Task 1: SHOOP: Forms & Conventions:In what ways do your media products use, develop or challege form and convention of real media products

Conventions can include camera angles, language, dress code, or simply the actions character. Forms on the other hand are are the elements of the piece which give it a recognisable structure and ‘shape’, to the media product, for example the narrative, genre and length. 

We used a green screen and put a picture of a  London skyline at night. The shot is a close up, which gives a 90’s hip hop feel to the video immediately in addition to the grain effect we added to the whole video. The form used in this shot is the composition of the girls within the frame. With Kemi in the foreground and the other two girls slightly behind at an angle in the background. We did this as not only does it reinforce our forms of a hip hop 90’s video but it also exentuate’s Kemi and establishes her as the lead from the beginning of the video, therefore creating her star image. 

We used many fast movement shots, when cutting and changing set, which kept the video speedy and witty. It was typical for 80’s video’s to attach their shots together. We followed the technological conventions of a 90’s video as we used hand held shots to create these fast swift movements. We adapted this editing technique and therefore this allowed us to transition and cut between sets and shots. We saw this in other media texts such as music videos featuring biggie smalls.

We used intimate shots such as this one, which was a shot commonly used in video’s such as salt n pepa’s original video for shoop, and many of TLC’s music video’s such as no scrubs.  The technological convention of close up tilted angle works well and we challenged this, using the boom box as an almost over the shoulder shot which we use in the opening shot swell. This introduces the boom box into the video in a subtle but also clear way. 

On this set we also experimented with lighting and used the backlighting in order to show a silhouette of the girls, which was just beginning to appear in 80’s and 90’s hip hop video’s, which seemed new and current. The coloured background is also typical of a fun hip hop video of the 90’s. Colourful lighting is a popular form seen in music video’s from the early 90’s, we challenged this through our experimentation, as we used just the backlighting therefore making the girls silhouettes. 

Many of our shots were shot through a hand held camera, and therefore we achieved canted angles. Which instantly acts as a convention of a 90’s music video, particularly a hip hop music video, with the close up shots. We embraced this convention as it added a lot of movement to the video and kept, it interesting whilst also allowing us to adapt these conventions to use canted angles and moving shots to establish each of the girls as having different personalities, through the way they perform. 

Finally we used many wide and mid shots, to establish the girls as artists, commonly used in videos featuring En Vogue and TLC. This gave the girls a fun upbeat and cheeky image, whilst also establishing their relationship as close friends. 

Our music video is typical of an 80's/90s hip hop music video, as well as following conventions of girl groups such as the girl empowering image, we showed this through camera angles, with close up and mid shots, which allow them to show off their confident and sassy image. However the video does not follow the forms and conventions typical of a contemporary music video, as we changed the format to 4:3 and added a grain effect to the video.