In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Elliot Stahlmann (5214)

Conventions of Grime music• Grime music is a genre of music originating in

the UK• Consists of elements from Reggae, Jungle,

and Garage but primarily has grown from Rap and R ‘n’ B. Aspects from all these genres can be seen throughout;

• Developed in the early 2000s, Grime is generally very fast paced, usually consisting of anti-establishment lyrics, focusing on women, religion, education and money

• Predominantly the genre is male dominated though some female artists can be identified as gaining reputation within the genre such as Katy B and Tulisa from N-Dubz

• As a whole, Grime music is most popular amongst young males aged 16-25, perhaps due to the fact that several reputable artists within the genre fall into this bracket and therefore the music is more relatable to those audience members whom also lie within this group

• Grime is characterized by complex 2-step break beats, generally around 140 beats per minute.

• Stylistically, Grime takes from many genres including UK Garage, R ‘n’ B and Hip Hop. • The lyrics and music combine futuristic electronic elements and dark, guttural bass lines. • Grime, identified as the movement from UK Garage, set into more deeper and darker

themes and sounds with its underlying routes to Rap - as often seen throughout such music videos and similar imagery – includes conventions of a mix between Punk and also Rock.

• Grime was invented in the inner cities of London, mostly in East London, where our artist is from. Thus, we will more than likely utilize the urban city jungles of East London for the location of our music video. MajorFm.com was a major promotional online station devoted to support grime music and gave Grime its first rise to the international market.

Goodwin’s TheoryAndrew Goodwin suggests that there are several typical conventions of music videos, they are as follows:• A relationship between the visuals either

illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics

• A relationship between the music and the visuals again either illustrating, amplifying and contradicting the music

• Music genres have their own music video style and iconography

• There is likely to be voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of women, and close-ups of the main artist or vocalist

• There is likely to be inter-textual references either to other music videos or to films or TV texts

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW!

The video below is our music video with annotations of how it follows and challenges conventions of music videos and of the grime genre… Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhLsj9fe_tY

When you’re finished be sure to return and find out how our print products met and challenged their own conventions

Where did our inspiration come from…?

“96 Bars of Revenge” by ChipThis video was simple and enticing to watch. The variety of cuts between shots inspired our own production

“Bigger Man Sound” by NovelistThe shots, in terms of style and location, shaped our end video product and some parallels can be drawn between the two. In terms of content, this is was the group and I aimed to align our end product with

“One Take” by Double S x ShockaShot in black and white, this motivated our opening as the group and I agreed this was effective as a grime music video and was therefore something that we wanted to include

Digipak

Digipak

Parental Advisory label is conventionally found on grime album covers as is informative of the explicit content

Spine: features the artist’s name and album title

Bold font is synergetic with the Parental Advisory label

‘Featuring tab’ allows for more sales as some consumers might buy the product for one hit single. Increases publicity for the video aswell

Similar colour pallet to Wiley’s “Playtime is Over”

Similar imaging, labelling and titling to NWA’s “Straight Outta Compton”

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The artist is the main focus of the album cover, similar to Drake’s “Nothing was the Same”

Digipak Image of the railings is nostalgic of the industrial London routes of the genre of music. The simplistic image and colour pallet creates a grimy effect and is also in-tune with the genre

This is the disc place. Conventionally, the colours used are simplistic and lie on the same colour pallet as the rest of the cover. Overall, this adds to the aesthetic of the digipak

This is symmetrical with the other side of the digipak and improves the overall aesthetic. Conventionally, images are mirrored on the inside

Track list is conventional for albums

For the inside we included a lyrics page for the hit single ‘Hype in the Booth’ as these are conventionally found in albums and would be a useful addition for fans

Low high-angle shot of the artist is synergetic with themes of empowerment that are conventional of the genre. Such images are often found on albums Barcode

Placing the artist as a central image for the cover is conventional as it sells the artist. Also, it makes consumers visually aware of the artist

Magazine Poster

Magazine Poster Imagery: clear parallels can be drawn between our magazine poster and that of ‘Forest Hills Drive’ . Peering off into the distance is evocative of a sense of pathos that is conventional for the grime genre

Labelling: the use of the Parental Advisory label is synergetic with the grime genre as made famous by the NWA’s ‘Straight Outta Compton’ album cover

Information: Conventionally, magazine ads will feature the artist’s name, album name, name of any featuring songs, and where and when the album is available. This is key for audiences as this information is vital for sales to be made

Institutional: this is the magazine’s logo, i-D is renowned for it’s involvement in the grime genre and so we thought it would be best to use this magazine label over any other. This is conventionally found on magazine posters

i-D is a popular urban culture magazine. We aimed to make the album release a ‘cover issue’ in order to fit best with real texts printed by the magazine

Album title – vital for audiences to made aware of this in order for sales to be made

Artist’s name and website. This boosts publicity for the artist and makes consumers aware of the artist and where products can be bought and information on the artist found

‘Featuring tab’ creates publicity for the song and music video which is very important to gain views which can lead to reviews and further publicity. Informs the consumer where and when the album and song are available

Parental Advisory label is essential to inform consumers of the explicit content of the album. Could also act as a unique selling point for the artist as such themes may appeal to audiences. However, it could be argued that this also reduces the artist’s market to 18+ listeners

Low high-angle shot of the artist places the artist in power, making the viewer seem as though they are looking up to him. This intimidates the audience in a way that intrigues but also presents themes of power and conflict that are seen throughout the album

Same location as the video. Creates synergy between the two texts but is also nostalgic of grime’s London based heritage

Same costume as the music video, which also creates synergy between the texts. This reflects the artist’s carefree nature and sells him as a brand. Also nostalgic of grime’s working-class routes and appeals to it’s largely working-class fan base