Q1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms or conventions of real media products?

The genre of our chosen song is R&B/ Pop in which typical music videos of this genre are constantly focused on relationships whether being young or old. Our video doesnt stick to the stereotypical view of R&B culture which includes bling jewellery, wild fashion (revealing clothes of the female artist) however it does use similar themes incorporated in many R&B videos. Our video has developed a combination of traditional R&B with elements of contemporary pop. It has become common for artists in contemporary society, to combine genres together and the effect of this can be that it allows the audience to listen to music which they like that has a combination allowing them to engage/ relate to the video. The genre that is incorporated throughout our video can be said to give a sense of masculinity and relationships between young teenagers is focused on. This is a stereotypical view as many music videos of this genre focus on the youth as a collective therefore reinforcing what is going on in their lives. The message that is being portrayed in such conventional videos is usually the artist talking about his/her past life showing them move on. In our video we have 3 performers; two males and one female. This would instantly tell the audience a message that there is a love triangle or the female character moving on. The music video was practically a flashback of the memories between our two main performers reflected themes such as change/payback, a new beginning for the female artist, confusion and heartbreak. These themes allowed us to challenge the stereotypical conventions usually found within R&P/ Pop genre which can usually be about jealousy however our video does have some true conventions to the genre in terms of relationships. It can be argued that we challenged many conventions seen in videos due to ethnicity as we had Asian performers involved rather that stereotypical Afro- Caribbean/ White ethnics that are usually found in the chosen genre. We integrated conventional themes however challenged this through ethnicity, age and camera angles. The lyrics of the song highlight that our artist Sandhya is reminiscing on her past memories with Zein and this is shown as it is her speaking directly to him expressing words that is more that just for a video which means something in her personal life. This can have many connotations with many R&B/ Pop songs as they focus on one gender that is hurt by another which is expressed through lyrics. In the opening of Tell Me Youre Sorry we hear a female voice which immediately tells the audience that the artist is talking about a relationship with a male and this adheres R&B stereotypes. Already it can be argued that the video is going against stereotypical conventions as in R&B music videos it is the male whom has a bigger role however in this case it is the female artist distributing a message of how women are treated in a relationship. However the video applies conventions in Pop culture as in these music videos of this genre it is the female character expressing how she feels for example, Taylor Swift.

How our media product develops, challenges and uses conventions of real media products?
Videos such as Taylor Swift; Mine and You Belong With Me, Bruno Mars; Just The Way You Are and Grenade, Alicia Keys No one, Rhianna; Take A Bow, Owl City; Fireflies and Carly Rae Jepson; Call Me Maybe can be applied in a variety of ways to our music video.

The opening of our video can be said to developing new conventions for this genre as not many videos have a CCTV effect incorporated in R&B/ Pop videos.

The Song Itself

There are some similarities between these shot types of the shoes. This shot can indicate many things. For example for the video Tell me youre sorry can connote that in real representations of R&B culture, many female artists are moving forward from the past. This is also shown in a male perspective in Bruno Mars video Grenade where it can show stereotypical representations of the male character moving forward. However we have developed these representations in our video by adding the song title on screen. The similarities between Bruno Mars video Just the Way You Are and our video can show a very film like convention to have the title of the song included in the video. This allowed our Artist to be recognised to a further extent by the audience.

Lyrics Shown In the Video

Another convention which can be developed is that the camera angles whereby the female characters are not performing directly at the camera and we developed this convention to maintain a use of different angles. Also it can connote that female artists are not always the straightforward person in a relationship. The colour pink used can allow the genre Pop to be incorporated in our video. However we have added some concepts into our video by having lyrics present in the shot. This contrasts with typical features in an R&B such as in Kanye West- Good Life where the lyrics appear on the screen whilst being sung however our video challenges the conventions

Andrew Goodwins theory can be applied to this scene where our artist is writing the lyrics on the mirror and singing at the same time. He states there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visual and this can

illustrated when she sung Dear You and further in the video when Zein actually writes her a letter.

