The document discusses how the music video for an R&B song by Tavonga conforms to, challenges, and develops conventions of the R&B genre. It uses typical R&B settings like an urban brick wall backdrop but also challenges conventions by filming in a house. Costumes conform to trendy urban styles but challenge conventions through Tavonga's glasses. Props like phones conform but a motif of a rose challenges conventions. Camerawork mainly conforms to typical R&B performance shots but challenges conventions through a time lapse. The digipak and magazine ad conform through layouts but challenge conventions through font, color scheme, and synergizing pieces through a rose motif.

1. A2 MEDIA
EVALUATION QUESTION ONE
BETHANY SYMONDS

2. 1.) In what ways does your product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media texts?

3. MISE-EN-SCENESETTING:
USE: In the music video, it was my job to think about location. We used an urban backdrop for the video in the
chorus which was done against a brick wall. This is similar to many other R&B videos in the fact that many of the
classic music video styles were shot in urban locations such as the streets etc. We used the brick wall as it conveyed
perfectly as the other R&B music videos do the urban and modern edge and also portrays perfectly Tavonga’s
personality. It is young and appeals to the audience as it is city-like which is something that we thought the
audience would appreciate as they will also be around the same age as Tavonga and is somewhere that they would
be used to seeing and going a lot – The City. It also brings the aspect of R&B into it as most R&B songs have the
urban nature and therefore the music video makes it instantly recognisable to the R&B genre. We also used
intimate locations such as the bedroom. Most R&B songs are romantic in nature and therefore this is another way
we appealed to the genre. In our music video, we used the bedroom when Eboni was on her phone and getting
ready. This is typical for the R&B genre; however this is used less explicitly and featured for only a short amount of
time. This is a convention of the R&B genre because the bedroom has significance with the lyrics often shared in
R&B songs due to the fact that they are mostly to do with love.
CHALLENGE: In our music video, we challenged the settings usually used in the R&B genre as we used a lot of the
filming in the house which isn’t something that you see a lot in R&B music. As R&B is primarily urban and street-
like, the artists are modern and often edgy and therefore the setting used in most music videos is streets and urban
backdrops such as the one we used for Tavonga with the chorus. However, not all of our music video conformed to
the R&B genre as we used different locations. We filmed the majority of our music video in a house, in the kitchen.
This challenges typical conventions for an R&B music video as we had a low budget we couldn’t use high-profile
locations and also because the lyrics are very intimate, we wanted to keep an intimate location which would be
their own home to show the narrative of the story more thoroughly. None of the R&B videos which we looked at for
inspiration featured this sort of setting and so we thought it would add depth to the narrative.
DEVELOP: In our music video, we aimed to develop the usual conventions of R&B music videos as we wanted
something different which would intrigue our target audience. To develop the conventions of our music video with
regards to mise-en-scene, we decided to use multiple settings. In usual R&B videos, the setting is mainly urban and
shot in a city location or a performance video for big artists where they would stand in one spot and just sing with a
back-drop. In our music video, we incorporated different styles as we used the backdrop of the brick wall which is
urban, the house scene relating to the love narrative, the park for the flashbacks and the shot in the bedroom
where it shows the female alone. All of these added to the storyline and gave the video depth.

