Research: Conventions of slow R&B songs

Slower R&B songs

Slow R&B songs these days are usually in greyscale or a sepia tone, these are regularly used in many sogs. This is because it makes the colours very soft which portrays the emotion of the song as the darker colours emake the audience experience what the video wants them to feel, such as sadness or happiness. The white balance on these videos is usually quite high so that the subtle and gentle messages of the video are portrayed even further through the filter. A darker tone can show power or dominance which is not the idea that a slower R&B rmantic song wants to give off. 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 songs. 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 characters in the video. However this convention is typically found in videos by R&B males and songs that are about intercourse. 

Target audience is always kept in mind when producing slower R&B songs. They are typically focused around romance, a broken heart or a happy relationship. Despite the fact that the message of the song moves away from being dominant or powerful, and try to stay gentle, the usual conventions can also be seen. Women are mostly seen wearing tight clothing and are present around men shown in an objectifying manner. 

Slow R&B songs that are about being in love or breaking up, do not have as much nudity as sexual R&B music. These kind of songs are usually sung by females as in the R&B industry they are seen as the more emotional ones. Instead of wearing very minimal clothing, females in these songs will wear 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 natural makeup will be used to convey the sense of natural beauty, because there is 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. 

Target/ Market Research

Target/ Market Research

This is a collection of the genre, plot and storyboard of my music video idea for A2 Media Studies Project. 

A2 media studies project from roxykasprzyk

Research Into Similar Products/Target Audience: Mya - Movin' On

R&B Music Videos

Above is an embedded video of Mya's "Moving On" featuring Sikk The Shocker. This video follows the convention of R&B and does not break or stray away from them. Placing common convention of the music genre in the video helps the audience make links about the genre and also recognize the genre which it follows.

The video starts in a High School which is predominantly African American. The Mise En Scene follows the typical conventions and sets the tone for the rest of the video. All the actors which are present and even the main stars are dressed in the typical R&B costumes. The male characters are wearing loose clothing, gold chains and hats whereas the female characters are wearing short dresses and tight tops which is typical of an R&B music video. Through such costumes the audience can admire the characters and look up to them for clothing inspiration. The males wear gold chains which set a trend for the generation and the characters follow this convention to appeal to the male target audience. The make up of the background female characters is subtle yet does make them appear really appealing to the male audience but also be an inspiration to the female audience with their look. The main star, Mya, is wearing more make up but it is all in creme and brown tones which is a common convention in R&B music videos. Mya is presented in this way so that she can be found appealing to the male audience but also so that the female characters can look up to her and continue to be fans of her music.

The video also follows the convention of showing some of African American background which is very stereotypical. As African American males are said to have children with women and leave and often be referred to as "baby daddies." This behaviours is shown in the video which the audience would find appealing as the video addresses the common idea of African Americans ans plays in with them. In the video, one of the characters has a child with a woman and he is only in high school. Showing something like this would not be so acceptable in pop music videos for example. However R&B does have difference conventions.

The dancing which is shown in the music video is also street or hip hop dancing which is done my males wearing loose clothing. This convention is shown in the video which would appeal to the audience as many of the target audience would partake in this sort of dancing in their free time. The sport which is shown in the video is Basketball which is stereotyped to be an African American. This is also a convention shown in R&B music videos which shows the African American background and the activities many of R&B target audience like to partake in.

Research Into Similar Products/Target Audience: Jade - Don't Walk Away

R&B Music Videos

Above is a video for Jades' Don't Walk Away music video. It is of R&B genre and doesn't go against the conventions of this music but instead, it follows them.

Right at the beginning of the music video, the audience is presented with a couple of young, African American males sitting on the street. They are sitting in a group or "gang" which is more suitable for this video. They are wearing the stereotypical clothing for black males that were in gangs in 90's America. The mise en scene was thought out carefully in this shot as to present the characters in a certain way in this frame. They are wearing tank tops and denim jeans to keep with the R&B costume conventions. The camera is also at a slanted angle to show them in a more aggressive and dominant way. The video is appealing to its target audience in this way as teenagers and young males and females of African America descent are targeted. This would appeal to them as gangs were perceived as cool. The gang is also sitting in an expensive car which shows the characters in an attractive light as the target audience would be drawn to expensive cars, resulting in them looking up to the characters in the video.

