Research Into Similar Products/Target Audience: Monica - The First Night

R&B Music Videos

The video above is for "The First Night" by Monica. This song is more upbeat than the previous R&B songs I have analysed and therefore the conventions are a bit more lively.

The video starts off similar to "Don't Walk Away" by Jade as we are shown a group of men with aggressive facial expressions rapping at the camera. This represents a gang which a typical convention used in R&B music videos as this genre tries to portray the lives and interests of African Americans. The males are wearing costumes which are very typical for African Americans to be seen wearing in music videos. The mise en scene is made up of costumes which are loose and very gang-like. They are wearing hats and are portrayed in low key lighting to exploit their aggression and represent true gang violence. The video cuts from a male gang to a female gang and such fast cuts represent the difference between males and females and their attitudes. The males have violent and aggressive facial expressions whereas the females are seen as calmer and more relaxed and also kinder to the audience. This is supposed to appeal to the audience as to appeal to African American males, the characters in the video have to be seen as dominant and belonging to a gang. For a female to be looked up to the target audience she has to be seen as attractive and sexually appealing which is portrayed by the difference between males and females.

Mise en scene conventions continue at 20 seconds in with the typical make up that women wear in R&B music videos. It is very subtle and uses a lot of browns and golds to show some relevant dominance to the female which the younger target audience can relate to. Their hair is also done up and neat to create a more stable sense of appeal to the male target audience. The females are also shown in high key lighting which is different to the men in this video. This type of lighting is supposed to put the woman on show and objectify her in a very appealing way so that the male audience can enjoy the video more. The females are wear less clothing to create a bigger appeal for the males.

At 3 minutes in, the star is shown to be embraced by man as they sit on the couch. The male character is kissing her neck and shows romantic interest in her. This is a very common convention used in R&B music videos and it is a great method to make the star appeal to a wide range of target audience. the males will find her appealing as another male has shown interest in her and the female audience will be more interested as a male desired her and the female audience will feel envious of the star.