4. MISE-EN-SCENE
COSTUME:
USE: Another aspect of mise-en-scene we conformed to was costume. Tavonga’s costume in the
video was modern, trendy and urban which is similar to other R&B video’s and is comparable to
the likes of Chris brown as he also wears trendy, casual clothes in his music videos. When
looking at costume for the music video, we wanted to look at existing artists in the industry who
were highly regarded for their fashion sense as this is something which is extremely important
to the R&B genre which is based around wealth and status which incorporates appearance.
Someone that we looked at and based Tavonga’s costume on was Kanye West who is one of the
most influential male fashion icons of this decade. We also know that Tavonga usually dresses
similar anyway and so we based our outfit choices on Kanye West’s outfits. This was also
inspired by Chris Browns latest videos such as “Loyal” where he wears casual clothes but is still
iconic due to his individual sense of style.
CHALLENGE: With regards to costume, we found that it would be difficult to challenge the
conventions of R&B genre fashion as this is what Tavonga wears normally and is also extremely
popular within the modern audience and so to challenge it would be to lose the audience’s
attention as this is something which we think would be important to the type of people who
would watch this video. As Tavonga needed to conform to the costume in this respect, we knew
it would be difficult to challenge it and still fit with the genre and look good. Therefore, the only
way we challenged the genre’s conventions is by making Tavonga wear his glasses which is
something not many artists do in their music videos due to preconceptions that they aren’t
considered in fashion. However we got this inspiration by Ne-Yo’s signature accessory which is
his hat that he is seen wearing in all of his music videos. This is something that Ne-Yo is now
known for and we thought would be a good idea to use ad Tavonga’s identity to the audience.
DEVELOP: Costume was something that would be challenging to develop in our music video.

5. MISE-EN-SCENE
PROPS:
USE: In preparation for our music video, we researched lots of other R&B music videos for
inspiration. These were mainly by artists such as Usher, Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown and Ne-
Yo’s other music videos. We found that there weren’t a lot of props used in these videos as they
were mainly all performance based. One of the main props we used in the music video was the
iPhone which is something that is featured in many videos, especially R&B. This is because the
artist who will feature in it will often have the latest model of the iPhone to reinforce the status.
We also decided to use alcohol as our other major prop. This is something which is featured in
many R&B music videos. We thought that we would use this to add the sense of class to the
music video as we felt it needed sophistication and also thought it was a good way to inform the
audience of the narrative.
CHALLENGE: In the music video, we tried to challenge some conventions with regards to mise-
en scene by using props. With the use of props, we were able to create a motif. We used the
rose throughout the video as a way of portraying the status of the love as it falls at the end to
signify the end of the relationship. This is something not used in many R&B music videos as they
are mainly performance with little narrative included. R&B is a genre which is based primarily
around money, wealth, property and other high class respects. We knew this when we were
planning but as we don’t have a high budget as many of the recent music videos in the genre,
we couldn’t include all the props such as the cars and the money as well as the big houses and
so this is one way in which we challenged the conventions of the genre. This is what I noticed
when watching Tyga’s music video – “Make It Work” where there are flash cars and jewellery
which we simply couldn’t include in our video.

6. CAMERA
USE: Our music video mainly conformed to the R&B genre with regards to camera. There were many shots
used in the music video which conform to not just music videos in general but specifically to R&B as a lot of
the productions within this genre have a performance based shot which is the singer stood in one place and
the camera is focused solely on them. One video which inspired this idea and I posed to the group was
ushers music video ‘yeah’ when he is stood in one place for the music video singing to the camera. When I
watched the music video of Ushers, this was perhaps one of the very fist ones I watched to better my
knowledge of the genre and the first idea that I had from watching it was to have Tavonga stood in the
middle of the screen singing without any props or narrative etc. The reason why I liked this idea and
immediately suggested it to the rest of my group is because I think it gives it a very professional look. When
we filmed and edited this, we also thought it of our own as it was the part of the video I feel looks the most
professional and this is perhaps one of the biggest ways we were influenced by real life media texts and
decided to conform to it.
CHALLENGE: When it comes to camera, we challenged the R&B conventions in one particular way. When
looking at a piece of previous A2 media work we got the idea to do a time lapse which isn’t a typical
convention of the genre and no specific examples are of knowledge to me in any R&B music videos. We used
this feature so that we could show the passing of time in the relationship as each time one appears, it gets
darker in lighting. This mirrors the current state the relationship is in as it slowly becomes a darker place
emotionally for the both of them.
DEVELOP: To develop the usual conventions of the R&B genre in terms of music video, we used multiple
camera angles. In ordinary music videos such as ‘Yeah’ by Usher, the only camera technique used is a static
camera whereas we wanted to not only incorporate this into our music video (at the end of the music when
Tavonga walks towards the camera and also when Tavonga and Eboni walk both towards and away from the
camera in the park) but also use different camera techniques such as pan and tracking shots. We developed
conventions of our music video as we used speed altering. In addition to the time-lapse which we
challenged, we then built upon this and decided to put some footage in slow motion as well as speed it up,
this was done in the post production stage of our process as we had to edit it to get the desired effect.

