1. Evaluation Post 1 -
“In what ways does your media product use,
develop or challenge forms and conventions of
real media products?”
By Abid Ahmed
2. Our Products
For our advanced portfolio, we were tasked with creating a music video for a fictional artist that we have
created. We were also required create ancillary texts which included a digipak and promotional poster to
support the music video. Music videos can show the visual interpretation of a song which can bring in an
additional audience who enjoy videos. Through our audience research and vox pop, our demographic
agree that music videos are not particularly important, although they will typically watch a video if the
song or artist are something they enjoy. For my music video, I uploaded it to YouTube as it would be more
useful to obtain feedback to the video from active audiences, and it also helps with publicity as YouTube
is the world’s largest video sharing website. A problem with YouTube is that previous videos that have
been uploaded for similar educational purposes have been taken down for copyright infringement, but I
am hoping that this does not happen with my video as I have stated that no infringement is intended as it
is for my coursework, and a letter has been sent to the record company asking for permission.
3. Inspiration
For my music video, I took inspiration from several videos across the genres of Hip-Hop (my chosen
genre) and Rap, such as Joyner Lucas’ ‘I’m Not Racist’ music video and Logic’s ‘1-800-273-8255’. In
regards to my inspiration from ‘I’m Not Racist’. In regards to my inspiration from ‘I’m Not Racist’, I
believed that the way the video is presented would suit the theme of my own video. The video shows a
narrative/performance as there are two characters who are talking to each other, reciting the lyrics. The
narrative itself is about a white man who supports Donald Trump but is giving his reasons as to why he
isn’t racist and a black man who gives his perspective on what it’s like to live in a predominately white
tuled country. My video took the idea of the characters reciting the lyrics as if they are in a conversation
as they are in an alcoholics anonymous group. The inspiration from ‘1-800-273-8255’ comes from a
variety of shots used within the video. The video consists of a few zoom movements and close up shots
that I have integrated into my own video.
4. I have decided to present my video on YouTube for a variety of reasons. Firstly, YouTube is the largest video
viewing platform in this generation in which the videos get the most views. Therefore, it is implied that the music
video will be seen by a large amount of audiences. Moreover, YouTube is also used by real artists, such as Logic,
but the channels are run by VEVO, which is another platform where music videos are generally uploaded. It is also
a platform that I would like to upload my music video to. VEVO have their own YouTube channel as well as their
own website where they have artists exclusively signed. YouTube is the best platform for my music video as it is
free and it would gain popularity easily. Furthermore, the use of social media will allow me to promote and
advertise the music video with ease. Artists typically put previews of new videos on social media platforms such as
Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. The use of social media will allow the artist to gain more and more popularity.
This will be conforming to the norm of how artists and musicians usually promote their music in this generation.
Fans will typically share their interests on social media applications by either sharing posts from the artist or
sharing the music video from YouTube or other platforms. The use of social media will then allow the music video
to reach potential audiences.
Viewing
5. Ideology
An ideal narrative within the majority of Hip-Hop music videos is showing off wealth and dancing with
women. For example, videos such as ‘In Da Club’ by 50 Cent and ‘Ric Flair Drip’ by 21 Savage, Offset &
Metro Boomin conform to this ideal by having the narrative of the video show the artists throwing
around money as well as dancing with women. However, even though I originally intended to follow this
ideal, I decided to challenge it instead by showing the struggles of fame as well as the consequences that
came with it such as alcohol addiction. This also reflected the lyrics of the song. I did this because I
wanted to create a production that stood out from other real life media texts. My inspiration for this is
derived from a variety of different music videos such as ‘1-800-273-8255’ by Logic. Mental health and
substance abuse is not often portrayed in hip-hop music videos which is why I believed that audiences
would find my video unique and interesting.
6. How did my role affect the video?
Since I decided to work independently, I wrote, directed, filmed and edited the entire music video. I
started out by drawing up a rough storyboard for the video. I then filmed the actual video and proceeded
to edit. When editing the first draft, I decided that I was not satisfactory with a part of the narrative of the
video. The original idea for the video was to show off the artist’s wealth as well as his inner thoughts
portraying his mental health. However, I decided that in order to challenge the conventions of hip-hop
music video narrative, I had to remove the footage of the artist showing off his wealth. Also, due to the
lack of resources, it was difficult to have the artist show off his wealth as much as it is shown in real
hip-hop music videos. Therefore, I had to redo the storyboard to make sure that there was a clear image
of how I wanted the narrative to work out. Furthermore, since I was sole editor, I had to utilise all my
skills to put all the footage together to tell the story of how the artist struggles with an alcohol addiction.
7. How successful was I?
Overall, I believe I created a video with a good balance of challenging as well as conforming to the
conventions of a hip-hip music video. This is due to the fact that I used typical editing techniques and
content that is usually not portrayed within hip-hop. By doing this, it should make the video unique and
stand out instead of being an ordinary hip-hop video.
