Storyboard

This is a storyboard giving us a draft idea, for what we want to use when we are filming, this is similar to the timeplan except there are pictures included.

Timeline

This is a timeline, which is very useful especially when it came to filming on the day. As a group we decided to draw this out on paper writing out the whole song bit by bit in order we then around the boxes, wrote what shot we wanted and the moving image we want to match the lyrics. This means when it came to filming we had a rough idea in what we wanted, and we based our day around this. If for whatever reason it didn't work, as a team we would of changed around ideas, but we made sure we had plenty of footage, so when it came to editing we had plenty of footage to choose from.

To what extent have you challenged dominant ideology in the construction of your artist?

To what extent have you challenged dominant ideology in the construction of your artists?
 Within our media product, we have aimed to keep to the codes and conventions within the specific genre of R&B; this means our media product will be conventional. Through detailed research we have found re-occurring aspects that are significantly presented within R&B music videos. For example each artist within R&B music video’s have a constructed identity.
 These constructed identities that are presented seem to be significantly similar within the genre. Our aim as a group is to keep this conventional, however, there is room for our particular artists to challenge the dominant ideology of artists within R&B music videos.
Within R&B music video, the artist is usually of a black ethnicity, Beyonce, Neyo, Chris brown and Rihanna, are all examples of R&B artists who are defined by the genre of R&B. Within our music video we have decided to keep to the conventions of this, as a group we agree that this ethnic background is significant into defining the genre, as originally R&B is the abbreviation for ‘Rhythm and Blues’ and this is a genre which is popular African American music which has now become more mainstream. The artists present this particularly as they present the culture and background history to the genre. As a group our character that is posing as the artist is of black ethnicity as is the female character. We find this a vital aspect for our target audiences as well, as the characters reflect our specific audiences, and our music video should be categorised as R&B.
Gender in our music video conforms to dominant ideologies especially, as the female character is seen as less superior of the male character. This is due to the lyrics of the song to be of one perspective (The males), meaning the male has been more sinned against rather than sinned. If we were to challenge the dominant ideologies of females and males within R&B possibly the moving image can be doing the total opposite to the lyrics, expressing the man being just as bad as the female character, or even add a female perspective to the song. This means sympathy can be given to either characters, but due to dominant ideologies, females are seen to be more of a villain to be ‘cheatin’ as they say in the lyrics of the song.
     Dominant ideologies suggest that females need to be presented beautifully. This is the exact case within R&B music videos, again as a group we have all agreed to keep to the codes and conventions of R&B in order to keep our specific target audience. The idea of women being presented just for show is a common ideology and is within our society to this day. An example of this is females wearing makeup, buying pretty hair accessories and there clothing.  An example of this within our music video, is we are going to present the female character in a very ‘sexy’ style, minimal clothing is vital and key as most R&B music videos have these aspects especially when there are females presented.
  The setting of R&B music videos is usually open, and shows the aspect of money and wealth possibly a sense of new wealth. This is constantly associated with people who have black ethnicity where they present themselves in ‘bling’. The dominant ideology here could be that people who are of black ethnicities, like to bling themselves or even present money in very specific ways that relates to there culture. 
 There are dominant ideologies for ‘young’ people in society, and this is relevant to our genre. From our research we have found out that props, such as guns, expensive jewellery possibly drugs are associated with this genre. Thus the target audience (young people) is associated with this to. Within our music video, none of this is presented; therefore we are challenging this aspect of the genre. However, we do however present the theme of love, and its diversity within life and what it may lead to for the future. It also shows different aspects through the artists who represents young people with society we get to witness emotions that real ‘youths’ could actually be going through.
 Men often have the advantage in society, especially above women. This is a common ideology, and is very much so presented within R&B music videos. This could be due to the song only being from the males perspective, but yet he’s perspective is extremely biased, and he presents the female to be more guilty than him when they are both as bad as each other. Yet through his portrayal of events the female is presented in a negative light in comparison to the artist.
Through this aspect the song is conforming to the codes and conventions of the R&B genre, however our plans for the moving image may show the perspective of the female. So as an audience we will get to see two sides of a story, and be able to decide for ourselves who we feel sympathetic for.
Camera shots and Camera movement will be particularly important for a music video as they are going to be cutting back and forth from the narrative giving different points of view but also different elements of time (whether it’s the past or present). These camera shots particularly can frame a particular character whether enhances the female, or creating sympathy for each character.
 On a whole, we are aware of dominant ideologies and we are applying them to our music video, however there are some aspects in which we are conforming but are also there are some in which we are challenging. These ideas have been previously explained above.