Argument Scenes

A sense of relation can be created here for couples who have experienced arguments within their relationship. It can be said that our video has created real representations of teenagers and what they go through. These images show that in Pop/R&B based music videos, the narrative is usually based on the male character that is in the wrong and has been perhaps unfaithful to his partner. However our video challenges forms of the video Mine by Taylor Swift as in her video it is the male character who is shouting at the female character whereas in our video it is vice versa. This illustrates the conflict between two people. An argument scene is usually shown in music videos that include flashbacks of certain memories therefore it can be said that we have developed real conventions of music videos by using flashbacks.

Here the audience can instantly figure out there is a sense of love between the two characters in both screen shots. This shows real conventions as we have stuck to a narrative of love which is a common theme that runs though R&B/ Pop music videos.

Body Language

Aspects of body language can also contribute to the ways in which our media product used forms of real media products. Here the female character in both screen shots has the same facial expression which can imply that the theme of love does not exist but has been taken over by frustration.

Direct Address

Direct address and purposing a gaze towards the camera can also contribute to our music video using conventions of real media products. Usually in Pop genre the artist sings directly to the camera and this can indicate the female character is directly expressing how she feels towards her boyfriend. However the song is very different to typical R&B tracks however our video uses conventions of real media in terms of the narratives which run through in this culture. We challenge the conventions of real R&B media products as the female character does not directly sing to the male character in his presence however she does this through direct address to emphasise the message. To improve we could have had more scenes where the Artist is miming. To keep a continuous flow, we used this in two scenes.

Memory Scenes

In aspects of the narrative in pop/ R&B music videos, our video has developed this through the female protagonist looking through pictures reminiscing on the past. This is common with female girls as they look back on the positive memories with their boyfriend. In terms of Mise en scene, we decided to dress the performers in a conventional way to R&B genre. For example, Sandhya is wearing a hoodie here which audiences sometimes relate hoodies as a moral panic and part of a gang; however this is usually within male characters. Also the clothing decided here is something which would be worn at home. However we challenge further conventions within the genre of Pop by showing the appearance and mise en scene of the artist as quite smart and casual giving a more feminine look. For the male performer, we have kept the clothing quite conventional in order to recreate a sense of masculinity which is highlighted in many videos of R&B culture. However the male performer was also dressed in a sophisticated way at the end of the video. This can show a change in character subverting the typical stereotypes which can connote a negative message. It also can show that he has moved on and is ready for a new start.

The clothing in this scene reflects another day in her life. It can connote her character as previously when she had the hoodie on she felt trapped in them memories however now that she is wearing a t-shirt this can show she feels more happy and is thinking of the positive times she had within her relationship. The emphasis on her flicking through the pictures again indicates that this was possibly the best memory she has experienced.

In Bruno Mars music video Grenade, there are some similarities with our video constructed. We can see that they are both holding a frame and at one point they were looking at the memory which is in the frame. The emphasis of this can be that that memory is fixed and it is a memory which people in relationships will not forget. This can be seen as quite conventional as videos which include flashbacks of relationships stems include some sort of montage.

Shot Types/ Transitions The variety of shots used at the beginning, middle and ending of the video are always used in music videos to allow the audience know what is exactly going on. The shot types can also indicate status of the artist. Establishing Shot

At the beginning of music video and we reinforced this convention as it is used in many videos. Shows the destination of where the Artist is present and can possibly allow the audience to relate to the artist instantly as they may recognise the place. Using this shot allowed us to develop conventions through positioning of the artist and show movement rather than the artist being in a fixed position.

Point Of View Shot Allows the viewer to see the perspective of what the artist is looking at We get an insight into their facial expressions

In this shot of our artist we see: Her reaction which is happy and cheerful.

Shows that our video uses real conventions as similarly in the video Just the Way You Are we are able to see her facial expressions as quite similar however here she is shy.

Graphic Match Used to show a link between two scenes and also shows a change in location.

Fade Allow to show a change in location The fade connotes the past has been forgotten about and a new start has begun.

Split Screen Was used to get a perspective from our both performers. This was effective to let the audience know what was going on from both point of views Not many videos include split screens as they usually cut to another scene in a fast pace. Whereas here we have challenged conventions by having more than one split screen in our video.

