2. In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
3. Forms and Conventions
— Music —
Conventions are specific characteristics for each genre of music that
make the genre recognisable to the audience. This is done by using
forms. Forms are the ways in which conventions are presented this can
be done through: technical (editing, sound, camera angle etc…) and
symbolic (mise-en-scene etc…) conventions. These characteristics help
distinguish a genre to its audience, allowing it to be aimed at a specific
audience and in turn sell better. For example, Pop music may use bright
colours (Pink, Red, Yellow) in their music videos; whilst Grunge music
would use dark colours (Black, Grey, Brown). These conventions become
synonyms with the genre allowing audiences to identify the genre of
music they are listening to.
4. Editing
Technical Convention
Ciara’s music video for ‘I Bet’ had a similar editing technique to our music video of ‘Are You
That Somebody’. They both show the artist replicated four times on each corner of the screen.
By manipulating the image and replicating the artist multiple times, it connotes that she is a
dominating/important person. Through my research in the R&B genre I found that women are
mostly shown to be strong/powerful and important. By multiplying our artist, she dominates the
screen and the audience focus only on her. This also allows for her target audience (18 - 21 year
old females) to connect with her because it fits with their ideologies of female empowerment and
therefore they will buy into her brand. Additionally, it subtly connotes that she is extraordinary
and supernatural because she is in more than one place on the screen; this links to Dyer’s star
theory paradox that an artist “must be both ordinary and extraordinary”. Like Ciara many R&B
artists are synthetic, to convey this we made the digital manipulation/ editing obvious by
replicating her many times on the screen. I feel that through editing we used and developed the
typical conventions of the R&B genre, of women being empowered and strong; we conveyed the
strong female tone, through an abstract visual technique.
Ciara - I Bet Our Music Video
5. Lighting
Symbolic Convention
The lighting in Kelly Rowland’s music video ‘Work’ and our music video are quite
similar. In recent music videos especially those in the R&B genre it is a typical
symbolic convention for these colours (pink/blue) to be used. The pink and blue
palette connotes femininity and seduction. The symbolic conventions of using these
colours hints at the neon lights in nightclubs, therefore connoting the idea of
partying and going out. This appeals to the target audience (females 18 to 21 years
old) who tend to go out and party. More recent R&B music videos such as those by
Ariana Grande and Kelly Rowland have begun to use the blue and pink colour
scheme. These music videos have become extremely popular; therefore by using and
developing on a similar colour scheme to that of successful artists it will draw their
audiences to watch our music video. By using similar conventions to that already
used in R&B music videos
Kelly Rowland - Work Our Music Video
6. We found that in Beyonce’s ft. Shakira’s music video for ‘Beautiful Liar’
and our music there are close-up body shots. These close up shots of
the abdomen creates an intimate connection with the audience and
emphasises the artists beauty. This also connotes sexuality and is
provocative which is a common characteristic of synthetics female artists
in R&B who are represented as seductive and alluring. We used the
same technical convention of close up body shots in our music video as
that of many R&B music videos (like ‘Beyonce ft. Shakira - Beautiful
Liar’). This was effective in heightening the sexual nature of the artist.
Camera
Technical Convention Our Music VideoBeyonce ft. Shakira - Beautiful Liar
7. Make-up
Symbolic Convention Our Music VideoBrandy - Put It Down ft. Chris Brown
Both the ‘Put It Down’ music video, by Brandy, and our music video had similar
make-up. We used the same convention of beauty make-up that accentuates the
artists facial features; like in Brandy’s music video (above left picture). Brandy and
our artist both wore red lipstick, red lips connote sensuality and provocativeness
all of which are conventions used for female R&B artists. Females in the genre,
are shown as provocative and sexy, and that is what we tried to convey through
make-up. Additionally, by looking seductive it not only interests a female target
audience who will try to imitate the look but also attract a secondary male
audience who will be attracted to the artists’ looks. This follows Negus’s theory of
synthetic artists, especially in the R&B genre, who are created by institutions in
order to be consumed by audiences.
8. Challenging the Conventions
We challenged the convention by starting the video differently than most R&B music videos.
In the R&B genre most artists are synthetic as suggested by Negus’s theory; therefore artists
are constructed in order to be consumed by audience. A common way of doing this is by
displaying the artist as the most important feature of the video. For example in Mariah Carey’s
music video for ‘We Belong Together’ it starts of with the shot above of her looking at the
camera; this establishes her as the dominant figure in the music video. We decided to
challenge the convention in our music video, by showing the rapper first and only showing
the singer 15 seconds into the music video. By doing this is contradicts the typical convention
of primarily showcasing the artist. We found that challenging the convention offered a
different dynamic to the artist by making her mysterious. On the other hand, it made her
much more grand and important when she appeared on screen later on. This still maintains
the synthetic quality (Negus’s Theory) of our artist as a constructed image of glamour.
Mariah Carey - We Belong Together Our Music Video
9. Set
Symbolic Convention
The set design (wheel) in Ariana Grande’s ‘Focus’ music video is similar to the wheel design in our music
video. The concept of a person inside a wheel is striking visual element that is rarely seen. This connotes
that the artist is avant-guard and innovative in their music video concepts. Additionally, by having the
surroundings black, it requires the viewer to focus on the artist in the centre of the frame. As a result, we
are drawn to her and give her attention; it also suggests that she is an important person. Conventions
that make the singer the most significant feature of the music video are common in the R&B genre, this is
because they are targeted for mass audiences who not only consume their music but their image;
arguably, the image is the most crucial factor in a synthetic artists success. In our music video we
developed the concept of the ‘wheel’ , by having a much larger wheel which the artist could stand in.