Final Synopsis Of Music Video.

What is the overall idea for your music video?

For the overall idea to our music video for the song ‘so was I’ by Stevie.R we have decided to go with the theme of love and breakups within the relationship as this storyline typically fits with the R&B genre and also fits with the lyrics and message of our song. Within our music video we are going to have 2 young characters one female and the other male. The male artist will be of black mixed race ethnic origin, this is because artists in the R&B genre are typically of a African-American ethnic background .the female artist can be of any ethnicity but we have found that typically they tend to be the same ethnicity as the male artist. This means that our music video will follow the typical codes and conventions of the characters within the video.
The clothing the characters will be wearing within our video will be trendy, fashionable and have a typical American look to it. So for the male artist he will be in jeans, a smart jacket and will be wearing expensive looking jewellery. On the other hand the female character will be in minimal clothing as this is a typical representation in the R&B genre for the female character to portray some kind of sex appeal.
For the setting we have had to think very carefully about the places that actually match the conventions of R&B settings and usually we see artists in a room singing like in Mario’s ‘let me love you’ video so we were thinking to perhaps hold it in a house. We also see rich looking cars within R&B videos so we are yet again looking to find availability of a suitable car that will fit the codes and conventions of an R&B music video. We also need a long road this is where the characters present disturbance and perhaps a romantic setting where the flashbacks will take place conveying the good times within the characters relationship. For the editing of our music video flashbacks will be used this will reference to the past of the characters relationships and show the audience their relationship from before compared to now. We will also use sepia and grey scale tones as this adds a sexual atmosphere to the video and is a typical convention used within R&B videos. Finally for the narrative of our music video there will be cuts of the couple presented showing a disturbance to the relationship, this I will develop the storyline and then cuts will be shown of the ‘good times’ in the characters relationship which will be presented in the past tense and shown in grey scale and sepia tones.

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What generic devices are you using?
For our music video we will be conforming all of the genetic codes and conventions for the R&B genre, this will be shown through the important elements of our video, for example: Mise en scene: the artist will be wearing American style trendy clothing such as jeans, a v cut t-shirt or perhaps a shirt also the artist will be wearing jewellery such as chains and perhaps a watch as these items are typically worn by R&B artists as they portray wealth and money. As for the female character we are going to have her in minimal clothing as this is a typical convention of the female character within the genre and we feel that we should conform to this. Setting: we have conformed our setting to fit the typical settings as best as we can so we are going to have our artist in a room the is pretty blank and also we are going to have a long road where the characters are perhaps driving down. Some of the codes and conventions for the setting were challenged as we did not have the availability to them for example
clubs and city landscapes are some of the settings which are typical and which we don’t have access to. Camera shots: we have chosen to have camera shots showing the two characters both in the frame which will have close ups as well as establishing shots this is conforming to the conventions of the R&B genre as relationships is a dominant theme within R&B videos. We will also have close-ups of the artist singing directly into the camera as this makes the audience feel like they are directly being spoken to. Editing: We have chosen to show flashbacks of the couples past relationship and then back to the artist singing into the camera, this is conforming to the typical codes and conventions as most R&B music videos create that intimate feel, we are also going to use grey scale and sepia tones as these are used typically to create the sexual mood of the characters and show their relationship.
Props: We are hopefully planning on using a flashy car as this us a typical convention to show the theme of wealth and money within the R&B genre but due to availability this is one of the elements that is being challenged.

