A2 Media Studies Advanced Portfolio question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

1. Evaluation
Question 1

2. 1. In what ways does your media product use,
develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
2.
In answering this question I am going to make
comparisons between my music video and
various other Rap videos and the ways in which
my video has used, challenged or developed
their multiple forms and conventions.

3. • I decided to open the music video with a slow downward tilt
of the camera, taking an influence from the opening of the
music video for Chip – La La La (Remix)
(Shots from my own video)
Chip – La La La (Remix)

4. • There is smoking in my
music video which is a
common theme again
in Chip’s video.
• In Chip’s video we can
see that he is wearing
red which connotes
strength and power
and gold jewellery
which is associated
with success.
(Shot from my own video)
Chip – La La La (Remix)

5. • I wanted to challenge this convention that happens to occur
time and time again in rap music videos.
• Not all rappers are rich which makes people question why
they spend their money on “bling”.
• For a change I wanted to make my rapper’s costume to be
more modest than the average rappers’ which is why I
styled him in a tracksuit and white t-shirt.
(Krept & Konan - Don't Waste My Time Remix) (Shot from my own video)

6. In the music video for Krept &
Konan - Don't Waste My Time
Remix there are establishing
shots of the city landscape,
similar to those in mine. This is
a common theme in UK rap
videos as the contrasting
combination of the street lights
and building lights with the dark
sky give an amazing visual
image when shot from a very
high angle.
(Shot from my own video)
(Krept & Konan - Don't Waste My Time Remix)

7. Here a rapper is watching the
view from his balcony – this is a
common convention in rap
videos to educate the audience
about the atmosphere. I
developed this by having a vast
amount of views from the
balcony in my music video in
order to emphasise on London
city. This also relates to Andrew
Goodwin’s theory (1992) of the
relationship between lyrical and
visual content in music videos.
Lyrics in the chorus of the song
are “chillin’ on my balcony” –
the performer does exactly this
during the music video.
(DJ Khaled - I'm On One)
(Shot from my own video)

8. • Rap music videos often feature sexualised or objectified
females – women who are subjected to the male gaze
(Laura Mulvey 1975).
• As a female director I decided to challenge this convention by
casting only the artist of the song to feature in his own
video
(Rick Ross – Diced Pineapples) (Shot from my own video)

9. I followed the convention of rap videos of the rapper being in
the centre of a low angle shot. This shows the ‘dominance’ of
the rapper as he keeps eye contact with the lens so he looks like
he is talking down to the audience.
(Eminem – Lose Yourself) (Shot from my own video)

10. Ancillary
Logos I used for my poster to
make it more conventional

11. As my chosen album title is ‘London Bred’
I used a number of images of buildings in
my ancillary task. This is a convention
followed by many UK rappers. I think this
is done in order to create realism and a
show a snippet of everyday life.
Bricks are also a
common theme
used across rap
album CD covers.
(KREPT & KONAN – Tsunami)
(COKE BOYS 2)
(Sections of my CD case)