This not only gave space for choreography, but is also suggests that the artist can command a large set
build which consequently adds to her high status and diva persona, which the audience recognise.
Therefore by using and more importantly developing the conventions of the set in our music video; we
were able to create her diva star image.
Our Music VideoAriana Grande - Focus
10. Character Positioning
Symbolic Convention
The character positioning during the dancing sequence in Amerie’s music video for ‘One
Thing’ resembles the character positioning in our music video. The two dancers are on
either side of her in the background whilst she is in the front closer to the audience. In
both cases it shows the artist as being the principal and ‘star’. The artist is represented
as being a diva and more dominant than the dancers because she is in the front and
centre, making her the focus of attention. By having the artist in the foreground and
closer to the viewer, it makes the viewer feel as if they are present with the artist; this
links with Dyer’s star theory paradox where he says that ‘an artist must be both present
and absent’. This means that the artist is present in the viewers life and they feel a
connection, however the artist is not physically there. The use of this convention is
popular in the R&B genre because the institution want to present their artists as a strong
and extravagant people, especially if they are female.
Our Music VideoAmerie - One Thing
11. Digipak Our Album Front CoverKelly Rowland - Talk a Good Game
We can see some clear similarities between the Kelly Rowland ‘Talk a Good Game’ album front
cover and our front cover. The artist is the main feature (focus) and is in the centre of the digipak;
this emphasises their powerful and female empowering image. This relates to the ideology of our
target audience of females (aged 18-21) who believe in the female empowerment message of our
artist. It also highlights the fact that they are synthetic artist (Negus's Theory) because they are
promoting themselves on their cover. We can also see that on both covers, they are looking head on
at the camera and engage with the audience. Our artist is striking a strong pose that exudes her sex
appeal and confidence all of which contribute to create her diva persona; which are common
conventions used to represent females in the R&B genre. A difference between the two is that Kelly
Rowland is behind her name on the cover, whilst our artist is in front of the cover. By developing this
convention on the digipak we were able to suggest, to our audience, that our artist is recognisable
and does not need her name to be recognised.
Front
12. Digipak
Our Album Back CoverBeyonce - Dangerously in LoveMariah Carey - Rainbow
Above we can see the album covers for Mariah Carey and Beyonce, they both have their
backs to the camera but they look back engaging with their audience. Across all three
back covers they have their back towards the audience. They pose in a seductive manner
and are dressed provocatively, this attracts their predominant female target audience
who appreciate their body confidence and try to imitate their style; however it also
draws in a secondary male audience who are attracted to the artists’ looks. Although all
three covers are similar, we challenged the convention by not having our artist look back
at the audience. This connoted that our artist is mysterious and alluring which persuades
her audience to find out more about her.
Back
13. Website
We wanted to create a website that would showcase
the artist and have her as the main feature.
Additionally, we wanted the website to have a
modern design that would be easy to use by users.
14. Website
Home Page
We found that Mary J Blige’s home page for our website and our home page were very
similar. The most obvious being was that the background kept changing, we used a gif
with different images of the artist that changed in the background; meanwhile Mary J
Blige’s website had the video of her latest music video as the background. This made both
our websites visually striking. This plays with the convention of the R&B genre, where
artists need to be new, bold and impressive. In addition, the font used is clean and easy to
read on both websites; this again links in with the conventions of female R&B artist, where
they are the focus. There are a lot of close-ups of the artists used on our homepage, this
allowed the artist to form an intimate connection with her audience. Additionally, it is
linked to Dyer’s star theory paradox where he states ‘an artist must be both present and
absent’. Our artist is connecting with her audience and therefore is present, however she is
not physically with them, thus ‘absent’.
Mary J Blige - Home Page Our Home Page
15. Website
Colour Scheme
Beyonce - Website Our Website
We made sure that our website was bright and colourful with harmonious colours
throughout. We used pinks/purples/oranges and reds because they usually connote
femininity and we wanted to attract and reflect the target audience who are females
aged 18-21 years old. Compared to other websites such as Beyonce’s website, our’s
is much more colourful. During our research we found that many artists in the R&B
genre tend to use warm tones such as browns and golds or otherwise black and
white. This may be because R&B music tends to have an urban, jazz quality with a
strong bass rhythm therefore bright colours would clash with the identity of the
genre. However, we challenged this convention by using bright colours to represent
the new generation of R&B and the different aspects of the genre which we reflected
by the use of different colours on each page.
16. Website
Tour Page
Due to the growth in streaming services, artists are making less money from
digital sales and therefore rely more on tours to make money. Most artists of
the R&B genre have a tour page where they give information such as dates
and venues for their next performance and fans can also purchase tickets from
the page. The tour page across most artists are clean/simple and easy to use
because it has to be easy for fans to buy tickets. The tour page advertises the
artists tours and it also allows the audience to feel connected to them because
they can buy tickets to physically see them. By using the same convention of
the ‘Tour Page’ on the artist website we are able to connect our artist to a
global audience.
Our Tour PageMariah Carey - Tour Page
17. Artist we compared to:
Ciara
Kelly Rowland
Beyonce
Shakira
Brandy
Mariah Carey
Ariana Grande
Amerie
Mary J Blige
18. Conclusion
Overall, we did use well-known technical and symbolic conventions of the R&B
genre in our music campaign. This was because these conventions are
recognisable and successful with audiences, therefore there is no reason to
change them. However, we did develop some convention, especially the
symbolic conventions of mise-en-scene, because it was important to create
something new for an audience so that they don't feel as if they have seen it
before. Additionally, we did challenge some long standing conventions, such
as having the artist the focus of the music video from start to end. In ours, we
changed this, so that we created a build up to the artist. This made the artist
even more striking for when she appeared; therefore cementing her grand and
glamorous persona.
