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1. EVALUATION TASK 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
By Saskia Tarn

2. CONVENTIONS
• Conventions in the 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.

3. CONVENTIONS
• Conventions are divided 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.

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.
•

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

21. WEBSITE – TOUR DATES 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 – COLOUR SCHEME
• 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 I felt 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.