Conventions of a music video -
Before tackling this question I thought it would be worthwhile looking at the most common conventions of both music videos and hip hop;
Music videos are basically short films that are created to fit a song and promote the track in the way the director and artist feel is appropriate.
Performance videos; normally focus directly on the performance of the band. A wide range of shots used, in particular, close-ups of the artist
- Artist is shown throughout "performing" or "singing" the song.
Narrative videos; show the views a short story, which may or may not be to do with the song.
- Narrative based videos are usually used for a love song, so that the viewers can relate with the lyrics and the video.
- Music videos are often both narrative and performance based - they can have a narrative (story) throughout, but are used alongside various performance shots.
- Wide range of shots, from different angles which give different perspectives.
- The editing will usually go with the pace of the song, e.g. fast pace song means fast editing and visa versa.
- The video will usually last as long as the song, on occasions the video will have an intro to introduce the story line this normally happens in highly narrative based videos.
Conventions of a Hip-Hop music video -
After looking in depth at many videos (and images) from the Hip Hop genre, a number of reoccurring themes were evident:
- Usually a male artist performing to the camera.
- The performer is almost always highly confident, making direct address towards the audience
- Women are prominent, often wearing revealing outfits (sexualised dancing)
- Men are often wearing baggy, fashionable, 'American style' clothing.
- Display of money and power and power; e.g. cut-aways of cars, jewellery, champagne.
- Usually set in an urbanised area, tracing back to the roots of black America and/or connoting that these artists are one of the people, that they've lived the 'rags to riches' tale but have stayed true to their background.
Different shots and editing used -
Some of the most frequent shots I found in Hip Hop videos were the following:
- Low angled shots (to make the artist seem more powerful)
- Editing to fit the pace of the music
- Either the use of bright lighting to make the artist seem more important, impressive or powerful, or black and white, to add a gritty, or perhaps timeless, classy touch to the visual
These were two of the first Hip Hop videos I analysed, and I feel that both carry classic conventions of their genre. I feel that these two videos have similar cut aways, both use regular shots of the performer and take place in urban (or simple, stripped down) locations. This was a convention I used in my own video, having shots of my performer against a brick wall which connected with the usual conventions of a Hip-Hop video being shot in a urbanised area. Also as I decided to do my video in black and white I felt having a plain background of the genre would contrast and look more sleek and stylish - another convention used.
The background of both Hip-Hop and R&B come from successful black rap artists, who communicated their frustration and passion through lyrics. Therefore I chose to use locations like one below, to use conventions of traditional Hip-Hop music videos such as 'Home-coming' below.
My urban shots;
The plain white background in my music video worked well in comparison with the brick urban background as it added to the contrast of black and white and also emphasised the genre of the music video. Another of my locations was shot within a club. As Hip-Hop music seems to be identified with the teenage population from 16-19 (demographics from my questionnaire earlier in the year) I was able to connect locations to this, using a cut away of a nightclub to connect with this age range, as this is stereotypically what they would be doing at that age. The shots that I have used include both male and females dancing as this video/genre appeals to both male and female demographics. Most of the videos that I have watched have been mainly females dancing in a sexual way. I believe I have challenged this convention as the girls in my video are not wearing normal Hip-Hop clothes as they are much more covered up than most of the girls in the videos that I have watched.
Another way I feel my video challenges and develops the conventions of a usual Hip-Hop video is through the girls I have dancing in my video. Although they are seen dancing in my video they are not seen in provocative clothing.
My video -
A usual Hip-Hop video -
My video hand-held shots -
"99 Problems" hand-held shots -
One way my video develops the conventions of a music video is through the pace of the editing. During research I noted how most music videos are edited to fit the pace of the music. As the song that I chose has a fast and upbeat tempo, the pace of the editing was very quick. I compared the amount of cuts in the real music video for Pass Out with my version and found that my video was even quicker in terms of editing (over 200 cuts compared to around 160 in the original). This is where I began to develop conventions - taking fast editing and pushing it even further. I feel that the pace of editing that I have used fits the song better than the original.
Videos which the editing fits the pace of the song;
Both of these videos have different pace of editing. But they both fit in with the pace of the song. "Deuces" has a very slow beat and there for has less edits and cuts. Within the video the transition between two shots cross fade used a lot. This is used to make the video flow. Cross fade works for this video as it is slow and sleek, where as my video has a very fast and sharp pace and to have a slow cross fade would make the video seem like it doesn't fit the song. "Just a Dream" starts of slow and therefore has less editing. There is also a lot of slow motion used at the start as this shows he was "dreaming". I have used slow motion in my video, in the club scene as this is when the song breaks down and gets ready to go into the bridge. Slow motion also needs to be used in the right way. The part I have used it on is the slowest part of the song, therefore it works. I have used this convention of Hip-Hop by the type of cuts I have used.
