1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?Evaluation question 1

In order to investigate which ways my media product could develop, use or challenge forms and conventions of media products I had to first develop my knowledge of current media products that explore my musical interests. Due to already being a huge fan of British Underground Hip-Hop, I decided this would be a good genre to delve into - exploring artists and visuals I already have great knowledge on.

The first artist I looked at, and probably my favourite artist/director was Kojey Radical. Not only did I watch his works and read many articles/interviews but I also saw him live to develop a real idea of character, environment and atmosphere.Kojey radical

character and atmosphere conventionsKojey radicalKojey Radical is the staple idea of an underground artist. With his articulate language, thoughtful poetry and impactful pieces of work, the performance was nothing short of a revelation in music. These character conventions are really what I wanted to build upon with my own artist.Being a young black male, born in a society of poverty and hardship Kojey wants to express his inner struggles via his music. Building a platform from those in the same position he once stood in, in society. Painting pictures against racism and suppression in the best way he can - via his art.

kojey radicaltate britain eventKojey Radical did what not many people have done before, especially of his age and status in modern society...The Tate Britain, usually associated with grand art pieces and contemporary movement pieces was completely changed for the one evening.Completely unknown to Kojey, who was performing in a tiny room within the gallery, whilst other artists he invited were performing elsewhere, the entire gallery was shutdown - gasping with people.

Nation of Billions.comthe Tate seemed to have captured the new spirit of British creatives, who are unbound by any limits and experimenting with music, performance, art and literally everything they want to.

Nation of BillionsOn this particular Friday evening, there was one place in Britain where a new revolution was in the making. As the Tate Britain lit up into the night, the artist Kojey Radical made his immersive audio visual experience premiere not online but in person.

Nation of BillionsGalleries can be somewhat a conservative and quiet affair but the Tate Britain is moving in step with the changing tide. Entering the gallery to the sound of black music echoing from the speakers into the halls and winding down the steps, we joined a queue of people patiently waiting to see the new video for Open Hand.

Kojey radical twitter

Character conventionsThis humble character is exactly what I wanted to compare my own character conventions toowhich I think I did successfully. With the simple digipak, video and suitable music choice.I can truly admit that this event was one of my most favourable. A unique way of showcasing talent and a chance for creative to come together to view a piece of work live that we all appreciate.In baring my own creation in mind, I wanted to take notes of the entire evening from the way Kojey Radical performed and greeted everyone to the music video that gave me inspiration and influenced by perception of dynamic creativity - in this sense my product was conforming to similar conventions.As many Underground artists are, Kojey was hugely impactful and expressive during his intimate performance however his usual self is of a more calm and timid matter. A very respectful artist that didn't seem to boast about his works but was rather incredibly humble and extremely grateful for the turn out that he had - admittedly seeming a bit nervous for his performances. This is how I built up our own artist IKE in my mind. No sense of glamour or fame but a real drive for the music and talent which is reflected in my work.For example, the music video is of IKE in his simplest form, simply strolling the streets with short glimpses of his stage shoes. No signs of glamour, money or cars but the main focus is on the music and the video acts as a sort of accompaniment for the music. Maintaining the calm tone and mood.Also with the DigiPak I have ensured Ike would have a note of 'thank you' for his fans accompanying him on his journey - maintaining the humble character. The clothing of Kojey influenced my own character, simply dressed head to toe in black with a baseball cap on.

Broken conventions?A way in which my media product did not conform with a product of Kojey Radical's is with the complexity of some of his visualsHis own music videos include many visual metaphors and interesting dynamics. As an director he delves deep into the context of his music in order to create an incredibly visually appealing and impacting piece. An example of this is his production BAMBU, a piece of work that heavily inspired my own.In Bambu the way in which the subject character is used as a metaphor for inner city decay is highly intriguing. Kojey Radical did not take a simple, minimalistic approach to the genre of Underground Hip Hop/Grime like many underground artists, and our own video however he used intelligent visuals for such intelligent lyricism.Our piece compared to this specific media product would suggest our piece is breaking media conventions. With less use of dynamic shots, abstract narrative and location our piece would seemingly be breaking conventions of Underground Music Products.

