Researching Female RnB Videos

Conventional RnB videos tend to have more of an American feel to them. We want our video to be instantly recognisable as an RnB video, however we also want to incorporate British themes in it. During brainstorming we came up with ideas such as the use of a Union Jack as a backdrop in some of our shots of Lizzie, or the use of British documentary style footage. We will explore these ideas further during planning.
During my research I have found that typical female rnb videos have many common forms:

- They usually cover a range of emotions
- Tend to have a narrative perspective with a story that links in with the lyrics
- Usually have a lot of emphasis on females and what they go through
- Males in female rnb videos are generally shown in a negative light and are commonly used to show what
men put women through
- Males can be shown in a positive light, but this generally happens only in love songs such as Beyonce - Halo where the man in the video is likened to an angel both through the song lyrics and through the use of soft lighting which creates a 'halo' like effect around the actors head
- Close ups of artists face throughout video
- Fashionable costumes, sunglasses and high heels - portrayal of being rich and successful
- Flawless looking make - up for females
- Unchoreographed dancing such as pointing at camera while swaying side to side and miming lyrics and running hands through hair and down body
- Sexy/minimal clothing for females to attract the male gaze
- Low angle shots of artist to make her seem empowered - young women look up to/idolise artist
- Usually when the female artist is black the male in question is also black


BEYONCE - IF I WERE A BOY

Beyonce's police officer costume makes her seem powerful and like a positive female role model.

- The use of black & white is here used to create a mellow rnb feel but to also portray an alternate reality where beyonce has switched roles with the actor in the video
- Beyonce here features in her own video, as she is a global superstar this automatically makes the video appealing to all of her fans
- This video complies with the convention of the use of narrative in rnb videos however the male in the video is shown in a positive light & we empathise with him even though the song is about men not understanding women. This challenges the covention until Beyonce and the actor switch back and Beyonce is left vulnerable while the man is shown in a negative light which is the usual form

This is an image of Beyonce after the switch back has taken place. The high angle shot makes her look vulnerable while the male actor stands and is shot from a low angle.

This shot was designed to attract the male gaze, Beyonces cleveage is in the very centre of the shot, making her appear sexually attractive and available. The top lighting highlights her chest and puts everything else in shadow.

This shot was created to permit the male gaze. The male police officer is shot from a low angle to show his superiority and the police uniform makes the male audience think "if it's ok for him to look, its ok for us". The male audience is encouraged to look at Beyonce's backside, notice the road sign behind the male officers head, the arrow is pointing to Beyonces bottom! This officer is white which challenges thr typical conventions of female rnb videos where the black woman is seen with a black man.

In conclusion Beyonce uses a combination of empowering shots with shots that permit and even encourage the male gaze to keep her appeal open to men and women. We will attempt to use these techniques in the production of our music video. This video both sticks to the forms and conventions of female rnb videos however parts of it also challenge them. We will also include this teachnique in our video. If I were a boy has 4,243,092 hits on youtube and is clearly a very successful song.

LEONA LEWIS - BLEEDING LOVE



Close up of Leona's face, wind blowing hair, use of top lighting makes her face appear symmetrical and more visually attractive. Use of heavy eye make up looks very sexual. Conventional RnB female video.

Leona Lewis acts in the video as a narrator of other characters stories that match the lyrics of the song "Bleeding Love" - heartbreak. She does not star as a character. We are going to use this omniscient position in our video. The video cuts between images of Leona's face and body in various outfits to the stories of the lovers. We are also going to use this aspect in out video, although we will only have one story.

This shot challenges the convention of female RnB videos. The male in the video is usually the one who hurts the female. In this however, it is the woman that is unfaithful and we empathise with the man who walks in. This shot was constructed to attract the male gaze, the womans clevage are a focal point of the shot. The male gaze is a tool used in most videos which we will also use in ours.

Finding an unsigned artist

My partner and myself spent a week browsing facebook for unsigned artists.
We thought it would be efficient if we could find an artist who lives locally and we managed to do that.

The artists name is Elizabeth Abiola aka Lizzie. She's a 19 year old Londoner of Nigerian ethnicity. She's an unsigned RnB solo artist who aspires to get signed to a record label such as 'XL' who signed British Hip Hop artist Dizzee Rascal or "Red One" an American Label who is linked to Alexandra Burke.

During my research i came across an article in the Independent newspaper online blog:

"In recent years, the young urban scene has worked overtime to establish itself as a unique and thriving entity, comprising more radical sounds, striking iconography and a clear pride in the British streets. Today's teenagers are more likely to herald grime king Dizzee Rascal than his American counterparts. Outlets such as BBC 1Xtra, the digital black music station, MTV Base and specialised award shows have given the music its own stage."

Lizzie is also of black heritage and she, like Dizzee is a Londoner with an urban sound, yet I feel that her image and sound are marketable on a much broader scale than just underground. The fact that Homegrown British urban music is extremely popular in Britain today means that in our marketing of Lizzie, we are going to make sure that her "Britishness" comes across rather than allowing her to become like a generic female rnb star with a generally american feel.

Image wise, I feel that Lizzie's look is comparable to artists such as Alexandra Burke, who is a manufactured pop star with broad appeal. We want Lizzies image to be just as appealing and marketable. To do this we will need to ensure that Lizzies hair, make up and costume are very up to date but also slightly "street".

I feel that Lizzie is a realistic representation of British youth of today. She has come from very humble beginnings and dreams of being a star. Many young girls will look up to or idolise her and many men will find her sexual appeal attractive and will buy her music because of it. We have asked Lizzie to re-record her song as the original version is quite poor quality and does not portray her talent well and we want the music video as a package to attract the attention of record labels. Her song is about being broken hearted, a very common theme for RnB songs.