In what ways does your media products use,

develop or challenge forms and conventions of

real media product?

Asha Akbar
The genre of my advanced portfolio is a sub-genre of grime
and hip hop. We have constructed a music video and a digi
pack which consists of: front/back cover, four inlays and a
poster.
Our music video was based on the song by a Grime artist
Giggs featuring B.O.B called Don’t Go There. The music
video we have created shows the lives of people who are
living through hardship and how they should be improving
their lives by doing something they enjoy and isn’t illegal.
We used a range of different performance shots.
I have used conventions of real media and have developed
and challenged the conventions.
 Mise-en-scene
We used, developed and challenged conventions of the
real media in our work. In our advanced portfolio we
used codes and conventions. We did this by keeping the
mise-en-scene similar to the mise-en-scene used in real
hip hop and grime music videos .We used props, such as;
Lakeem wearing a chain in the studio, the white Range-
Rover, microphone in the studio, the decks in the studio,
the blue Clio, a black backpack ect. These props we used
were to make the video recognised as a hip-hop/grime
video. Makeup wasn’t used in the video as we felt that
males wouldn’t need it and we wanted to portray to the
audience that it is real.
The image above is from the music video we created it The prop we were using was a chain which was similar to
shows Lakeem who is playing Gigg’s wearing a chain. Chains the chain Giggs was wearing in a UK Grime music video.
are used both in Grime and hip-hop videos. We used this
code of convention in our video.

As from looking at the two images below which were taken from a hip-hop video you can tell that the big chains around their
necks mean a lot to them this is because it shows the wealth.
The image above is from the music video we created. The car This car is in Skepta and Gigg’s music video which again is a
we used is a 4x4 and we used conventions from hip-hop and UK Grime Video.
grime videos. The image of the car in the UK Grime video
resembles to this car and the hip-hop video show a Range
Rover and we used a Range Rover in the video.

The two images below are taken from hip-hop videos. The cars used are big 4x4’s this makes them look more superior.
This image is from our music video it shows Lakeem recording The picture above is from a UK Grime music video and
in the studio and Aqib composing on the decks. We have shows the artist in the studio. This is used a lot in Grime
developed this convention as music videos don’t tend to videos.
show both in one shot.

The two images below are taken from hip-hop videos. Showing the artist singing and composing the song.
The image in the red box is from the
music video we have created it shows a
blue Renault Clio. Hip-hop videos have
big expensive cars and we challenged
that convention to create more realism.

The image used here in from a UK Grime

video it shows a Renault . It create sense
of realism but it doesn't focus on the car
and only shows it for a less than a
second.
In this image it shows someone carrying a black
bag which he received which had something
mysterious in. This type of shot isn't shown in hip-
hop or grime videos. We have challenged this
code of convention because we thought it gave
more narrative to music video.
 Mise-en-scene
The actors that we used we’re Black and Asian males, we
developed the conventions here as usually black males
dominate the video, whereas I have use both ethnicities to
show that they both come from the same background.
We chose to use the outdoors for the majority of the setting
as we felt this showed more realism and we felt that we could
use more of the resources around us. We used low lighting in
the studio as we felt like this is commonly used in music
videos and we used natural lighting outdoors. The costume
used was dark baggy clothing and bright designer clothing
and New Era hats which is worn a lot in music videos.
The image above is from our music video. We have developed This image is from T.I.’s music video. It shows him having a
conventions of existing hip-hop and grime videos. We have black New Era hat.
developed this by adding brighter colours. The red colour also
connitates danger and we wanted the audience to feel this.

The two images are from UK Grime music videos. It shows two New Eras which seems like they are dark colours.
 This image is from a UK Grime
video and the jacket worn is
black and generally in music
Grime videos their jackets tend
to be black.
This image is from a hip-hop video, hip-
hop videos tend to have dark and dull
baggy clothing but this video challenged
the conventions on a hip-hop video.

The jacket in my music video is the

same to another that P Diddy is
wearing in a hip-hop video, but in a
different colour. We have challenged
codes of conventions from usual Grime
videos.
Hip-hop videos tend to have designer
jackets and hoodie’s but they tend to
be dull or dark, so we have also
challenged this convention.