BAMBU : NEVER WORRIED centres around ideas of perception; using contemporary dance and performance art to gesture the struggles of inner city decay and how that is translated and celebrated within music and urban culture combining the aesthetic of a modern fashion film with the stylised movement and grittiness of drill music and trap videos.

Kojey Radicals Bambu, unlike Mean Muggin and our piece is of the same underground culture and genre however is mostly concept based. Using the main character as a metaphor.In this sense our video breaks conventions, in taking a much more simple idea following visuals. It is a video with a more candid sense and works well with more casual, less lyrically impacting underground hip-hop.However similar conventions to ours used throughout the Kojey video is the emphasis on location - many dynamic London building shot emphasise the importance of London culture in the new underground, youth movement.

similar conventions?Mean muggin 'Mean Muggin' directed by Alia Hassan, is shot entirely in black and white with use of candid walking shots. I like the simple handheld camera use, giving an incredibly home made feel as he follows the artists round the streets of London. A very minimalistic approach to film making unlike Bambu's complicated concepts and ideas. The fast paced shots keep up with the pace of the music.This video is much more similar in terms of conventions - narrative and tones. However the character aspect of our product is more that of Kojey Radical. In a sense we have almost combined the two to form our final media product.

Mean MugginBoth of these Directors and visuals heavily influenced my work. With the stern characterisation of Bambu and the shot use of Mean Muggin. I liked the idea of minimalism, and simple London culture based imaging and scenery.Mean Muggin is of the Underground Hip Hop/Rap genre. The typical motifs it involves is street shots and use of monochrome, much like our own.In a lot of hip hop music videos the music often cuts to the beat and tempo changes. One key part in which this is shown is at 1:14. As the word Wait is said, the music and video cuts to another scene in which one of the artists AJ is freestyling at an event, the film also comes back to colour also. This creates great juxtaposition and draws the audiences attention even further in. In having this scene cut it allows the group to give a glimpse of their live performances to their audience possibly even generating an interest in seeing them live.We also, in a less dramatic form, broke away from the video using concert footage.This video is entirely performance-based, not making use of concept or story but simply following the artists and showcasing them, much like our video. This is popular within underground Hip Hop/ Rap.

broken conventionsLyricism, our video does not make great use of lip sync. We decided to go for this because of the disconnection we wanted the audience to have from the artist - this is also shown by lack of direct eye contact via the artist. This further emphasises the timid character and minimalist approach we decided to take with the tone of the music - linking in with the characterisation of Kojey Radical but not his media products as such, in which he seems to transform within.Hype Culture, Another convention our product does not follow is the idea of Hype Culture. Shown with House of Pharaohs, Although the music has a chill vibe and tempo, the group still want to get there hype culture shown. They do this by using few fast paced shots amongst slower tempo shots. As they are a big rap group, they tend to like the idea of elevation and power. They want to be seen as big within the rap scene and as competition In achieving this they have made use of low camera angles which makes them appear bigger and therefore more intimidating to the audience and other artists. Also many of their shots are of them as a big group, creating a sense of brotherhood and unity making them moreso aggressive.Our video breaks this convention because of our choice of character. As our artist is an individual in the music industry, the song choice we have made would suggest he is making music for a more educational sense not a competitive sense like many rap groups. Whilst this breaks conventions in comparison to some media products it does conform to others such as those created by Hawk House and Mick Jenkins.The issue I found with finding and comparing media products is the amount of versatility in the Underground Music Industry. With Underground music, the point is, is that your music and media products are outside of the box - unlike anything else created. So in this sense it has been difficult to compare my work to any conventions and underground music is almost all about not being entirely conventional.

Character/costume moodboard

character conventionsI had created a moodboard previously in order to show the sort of image our artist reflects. As the artist was born and raised in South London we have included some more grimey South-London estate images, this would be included in his marketing because he wants to attract the youth of today that live within these poorer, rougher estates which many underground hip hop videos do.Most of the images are of young black males - These males are all also from similar backgrounds however have found their escape within fashion. Being blogged by PAUSE magazine which is a big male, fashion site. Our artist is within these creative types of youth, who use their knowledge of their environment and intelligence to really show achievement and contrast against those that have all handed to them within the industry.