How will you conform/challenge conventions?
We generally as a group have decided to conform to the conventions of R&B, we have chosen people who will be conventional actors, however, the female character is the only element of the media product that will challenge the conventions of the genre, as she is of a white ethnicity, conventionally this is incorrect as from our research any supporting act that is presented was of a mixed race complexion or of a black ethnicity as the music originates from African- American. However, although the specific characters do not conform to the genre from her ethnic background, the characters Mise en scene and attitudes were in fact conventional to the genre. Our main artist however is extremely conventional to our music video as he is of a black ethnicity; this is a typical convention within the genre and is important to us as a group in keeping to the codes and conventions of R&B.
Additionally, the settings we are aiming to use within our music video will be conventional also. We intend to present many settings within our music video in order to have a sense of the background of the genre, for example, the clean cut living accommodation, the access to fancy items for example a car.

What narrative devices are you going to deploy in your music video?
The narrative of our music video will be conventional to the genre as we aim to present the theme of love with the binary opposite (Strauss) of hate (we hope to convey this, with presenting the two main characters to be fighting with one another). Additionally this means that a ‘break up’ occurs within the song because the artist states ‘I heard you were cheatin so was i’ here we can bring in Todrov’s theory where an equilibrium is presented at the beginning of the song. Then we witness a disruption to the equilibrium (meaning a disruption to their happy relationship).  When the artist goes deeper into his emotions we want to witness the narrative present the artist trying to attempt to repair the disruption of their relationship by  sharing his feelings this will be shown through the lyrics of the song and perhaps the use of close ups of the main artist. However we do not want to present a new equilibrium to be re-instated at the end of the song, as there is no indication of this within the lyrics and we want our lyrics to be diegetic to the moving image on screen.

Are you going to challenge/conform to narrative convention?
As a group we have decided not to challenge the narrative conventions of R&B for example, from our research of the artists of Usher, Chris Brown, and R-Kelly, the narrative structure was influenced by the lyrics of the song. Therefore as producers of this media product we intend to present the narrative structure to mirror the lyrics of the song. This means that a clear narrative structure will be portrayed to our audiences and therefore our ‘story’ will be clearly understood through the lyrics and additionally through the moving image.  We would like to keep to Todoro’s narrative structure theory however, as a group we want to leave the ending to be ambiguous as to whether a new equilibrium is re-instated at the end as there is no reference to this within the lyrics. We aim to end the song on a ‘flashback’ presenting elements of the ‘couples past’ therefore leaving an interpretation to be made at the end of the music video.

