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For my music video which was part of the RnB genre, I decided to go along with most and almost all the
connotations that go along with the genre, which include;
Establishing Key Characters
Lighting
Costume
Editing
Narrative
& Mise-en-scene
A lot of RnB music videos use narratives which help tell the song in a sort of story which makes it
entertaining for the audience. This helps keep the audience interested and basically sums up the whole
song. Some narratives explain the lyrics of the song in detail, while others can be of no relation to the song
whatsoever. A lot of these videos tell a story, one which the audience can enjoy but also relate to. A lot of
songs in this genre follow some sort of a pattern, they usually display emotion, which is either love or
heartbreak and this is usually shown through the music video. For my music video I decided to go along
with this and tell my own story, the song I chose which was by Beyonce told the story of both love and
heartbreak and to enforce this into the music video I used the combination of a good narrative, lighting,
costume and also editing. An example is in Keyshia Cole’s music video for her song Trust & Believe. The
song tells a story of love and overcoming it. Her music video displayed these emotions but showed her
overcoming it in another way entirely.
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My video incorporated this same idea but also showed a form of empowerment in the video.
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Another thing always added is a performance scene. This scene has nothing at all to do with the narrative
of the story but helps not only establish the artist but also show the emotion that goes along with the
song and the artist in their element. It also helps the audience be more in tune with the song and the
video especially if it is a love song. Trey Songz for example always incorporates this into his music videos
which is very helpful while trying to entertain his target audience which are mainly female.
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For the performance scene in my music video I didn’t directly talk to the audience but spoke from the
point of view of most of the listeners which as well are mostly female.
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Another key aspect of my music video was the lighting. For example you can’t have a pop song with low
key lighting that goes against the connotations of the genre. Lucky enough for me, my genre
accommodates the use of both high key and low key lighting depending on the tone of the song. For my
song which expressed both love and hate contained a mixture of both kinds of lighting which could clearly
be established between the narrative and performance scenes. For the narrative which explains displays
the pain coming from the song I used low key lighting which connotes pain. But for the performance scene
where the song picks up I used high key lighting. High key lighting was also used at the end of the song
when the protagonist goes out to meet her friends. This scene showed how the protagonist was leaving
the past behind and moving on. Hence the transition from the dark room to the light passage.
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Lighting plays a key role in a lot of RnB music videos. For eample in Rihanna’s video for her song Take A
Bow, the singer uses a variety of both high key and low key lighting to express both her pain and free spirit.
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Costume also plays a very important role in music videos especially music videos of my genre which tend
to be a little more subtle than costume in a variety of other genres. Costumes in this genre aren’t usually
as bright as those of the pop genre and they aren’t as dark as those of the rock genre. Subtlety also
depends on the tone of the song.
I made the costume in my music video very subtle, like in music videos like Speechless by Ciara. It is a love
song like mine, but she doesn’t go ‘all out’ dressing fabulous but wears simple clothing like a crop t-shirt
and jeans, which is what I incorporated into my music video, simplicity.
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Music videos of my genre are usually played on both urban and international music channels. My music
video resembles most other music videos of my genre, but it doesn’t copy it making my video unique and
different which is what most audiences enjoy.
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The editing in my music video is very similar to those in the R&B genre. It has the combinations of edits
and effects as most R&B videos have that are shown on television which includes slow paced shots and
fade in and fade outs switching from the narrative scenes to the performance scenes.
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Also for the bridge in the music video which is when the song because deeper which is why I used the
black/white effect which makes the music video seem deeper and shows more emotion.
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Also the use of slow paced shots transitioning from scene to scene.
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My digipak followed all the conventions of a typical RnB album cover. Most RnB digipak covers show the
artist. R&B covers show a close up or medium close up shot of the artists’ face and is usually the centre
image of the CD, making it iconic on the album. For my digipak I used a close up shot of the protagonist
and used a variety of editing effects to make the shot look more appealing and professional.
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In some R&B digipak covers the artists are recognised by their by their iconic hairstyles which usually have
links to the genre they portray. Normally the artist will have an afro or braids or plaits. In my digipak I used
braids which is very significant to the genre.
The back cover of my digipak advert has a gold chain which is highly incorporated into the music video and the
front cover of the digipak. Which also helps with continuity and brand identity.
I feel the text used on the album cover fits perfectly with my genre, because It fits
perfectly with the tone of the song.
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Brand identity was very strong in all the projects I made, including my digiapk and the magazine digipak
advert.
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With the us of the font, colours used, and the necklace I kept my brand identity very intact. For my digipak
the use of the colour gold is very strong starting from the chain the the colour surrounding the ‘B’ and the
‘Poison’ on the magazine advert. The font as well is also the same in all my products. Brand identity is very
useful when it comes to promoting both the artist and the song because they all have the same features
making them easy to notice and makes their genre known.
I feel that all my products working together in this way is very effective as a combination. I feel that the do
promote the artist because the protagonist is seen centre of both the album digipak and magazine
adverts, this is putting all eyes on the artist and putting them in the spotlight. This puts more eyes on
them and helps sell their brand.
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