Research of Chosen Genre

Mac Miller - Nikes On My Feet

In this hip-hop music video, typical genre conventions are met in that there are several low angle shows in order to make the artist appear large and powerful, this is used in a wide range of hip hop video's as it is generally a genre which involves a lot of boasting and bragging, and therefore the artist is aiming to appear as important and significant as possible. Moreover, I really think the technique in which the artist knocks on the camera in tune to the beat is especially effective, and I plan to employ something similar in my own music video.
This technique can be seen here-

Furthermore, smoking is something seen in several rap/hip-hop media texts in an attempt to clarify that 'cool' and anarchistic attitude they are trying to portray. This video is not different in this sense, and this can be seen here-

Moreover, the portrayal that rappers have a lot of money and tend to brag about it in a deal of their songs is evident here as the rapper is filmed simply flicking through a handful of dollars. This would seem completely irrelevant in other genre's of music video, but because this is a hip-hop video and it is expected, it almost goes un-noticed.

Also, you can see that throughout the shooting of this music video, it is rare that there is any kind of warm lighting used. This is because a typical genre convention of a hip hop video is the idea of dim lighting, and living a gritty lifestyle. This also goes a way towards explaining the urban scenery typically used in order to portray their anarchistic qualities.

Eminem - Lose Yourself

In 'Lose Yourself' there is a combination of performance and narrative, as scenes from the artist's movie '8 Mile' are incorporated within.This video is particularly interesting as it hits a lot of the genre conventions expected, but does them in an interesting way which would help to captivate and intrigue and audience, for example, typical urban imagery is used but it is done in a way which is not expected.

For example, in this shot, (which is set at the beginning of the video and establishes the whole context of it) the typical city view of graffiti infront of a wall is not used like we have seen in other music video's, but a bird's eye view of the whole city has been used to bring a different representation, possibly suggesting that though it looks beautiful on the outside, it has a much more gritty truth the deeper you delve.

 

This is re-enforced when seconds after this extablishing shot, another shot of the 'street life' is used, but a panning shot is used and so it appears that the audience are physically driving around the street's of Detroit at this point. I think this is a very effective technique and helped to draw my attention to the music video, and so I plan to employ a technique similar to this in my media text.

Again, in this video, low angle shots are used in order to glorify the artist and make him appear powerful. Furthermore, the dim lighting that is used in almost every shot of this music video emphasises the dark underbelly of the hip hop culture. We can also see that again the artist is wearing a hat, which he is in several different scenes in this music video. This is a genre convention of hip-hop and is seen throughout several rap media texts. Typically it would be the baseball cap as a representation on the hiphop culture, however the 'do rag' and wooly hat are used in this scenario.

 

I compiled some hip hop album covers in order to get a general idea of what I may have top create for my ancillary task. As you can see, it is particularly common for close ups to be used on album covers, and also the colour pallets range, however there is a general feel of a bold and bright statement being made, this would typically be used to assert the dominance of the artist. Furthermore, there are masses of fonts which are used, and although graffiti is common in order to portray the typical anarchistic qualities of a rapper, basic and minimal writing is also used on more than one occassion. My research suggests that this could be to force all attention to the artist, and to avoid distraction from any kind of display on the cover. I did some research into graffiti fonts to explore what would suit my album cover, but furthermore, to discover what I presonally liked, and thought worked with the image I was trying to create for my artist. There are some I found..

 

These would be found in all kinds of media texts which derive hip hop connotations, from films, and magazines, right through to album covers and posters advertising particular hip hop artists.