Chosen Genre and Conventions

My chosen genre is between a hip-hop/rap music video and a biopic short film or trailer about the journey of a young footballer to success. At the moment, I am more leaning towards a biopic short film rather than a hip-hop/rap music video with low lighting and dark scenery/setting. However, I also have the idea to do an R n B music video with colourful visuals and upbeat and high-tempo beats.

The conventions of a biopic film is that it is a sub-genre of drama or epic films. These films depict and dramatise the life of an iconic person from the past or in the present time. Sometimes biopics stretch the truth and tell a story with varying degrees of accuracy. Biopics are divided into two sections called semantic and syntactic, according to theorist Rick Altman. These types of films convey a sense of truth using techniques such as flashbacks, voice overs and montages. Other techniques used include close up shots and first person shots.

The conventions of a hip-hop/rap music video is that it mainly uses low-angled, close-up shots to imply the artist has power over the audience. The low angle gives the artist power as they are looking down on the audience and the close up shots give the rapper status because it suggests they are important enough to have a frame to themselves. In hip-hop videos, a crowd is usually seen as dancing to the beat of the song. This makes it seem that the people in the video are actually dancing to the song, which implies that they like the song. This makes it easier for the audience to enjoy and like the song. Music videos also include attire such as basketball tops and designer clothes and they also have expensive cars, jewellery and money to display wealth and power over the audience.

The conventions of a trailer is that it usually includes montages of scenes from the film and text showing release dates and age ratings. Usually at the start of the trailer, the film's production logo is displayed in order to benefit the reputation of the production company. The title of the film is also shown in trailers so that it is easier for the audience to remember the name of the film. Depending on the colours and fonts, it is easier for the audience to tell what the genre of the film is going to be. The camera shots used in film trailers are usually designed to entice the viewer to watch the film and find out happens. They usually leave audiences on a cliffhanger and wanting to find out what goes in the film. In addition, it usually has fast paced music or a different type of music that fits in with the genre of the film and compliments the trailer really well. For example, if there are fast montages of camera shots in the trailer, it will have a fast paced track that suits the genre of the film.