Music Video Research

RnB - (Rhythm and Blues)

RnB music videos vary a lot, there are major similarities between them, but there have been artists who have gone against the typical conventions that have been set. A lot of female artists do this by challenging stereotype. They'll depict themselves as men would in their videos, to convey a message to their audience.

  In these images both Ciara and Beyonce decided to portray themselves as males do in their videos, to show that there is no difference between the two genders and women are just as powerful in the industry.

RnB Music Video Settings

Locations vary depending on the mood of the song. Upbeat RnB songs are usually set on the beach or a tropical island to emphasize the happy mood of the song but to also draw attention from the the target audience into the particular artist's lifestyle. 

 Rihanna's - (If it's lovin that you want) video is a good example of this type of location use. During the course of the video you see her dancing minimally clothed on a beautiful island beach and she creates an exciting mood.

However when the song is about heartbreak or a bad relationships the set location will usually be a plain dark room which will probably have a chair or very minimal items in the room. These locations are used to evoke the dark emotions being felt by the artist in the song which the target audience is able to relate to. 

Trey songz' video for his single Can't be friends is an example of this location use, a dark room with just the use of a chair as a prop. This usually reveals the heartbreak and pain the individual is feeling and makes the audience able to connect with the artists and feel the same emotions especially if they've been through the same type of situation.

RnB music videos can also differ between the genders. The male artists are more likely to use a club setting for a fast tempo song to create a party like scene. These videos involve flashy cars,several bottles of expensive alcohol and champagne. There are close ups on the bottles sometimes for advertising purposes. Some choreography will also be involved. The males are basically showing their wealth and also portraying themselves as fun loving people.

Videos set in locations like this will include women in minimal clothing, usually short dresses and the male artists seems to always wear sunglasses, they convey a sense of coolness which their target market will find appealing.

Trey Songz - Say Aah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB5e0zHRzHc&safe=active

Both the links above show examples of these type of music video locations, there are lots of similarities including the artists wearing sunglasses, the club scene, women in short dress and the expensive bottles of alcohol.

Characters

In RnB videos characters are usually involved when there is a story being told, This happens especially in slow RnB songs. The female or male artists will have a co-star alongside them paying their male/female interest to tell the story of love, heartbreak etc. However this convention is typically found in videos by RnB males and songs that are about sex. Trey songz and Chris Brown are artists who usually use female characters to tell their stories.

Story lines

All RnB videos follow the same type of story the majority of the time. The songs are either about heartbreak, love or making up therefore the narrative is created to follow one of these or maybe something else. These story lines with males especially can be seen as similar. If you look at all the the videos I have put below they are all similar.

    Watching both these videos you can see the similarities in the story line and how it really hasn't changed. Micheal Jackson's video was created a long while ago before Neyo made his but the similarities between them are amazing. They are both following their dream girl and the dream girl is acting like she couldn't careless while still being flirtatious.

However female artists' story line may differ from the males as they usually talk about heartbreak or getting over a break sometimes being in love.

Beyonce and Rihanna's video are quite similar as their male co-stars want them back after making a mistake or supposedly cheating. They both the more superior role over the guy in both their videos and they portray themselves as strong and women that can stand on their own two feet without having to rely on a man. 

Camera angles

RnB music videos contain a varied amount of camera shots in them but the main shot used in every artists music video is a close up. Whether it be to reveal a part of the artists body for their target audience's pleasure or on the artists lips to watch them synchronize with the lyrics.  The majority of the time close ups are used to show the emotion the artist is feeling.

   

Long/wide/pan shots can all be used to show or introduce the location. Aerial shots can also be seen in Music videos especially when the artist is performing onstage, the aerial shot is able to hover around the stage from many different angles to capture what is happening.

Costumes

Males - usually topless, Trey Songz does this a lot, he wears very minimal clothing. This is because a lot of male RnB singers have a young female teenage market and this will appealing to them.

If the artist is pictured topless they are usually wearing jeans, slightly hanging low so you can see their boxers. They will also have a designer belt on which a few close ups shots will be done on as a form of advertising for that particular item.