Cutaways of conventions of a Hip-Hop video;
Mine;
'Drop it like it's Hot';
The style that is used in the video uses a convention of a Hip-Hop video being sleek and stylish. This is a regular convention of a Hip-Hop video. As the artists are also seen to be stylish and sleek. Black and white helps to create this effect. In my video I changed the contrast on the shots to make them more crisp. I believe this also added to the stylish point. To turn an image into black and white you;
Go into 'Video Effects' then go onto 'Image Control' - then 'Black &White'
Then click onto 'Black & White" then drag it onto the clip you want to change into black and white.
After you have done that it should come up in effect controls under Video controls.
These still shots above are mainly of the performer in the video. I would say my video is mainly performance based. This is developing the conventions of a usual Hip-Hop video as they are usual performance based with some narrative (usually something to do with a girl). When exploring different videos of the same genre as mine I came across quite a few black and white videos (although black and white has also been used in videos from such genres as rock and indie). I believe black and white could be seen as a convention of Hip-Hop as all of the videos are sleek and stylish and I feel black and white is both sleek and stylish.
The clothing that I used fits in with the conventions, as both of my performers were wearing designer clothing. The cutaways I have used in my video are usual conventions of a Hip-Hop music video, e.g. champagne. In 'Drop It Like It's Hot' they use some of the same conventions as I did. Another conventional cutaway used was people dancing withing a club.
For my ancillary task I used a lot of conventions including bar codes, track listing, release dates and the artist on the front cover. I used these as they fit with the usual conventions of a digipak. They are an essential convention of a digipak/CD covers and so it was vital I included one on my CD packaging. I decided to have the main artist (Feyi) as Tinie Tempah on the front cover as I feel that this will draw people onto looking at the CD cover as it has a well known artist on the front. This is also a regular convention of a Hip-Hop CD cover, as the artists are seen to be very confident.
I used track listing on the back of my CD cover as this shows what tracks are on the CD and also in what order, this again is a regular convention of a digipak. One way in which I have used the conventions of track listing on the back is that I haven't put the numbers of the tracks on the back. One reason I did this is because I feel it looks more sleek and less clustered.
I used the record label that Tinie Tempah is actually signed to. I did this to keep the realism of the CD and magazine advert. Another reason I added this onto both my CD cover and my magazine advert as yet again it is a usual convention of a advertisement product.
The inside of my digipak I felt should have the same style as the outside therefore I kept the background plain white with black and red writing. This keeps the continuity of my products and also allows people to connect to the video and also the magazine advert as they are all in black and white. This is a usual convention of advertisement products as for example magazine adverts are there to attract audience and onlookers to recognise it from watching the video or seeing the CD cover. One of the main things which I felt was important to include on my front cover was the parental advisory label; this allows the viewers to understand that the CD has "explicit content" which could be unsuitable for younger children. This is more predominately used on rap/hip hop CD covers.
One way in which I have challenged the regular conventions of a magazine poster is that I have put the names of the artist at the top of the advert in the style of a film poster. I did this to create a sense of excitement and anticipation about the product in much the same way as a block buster film would do.
Throughout my media products I mainly used usual conventions of Hip-Hop and also usual media products. I decided to develop some conventions as I feel the way I did them fitted in better with the style.
For my ancillary task I used a lot of conventions including bar codes, track listing, release dates and the artist on the front cover. I used these as they fit with the usual conventions of a digipak. They are an essential convention of a digipak/CD covers and so it was vital I included one on my CD packaging. I decided to have the main artist (Feyi) as Tinie Tempah on the front cover as I feel that this will draw people onto looking at the CD cover as it has a well known artist on the front. This is also a regular convention of a Hip-Hop CD cover, as the artists are seen to be very confident.
I used track listing on the back of my CD cover as this shows what tracks are on the CD and also in what order, this again is a regular convention of a digipak. One way in which I have used the conventions of track listing on the back is that I haven't put the numbers of the tracks on the back. One reason I did this is because I feel it looks more sleek and less clustered.
The inside of my digipak I felt should have the same style as the outside therefore I kept the background plain white with black and red writing. This keeps the continuity of my products and also allows people to connect to the video and also the magazine advert as they are all in black and white. This is a usual convention of advertisement products as for example magazine adverts are there to attract audience and onlookers to recognise it from watching the video or seeing the CD cover. One of the main things which I felt was important to include on my front cover was the parental advisory label; this allows the viewers to understand that the CD has "explicit content" which could be unsuitable for younger children. This is more predominately used on rap/hip hop CD covers.
One way in which I have challenged the regular conventions of a magazine poster is that I have put the names of the artist at the top of the advert in the style of a film poster. I did this to create a sense of excitement and anticipation about the product in much the same way as a block buster film would do.
Throughout my media products I mainly used usual conventions of Hip-Hop and also usual media products. I decided to develop some conventions as I feel the way I did them fitted in better with the style.