How are you going to appeal to the audience?
Our particular genre goes out to a particular audience, we identify our audiences demographically and psycho graphically. Through this we are essentially generalising groups of people based upon their characteristics and through our psychographic profiles of our audiences; as a group we complete a generalized profile of how a person in a group sees themselves and how they will relate this to our media.  Through our audience profile we can identify our typical audience member:
Lucy is a female who is around the age of 16-20, she is a student with no disabilities and her family status is of middle class. Lucy listens to R&B and prefers it when the music reflects her lifestyle she daily keeps up to date with music releases and music videos. She watches R&B music videos for entertainment and also to see the 'famous' artist. Typically within an R&B video she expects to see minimal clothing, expensive cars and colour of black, white and sepia tones. Lucy finds the narrative important to the music video as it is interesting and entertaining, she would rather however the artist to be presented as a character as this helps her to identify the artist within the music video. Lucy would rather have a narrative that mirrors the lyrics within the song and believes that R&B music influences her life in some way.
We are going to appeal to our audiences through Bulmer and Katz’ Gratifications theory as this is a significant theory the theorists try to understand what the audience does for the media, not what the media does for the audience. This suggests that it is the audiences that help sales and influences how a media product is produced. This puts emphasis on audiences and how important they are to our media product. Additionally it also suggests that audience members take a more active role in choosing what media text we want to consume rather than them being just thrown at us, it assumes that we use the media to fulfil specific needs and enjoyments we may want. This means that media institutions compete against each other to meet the audience’s needs. This means our particular audience is vital into our music video getting noticed within the industry and we will need to keep to the codes and conventions that the audience want, such as a male character and a female character, the idea of the narrative subjecting around the theme of love, and how Propps theory of the Hero, villain and princess can be applied to the piece of media. This appeals to the audience immensely. However the female characters are highly sexualised as the viewpoint usually comes from a male artist. Females usually wear minimal clothing and are dancing proactively its like they are presented for show within the music video. This does not seem to affect the appeal to our main target audience however it can be a criticism to the genre.
For our audience appeal in particular we organised questionnaires in which we asked questions for what our audiences would expect in an R&B music video, there answers were they would usually see minimal clothing in an R&B music video and will most typically see a fancy car also being presented, as a group we understand these codes that are typically presented within this genre, however due to lack of sources we may struggle with finding a ‘fancy’ car, however we are going to do our best to find one or find something that will substitute the important prop.  The use of characters are going to be vital, if our music video is to appeal to the type of audience we are going to aim the music video for. The two characters are going to be a female, and a male. This is a typical convention within R&B music videos as the song is a narrative about love, so therefore our narrative within the music video is going to be upon that topic. Again through our questionnaires we found that our audience finds a narrative appealing within a music video so we are purposefully going to create one, so it will appeal to our audience. The artist will also be present within the song and will be included within the narrative this way our audience will feel connected to the song and the artist that we are going to present. Most people that answered our questionnaires also stated that the music they influences there life in some way, so our music video is going to be as realistic as possible, in order for our audience to relate to our R&B music video.

How will you engage with the audience?
It is our main focus that the audience will understand our interpretation of our media product the way we want them to. This will be effective through the narrative we have created for the song. The lyrics of the song will indeed match the moving image that we will create on screen, sharp cuts will be presented ensuring that the audiences will get different glimpses of different times, at the characters points of life, with this an additional effect the lyrics will create an enigma for which character is to blame for the disruption of their equilibrium (Todorv’s theory) within the music video.  Dennis McQuail (1987) importantly identifies the four stages of audience gratification which is relevant to how we are going to engage our audience he describes these stages as
1) Information: Where by we find out about the world, seek advice, satisfy curiosity and we are educated and we gain security through this knowledge- for example we learn about females are highly sexualised in R&B music videos as though they are essentially a prop this could re-enforce the idea of patriarchy and how mean are in charge of society.
2) Personal identity- The media re-enforces personal values, models of behaviour and gain insight into oneself- This is important to engaging our audience as through our music video I want my audience members to learn about the theme of love, and how in society men are favoured then females, yet our artist we are using has committed the sin of adultery similar to the female character however he is portrayed to be more accepted than her. (This idea of patriarchy is again presented).
3) Integration and social interaction- We gain insight into circumstances of others, we identify with others, we build the basis of conversation with others, we use the media text as a substitute for real life companionship, and we use media texts to help carry out social roles we experience. Also, we enable connections with family, friends, and society. – Through our audience I want our music video to engage them so once they have seen it will impact there beliefs of men and women amongst society how women are used with the genre highlights the sexuality’s of gender and there impact on society.
4) Entertainment- we use the media to escape, divert, relax, gain cultural or aesthetic enjoyment, fill time and gain emotional release or sexual arousal. Through our music video hopefully our audience will be able to do these things with out product of media, so they can enjoy the product to the fullest.
Through the entertainment factor I hope to engage my audience through the aspects of Mise en scene, the certain characteristics and character roles we choose and how we present realistic issues and present them on screen. Such as minimal clothing on the female character, as this is a code and conventions which re-occurs in the genre of R&B our audiences will be engaged as they will recognize this.