At 30 seconds in the star, Jade, is seen in a very dominant and attractive way. One of the conventions of R&B is for the women to be wearing costumes which would appeal to men which are targeted by the R&B genre. Jade is between two girls who are walking towards the video and keeping consatant eye contact with the camera. The audience will feel drawn in and also this video would appeal to the male target audience as they would be attracted to the female characters in the video because of their costumes.

The whole video is set in a typical African America neighbourhood which has brick buildings, graffiti on walls and gangs roam the streets. The mise en scene in this video is carefully planned and the location was not chosen at random. The majority of people who would listen to this video would live in these neighbourhoods and through locating the main star in this location, the audeince will feel more involved in this video.

Props such as costumes, make up and expensive cars and motorcycles are also used in this video. In R&B music videos it is a convention of showing off expensive jewellery and cars to make the audience admire the characters. Jade is also wearing very attractive make up and has her hair done up to continuously appeal to the male audience. The males on the other hand which are present on the video, are seen wearing denim and most of them are shirtless which is a common convention.

Overall most of R&B music videos do not break conventions as to do so, one would risk not appealing to their audience.

Research Into Similar Products/Target Audience: R&B Conventions

Conventions of R&B Music Videos

The Conventions of R&B music videos are specific in their terms and remain similar from video to video. The mise en scene is particiluar and is aimed at a particular group so that convenionts can be adfapted to their needs. 

Mise en scene
Mise en scene inculdes costume which are similar from music video to music video. Men are mostly seen without shirts and wearing jeans. For example Trey Songz is usually pictured in his videos with very minimal clothes on and this is because a lot of male R&B singers target market is young teenage girls. 

If the artist is pictured topless they are 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. the belt is a prop used to show off their style or "swag." This also helps suit the target audience as teenagers want someone who looks up to and is seen in expensive clothing. Where hip hop and R&B differ is the amount of jewellery they wear in their vieos. Males in hip hop wear bundles of jewellery and long and thick gold chains, R&B stars on the other hand wear subtle jewellery like a watch, chain and an earring.

Women in R&B usually have very little clothing on and their stomachs are shown which is similar in a lot of genres including hip hop and pop. They show off so much skin so that male fans become objects of desire and therefore make them want to purchase the CD of the artist. Hair and makeup of the female artists is also very specific to the R&B genre.  Their hair is always styled in a very dramatic and eye catching way and heir makeup is also very bold and defined, especially their eyes as they have dark eyeshadows with golds which makes their eyes very alluring. The make up and hair is all put togetehr so that females are shown with power, red lipstick is also sometimes worn to show dominance.

Target Audience of R&B music

Target Audience of R&B Music

The majority of R&B fans are teenagers and young adults. The ages of the target audience are roughly between 13-25. I have gathered this because of the explicit lyrics in some of the songs, the majority of the target audiene are also females and so the artisits continue writing similar songs with the same meaning to appela to the target audience. It is usually females that are attracted to R&B music because female R&B artists stereotypically make songs about being in love or heartbroken which is something that will appeal to a great extent to teenage girls and young adults. The fast paced R&B songs will also involve a lot of fashion and the synergy of music and fashion is something that will also attract females because if they are into that sort of music they are usually also interested in fashion. The target audience of R&B males is also majorly made up of females because they are portrayed in a very sexual way, through their nudity and lyrics. Females will find this appealing because usually they will also be physically attracted to the male artists. However some males will be attracted to the jewellery, depiction of wealth and the attractive females. The majority of the R&B target audience is of a black background as R&B developed from soul which is a music genre that has been popular among the black culture for many years.

Drafting and Planning: Lighting

Lighting

Lighting is very important for any type of video productions- from film trailers to music videos.The use of lighting is important for more than one reason, ranging from making it easier to see everything, to portraying a certain mood. For example, if little lighting is used, it would create a dull and sad feeling in the video, which would highlight what the song is about. Then if lots of lighting is used, it gives the impression that what we are watching is a happy and enjoyable moment. 

