To gain more information about what people really like about the R'n'B genre I put together a questionaire.
I wanted to find out what aspects the majority of people like to hear and see. This would help us to decide what things we should and should not include when creating our music video.

The questionaire was as follows:

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Click to enlarge

The last question was based around the music video of Bobby Valentino-Turn the page

For this question to allow us to get an answer we had to have the video easily accessible either through the internet or on a video ipod.

Bobby Valentino- Turn the page

After doing more research into the R'n'B genre, especially concentrating on the record labels for this particular genre. I discovered that 'Island Def Jam' has been the record labels for many R'n'B songs, an example of this is Neyo.

Research into Island Def Jam:

The Island Def Jam Music Group is home to a multi-cultural and diverse family of artists and has fast become one of the most successful labels in the industry. It is comprised of Island Records and Def Jam Recordings, and is in partnerships with Disturbing Tha Peace and Slip N Slide. The roster boasts an array of talented artists including Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Fall Out Boy, The Killers, The-Dream, Fabolous, Melissa Etheridge, LL Cool J, NAS, Chrisette Michele, Bon Jovi, Ludacris, Lionel Richie, Rihanna, Hoobastank, Jeremih, Sum 41, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy and Ne-Yo.

Ne-yo:

Ne-yo is shown kissing a girl at the beginning of the video, the girl is dressed just in her underwear which continues the stereotype of they way women are portrayed in R'n'B. Close ups are used in this scene to show their facial expressions.

By Ne-yo being dressed in a suit makes him look very smart and also quite wealthy. This is a stereotype of R'n'B as most videos portray 'The America Dream' By Ne-yo being dressed all in black makes him look mysterious. A full body shot is used to emphasise his outfit and the connotations that can be made from it.

The use of expensive cars also makes 'The American Dream' more apparent and therefore makes the audience believe that he has a good life, although the videos do not show the audience how he got this social status. This can also be linked to the colours he is wearing, showing the darker side to his status. Close-ups are also used to emphasise the cars. Slow motions are also used here to show off the cars and make them look more precious. 

The close-up of the cars is interrupted by a girl walking across the front, the camera shows a male gaze of her body as it does not zoom out giving the audience an impression that she is 'sexy'.

When walking into the club the girl Ne-yo is with, turns back to look at Ne-yo, this shows that she is more dependent on Ne-yo than he is on her. This represents women as the weaker character in the relationship. This is therefore another negative portrayal of women, which is a common connotation in the R'n'B genre.

After this there is also another male gaze camera angle used on the girl as she walks into the club. Ne-yo has his hand on her bare back. This is used to show everyone else that this girl belongs to Ne-yo like one of his 'possessions' 

 

When sitting down in the club Ne-yo's girlfriend sits very close to him and is 'all over him' This also shows women in a negative light. As if they are depent on their boyfriends or husbands, and do not think for themselves, instead follow.

This part of the video portrays the girl to be 'all over' Ne-yo and therefore also gives women a negative portrayal. The camera angle is used to show this off to its full potential. Also the camera is facing the girl as the audience can then see she is pretty and it can show her off in a positive light.

This image shows Ne-yo to be in control of them both, as he has his hand on her leg. This shows women to be weak and continues the expression of 'men wear the trousers' implying that women do as the man says regedrdless.

The girl is dancing but looking back in the direction of Ne-yo as if she needs his approval. The camera takes a point of view shot of Ne-yo. This shot makes the audience feel involved and almost allows them to watch her dancing seductively.

This shows that another girl comes over to Ne-yo although he has his girlfriend in the club. Ne-yo does not push her away instead he kind of encourages it. This shows Ne-yo to be a bit of a 'player' This although is 'cool' to be for a man. It also shows the women touching his shoulder showing that she is more interested than he is. Again a negative represntation of women is being portrayed.

This shows Ne-yo in the toilets with another girl. This portrays women badly as this type of activity is seen as bad for a women to do, yet 'cool' for a man to do. The lighting used is dark as it is a secret and also due to the fact that what they are doing is not nice as Ne-yo has another girlfriend in the club, the lighting emphasises that what they are doing is wrong.

This shows the girl wearing just her underwear which is a common connotation of a R'n'B video. This is used to make the girls look seductive. Again we get Ne-yos point of view shot as an audience. This helps the audience not to feel they have to look away or get embarassed as the girl is inviting them in as well.

This shows Ne-yo to live in a really nice and expensive house. This is also a common stereotype of R'n'B music videos and therefore again shows the 'American Dream'.

Research into the charcteristics of R'n'B:

Musical Rhythm is the most important distinguishing characteristic of R&B music and its sub-styles.  While all genres of R&B typically depend upon a four beat metre and employ a backbeat (accenting each bar on beats two and four, which are usually unaccented), the specific approach to the expression of musical time (the so-called groove - the characteristic rhythms employed within the basic metre) is one of the primary means of differentiating one genre from another, and even one player or band from another.