7. DIGIPAK
USE: With regards to my digipak, I took a lot of consideration into account when referring to the right
guidelines of the digipak. By this, I mean that I took it upon myself to research all that should go on
DigiPaks, including information, the layout, institutions, songs etc. The only DigiPak I had at home with
the same layout as the one I had at home was Elton John’s Greatest Songs which although isn’t
relevant to the genre helped me greatly with knowing the layout and what information should be
included. I used this as well as the internet to conform to many real life text conventions as I thought
it would give my product that authentic look.
CHALLENGE: I also looked at album covers by Usher which gave me the inspiration for the font choice
of my digipak, particularly his album cover for Raymond V Raymond. I liked the classic, thin look of the
text as it was so different to the usual bold, urban fonts usually used on R&B digipaks, Usher uses this
font a lot on his album and single cover and is more recognisable than the typical, bold writing used
by other artists such as Ne-Yo. I chose to do the classic font as I thought it would add a sense of style
to the album which mirrors Tavonga and his sense of fashion. Another way which I challenged real-life
texts is by using a black and white colour scheme. When researching, I found that not many R&B
artists use the simple colour scheme and instead opt for bold colours or gold tone schemes to fit with
the theme of wealth and status. I got this inspiration from Justin Timberlake’s late album The 20/20
experience.
DEVELOP: With the digipak, I found it hard to challenge conventions as it is hard to sway too far from
conventions and still maintain the R&B genre look. The one thing which I think I developed upon
normal conventions in my own work is the synergy between the music video and the digipak. In the
music video, we used the rose not only a prop to support the theme of love but also as a motif
throughout the music video as a symbol of their love and as it goes on, the rose eventually falls to the
ground just as their relationship. I decided to use this rose in my digipak to create synergy between
the two. This is the thing which I think I have developed upon over other existing digipaks as it builds
an identity for the album. Most artists will feature in the same outfit for their digipak and their video;
however I think the rose means more thematically and symbolically.

8. MAGAZINE ADVERTUSE: For the magazine advert, , I took a lot of consideration into account when referring to the
right guidelines of the advert. By this, I mean that I took it upon myself to research all that
should be included in a magazine advert for the R&B genre in specific, including information, the
layout, institutions, songs etc. In specific, I looked at R&B magazine adverts in addition to
normal, non R&B so I could see how those from this genre may differ to other genres. From
looking at existing products, I also looked at my own advert which I have completed as a GCSE
task to see how I could have built upon that. However one aspect I took from my existing work
was the layout of the name at the top and then the photo and then tour dates underneath as I
thought it looked professional. I used this as well as the internet to conform to many real life
text conventions as I thought it would give my product that authentic look.
CHALLENGE: For the magazine advert, I decided to use the album cover from my digipak as the
dominant image. I challenged conventions here of real-life texts as I looked at adverts which
were released at the same time of Justin Timberlake’s 20/20 album and none of them include
any sort of synergy between the album cover or photos featured and those on the advert. I also
tried to challenge conventions by using a black and white advert. When looking at
advertisements, I found that they were usually bright, such as Trey Songz billboard magazine
advert which used bright colours, I decided against it as I thought the text and the black and
white theme would create more synergy across the two ancillaries and create an overall more
classic look.
DEVELOP: In my magazine advert I developed conventions of other magazine adverts with
regards to the information I included. I not only advertised the Album with the main text, but I
also advertised a selection of tour dates for my artist which is something that I hadn’t come
across before. I decided to do this as I thought it would add something extra to my product.