Evaluation task 1

Evaluation task 1

• 1.
  EVALUATION TASK 1 Inwhat ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? By Saskia Tarn
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  CONVENTIONS • Conventions inthe music industry are essentially signs, which create a meaning. The conventions in music is what allows them to be put into a specific genre by portraying stereotypes. Conventions and stereotypes are crucial as it means an audience are able to identify the genre of something, in my case a music campaign that includes; a digipak, website and music video. In relation to music videos, conventions are generally based around things such as Editing, Set design, Camera angels and Cast.
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  CONVENTIONS • Conventions aredivided up into two categories, Technical and Symbolic • Technical conventions are the ways in which the equipment is used to help tell a story in a media text, for example the camera work in a music video help show meanings through the different typography that may be used. • Symbolic conventions are what is shown beneath the surface, for example through an artist’s costume or facial expressions there will be an underlining reason to their actions for instance it will give the audience an insight into how they are feeling.
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  R&B POP GENRE •My group produced a product in the R&B Pop genre. This music genre combines elements of rhythm and blues it is American music that originated in the 1940’s however R&B Pop is a newer version of soul and funk influenced by pop music. Artists such as Beyoncé, Usher, Jennifer Lopez and Ne-Yo have all come to success through the R&B Pop genre
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  MUSIC VIDEO –SET DESIGN • Overall in terms of set design we mainly used and stuck to the typical R&B conventions sticking to strong colourful lighting and bright quirky sets as we wanted it to be obvious to our audience which genre our artist is in. We chose to create a wide range of visual sets in order to portray the characteristics of the R&B Pop genre. Our video showed many similarities to the song Beyoncé, Shakira – Beautiful Liar. Both this video and ours shows a simplistic yet mysterious backdrop in order to shed light on the female artist being the main star, embracing the R&B Pop through women’s confidence and empowerment the set design in both cases is simply there to act as a visual attraction for the audience but in reality the artists needs to stand out and be the main attraction in the video.
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  MUSIC VIDEO –SET DESIGN • We did at times develop these conventions like when we had our female artist in the foreground but then added back up dancers behind her to show she can still star whilst having the benefit of a more visually pleasing choreography so the audience don’t get bored at any time. • Both sets then move on to a simple backdrop for the dancing elements, this is to strip it back and show the sex appeal and confidence of the artists and dancers to help convey the genre as being bold and out there. The connotations within each video suggest the artists are strong independent females who embody everything girls strive to be from confidence to power. This being an important convention within the R&B Pop genre.
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  MUSIC VIDEO –PERFORMANCE • Most of the time we followed and used the R&B conventions particularly when focused on our female performance as we wanted her to ‘star’ in the video and be centre stage. During the research and planning stage we found that the particular genre of R&B Pop focuses of bold, striking dance movements. Our performance therefore enraptured the symbolic conventions through the meaning of her dance moves. This was similar to Destiny’s child – Say My name where the artist has many shots where by it is just her, the narrative focuses on the female artist almost all of the time.
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  MUSIC VIDEO –PERFORMANCE • However, we challenged this particular convention as in our performance we used the rapper to open the video, which subverts to the stereotype in the R&B genre that the female has to start and finish due to her being the ‘star’ as shown in Dyer’s star theory. Similarly, Mariah Carey’s – I don’t ft. YG challenges the typical convention as it also opens with a rapper, showing that despite the female artist being the main star; by using the rapper you may be able to expand to a secondary audience.
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  MUSIC VIDEO –LIGHTING • Within lighting we used similar conventions to the R&B genre, as we felt the type of mysterious lighting fits perfectly to help show our artist as mysterious and sexy. Throughout our music video we used multiple lighting set ups. However, we wanted to place a large focus on shadows and silhouettes to match the sexy mysterious vibe that many R&B Pop music videos hold as well as bright clear lights to show our artists face Cleary as the video progressed this meant our artist could be both inextricably ordinary and extraordinary for the audience. • Our video seems to embody both bright and darker lighting, instead of focusing on one. In Ciara’s Dance like we’re making love there is clear similarities to our video where by the lighting is dark and therefore forcing the audience to focus on the women’s silhouettes and see that beauty behind them by only being back lit the artist is seen like this.
