Conventions of Genre

RESEARCH into the conventions of male and female roles in a music video for an R&B product:

Representation of males:

•Male artists are presented in a sexual way which is illustrated through their lyrics and their music videos. To appeal to a female audience (known as the Female Gaze) the male artists will usually remove their shirt or take part in a dance sequence. There are usually female dancers as well. This is to make the female audience jealous.

•Chris Brown – Take You Down (CONCERT MUSIC VIDEO) :

He is fully dressed in black clothing however he then pulls his shirt off, then there is a roar of screams from the female audience at the shows.

•Jason Derulo:

Another example of a male R&B artist who relies on his image to attract his audience.in a majority of his music videos he appears topless with his female co-stars. This is to make him look irresistible to the woman audience and will inspire the male audience to idolize him, as they want female attention too.

•If not topless then R&B male artists wear baggy or quirky shirts along with low denim jeans and trainers.

•Pharrell Williams – his image is based on experimenting with clothing this is usually done to promote a specific type or brand. This also makes their male audience want to dress similarly to attract women and be seen as successful, as that is the ideology behind the image.

Conventions of Form

An example of this is ‘Mad’ by Ne yo, the mise-en-scene involves him walking down a road alone, and being in an isolated room. This reflects the isolation of his lover and how he is lonely and lost without someone to love. The props include hats and dark clothing which shows his mood which is bad and negatively lit. black and white are key concepts in the video making it clear that love is black and white, it is not complicated it is basic and a constant in any situation. It shows how without someone to love his life is colourless and dull, whereas if he was in love then brighter colours would’ve been used to represent how love has brought bright colours.

Synopsis

Artist is presented within a cinema diagesis where he is sat alone watching a movie, he wears mostly white. As the movie starts, it cuts from him looking at a family who are also watching to movie to other shots that present a range of locations and settings which are interpreted as flashbacks of the artist with his ex-wife. The flash backs take place in a home setting and other happy events where the the couple enjoyed each others company including some evidence from their wedding. Other shots show flash forwards off his ex-wife with her new partner where the artists is included within the shot, however the cinematography and editing would make it clear that he is not physically present within the diagesis. The ex-wife has a child while in the flash forwards which an audience would interpret to be the new partners, however the ending of the music video is set within a cemetery and shows the child placing a ‘father’ card on the grave stone which is the artists. Some shots also show performance of the artist which will be cut into the narrative shots.