Tracking Shot In our video we used a tracking shot when the Artist is singing It can be argued that the reason why we used this shot is to imply she is moving forward in her life and this is done by the camera tracking backwards and our artist is walking forward. This is a convention which is used in real media of Female Artists which can also convey this message.

Stop Motion

The video also features an effect of stop motion. The effect of this can show how fast things went for the artist and her partner. It can also connote that things did not last very long and it was over before they knew it. Zooming into the frame in our video implies a flashback within where the lighting exemplifies that the performers were strongest as a couple during their best memories and the zoom connotes the growth and dedication between their relationships. This can be seen as quite conventional as couples gradually develop to become stronger and this is shown in videos as they break up however gradually get back together. Conversely our video tends to challenge this view as it doesnt show this stereotypical view but shows the female character moving on and in the end is with another male. The stop motion can have some connotations to a music video by Owl City- Fireflies in which stop motion is also used in a dance routine.

Performance

The piano scenes in our video are apparent within Bruno Mars video Just the Way You Are and Alicia Keys video No one. We decided to include a piano scene to add some performance to the video. Although we have some performance in stop motion scene, we thought we could further enhance this by showing the talent of the performer. This is quite conventional in music videos to add some performance to a narrative based video.

Including choreography/dance in our video allowed us to include some performance in the video which can be seen as conventional as many R&B videos have dancing in their videos.

Clothing

Clothing during the middle of the video

Clothing during the middle of the video

Clothing towards the ending of the video

Furthermore, throughout the video there has been a growth of our artist Sandhya as her appearance and mise en scene changes gradually throughout the video. The clothing of our artist throughout the video can be said to subvert stereotypical conventions of female characters in the R&B/ Pop genre. This is because in this genre, teenage girls are usually associated with clothing which is quite revealing and a lot of jewellery is present. Also in Pop genre girls usually wear dresses in the music video e.g. in Taylor Swifts video however we have challenged this stereotype to give the protagonist a more sophisticated look throughout to match the song in this video. During the middle of the video, our artist is wearing a hoodie for many scenes which argue we did to an extent, adhere conventions of R&B genre and this can indicate the artist is quite fed up with her relationship however gradually she moves on and we can see this through the mise en scene.

For the male performer, we have kept the clothing quite conventional in order to recreate a sense of masculinity which is highlighted in many videos of R&B culture. However the male performer was also dressed in a sophisticated way at the end of the video. This can show a change in character subverting the typical stereotypes which can connote a negative message. It also can show that he has moved on and is ready for a new start.

Scenes Including Devices

This shot here can be said to adhere typical conventions of the genre R&B. In Take A Bow By Rhianna it shows how she is the one who sends a text to her boyfriend however in our video it is the male character whom sends a text. This can reinforce power in a relationship and it can be argued with Rhianna video the stereotypes are being subverted as usually in relationships, it is the female character who feels as if the male is in the wrong and wants to get revenge. Whereas in our music video we have maintained the typical conventions as the male character sends a text to the female which is more common in break ups of relationships. This can also relate to the idea of how society is still patriarchal and this is shown in our music video because it is our male performer who dominates this by showing he has control in the relationship. This view would be supported by Feminists who believe in a patriarchal society. However this can be contradicted by Rhiannas video which can indicate we no longer live in a patriarchal society as in relationships, it is no longer the male in control. However the role has become equal.

Scenes associated with the female artist getting rid of her past memories

This scene in our music video conforms the real conventions found in R&B videos as similarly in Rhiannas video on the left Take A Bow there is a fire scene where she burns all the memories of her partner. We have developed this by our artist doing this individually which further embraces her emotions.

Female artists moving on

In the ending of our video, we had a twist where when the male turns around it is a different guy; Nikhil. It seems in the previous scene Zein and Sandhya are going to meet each other. In Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen where was also a twist where the guy she was falling for turned out to be interested in someone else. However in our video it turned out to be someone different. This can have some connotations as it shows that some female characters tend to still be heartbroken and disappointed whereas in our video, we adhere to the stereotypes as she is still in a relationship and has moved on the past which can show the theme of jealousy to her ex-

partner Zein. This is developed in many R&B videos however not so much in the Pop genre, therefore we are going against the Pop genre and throughout the video are developing upon real R&B media texts.