products. Normally in Hip Hop/ R'n'B the female character is seen wearing skimpy outfits such as a short skirt or a bikini however we decided to make our female performer were a dress to look more elegant but also to allow female audiences' identify with a more positive representation of women in Hip Hop/ R'n'B music videos compared to what it currently portrayed.

Videos Mentioned in the Evaluation and Sources for Inspiration

Justin Timberlake - My Love by gelele0205