The document provides an analysis of a music video created by the candidate for their media evaluation. It discusses how the music video uses, develops, and challenges conventions of real media products in the grime genre. The candidate researched other grime music videos to inform their creative choices. They explored conventions around editing techniques, camerawork, lighting, locations, and artist representation to both conform to and develop genre conventions in their own video.

1. ALI SHEIKH
A2 MEDIA EVALUATION CANDIDATE NUMBER: 2255
MUSIC VIDEO LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVhB1dZFJ7M

2. QUESTION 1
IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR
CHALLENEGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

3. Prior to the creation of any music video the complete team of creators for the filming sector have to do a lot
of pre production work meaning research on other artist real products that use certain types of camera shots,
editing techniques, props, lighting etc. This is so that they can conform to conventions to let the audience
know at first glance that this is a music video in the grime genre.
For example the way that rap artist and grime artist portray narrative is very different as in rap video it seems
to be continuity editing as the technique does not draw attention to the editing process making it seem to be
all filmed to give a sense of reality and time moving forward whereas grime artist seem to portray there
narrative very quickly as the overall cutting of grime music is usually quite fast paced meaning a lot of jump
cuts noticeably advanced in time and cut between two similar shots, usually done to create discontinuity.
After understanding the importance of pre-production planning I begin planning with my group the treatment
of our music video to understand whether it was a performance or narrative or a bit of both. The music
videos I analysed were those of established grime artist in order to come to a conclusion on whether to do a
performance or narrative according to the lyrics of the music.

4. Before me and my group started filming we had to do a lot of research primarily to get in the mind frame of
grime music video’s to let our imagination and creativity work inline with conventions. I began by browsing
through loads of music videos of grime artist on the most viewed ‘youtube’ channel for grime ‘SBTV’ this gave
me a broader insight as to what I may be able to produce keeping in mind the facilities we had available.
I cam across several SBTV videos but an initial one that struck me with the use of effects in the editing
technique was ‘SB.TV - Casper - Hear Me Tho’ by allowing myself to be influenced by these editing techniques
would help me at some points stay in line with conventions of grime genre music videos.

5. Music Video
By observing so many music videos in the grime and rap genre we were able to notice conventional camera
movements and shots that made them what they are and how we also used/followed these conventions but it our
own creative sense. Creative, meaning our own original portrayal of these ideas.
For example: The video I initially looked at of Using this as our creative influence when I was
SB.TV - Casper - Hear Me Tho [Music Video], filming I used the focus feature near the lens to
used depth of field on a side view of an estate create this effect. In order for it to give off that
block in the exposition to set the atmosphere for same conventional aspect of the grime genre. It
the target audience. seemed to work well in conjunction with a ‘blink’
transition in order create a nice flow towards the
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature= next shot in focus as opposed to staying in the
player_embedded&v=vbYeOIJqEcg same framing and going from focus to out of
focus.
Challenging the genre codes and conventions by flipping trough black and white and colour tone of conventional
grime music videos however the exception here is that this is now become a developing trend used in ‘road’/ ‘hood’
grime music video’s. On the other hand some still tend to stay black and white or colour not both for example in the
other music videos the artist has done I found all three versions so therefore on some level the conventions are
being followed.

6. Complete Black and white this creates a more ‘street’ Complete colour is a typical convention for more or
feel as colours are usually associated with happiness. less all music video’s and our music videos seems to
As due to the lyrical content this wouldn’t be as use but develop this by following another convention
effective in colour, despite ‘Grime Daily’ usually which is to keep a repetition depending on
posting videos in colour this exception seems to have a performance or narrative to jump between black and
purpose and with over 5000views it must have had a white and colour.
effect on the target audience.
Mainly colour with verses and cuts of black
and white frames. This convention of
continuous repetition of colour
To black and white seems to work well and
after looking at these this influenced me in
my editing stage. In this video black and
white is used in conjunction with colour
throughout the music video but as it is a
total performance this is where my
creativity developed this convention in
terms of having colour for the
performance and black and white for
narrative.

7. Due to this being part of the narrative in order to
almost tell the story of the ‘street’ life the artist is
living. Black and white for the lyrics" reminiscing
on old school days” seemed to work well also
because the associated colours with ‘old’ are
greys black and whites.
Challenging the genre codes and conventions by
flipping trough black and white and colour tone of
conventional grime music videos however the
exception here is that this is now become a
developing trend used in ‘road’/ ‘hood’ grime
music video’s. On the other hand some still tend
to stay black and white or colour not both for
example in the other music videos the artist has
done I found all three versions so therefore on
some level the conventions are being followed.