Timbre (the tone-quality of a sound) is another important distinguishing characteristic of R&B.  Most styles of R&B rely extensively on timbre variation over the course of a performance to achieve interest.  R&B singers and instrumentalists often alternate between gentle, smooth timbres and harsh, raspy ones, giving the music a wide range of emotional expression.

Gil Green: http://www.gilgreen.com/main.xml
Director of 'Fire Burning - Sean Kingston'




Raised in the cultural melting pot of Miami, young director Gil Green encompasses a vast knowledge of hip-hop and dancehall music that transcends into a world of stylistic images.

Gil’s first glimpse into the music business stemmed through the underground hip- hop world as a DJ, who sold mix tapes by day and hosted warehouse parties at night. Gil’s passion for music and film evolved as he submitted short films instead of book reports, engaging his classmates as an early audience. He continued to pursue an education in film at the prestigious New York University (NYU).

At the age of 19, Gil’s NYU thesis project included creating and directing a music video. Inspired and persistent, Gil sold his car and took out $5,000 in student loans to cover production costs. His rap group, Backlive, headlined the video gaining national media recognition on music television channels such as MTV, BET and former station, The BOX.

Life experiences and exposure to various sub-cultures, give Gil his authenticity and creative edge.

“I’m all about telling stories… music videos are mini-movies to me.”

From a Jamaican sound clash that ended with a gunshot or a Dirty South Miami party where sweat dripped off the walls, Gil’s personal life indoctrinated him into the height of the scene. Authenticity excelled Gil’s videos to break both Dirty South and Dance Hall music onto an international level.

With over 100 videos shot, Gil has expanded his musical genres to cover Pop, Latin, and the European market. His client roster includes multi-platinum artists such as Timbaland, Natasha Bedingfield, Akon, John Legend, Nelly, R. Kelly, 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Brandy, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Frankie J, and Oscar award winners, Three 6 Mafia.

The 2003 Source Awards recognized Gil for his direction of Lil Jon’s “I Don’t Give A” as the recipient of the “Best Music Video” award. Shortly there after, he was nominated for the 2004 MTV Music Video Award for his direction in Elephant Man’s “Pon Di River” and named the “Top Music Video Director” in the Source’s Power 30 Edition. Gil has been nominated for “Director Of The Year” for both the 2008 and 2009 BET Awards and won the 2008 MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip Hop video for his direction in Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop.”

Gil continues to expand his directing talents into various mediums. Gil has directed four national commercials for And 1, starring NBA All-Stars Stephan Marbury and Marcus Camby.

From music videos to commercials, Gil’s creative palette is expanding through several visual mediums. Gil’s next step is to translate his unique vision into the world of feature films.

“My goal as a film maker is for the viewer to see it once and think about it twice.”

Examples of other videos Gil has directed:

Tony Yayo feat. 50 Cent - Seductive

Akon - Lonely

Frankie J feat. Baby Bash - Obsession

Camron - Girls Just Wanna

Research into R'n'B:

Latest R'n'B Songs 2009:

"Change Me" Keri Hilson
"Hold My Hand (Remix)" Sean Paul
"In Your Shoes" Beverley Knight
"Right Hand Hi" Kid Sister
"Leave It" Wax Tailor
"This Train" Wax Tailor
"The Time Is Now" Asha Ali
"Soul Survivor" Beverley Knight
"Mo Better" Raheem Devaughn
"That`s Life" Baijie

I researched into the R'n'B genre and looked at R'n'B videos. This gave me an idea of what was already on the market and what the current R'n'B' audiences expect to see from their chosen genre videos.


An example of one of the videos i looked at was Sean Kingston Fire Burning:




 Sean Kingston - Fire Burning




Characteristics I found were:

• Expensive cars and bikes
• Attractive girls
• All girls attention on Sean Kingston, he is acting like its nothing.
• He's looking down at the camera, showing that he is powerful (Low angle shots)
• Body shots of the girls, making them look sexy
• Girls dancing seductively
• Women do not look at the camera, this helps the audience to feel comfortable watching them dance seductively.
• Boys standing around watching the girls dance
• Girls dancing around Sean two girls to the one guy
• Video mainly filled with girls

Today we decided on our chosen genre, R'n'B. We chose this genre as we all listen to it and therefore we have a base to start us off on. Also due to listening to the music it will help us when we come to making our music for our video.

Research into R'n'B:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%27n%27B

Rhythm and blues (also known as R&B, R'n'B or RnB) is the name given to a wide-ranging genre of popular music created by African Americans in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The term was originally used by record companies to refer to recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular.