In Rihanna's video for We Found Love, the scenes at the beginning which are being showed whilst there is a voice over, the lighting used is very little and dull. This immediately gives the impression, even if there wasn’t the voice over, that the song is about sadness and regret.The low key lighting lighting is great for creating emotions of sadness and realisation in the audience.To do this the director either just let the natural light be the main source, or they would have used lighting that could be dimmed to create this dull feeling seen in the images.

In Kesha's Tik Tok video, I looked at it as it has a completely different story line to Rihanna's video. Therefore, the lighting is used to portray a completely different type of feelings andis used more often. As you can see in all 4 images, it is all very bright, and is it clear than bothnatural light and lighting equipment is used to create a light airy look. This immediately makesyou feel happier and allows you to identify with the artist and what their song is about.

Research Into Similar Products: Music Vidoe

Research Into Similar Products

Codes and COnventions of music videos are separated into two parts: technical and symbolic. Technical conventions is how meaning is conveyed using technical equipment e.g the way the way camera angles are used, different types of shots, sound either diegetic and non-diegetic sound, the pace and style of editing, and the genre. Symbolic techniques are ways of showing meanings beyond what you can see for example through, facial expressions, gestures, poses and mis en scene. 

Codes and Conventions are useful as the audience can become familiar with a particular genre, as they get use to recognizing the different conventions within a genre. This allows for the audience to make links between the common conventions seen in music videos and the genre it belongs to.  Sonventions also provide a structure that the audience can understand.

A common convention used in music video is perfomrmance. This convention consists of the artist performing in the video. In these type of videos the artist continuously performs the song and there is no narrative or any other scenes in the video. PErfomance has to be carefullt matched with lighting and costumes to make the whole video interesting as there is no other narritive occurring. 

A Narrative music video follows a story line, there are two types of narrative Linear and Fragmented A linear narrative starts a story at the beginning, goes on through the middle, and ends at the end. Fragmented narrative might have a beginning, a middle and an end but all these will be jumbled up to confuse the audience or portray a specific outcome.

Lighting

The Mis en scene constructs some of the thoughts and ideas associated with a specific social groups,The lighting in a music video can construct certain views by the way the frame is lit , it allows the audience to recognize the genre and style of the music video. A bright light draws the viewers attention and alerts them to keep their eyes on the music video. he angle and direction of the light can also determine the genre of the video as it gives the audience clues about what time of day the scene is taking place. For example a linear narrative can be showing a day in the life of a charcter and how they have changed in tht timne, the audience can be kept included in the video and informed about what is happening by the light showing them what time of day it is. 

Target Audience: Twitter

Twitter

My target audience are mainly teenagers and young adults which are in the age group 13 - 25. I want to appeal mostly to women as this video is about empowering and trying to give some more confidence to women. As social media is very popular among those ages, I have used Twitter, a very popular social media site, as a way to get in contact with my target demographic. I have posted in Twitter ti try and get the general opinion of which shot the audience prefers in music videos. I have used 3 shots from 3 different music videos by Tove Lo, Anna Naklab and Bob Dylan. I have received replies form my target audience and have an idea of what the audience wants to see. The replies I have received are from people aged between 16 and 18 and they fit in with my target demographic.

I will use social media to research my target demographic in the future as it is done fast, for free and also I can find out information fast.

Research Into Similar Products: Camerawork

Music Video: Camera Work

In this blog post I will be focusing on camera work and to be more precise, the walk along shot. On this shot the singer, or the actor, is walking forwards and the camera is panning them by being moved in front of them. The singer can be singing the song and if it is a character, they can be just waking along and following the plot. This is a great technique and it is further developed and discovered in the 25th second of this video. I have found this video and it is very helpful when it comes to deciding which shot to use and when. The walk along shot is used regularly in music videos and I will use it my video too as I want the camera to pan the movement os some of my characters. The walk along shot is amazing and looks fanatstic in music videos as the background is moving. the singer is also moving and it create a very dynamic effect with tons of energy. The walk along shot is used to often because of the appealing nature it gives to the video.

At 1:10, the video goes into more depth about how to add even more effect to the walk along shot. It is best to add a varying amount of different lenght shots and then cut between them. Wide angle shots are the best to also show off the location but cutting from a wide angle shot to a close up creates a bigger appeal.