Could your music video be criticised in any way?

Our music video has elements which can be criticised, such as sexualities, within the song the male artist is telling us about how he has been ‘cheating’ yet the female character is portrayed in a more negative light than the male character for doing the same things. From our audience analysis, they seem to expect to see minimal clothing on female character’s, this just enhances what audiences expect to see from females in R&B music videos this of course is not realistic, women don’t just parade in minimal clothing and dance provocatively to men in the most random settings.
  Another criticism is that, you only receive one perspective within the song, and this is the male artist. This could affect our female audiences; however I feel in our narrative structure we may empower the female, to uprising and showing her expression through the moving image. However this one perception is still going to give one viewpoint to our audiences. Additionally our music video could be criticised the the quality of moving image, and the props and how we film. R&B is very fresh and clean cut. This needs to be vital within our music video in order to grasp the genre.

How to the Characters you use fit in with the Conventions of your chosen genre?
The first character that is shown within our music video is the main artist called 'Stevie R'. This character fits in with the typical conventions of R&B as many artists from this genre come from an African-American background and are of a mixed race origin. We further decided to fit this character in with the chosen genre by making decisions such as focussing on portraying the power the artist as by ways such as framing him in the centre of the shot and using low angle camera shots to heighten his power. Image wise he too fits in with the conventions of R&B. The mise en scene that we chose to depict will also help to reflect the codes and conventions of R&B, for example within the video this artist can be shown in props such as cars and wearing fashionable and expensive clothing to further show the status and power that is therefore associated with this ethnic background and making the artist further powerful. Also the artist will be shown wearing clothing such a low cut t-shirts to appeal to the attraction and focus of the young female target audience. He will also wear accessories such as chains and an impressive watch as this was a common element shown within many of the music videos we analysed and help to portray the artist wealth and status.
The other character that is featured within our music video is that of the 'woman' who is portrayed almost as the artists girlfriend. In some ways this character can be seen as challenging the codes and conventions of R&B as she is from an white ethnic background whilst many featured in music videos are, likewise to the artist, from a African-American background and are also of a mixed race. Although image wise she may not fit in this sense we still portrayed her in the same ways in which R&B portray women therefore making her conform to the conventions in some sense. For example within the video she will be seen looking very glamourous and will be shot at angles that represent the 'male gaze' being reflected. Also the mise en scene that we chose to represent the female character fits in with the codes and conventions as we have chosen to dress her in minimal clothing with camera shots showing off these assets. In other ways the female character within our music video not only fits in with the codes and conventions of R&B but also we decided to touch upon the dominant representation of women within the media. Firstly not only is this character presented with emphasis upon her sexuality and purely within the video to portray the artists 'companion' and there for the male gaze, but the actions and acting she does within the video shows common stereotypes of women. For example whilst in the car an over the shoulder shot is used to show this character shouting at the male character who seems agitated. This reflects dominant representations that women are 'irrational' and can 'hysterical'.
Although in some sense we wished to challenge the codes and conventions of R&B by using a female character of a different race, we still aim to portray them through camera shots and mise en scene in the same way in which R&B depicts these characters. Furthermore we not only decided to fit in with the conventions of R&B but also touch upon the representations of gender by representing a dominant patriarchy ideology depicted the female character through the male gaze.

Xtranormal

The link below, is an animated video in which we develop our ideas on the genre of R&B; why we chose it, and we make clear what codes and conventions the genre present and also how our own music video will conform to the genre. It is an important aspect espcecially for our final product, because as a group we have developed in the uses of techonolgy  when it comes to, research and planning to our music video.
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/13736581/a2-xtranormal

Mind map's (ideas)

Here, as a group we have jotted down our ideas for what we want our music video to be about. Obviously the song is about love/ break up (this is a typical convention of R&B) so most of our ideas revolved around this. Also we have mind mapped our chosen song and how it is conventional to the genre of R&B.