The term has subsequently had a number of shifts in meaning. Starting in the 1960s, after this style of music contributed to the development of "rock and roll", the term "R&B" became used - particularly by white groups — to refer to music styles that developed from and incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel and soul music. By the 1970s, the term "rhythm and blues" was being used as a blanket term to describe soul and funk. Since the 1990s, the term "Contemporary R&B" is now mainly used to refer to a modern version of soul and funk-influenced pop music.

More background research of the artist Ne-yo:

Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), better known by his stage name Ne-Yo, is an American pop and R&B singer–songwriter, record producer, actor, and occasional rapper. Since his debut, Ne-Yo has had five top ten songs on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist and two number-one albums on the Billboard 200. Ne-Yo has also amassed a catalog of chart-topping songs that he has written for other artists.

Ne-Yo broke into the recording industry as a songwriter, penning the hit "Let Me Love You" for singer Mario. The single's successful release in the United States prompted an informal meeting between Ne-Yo and Def Jam's label head, and signing a recording contract.

In 2006, he released his debut album, In My Own Words, which contained the US number one hit "So Sick". Then in 2007, he released his sophomore album, Because of You which contained the US top 3 hit, "Because of You". In 2008, he released his third album, Year of the Gentleman, which contained the top 10 hits "Closer" and "Miss Independent".

Ne-yo also has merchandise we can be bought from the website www.stereoboard.com


From here you can buy things such as:


* Posters
* Prints
* Signed pictures
* Framed posters

Article in 'SongwriterUniverse Magazine'

Ne-Yo Releases Debut CD and Scores Hit with "So Sick", and Co-Writes Hit "Let Me Love You" For Mario

By Dale Kawashima

22-year-old Ne-Yo has already established himself as a top, in-demand R&B writer/producer, who is known for co-writing Mario’s #1 hit “Let Me Love You.” In addition, he has recently collaborated on cuts with Mary J. Blige, Beyonce, Faith Evans, Chris Brown and Jamie Foxx. However, Ne-Yo will probably be best known soon as a hit artist and performer. His excellent, debut CD In My Own Words will be released this month on Def Jam Recordings, and he has been showcasing his live performance skills, opening for John Legend on tour.
Ne-Yo
Ne-Yo

Ne-Yo is currently keeping a very busy schedule, working on an array of projects. In between his concert performances, he is co-writing and producing cuts for several artists, and overseeing his production company Compound Entertainment, which has a staff of active writer/producers. In addition, Ne-Yo, who has a co-publishing deal with Zomba Music, has been hired to write the entire soundtrack for the upcoming film, Save The Last Dance 2.

In a recent interview, Ne-Yo talked about his debut album, and how he landed his label deal with Def Jam. He also recalled how he got his first cuts as a songwriter, and how he teamed up with hot writer/producer Scott Storch and Kam Houff to write “Let Me Love You” for Mario.

This presents Ne-yo in a good light as he is keeping up to date with his music. Therefore he is portrayed as a strong character in the music industry. It also shows him as a keen enthusiastic person.

Background information of Ne-yo:

Ne-Yo was born with the name Shaffer Smith, but he changed it to Ne-Yo a few years ago. The name is derived from the character Neo of The Matrix films. His producer friend Big D Evans (whose credits include Digital Underground and Tupac Shakur) once told him, “You see music like Neo sees the Matrix.” The name stuck and he has since become Ne-Yo (with the spelling changed for legal reasons).

Ne-Yo grew up in Arkansas, and later relocated with his mother and family to Las Vegas. He became a musical performer when he was a child, and as a teenager, he gained experience by performing in the EFX Show at the MGM Grand Hotel. Ne-Yo also started to write songs, and he became skilled at writing lyrics and melodies. He also began to network and make connections with pro producers and writers.

“I started getting cuts by collaborating with different production companies,” he recalled. “My first cut was a song called ‘That Girl,’ which was on Marques Houston’s first album. [Throughout this period} I was building connections, and I made sure that I wrote every day. My next cut was “Still In Love,” which was on Nivea’s first album. I also wrote songs for B2K’s movie soundtrack, and for Christina Milian.”
Ne-Yo
Ne-Yo

It was in early 2004 that Ne-Yo met Scott Storch, when they were both working on Teedra Moses’s debut album (on TVT Records). Storch invited Ne-Yo to collaborate with him at his studio in Miami, FL, and when Ne-Yo was in Miami a few months later, they got together. At the time, Storch was in the studio working with Mario, so Ne-Yo, Storch and Kam Houff wrote “Let Me Love You” for him. “I had just met Mario,” said Ne-Yo. “We knew we had written a very good song, and Mario went into the studio and knocked it out. Mario did a great job of singing it.” “Let Me Love You” subsequently became a smash single, reaching #1 on both Billboard’s Hot 100 and R&B charts.