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  MUSIC VIDEO –LIGHTING • However, our video also links with Brandy’s put it down feat Chris Brown where the artist sings with clear bright lighting, to portray the power and confidence of the R&B genre, the lighting we used similar to Brandy’s meant the audience can see the artists face clearly therefore making it easier to connect with the audience seeing them as ordinary as well as extraordinary linking with Dyer’s star theory.
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  MUSIC VIDEO –CAMERA WORK • In terms of camera work we had to focus on showing our artist in the best light, we did this through lots of intimate close ups to show her facial expressions and help portray the sex appeal that the R&B Pop genre conveys. As well as close ups we used mid shots to show a more detailed visual to the audience of our artists we did this as it meant in the narrative we could slowly reveal more and more of her body to give an element of surprise and mystery. This is similar to the videos Kelly Rowland’s Ice ft Lil Wayne and Kelly’s video Like this ft. Eve.
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  MUSIC VIDEO –CAMERA WORK • However, we did challenge this particular technical convention by using extreme close ups on our male rapper this added an extra layer of detail focusing particularly on his costume and movements, we did this as we wanted to help attract a secondary audience who may find the male rapper more appealing therefore tune into our artist’s song with the goal to attract a wider audience.
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  MUSIC VIDEO –COSTUME, HAIR AND MAKE-UP • I feel in terms of costume, hair and make-up we developed the conventions by having our artist with different looks in different sets, sometimes we stuck to the overstated look that an R&B female artist has, whilst in other sets we had her with more natural make-up to help portray a softer side so our target audience could connect with her on a more personal level. We felt these areas of mise-en-scene were key symbolic conventions that had to be done right, in order to show a clear genre. We used beauty make-up that was natural but striking at the same time and wanted hair that looked slick and therefore oozed sex appeal and girl power in order to conform with the R&B conventions. We found Beyoncé’s Partition video captured the natural yet striking look in terms of make-up and therefore linked similarly with our product.
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  MUSIC VIDEO -COSTUME, HAIR AND MAKE-UP • In terms of costume we wanted to focus on showing our artist as a strong sexy woman in the aim of reaching out to younger girls within her target audience. We therefore used striking heels and tight bodysuits. We found our product is similar to Ariane Grande’s focus video where both artists are wearing black figure hugging clothing which appeals to a range of people, widening their target audience linking with the R&B Pop genre. •
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  MUSIC VIDEO –EDITING • As we found editing to be so crucial to our music video, we spent a lot of time cutting to the beat of the song in order to have the narrative work well together. We conformed to the R&B Pop genre, by using quick, sharp cuts to give our video a fast-pace. We felt this embodies the active, energy that the R&B genre has in Rihanna’s umbrella video where she has lots of quick cuts to show the energy of her as an artist embodying the R&B Pop genre. However, we also challenged the conventions by editing our rapper to much slower cuts to slow the whole pace of the video down when focused on him, the idea was this would contrast with the energy and pace of our female artist that it makes her look more appealing and visually stunning.
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  ALBUM ARTWORK –COMPARING FRONT COVER • For our own artist we understood she is an up and coming solo R&B artist therefore thought it was crucial that the consumer knew what they were purchasing, that’s why we chose to have star significantly all over the album cover using the typical R&B conventions. We wanted her striking a pose on the front cover so the audience could feel they can connect with her, whilst we had her facing mysteriously away from the camera on the back cover to fit in with Dyer’s theory of her being ordinary and extraordinary.
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  ALBUM ARTWORK –FRONT COVER • In terms of the front cover I believe our artist has clearly followed the conventions of the R&B genre, she is striking a bold pose to show of her sex appeal and confidence. In comparison Ciara has a more natural, intimate look to her album cover perhaps to show the audience she is relatable and ordinary just like them. However, Beyoncé’s album cover matches our artists bolder out their posture, which is important as it means consumers stop and are attracted to the album, as a new artist I think Nand.C had to do this in order to develop a following. • In terms of colour we put a tint on the photos, and heavily edited the pictures from the photoshoot in order to give a more synthetic look as we felt the R&B genre is very done up and crisp, unlike the country genre for instance which focuses on a more natural look. However once again Ciara’s album cover juxtaposes ours despite being within the same genre and is more natural however still clearly perfected to make the artist appear as visually appealing as possible. • When we chose the font we used a striking font for the heading however chose a more relaxed handwritten style for her signature to show she is not just a social construction but a real person who can connect with her audience. Beyoncé used a bold big font to show a sassy, over the top look which matches her star image, which once again she can afford to do as she already has an idealised image that her fans follow. • Lastly in regarding technical conventions we used a medium close up for the front cover, the idea is that this focuses the audience in to an intimate level focusing on the artists beauty and means the audience feel they are on the same level as her and therefore feel they can relate to her. I found in the real media texts I compared my artists to the other’s all used a medium close up shot therefore we conformed to the idea that the artist needs to appear very personal towards the audience in order to help fit in with the R&B genre.
