ConventionsR&Bof

FashionMEN:•Jeans – The artist is usually wearing jeans, slightly hanging low so you can see their boxers. They will also have a designer belt on which a few close up shots will be done on as a form of advertising for that particular item.

•Tattoos – A lot of rnb male artists have tattoos a majority of the time they are on their chest, if not it will be on their arms. They also have multiple tattoos, it will not just be one.

•Jewellery – Unlike males in hip hop, rnb stars wear subtle jewellery like a watch, chain and earring – where as in hip hop they wouldwear bundles of jewellery.

FashionWOMEN:Hair & Makeup – their hair is always styled in a very dramatic and eye catching way. Their makeup is also very bold and defined, especially their eyes they always have dark coloured eyeshadows with golds which makes their eyes very alluring. To show power some females wear red lipstick in their videos.

Heels – R&B females wear very high heels to elongate their legs because if they are wearing hardly any clothes the higher the shoes the longer their legs will look. However some R&B females wear trainers in their videos for choreographed scenes.

Jewellery – Big earrings, necklaces (for example: this picture of Keri Hilson) but usually when they wear a lot of necklaces they are breaking gender stereotypes because it is usually R&B males that wear that much jewellery.

iconography• A majority of R&B videos these days are filmed in greyscale/sepia tone which adds a sensual tone

to the imagery in the video. R&B male stars wear jewellery however not as much as Hip Hop stars do because although they are trying to depict their wealth, a majority of the video will have close ups on their bodies and abs.Trey Songz – Can’t be friends: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArdBI_F1LKo

MEN:

WOMEN: R&B females are usually portrayed as soft goddess type people in their videos, but nowadays there

has been a lot of gender stereotypes being broken in their videos with the females being seen as more powerful than the men for example Ciara’s “like a boy” video.Ciara - like a boyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CQEvlil68M&ob=av2e

Music videos• Slow R&B songs these days are usually in greyscale or a sepia tone. I think this is because it makes the

colours very soft which adds to the tone of the song because dark colours evoke emotion. The white balance on these videos is usually quite high because if the grey in the video goes more towards to the black side it can depict a sense of power instead of showing softness. If the video is not shot in greyscale, the video is always softened and a lot of natural lighting is used to show a sense of reality. Slow R&B songs also usually follow a narrative, which means having a co-star alongside the musician this is a convention which is very common in R&B ‘slow jamz’. The co-star is also pictured wearing minimal clothing which adds to the depiction of sexuality; there are also a lot of close up kissing shots of the musician and the actor/actress in the video. However this convention is typically found in videos by R&B males and songs that are about sex.

SLOW SONGS:

Music videos• However slow R&B songs that are about being in love or breaking up, does not have as much nudity as

sexual R&B music. These kind of “love” songs are usually done by females, instead of wearing very minimal clothing, females in these songs will wear clothing that depict them in the same light as goddesses; the clothing will be bright and colourful to show happiness if the song is about being in love. Whereas if it is about breaking up the typical convention that these videos use is the greyscale filter to show emotion and they will be wearing dark clothes. A lot of nude coloured/natural makeup will be used to convey the sense of natural beauty, because there a lot of close ups on the artists face. Some of these types of songs have a narrative but some of them will just be shots of the artist. A majority of the time the location for these songs will be a beach or a tropical island looking place (this will then mean a lot of wide shots showing the location) – that’s if it is a love song. Songs about breaking up usually take place in a plain black room which will probably have a chair or very minimal items in the room, because these songs tend to concentrate on the artist by using close ups to show significant figure expression.

SLOW SONGS:

Music videos• Fast R&B songs consist of bright colours, flashy cars, jewellery – almost like a party scene. These videos

involve a lot of choreography. These videos are the ones that depict R&B males in a wealthy light and R&B females in a powerful light. The typical conventions of a fast tempoed music video for an R&B male artist will involve being in a club, champagne, artificial lighting and women wearing minimal clothing – usually short dresses – these videos will portray the stars as fun loving people. Another common item of clothing/accessory that R&B males wear in these type of songs are sunglasses, they convey a sense of coolness which their target market will find very appealing. The props in these videos are bottles of expensive alcohol which there will be a few close ups on for advertising purposes.

FAST SONGS:

Music videos• Fast tempoed R&B songs by females also involve bright colours, but it not about being in the club like the

way the males depict themselves. A lot of videos by females are done in the studio because there are a lot of special effects especially in the background (for example: Rihanna – rude boy). The typical clothing for these type of videos are very revealing clothes with high heels to elongate legs, a lot of jewellery is worn as well where as in the slower songs, jewellery was kept to a minimum. Brightly coloured makeup is also worn, if it is not strong eye makeup it is usually very strong lip colours like reds and bright pinks. These videos do not tend to follow a narrative but will usually have a male co-star or also involve male dancers because there is usually a lot of dancing and choreography in these videos. These videos will also portray the musicians in a more powerful light although there is not a total gender switch up, they still seem more powerful than they do in videos for love songs.

FAST SONGS: