Research Conventions Blog for Music Video Project

The commercial project has officially come to an end. Producing the Gatorade commercial was an interesting and fun experience, but it was stressful at times. Thanks to this assignment I learned a lot about how commercials are produced. I learned how to storyboard, film and edit. For next time, I now know that I need to make sure I have enough takes of scenes. Also, I need to plan the editing process better, so I'm not rushing to finish. Overall, this project was very informing and now that it is over I can start my next project, which is a music video. Today in my AICE Media Studies class, I started the research for the music video. For this project I am working with one other person, Leila.

The song selection process was difficult because Leila and I were debating on which songs to use Riptide or Honey. We both "planned" a storyboard to see which video was the easiest or had more creativity. Although both songs are easy to film, we decided to use Honey. The song we are going to film is in the R&B/ Soul category and it is performed by Kehlani. The reason why we chose this song is we wanted to include more representation in our music video. Last year, the GSA at our school hosted its first Open Mic Event. One of our friends tried to plan to perform this song but, unfortunately, due to testing, she could not do it. Since there a very few music videos that focused on LGBT+ and the romance, we wanted to make a music video that is unique and represents the innocence of LGBT+ relationships. 

Conventions for Camera Shots, Angles and Movements:

In most R&B songs, there is a significant amount of wide and tracking shots. In these wide and tracking shots, there were multiple scenes of different landscapes. For instance, one scene would include a meadow of grassland and then transition into someone in a forest. The tracking shots are used to illustrate the subjects moving. There are a variety of other shots. This includes long shots, medium close-ups, and close-ups. In most R&B music videos, there are medium-long shots of the subject working towards the camera. The camera angels in R&B music videos are usually low angle and eye-line angle. While researching the conventions, there were few high angles. The camera movements of R&B music videos consist of a few tilts and tracking shots. 

Conventions for Mis-En-Scene:

In R&B music videos, the subjects are wearing a variety of costumes and utilize a few props. The makeup range from natural to intense makeup. Most of the locations consist of scenery and parties at bars. 

Lighting and Color Design Conventions:

In R&B songs, there is a variety of lighting designs. In some music videos, there were some scenes with tinted lighting or bright lighting but, throughout the music videos, there were very little scenes with predominantly shadows. The lighting is often dark to emphasize the passion and emotions between the subjects.l The color design of R&B music videos also have a variety of colors. For instance, some music videos were black and white while others contained bright and flamboyant colors. In Honey, the color design was tinted yellow and were shades of blues.