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

Rahul Yadev

In this section of the powerpoint I shall be addressing the question. I shall be describing how my media products including a CD cover, Magazine Advert and Music Video are either

conventions of real media products or challenge existing media products.

In order to create my media products, I firstly had to look at otherproducts that had been released already, including magazines, cd’s

and other music videos. I looked at several artists varying from the USand the UK as the genre I looked at was rap, and the genre is mainly

dominated by acts in both US and UK.

In order to fit the right genre I had to look at other media productsfrom the same field and observe conventions which I could use within my media products. I had to do this by observing things like camera

angles, location, clothing, lighting, props, camera shots, colours,expressions, body language, editing, and type of videos created.

Camera Angle Comparison

As a comparison to my video, I have screen shots of other rap artists which have similar camera angles. (Sho shallow-UK, Fabolous-US, T.I-US)

As we can see a medium shot when filming a music video is common in the rap genre and can be considered a convention. The artists create this shot to show there physique and posture when rapping in order to send a connection to the audience via hand movements or body movements. Also a medium shot enhances the image of the artist to make them stand out and give them main importance. As we can see in the screenshots of all videos, we can see the background during the medium shot is bright and has some sort of light, this is due to the fact that it gives the artist a superior look as they create a shadow effect on the lit background and therefore target the audience eyes towards the artist. It also gives a chance for the artist to show off their rich expenses such as chains or other garments and clothing.

Camera Angle Comparison

As a comparison to my video, I have screen shots of other rap artists which have similar camera angles. (Sneakbo-UK, Chip-UK, Konan-UK)

As we can see a close up shot when filming a music video is common in the rap genre and can be considered a convention. The artists create this shot to show there emotions when rapping, they also allow the audience to connect with them as they are able to look into the artists eyes and feel what they are saying. This is typically used when rapping about sensitive topics that can be emotional for the artist or the audience, this allows the audience to relate to the music.

Camera Angle Comparison

As a comparison to my video, I have screen shots of other rap artists which have similar camera angles. (Cashtastic-UK, French Montana-US, Wretch32-UK)

As we can see another convention which I have followed is the artist looking over a bridge, city, window, or over a landscape. The artists create this shot to show there status within a song, and this could either be that the artist is living the dream and looking over the city like its theirs, or either dreaming to own the city and therefore allows an audience to either follow in the footsteps of the artist and own the city, or to either follow and dream with the artist, this therefore allows the artist and audience to connect.

As a comparison to my video, I have screen shots of other rap artists which have similar body language. (Ard Adz-UK, Chief Keef-US, KKoke-UK)

We can also see another convention which I have used but I have challenged in my video. We can see hand gestures by rappers in the real media products, which are constant in rap videos, but they usually are related to gun gestures, gang signs, or swearing. This usually makes the artist seem powerful and have a ‘boss’ image and that they are leader. Whereas in my video I have challenged that convention and had the artist to have hand gestures but with nothing relating to violence, as this song was about making progression I felt it was right for the artist to show he is down to earth and is progressing in music. So throughout the video we have seen the artist either pointing up or down or creating a W sign for his name rather than swearing or violent references.

Hand Signs/Gestures/Posture

Clothing/ Lighting

As a comparison to my video, I have screen shots of other rap artists which have similar clothing and lighting. (Fabolous-US, KKoke-UK, Sneakbo-UK)

Another convention which is in the rap genre, is the clothing tends to be dark colours and a lot of hoodied garments are worn as well at caps, sunglasses, and jewellery. We see my artist wearing a black hoody and black jacket which are all dark clothing to show that he still resembles a thug but in the song is on his way to change. We can also see that some rap videos also tend to be taken in dark lighting, which we have also taken ours in, to give a feel that there are still gloomy days for the artists, but it also creates an effect for the artist to stand out.

Location

As a comparison to my video, I have screen shots of other rap artists which have similar locations. (50 Cent-US, KKoke-UK, Chip-UK)

Another convention I used but challenged was a location. Locations in rap videos can vary. They are usually either in a club or at a party, or on a gritty road or block. As we can see artists are either showing off the good life by spending money on alcohol and wearing flashy clothing or they are showing that they are struggling and are showing the life in their eyes and how they live and why they want to live the good life. Usually rap artists with loads of friends or a group of people to give the gang culture image. As we can see, we challenged the location instead of being either in a club, but not on gritty roads either. We decided to locate the video by the River Thames showing the London Eye. This was done as the song was about reaching success and dreaming of a better life so this linked with the visuals which refers to Goodwins theory. It also makes it more memorable as it is a famous landmark which a lot of the audience would recognize.

CD CoverWe see Chip standing upright with prayer hands, to show he is believing, but also as an audience we trail the hands which lead to his face. My artist point towards the name and album name to connect with the audience but then they also trail up towards the artist as well. Also both my artist and Chip are staring directly into the audiences eyes in order to connect with them.

We Lil Wayne standing up right next a expensive vehicle to show authority and status as well as wearing flashy shades to show he has money. Also Lil Wayne is looking at his album title which leads to the audience to look at it aswell, which happens with my artist too. I slightly challenged this as my artist is standing next to a famous red London bus owned by the government, so this again reflects his authority, but not so wealth but the shades he's wearing shows the audience he has money and gains respect and higher status.

Chip-UK

Lil Wayne-US

Fabolous-US

We see Fabolous standing next to a famous bridge which shows how can represent the famous landmark and he is also a famous or authorative figure. He is also wearing shades which show money and wealth by owning a designer asset as well as the other jewels he is wearing. My artist is standing next to Big Ben which can show he is as tall and colossal as Big Ben and shares the same authority. It can also reflect how he is powerful and known. The album title and name is also directly in line with the artists eyes, this therefore leads the audience to look at what the artist is looking at, which happens the same as Fabolous album cover.

AdvertJay-Z-US

We don’t really see jay-z in his advert, what we do see is instruments, which the stripes going across the image in bright red to illustrate its his 3rd album . We see his artist name at the top so we straight recognize who the advert belongs too. At the bottom of the page we see the album title as well as the release date for it. These can both clearly be seen as they stand out from the background. Also the record label is in small print at the bottom with the logo. My artist can be seen slightly which is a convention which has slightly been challenged as you can only see half my artist. Also my artist name and album name can clearly be seen so the audience know exactly who the album is about. There is also a release date for the album in bright white so it stands out from the background, this is so that audience know when it is released. My artist is also creating a ‘W’ sign which stands for WA records, which shows of his brand name and also record label name . Jay-z also has a website below for where the album can be purchased, whereas my advert has logos for different websites it can be purchased off too.

Advert50 Cent-US

We see 50 cent standing directly in front so the audience can see him. He is holding a baby, which shows that he has another side to him which is not violence related. The name of him is written below him as well as his album name. The title is written in bright red so it can stand out. The background it fairly light and the image of 50 cent is slightly shady but dark so it stands out behind the background, as it also has a bright light shadowing the image. 50 cent is making direct eye contact with the audience. My artist’s advert which I created shows half the artist face with him creating a ‘W’ sign for WA (artist name). This shows that the artist maybe hiding something about him and causes the audience to be intrigued and find out more about him by purchasing the album. The album title and name of the artist is also in bold lettering which is grey in colour as it stands out bold compared to everything else. This is so that the audience know who he is. The image of WA also has a slight white glow to him so that he stands out more than anything so the audience can see who they are buying into.