8. I looked at many artist in my pre production and also in the post production stage just to keep myself
refreshed in terms of techniques used. I chose to analyse music videos from an artist closely comparable to
mine, K-Koke the only difference is that he has been signed to ROCNATION whereas our artist hasn’t been
signed yet.
K-OS and K-Koke clearly come from different areas however there music both express what they have felt and
what they are feeling every step of the way. Moreover because they are both in the grime genre this is
expected.
The main two videos I looked at by K-Koke were ‘Power’ and ‘I’m Back’
POWER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDCRdcMjFAw&feature=relmfu
IM BACK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ0Ic6uHKhA
NOBODY BUT US
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeryKq0-BEs

9. This is a print screen from the chorus of the song
“Power” by artist k koke who is most comparable
to our artist. Therefore after reviewing this we
then decided to place in text within our music
video in the chorus therefore following a rare
conventional aspect of this genre of music video
however in order to really develop this we
decided to use it prior to the chorus on the end of
lyrics in order to keep a flow and not confuse the
viewer. In addition to that we did not have all the
choruses in complete text apart from one.
This is a screenshot from our music video during
the complete text chorus, we chose to keep it
black and white because adding additional colours
or tones could not keep in line with the colours of
the video.

10. As the series of screenshots from the music video ‘K-Koke – I'm Back’ show, there is a series of shots in the same
composition and frame broken up by a blink transition, which is in conjunction with the beat of the instrumentals
of the song.
During the editing stage I also chose to use this same technique in the time with the beats of our artist K-os song
‘kick dat down’ therefore confining to conventions however to be creative and build upon this idea I chose to use
the siren of a police car instead as opposed to the artist giving it a heavier impact when it cuts to the artist as the
instrumentals begin to give the pause for the artist to start reciting his lyrics also known as a ‘drop’ in the grime
genre.

11. I also analysed many videos by ‘Giggs’ a well known grime artist who has been established and signed a while
before ‘K-Koke’ therefore the techniques used in his video may be slightly less up to date but are still very
useful as he seemed to get a lot of hits/views for his songs and the techniques used in his music video as it
follows his style of music and his image.
HUSTLE ON
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8_XbEmQHNM&feature=relmfu
DON’T GO THERE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EuI2_pjDlM&feature=fvwrel

12. In terms of camera movement I noticed that in all music videos in the grime genre there is an establishing shot
like it is in most genres and as I wanted it to be at first glance affiliated with the grime genre the beginning
conventional editing techniques had to followed.
Therefore I decided to use the well known ‘Pan’ (movement), Where the camera pivots horizontally, either from
right to left or left to right to reveal a set or setting. This can be used to give the viewer a panoramic view. This
enabled me to identify the artist location and able to show the connotations with London city as there is
iconography of the black cab and red bus to establish the location London and the busy traffic with is mostly
correlated with London.
K-OS – Kick Dat Down [Our music video] Giggs – Hustle On

13. K-OS - KICK DAT DOWN [OUR MUSIC VIDEO]
In our video we chose to show a conventional negative
connotations of the police as this is how the artist (K-OS)
portrays them and how other artist seem to address
their views on the police. We chose to use a mid-shot but
a view from the back of the police as opposed to the
front or side which is more conventional in the grime
genre as we did not want to completely follow
conventions without adding our own creative aspects to
it. The audience would usually see the faces of typically
police of the ‘white’ race hinting a racist element when it
comes to the police.
This is a screenshot from a grime artist ‘Giggs’ video
called don’t go there where he recites the lyrics ‘feds on
the case’ meaning that they believe they are victims and
just because they dress a certain way and stay in groups
they are seen to be a prime suspect when anything has
happened.
GIGGS FT B.O.B - DON’T GO THERE

14. GIGGS FT B.O.B - DON’T GO THERE
This is another screenshot from the video
Don’t go there by Giggs. In this specific
screenshot it shows Giggs representing his
town through a gang sign which appears in the
video when he iterates the words ‘the south’.
This is a screenshot from our music video were
we have the artist representing his area ‘East
london’ therefore conforming to conventions
however the idea that there is no one else
behind him as a more independent element to
the artist.
K-OS - KICK DAT DOWN [OUR MUSIC VIDEO]

15. This effect used is called a ‘BAD TV’ effect which we chose to use as a recognisable technique
throughout the video before every verse to give our audience something to affiliate the video with
next time they see the technique used.
This effect contributed to the overall theme of the video giving the artist a more ‘street’ feel as this
effect does not conform to conventions this seems to be an example of creativity which has enabled
us to find our own style which is what is developed during the post production stages. However after
we posted our video I later saw a grime video by grime artist ‘Wiley’ who also used this effect.
Wiley - Evolve Or Be Extinct

