Deconstruction of an RnB Music Video

Pre-production Deconstruction of an RnB Music Video

The Genre of ‘RnB’ stands for “Rhythm and Blues”, more modern RnB is known as “contemporary RnB”, which consists of more than just rhythm and blues and includes pop, soul, funk and hip-hop together. I am going to deconstruct a music video within this genre to determine the typical conventions.

SHOT TYPE: Mid shot allowing us to see her facial expressions and in particular her jewellery for this shot.

ANALYSIS: This mid shot allows us to see the diva facial expressions and the confidence of the woman in the shot, this makes women watching feel slightly more empowered where as would make men feel slightly intimidated by this strong woman figure. There is a red table that she is resting on and the colours she’s wearing are a mixture of reds and pinks, this shows her fiery personality but also shows the softer more feminine side to her, this connotes to the audience the way in which a woman should be; strong and independent yet still girlie and soft. The jewellery shows that she is well off and is something that younger girls will aspire to have and be like, the gold and diamonds also show that its not only men that can have these nice things.

EDIT: The edits are very sharp and go to the fast paced beat of the music which in sync with the visuals help to get across that strong attitude they have.

MUSIC/LYRICS: The lyrics for this shot are;

              “Question, tell me what you think about me,

                I buy my own diamonds and I buy my own rings”

These lyrics show how these women are trying to put across a point about how women are treated and are saying that they are strong independent women who can pave their own way in life without the help of ‘alpha males’ buying things for them, they also show that women can be just like men as the lyrics go on, and men shouldn’t feel as though they are better than women because we can do exactly what they can.

SHOT TYPE: Low angle long shot.

ANALYSIS: This shot is used to show how superior these women are, it also shows how they’re sticking together, the space is massive but yet they stand quite close together, this shows the audience that you have to stick together, this is shown also through the dance routine performed. This shot also shows how even when women are dressed seductively that they do not have to be portrayed in a bad way, these women use their beauty and bodies to their advantages rather than because there is a man about. The colours again are fiery but feminine reiterating to the audience how they feel women should be, as they are proving to be role models.

EDIT: The transitions between shots are still very sharp which coincides with the visuals and the music nicely. 

SHOT TYPE: This is another low angle long shot.

ANALYSIS: This shot is really expressing the idea of the song, this is showing that women  can have all of the stuff a man can. The superior role a women can have, how she can buy things for herself rather than have a man provide for her, that she doesn’t need anyone else. The fire really expresses the personality of the song and the girls. Again the outfits are little but the angle of the shot shows that she’s too good for people and showing that women do not have to be exploited or belittled when wearing little clothing and can be seen as strong.

Edit shot: These transitions are slower and use panning shots around the women to make you admire them so you understand that they are better and aid people, in particular women, to look up to these people.

MUSIC/LYRICS: The lyrics for this are;

                “Charlie’s Angles,

                  All the women who independent”

These lyrics talk about Charlie’s Angles which is one of the intertextual points made within the Goodwin Theory, this again heightens the popularity of the song and single handily ties together the whole idea of the music video itself, women empowerment, a theme that carries on throughout the video and lyrics.

From deconstructing this music video I was able to understand that Rnb is a mellow more soulful version of Hiphop, unlike hiphop it is not majority of males who make this music, it is a range of women and men who create this type of music, Destiny’s Child show that, particularly through this video which creates a strong statement and message. They also introduce an element of pop through their dance routines. These conventions are things that I will think about when creating my own video