It was during the hit period of “Let Me Love You” (in early 2005) that Ne-Yo landed his label deal with Def Jam. “When ‘Let Me Love You’ was moving up the charts, I happened to be in New York with my producer friend Sauce (Curtis “Sauce” Wilson, a member of the group Somethin’ For The People). He knew Tina Davis (Sr. VP of A&R) at Def Jam, so we went up to see her. Sauce was talking to Tina, and I was just sitting there. Then I played Tina some of my songs. It was very casual – I wasn’t auditioning for her. When she heard [and liked] my songs, she asked me if I could perform. So I sang right there in her office. Tina was impressed, so she set up a meeting for me to sing that same day for L.A. Reid (Chairman of Def Jam) at his office. Other Def Jam people also came to his office to hear me sing. I felt like a zebra surrounded by lions. But it went well and they offered me a label deal.”

Ne-Yo spent much of 2005 writing and recording songs for his debut CD, In My Own Words. The album is an excellent collection of R&B/pop songs, and features solid singing by Ne-Yo. The CD includes his first single, “Stay” (featuring Peedi Crakk), and other key cuts such as the midtempo “So Sick,” the old school/R&B “Get Down Like That,” “When You’re Mad,” and “Let Me Get This Right.” In My Own Words should establish Ne-Yo as a prominent new artist in 2006.

Lastly, when asked what advice he would give to aspiring newcomers who want to break into the business, he said: “My advice to new writers and artists is – hone your skills. Take the time to hone your skills. A lot of what the business is today, is meeting the right person at the right time. You’ve got to establish relationships and connections. Somebody’s going to hear your music at some point – someone’s going to find out about it. So you’ve got to be ready for when your opportunity comes. When I met with Def Jam (to see Tina Davis), I hadn’t planned on auditioning for them. But the deal happened because I had the songs and I was ready to perform.”

Today we looked at an article on the way women are represented through the media, paying particular attention to the music video of 'Snoop Dogg - P.I.M.P'.

My response to the article:
I believe the article is correct women re represented badly in the media, making them seem powerless. Although I do still listen to hip hop music I disagree with the videos. Women are used as objects to the video, and are nearly always dressed in underwear. Often they are shown to be all over the men, but the men just shrug them off. I believe in what this article is saying and think women should not agree to be portrayed through the media like that.

http://www.deal.org/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=661&Itemid=755
Snoop Dogg-P.I.M.P:

This arose many situations where women are shown as inferior to men. An example of this is where the men are leading the women on leads, as if they were dogs. This is a very patriarchal video. The females are used as 'objects' to the video, dressed in next to nothing. The women's eye are averted from the camera allowing the viewer a 'voyeuristic relationship'. This allows the audience to feel comfortable by watching the video. The camera angles used are low angle shots, these are used due to them allowing revealing shots of the women. It also allows the men to look down at the camera onto the audience showing their hierarchy. The video shows the idea of the 'American Dream', this includes the men having lots of money. It does not show the less glamorous side to the 'dream'.

Album Covers

These album covers show the difference between the way men and women are represented by the music industry.

• Rhianna's album has a full body shot of her, whereas the two male artists have just facial shots (close-ups). This emphasises the exploitation of the women.
• Another point that can be obtain when looking at the shots is, the men have power as they are not looking at the camera. On the other hand, Rhianna is looking directly at us as if she wants our attention. By the men looking away it could be percieved that they are too good to look at the camera or that they do not need to look at us to gather our attention.
• 
  
  
  These images are an example of patriarchy in the media.
  
  
• All the album covers use darker colours in the background and a brighter title to make it stand out.
• Rhianna's picture is in black and white, around Rhianna's body there is a white glow this could be to show off her figure, as well as to show an angelic glow around her. This fits well with the title 'Good Girl Gone Bad' as she looks angelic like with the glow, but mischevious with the dark background.

14/9/09

Today we looked into the album covers of a variety of different artists. This brought to our attention the idea of patriarchy. Patiarchy is "an influential structure of practices and ideologies which favour the masculine over the feminine". From this we also learnt what a patriarchal society ("A society where men have power and control and women have disadvantaged, lower status") was and how it stays this way.
Patriarchal societies are kept in place due to many reasons, one being the media. As the media are constantly reproducing patriarchal images of society people will gather that this is the right way in which society should be run. This is/will therefore the reason many people do not see the exploitation of women today.
Another word I also discovered today was dichotomy. This is the belief that women can only be angels or whores. This viewpoint is totally discarded by the Feminists, as they believe men are not superior to women. Furthermore they want to eliminate oppression.

Media A2:
* Main Task- To produce a music promo video
* Ancillary Task One- To produce a website homepage for the band
* Ancillary Task Two- To produce a CD/DVD cover for the release of the album as part of a digipak
During these three task there are four question in which we must take into consideration which are;
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?
3. What have you learnt from you audience feedback?
4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning an evaluation stage?