In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In this answer I am going to be talking about what conventions I have used, what I have challenged from the rap genre and why I have done this. First I am going to talk about all of the genres in rap music that I decided to include into my music video, then I will talk about which conventions I have challenged and explain why I have chosen to do what I have done, then I will talk about what I have borrowed from other genres to incorporate.

The first convention I have used from the rap genre to incorporate into my video is the use of casual/working class clothing. I felt like this was something that would make it seem more relate able to the target audience and it helps bring the star down to the same level of that of the audience rather than being seen as very smart and wearing a suit, it helps humanise the star and makes them seem like they are more like them and if they were seen like that in person then                                                                                           more approachable.

The next is the camera shots that have been used. The reason that this is similar is that there is a lot of close up and mid shots of me lip syncing to the song which is very stereotypical of that of the rap genre as it helps show off star image which is something I was trying to get across when filming mine.

I also incorporated the use of using an emotional connection with the audience through the lyrics and the expressions given across by the star, I feel its quite obvious to see the feeling that are being put across in my video and I feel that it is very effective and help draw in the audience and keeps then watching.

Similar to the previous I have incorporated rapping straight into the camera. I used this to help the previous statement which was to help connect with the audience more. I think it was very effective and with what is being said I think it has worked very well and will draw in the target audience better than if there was a performance or heavy narrative.

A spider diagram showing the Norms/Conventions of Rap Music Videos (Not my own):

I decided to challenge the convention of including Violence, sex and drugs as I felt that this wasn't a key feature to my song and I didn't think that it was appropriate to include into a video that I was making for school. I do think that in some aspects of rap videos this can be a key thing and help make the video stand out more and define what genre it is from however this was not true with my video and therefore I decided not to include it and challenge the norm of rap music videos.

Also I decided to not include the usual props for my video, such as gold chains, money and fast cars. I felt that this wouldn't be necessary and would take away from the serious nature of the video and maybe make it feel a bit cheap and like it is trying too hard to be in the rap genre. Another reason was because I didn't have a budget for my video so therefore I wouldn't have been able to even if I wanted to. I decided to challenge this then and I feel that this was the correct choice and I am glad I didn't do it.

The last major convention I challenged that is usually seen in rap music videos was the sexualisation of women. Like previously stated, I didn't want to do anything that would be seen as either offensive or just not seen as appropriate for school. Also due to the songs sadder and less sexual lyrics to that of many other rap songs, it was quite easy to challenge this connection however I decided to take it a step further and didn't include any women in the video at all. There were a few reasons for this decision such as there being no point to have any women in the video, more people meaning less reliability and availability when filming but ultimately I wanted my video to stand out and do something others wouldn't normally do so I decided that this would be the best move for my video.

In conclusion there are many conventions in the rap genre that can be used to define what a rap video is compared to that of almost any other genre and although I feel I have been brave and taken a step away from the norms and gone for what may be seen as a sadder but definitely slower rap song, I feel it has had a very positive outcome among my audience and I still think that you can tell the genre from the video which is one of the key things I aimed to do.