R&B

GENRE ANALYSIS

Whilst there are common conventions within the R&B genre, the type of video will depend on the individual

artist, and how they want to present themselves to the world. Each aspect would differ with each artist, so it’s difficult to create a set list of codes and conventions,

because each artist is so different.

R&B VIDEOS

Locations in R&B music videos vary, it can range from bedrooms and inside large houses, to studios and elaborate, purposely built sets. It

depends on the artist, and the individual song, as the set for one song, probably wouldn’t go with another. It is also affected by the

budget of the music video, and also the lyrics of the song, for example, the video for Nicki Minaj’s ‘Anaconda’, is shown in a

purpose built jungle set, as this amplifies the lyrics, but the same set could not be used for the video of a Kanye West song, as the lyrics

and artist would be completely different.

LOCATIONS

More common locations include, bedrooms, houses, clubs, or outside in the streets, as this adds an urban feel

to the video, which fits the genre of the video.

LOCATIONS

Depending on the mood of the song the lighting setting’s vary; the lighting can be set low, but not necessarily dark, night-time, bright studio lighting, or natural daylight if the

artist is filming outside.

LIGHTING

Flashing or strobe lights could also be used if the video is filmed inside of a club, or is a performance style video,

and it’s set at a concert, giving the audience they’re feeling they’re at a concert.

LIGHTING

Female R&B artists tend to wear minimal clothing; mainly to attract the attention of males. They would typically

wear high heels unless they’re dancing. The amount of makeup a female artist wears can vary, but it’s typically

used to make them look flawless, and present them in the most idealistic way.

FEMALE COSTUME AND MAKEUP

Males tend to appear topless in many of their videos, to appeal to female viewers. Tattoos are extremely common

on male R&B artist, subsequently they’re portrayed as being very cool. Other than that, they’re always well

dressed, and always have the newest expensive watch or shoes.

MALE COSTUME

R&B videos use a variety of shots, such as close up’s of the artist, to present the artist to the audience, and wide angle and panning

shots, to narrate the video, and show the storyline

R&B videos also heavily use ‘MTV Editing’ because it makes the video more interesting for the audience to watch. It also involves

using quicker cuts, which may mean the viewer may want to watch it more times to see everything, resulting in more views for the artist.

CAMERA WORK AND EDITING