Research Blog: Music Video Conventions

 

Research Blog:

I have chosen to do the song Brenda's Got a Baby by Tupac Shakur for my music video. The song is a Hip-Hop or Rap track that was made in the 90s and therefore the music video follows certain conventions from that era. There is already a music video for the song, however I do not want to merely recreate it step for step. Rap music videos in the 90s vary in theme, but they did follow certain conventions. I must make sure to follow these conventions so my music video seems realistic as possible.

- Costumes of 90s rap videos typically consisted of outfits that were popular at the time within the rap community. Football jerseys, baggy pants, large shirts, and large coats were popular during this time. Jewelry and other luxurious items were also worn or showed in order to boost the reputation of the artist. 

- Props include anything that is relevant to the story being told by the song. Based on the culture of rap in this time period, common props included firearms, paper currency, and jewelry.   

- The appearances of the people within the music video can vary, but they always are enjoying the music. The rappers or artists within the video typically are dressed to stand out amongst the other people within the video. Their attire is usually a bit higher quality than every else's and the focus of the video rarely shifts from them. 


Extremely Common Conventions within 90s rap music videos include:

1. the rapper or artist is almost always singing TO the audience. Meaning that when they are rapping, their focus is towards the cameras. Exceptions to this are if them rapping to an individual within the video is a theme of the video; i.g. telling a story to a child. 

2. A lot of individuals within the video. Posses, cliques, and gangs were extremely popular back in those days and having a large group of supporters in the video common. It was rare to see a rapper completely alone within his/her video. 

3. These videos also include cameos from individuals popular in mainstream media that the rapper may be familiar with. This is similar to the previous convention. For example, if Tupac has connections with Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, or any other famous individual, they will most likely be in the video, even if they are just in background. It is not uncommon to see famous friends of rappers make an appearance in their video, if the rapper has any. This can be seen as a form of ethos in the sense that a famous person the watcher may appreciate also associates themselves with the rapper/song. 

4. The videos tended to have many cuts or transitions. Rap videos shot in this era typically used a large variety of camera angles and shots. This was done to go from scene to scene quickly and tell the entire story of the song within the usual sub-5-minute timeframe. This style of editing also captivated the watchers attention because they are trying to keep up with every detail being shown to them. 






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Short Film: The Terrible Old Man Analysis

Image
I was excited to review this short film as it is based on an H.P Lovecraft story. Lovecraft is one of my favorite authors, and I was excited to see his writing on the screen. I have never heard of this short story before, however, I was excited to see how it would be. This one was pretty long, but I still liked it overall. Common Sounds- Lots of wind, sounds for background like chimes to set the mood. There is dialogue also between the robbers and the old man, however, it isn't as important. Common Mis-en-scene- This includes the scenes with the house decoration, the really good costumes to make it as Lovecraftian as possible, and the props used by the old man and the robbers. Common Editing- Many backs and forth close shots and dolly shots in this film. Too many zooms, to be honest, it was kind of making me sick. What did I like about the genre- How well the mystery was paced in this short film was amazing. I was mostly worried about the time when making mine and this helped to se
Read more

Planning For My Music Video

Image
  Planning For My Music Video Song Title:  The title of the song I intend to use is Brenda's Got a Baby. It was made by Tupac Shakur in 1991. The song, which features R&B singer Dave Hollister singing background vocals with Roniece Levias, is about a 12-year-old girl named Brenda who lives in a ghetto and has a baby she can't support. Props: I do not intend to use any props within my music video. The music video will only involve actors and a particular setting.  Costumes: I intend to dress in a style that is reminiscent of 90s rap attire. I will be wearing some form of baggy pants as well as a baggy shirt. I will either be wearing a pair of Nike Airforce 1s or a pair of Timberland Boots, which were common choices for footwear in the 90s. I plan having another person within the video as an actor and he will be wearing similar attire.  Location: The location of the video will an empty street. I will be walking down a street within my video so any empty street in a residentia
Read more

Final Task Filming/Editing: Adjusting to Schedules and Identifying Music

Image
 Adjusting to Schedules and Identifying Music      Filming did not go as I'd previously scheduled. 11th graders at our school had to take the SAT on March 3rd, 2021. I had planned for filming to begin on March 3rd  and continue into March 4th, however my other participants did not feel that they could come out to film after taking the test. This is understandable, and I respect the fact that they may need some down time after being tested for 5 hours. In the meantime, I began research on possible music choices that I could use in my film. I'm going to need three different types of background music in my film: upbeat hip hop music, casual hip-hop music, and dramatic music. For the hip-hop instrumentals, I looked into Homage Beats, who is a beat producer who makes a wide variety of hip hop beats. I am familiar with Homage's work because I have used some of it in past videos (personal). I have identified 6 different beats which I think fit my film very well, and I have contact
Read more