16. The screenshot from K-Koke’s nobody but us music video shows a conventional
representation of poverty in the grime genre. Where the artist usually explains what they
could easily be if they weren’t doing music. As our artist (K-os) also touches upon poverty
in his lyrics we decided to place in this conventional shot of a homeless man in a tube
station smoking, therefore conforming to conventions of the grime genre.
This gives the audience a different perception of the artist and make them feel sympathy
towards them. In contrast even though there is a difference in the colour between these
videos they have still choose to not use extremely vibrant colours in order to keep it in the
depressed emotion to go parallel to the lyrics.
K-Koke ft Abel Miller - Nobody But Us K-OS – Kick Dat Down [Our music video]

17. These close up camera shots of a notepad with the lyrics of the song from our music video seem to challenge
conventional forms of grime music videos as notepads are rarely seen in music videos and if they are they are
usually never close up but in the surrounding or the artist is holding it. Therefore it could be seen that we are
developing those conventions however this prop is only mostly used if the whole narrative has something to
do with ‘a message to someone’ for example ‘K-Koke - note to god’ can be expected to be seen with shots of
a notepad, which is going to be released around early April. In our case just to go alongside the lyrics of ‘hand
on my heart’ just as he is writing them.
K-OS – Kick Dat Down [Our music video]

18. Another artist who our artist is comparable to is the grime artist Dot Rotten due to the fact that they are from
the same area so there talk about the place were they are is very similar as well as the fact that they know
each other which gives our artist an insight into maybe getting signed by the same label.
As well as the fact that Dot Rotten produced the song and gave K-OS permission to use it.
IT’S OVER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hueyrmj_j7E
KEEP IT ON A LOW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FBoBYWm-zk&ob=av2e

19. K-OS – Kick Dat Down [Our music video]
This is a conventional shot of having the camera falling down after the artist acts as if they just hit the camera
and using camera movement it is dropped in a very simulated way almost making it point of view to make it
seem as if it is directed to someone or something. In this music video of Dot Rotten – It’s over this is evident
therefore we are conforming to conventions of grime music videos.
Dot Rotten - Its Over

20. EAST LONDON, MANOR PARK
Above are the images I took in order for me and my group to use in there advert music CD cover and so on, in
addition due to knowing the artist I was able to thereafter take pictures and get permission to use unused pictures
When it came to taking the images of the artist in order to eventually use for other sectors of the promotional
package, we choose to follow conventional in terms of gestures, posture and stance of other artist in the UK grime
genre.
A main convention is the attire worn A conventional aspect is that the
by all grime artist and the trends they gestures of the artists are different this
set and the way that they wear what is due to the area they live in as they
they wear. inevitably representative for the voice
of the people of their areas.
STONEBRIDGE

21. THE IMPORTANCE OF CLOTHING
GIGGS K-KOKE DOT ROTTEN
CONVENTIONAL ATTIRE OF A GRIME ARTIST
Clothing is important in any music genre as it seems to define who the person is as most people at first glance
judge people just by what they wear. Therefore in the grime genre it is conventional to wear beanies, hoodies,
hats, puffy jackets etc whereas in other genre it is more conventional to wear other types of clothing.
As a group we chose to keep K-os’s attire conventional by making him were is usual beanie hat and puffy jacket
to give him that intimidating thug-like impression.

22. An artist who I believe has a very obvious aggressive approach to his music therefore understanding that
most of his song will follow a dark theme which is how we wanted to portray K-os I analysed some videos to
see were we could adapt certain aspects of his videos or see how the dark theme could be expressed in more
ways then one.
Ghetts is also from the same area as K-os and he has also ‘Tweeted’ his free album link so that can people can
hear his music.
ARTILLERY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCKCHKRswQs
IN A ZONE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ath53fChx3k

23. LIGHTING
This screenshot from ‘Ghetts – Artillery’ is shot in
natural lighting therefore giving it a more
realistic feel as Ghetts is explaining a narrative
showing what he does in the day.
GHETTS – Artillery
However in our music video to go inline with the
dark theme of our video we choose to film at
night this might not have been the best idea in
terms of quality however the artificial street
lighting adds to the atmosphere to show how the
world is still going about while he talks to the
audience.
K-OS – Kick Dat Down [Our music video]

24. LOCATION/ESTABLISHING THE LOCATION
This is a screenshot from our music video highlighting
how the location being, Leicester Square in central
London and how it is used in many other UK grime
artist videos and how location is expressed by iconic
surroundings.
In our case having all these bright lights gave an
additional element to our lighting choice as we were
keeping a dark theme we needed some artificial light
which would grasp the audience attention.
The idea of central London gives an insight to an a
wishful lifestyle as central London is classified as upper
class.
K-OS – Kick dat down
Dot Rotten – keep it on a low Ghetts – In a zone K-Koke – Nobody but us

25. INSPIRATION OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS TOWARDS MY OWN MEDIA PRODUCTS