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  ALBUM COVER –BACK COVER • We had our artist face away from the camera Initially we felt we might have been challenging the convention by having her turned away from the camera on the back cover however looking into other artists such as Beyoncé’s 4 album and Ciara album ‘Jackie’ we realised this is a popular decisions in the R&B genre when marketing I believe this is due to the fact it shows a sexiness whilst being intriguing, however I do believe for a new artist such as Nand.C it is risky to not show her full body the whole way through, as she is not yet in popular demand with a following, compared to someone like Beyoncé who has a reliable audience and therefore within their marketing can afford to take risks to increase demand.
• 19.
  WEBSITE – OVERVIEW •When creating our artist’s website, we felt it was important to have her featuring everywhere that was possible as we want her to get exposure and have the aim that her target audience sees her website and are immediately enraptured and intrigued by her star image as a whole. Despite Mary J Blige and Rhianna already having a large fan following they seem to have chosen the same style as us to help get the artist seen as much as possible.
• 20.
  WEBSITE – HOMEPAGE •In terms of the homepage Mary J Blige and our Nand.C both have an eye-catching image of themselves, in comparison we have challenged the stereotype by having photos on a loop, which change every 5 seconds or so we did this in the hope to show off her image, and attract an audience. In comparison Rhianna clearly has a support group therefore her homage included pictures of herself as well as her latest endeavours whether it be her latest charity work or single she immediately lets her fans know what she’s up to. • All 3 websites are similar in their advertising. All three artists have placed their social media links in a clear spot on the homepage. This is crucial as Nand.C holds a young target audience therefore they will most likely keep up to date on her latest albums and news through social media, all 3 artists understand how their website needs to be a best platform for advertising their image and creating awareness and demand.
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  WEBSITE – TOURDATES AND MERCHANDISE • In terms of advertising tour dates and merchandise all 3 artists including my own have the tabs to these areas clearly marked on their homepage. This is so important as it’s the primary way artists can make money through their shows. Therefore, all R&B and other genre artists have to have dates and venues clearly marked and accessible for fans to purchase tickets. Once onto the tour dates page they are clearly marked so its easy for anyone to select their proffered dates and book the tickets.
• 22.
  WEBSITE – COLOURSCHEME • When choosing the colour scheme, we felt it was important to have clear links between the other products in our campaign therefore we chose bright neon pinks and blues that matched our music video, as well as darker natural colours for the homepage which also links to our album artwork. Our website fits in with the general R&B conventions similar to Mary J Blige who uses crisp clear colours on her homepage then focuses on brighter colours towards her tour dates and advertising for her tour. However, Rhianna’s website is the one that probably challenges the R&B conventions the most as it goes for a more edgy look. The website is black and white in its entirety and gives of a more indie look which she can afford to do as she is adapting and growing with her audience, when she was a young female artist just starting out you can see from older products she was more synthetic like Nand.C in order to create a star image for herself and fit in with the R&B pop genre.
• 23.
  CONCLUSION: • Overall Ifelt our music video mainly used the typical R&B conventions you’d expect to see, the reason for this is because we wanted to conform to the stereotypes in order to attract a target audience whom straight away felt like they could ‘connect’ and ‘understand’ our artist. This was so important in order to successfully market her and bring in a large consumer base. However we did at times develop these conventions like when we had our female artist in the foreground but then added back up dancers behind her to show she can still star whilst having the benefit of a more visually pleasing choreography so the audience don’t get bored at any time. We only challenged the R&B conventions once, when we opened the song with the rapper, which we felt was important as otherwise our music video was repetitive and if anything the rapper helped build climax so the audience were excited to watch on and see Nand.C our main artist make her entrance. Overall I felt we made the right choice to predominantly use and follow the conventions as this left our target audience with a clear understanding that our music video is part of the R&B Pop genre.