From looking at both these hip-

hop videos I have acknowledged
that jackets worn in music video,
the colours tend to be dull and
dark
 Existing Media Our Music Video

Black jackets

Black baggy
T-Shirt

Black
trousers

Black and
white
trainers

We have used codes of conventions in the costume we choose as we know dark colours are used in both
hip-hop and grime videos. We have challenged the conventions in the scenery, in grime videos they tend
to use the streets when its dark.
 Mise-en-scene
In our ancillary task we used blue and red costume to
represent, gang affiliated ‘bloods’ and ‘cripz’. We used the
background scenery of New York City at night. We realised
that skyscrapers weren’t used a lot in Hip-hop or Grime
music albums, so we developed this, as the artists are
talking about where they live, we thought this would give
an insight to the audience.
Hip-hop and Grime albums tend to use dark colours for
the background we have developed this by putting a dark
background which has lot of lights.
This is the album cover we
have created it shows a
dark background image but
has a lot of lights lit up in
the background.

This hip-hop album

cover has a dark
background of clouds.

This grime album cover

has a plain black
background.
 Shots
We used shots that were conventions of both genres
we chose. In grime videos they tend to use handheld
shots because this conveys realism.
In both hip-hop and grime videos they use low angle
shots to make the person who they are filming to seem
more superior.
They also have close ups of eye line match shots
because this show the emotion on the persons face.
This is mostly used on grime videos but hip-hop videos
contain of them too.
This is a close up of Waqar performing for our music video. The image above is from a hip-hop video it is a close up of
This shot shows emotion on his face and is a slight low angle his face this helps the audience understand his emotion. This
shot to make him seem superior. is also slight low angle shot to show him to be in power.

The two images below are taken from UK Grime videos they are also both close ups, to help the audience understand how they
feel and their attitudes.
The image above is from a our video it is a close up which is The image above is from a grime video this is close-up of an
a eye line match . Which is used commonly in hip-hop and eye line match
grime videos.

The two images below are taken from hip-hop the one on the left is a close up and an eye line match . The one on the left is a
midshot of the artist this is eye line match also.
The image to the left is from our video. This shot isn’t The image above is an extreme close up from a hip-hop
used in grime videos so we challenged this convention. video.
I have found this extreme close up which is a discovery
shot in hip hop videos and we have used this.

The two images below are taken from hip-hop these are both discovery shots as we used.
 Shots
In our ancillary task we used mostly mid shots this is
because we wanted to show the body language of the
two artists as this makes them both seem confident.
We have used conventions from real existing media as
we have seen that they use it regularly too.
The two images on the left are
our front and back cover of
the album pack I have
challenged the conventions of
hip-hop albums because they
usually have artist looking the
opposite ways and I have had
them looking towards each
other. The purpose of this is
to make the audience wonder
what they are thinking about
each other.
The shots I used were mid- This is a collaboration album
shots because they show the cover it is from the hip-hop
body language of the artist. genre and it shows a close up
Both artists had no emotion of the artist but they are
on their faces to show looking in different directions.
seriousness, this is a Both artist have no emotion
convention that I used from on their faces.
hip-hop album covers.

This image above is from a hip-
hop music album, the inlay. This
image shows a midshot of the
artist on a dark background
I used midshot’s in inlays
because I analysed the
inlays and the they tend
to just have pictures on
them and the pictures
are usually midshot’s and
I thought this would be a
good convention to use.
 The image to the left is the
poster we created for our album.
We have used the colours white
and black for the background and
text to make it stand the majority
of the colours used for the
costumes were blue and red. To
make the artist stand out more.
We have challenged codes of
conventions by adding more
colour to the poster where as
normally they are in black and
white or have minimal colour.
We have also used conventions by
taking a midshot which hip-hop
posters tend to use.

The two images below are from the subgenres of grime and hip-hop both images have all artist looking
toward the audience (into the camera). Both images have midshot’s of the artists.
The above is promoting a
hip-hop album and consists
of three colours; red, black
and white.