Evaluations

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I chose rap because this is one of the most expressive and popular forms of music amongst my peers. I like the fact that the lyrics often reflect real life and are like a message.
Some artists who I looked at for inspiration and ideas are: Low key/ Enimem/ BOB/ 2pac. I did a lot of research into these artists. I watched lots of music videos- Eminem, 2pac, BOB, JayZ, and Low key to gain an understanding of the conventions of this genre.
I also did lots of research into the ‘gangster’ image in rap music and found that over history rap has generated as a form of expression for oppression and people in poverty ridden areas/ childhood. In America there are many artists who have ‘made it’ out of the projects and been successful- this is what they rap about.
King Sour: As I had a cousin who raps about being a youngster in Tower Hamlets, I thought this would be an ideal opportunity for my music video. I think that lot f people in the local area would connect with his music the way people in America connect with 2pac and that he would be representing a new era of music – young male asain artist.
As far as conventions go his music is very young rap, street and gritty and aggressive.
Low key was an artist I took a lot of inspiration from, his simplistic image and serious lyrics are very strong. But as my artist is very young I decided t stick wit a ‘cooler’ image for him, as I feel that someone so young trying to be as serious as low key and talk about politics would confuse the audience.

Rapping to camera- to aid the star construction. Obviously selling and building the artist would be a key aspect in any genre but is particularly important in this genre. As I know from my cousin’s career so far, his image is a crucial part of who he is as an artist. I wanted to use this in my video so I made sure there was lots of him rapping to camera to sell his image to the audience.
Image- I decided that as he is young I would stick to the conventional image of aggressive angry youngster- angry at the portrayal/ judgement of youth and real life issues, a bit like Eminem, but the underlying message would be about struggle and aspiring for better things.
Choice of costume- as I was targeting a younger audience I decided that the artist would have a very young look, hodys, bright blingy tops and caps like Ndubz.

Another aspect which I kept was the convention of the location. I choose a street location, urban and real. I shot lots of footage of him on the estate, in blocks of flats, and against walls to represent the struggle of the local area. I think many artists want to be associated with this ‘normal’ life and upbringing so that the audience connect with them and don’t see them as these wealthy and untouchable celebrities. I also based my narrative in this setting to show that he is struggling with pressure of drugs and crime but wants to make a better choice.
Studio. I filmed both verses I a studio. The first studio I filmed din did not look very nice and had a less proffesional look to it- which on camera did not create the effect I wanted. So re-filmed at another studio which was a bit classier and this was to show the artist as successful, making music in a studio- this was a convention which I have found many artists do, where you see a glimpse of them in the recording studio.
Narrative- although lots of videos have strong stories with several characters I found it really hard working on my own to rely on actors and people to be in my video. Initially I had a narrative which involved the artist but then he was never available after weeks of shooting the rapping parts he couldn’t do the narrative scenes. I also had an initial idea on my storyboard of a mother and sister who are encouraging him to achieve his goals but again I couldn’t find anyone who was willing to be in it.
So I decided that it would be ok for the video to be mainly artist/ star construction as that is what this genre mainly is, but most of the videos I have looked at feature several characters in them, as its normally about the impact on a group of people. But I decided that it would be better if I didn’t use the artists as if the narrative is negative the artist would prob not want to be used, as this could compromise their image. It would be better if they were rapping about another but- similar to him, but not him.
I knew I needed to have some narrative so I managed to re- storyboard a short narrative about another boy – not the artist, who is trying to do the right thing, he has a toy aeroplane which was a gift from his father who dies and he holds this to motivate himself. You see him entering a flat with a group of boys and he refuses to smoke with them, he then goes a looks at the city lights while holding the plane, thinking about his life and decides to change. A time lapse shot of the city shows that it’s the next day and there is a shot of him taking the plane to the scene of death for his father and laying it down. The daylight represents a new day and his decision to change. I wanted to shoot him taking his hood off to represent him leaving behind his yobbish days but the footage was lost and I was unable to re-shoot as I had already shot so much and gone over the deadline. I decided in the end to use an effect to show a bright light around him, which would be symbolic of change instead.
I used a hoody with a crown on the back to link the character to ‘King Sour’ the artist and also to be symbolic of wealth and aspirations of success.
But within this narrative I chose there are many conventions of the rap genre
-the ideas of troubled families- a missing father
-the idea of youngster what troubled upbringing wanting more, -the pressures of drugs and crime
-the aspirations of the city and success.
I think that my video uses almost all of Goodwins theories, except for voyerism, which I didn’t use as this would not suit the song and also would be very difficult to do as a young student myself, not many students are willing to appear in a video in this way.
The points that it does address are lyrics matching visuals- where for instance they mention aeroplanes and you see aeroplanes, visuals matching songs and cut to the beat, rapping to camera- star construction/ selling the artist.
Another way in which I subverted conventions is the ethnicity of my artist. Although more asian males are breaking into mainstream rap, this was still challenging the typical conventions in a big way. But I feel that is justifiable as there is a huge audience of westernised young second generation asians who like this music.
I also decided not to show him in a mature sophisticated way, I did shoot some stuff in a hotel room but as he is so young it didn’t really look right and he just looked too young. So I decided to focus on his youth as a selling point, like an asain Justin Beiber, but a bit harder and tougher and more street.
Ancillary tasks:
I wanted my ancillary tasks to show the image that I had constructed in the video. I focused on colours and styles which showed his street style and would appeal to a young audience. Real media examples that I looked at were Low Key and 2pac.

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Both the video and the print tasks carry the image throughout. He is glamorised and it is all about star construction selling the artist as this cool/ street kid. I kept the symbolic jacket and used symbolism of crowns as he calls himself King Sour. This also carried through a message of success and wealth which I think many rap artists like to promote.
I think the colours and symbols which ran through the print tasks and the video will connect all three effectively. I took a picture of the jacket and the crown bit which I then used as the background for the cd digipack. I also used this image on the mag ad as this would then help connect them.
His hairstyle. As he has quite a unique and trendy hairstyle I decided to use this again as a branding tool, I used this image in both print tasks.
3. What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
Audience feedback was really crucial to me as I was working alone and needed as much input from others s possible.
The input I had has been an influence from the very beginning
When I had my first idea, my storyboard I got feedback from the class, who said I needed a narrative with other people I it.
My main source of audience feedback was from the class and my college peers, I also put a few clips on fb and asked people what they thought.
In addition I asked my cousins friends what they thought about my ideas and the video plans, as I feel they would be the target audience for his music- young people from this area.

Changes I made as a result of ‘Audience feedback’
- Included narrative
- More shot variations
- Removed shoots of violence and gangs (my teacher and my peers felt they were not necessary)
- Used a time lapse to show the change from night to day
- Used a different actor for the narrative- not my artist

4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
I used technology in every step of the planning/ research/ construction and evaluation of my coursework.
Planning and Research
Internet- youtube/ music downloads/ history of music videos/ research into different artists and also into my cousin’s career
Blogs- share info, filming diary, imovie- create video storyboard and add the song to see what it would look like.
Phone to allow me to play my track when on the nay mnay shoots- so that lip syncing would be accurate and also to enable me to shoot enough material
Construction
Photography for the anc tasks (was this a camera or your phone or the camcorder)
Photoshop to manipulate the images and put effects on
Lighting on the shoot s, did you take out lights?
HD camera- allowed you to shoot in night and not lose quality, also the flexibility of not needing tapes and losing footage etc but restrictions due to incompatible with macs, restricted use as sharing with three groups etc
Mac and imovie
Evaluation
Internet to source images and imovie to put it together. What did you record your voice on?