In Ruff Diamondz first single 'Do It Like Me', the song is quite up beat and would probably sit into the hip hop genre due to the rapping from one of the members and the style of the instrumental. However, not a lot of hip hop/rap videos these days consist of performances so this video subverts to my expectations of a general hip hop/rap video because the visuals in this music video are mainly based on dances choreographed by the artists. This music video is a good example of a 'performance video' as it includes lots of dancing and acting from both the artists and the other performers in the music video.
Cinematography
I denote numerous camera shots and angles in this music videos such as mid shots, long shots, low angles, close ups, etc. Performance videos primarily consist of the artist or the extras performing in the music video, dancing around and acting so therefore, long shots are the most suitable to use to capture the whole artist or extras performance. At 0.55 in the music video, I denote a long shot of the group of artists displaying a dance. This long shot which allows the audience to focus of the artists dancing without taking away the attention from the background which makes it more visually exciting and fun for the audience. The music video also consists of mid shots as well which is good to use in a performance video as it helps to draw more attention to the artist rather than the background. The mid shots limit the audience from seeing the full image of the artists, however it is effective as we can still see the upper body, hand movements and slight facial expressions of the artists. E.g. at 0.35, Troy (one of the group members) begins to perform solo and from this mid shot, the audience can really see the emotion in her face as will as her body and hand movement. I also denote close up shots of Troy at 2.18, indicating her importance as she is the lead singer of the group, but also displaying her facial expressions to the audience. Close ups are often used as cutaways from a more distant shot to show detail, such as artists' emotions, or some intricate activity with the artists hands. The emotion within Troys' face around 2.36 shows that she is having a good time as she pulls facial expressions that suggests she is enjoying herself i.e. the developing smile and movement of the lips. At some points in the music video, I also denote slight low angles on the group which connotes superiority and dominance. The 'rule of thirds' rule is also being obeyed throughout the majority of this music video when the camera is focused on the group of females, connoting dominance in their performance.
Mis En Scene
The production design of this music video changes from being in Camden in big empty spaces behind industrial buildings to being on rooftops and inside clubs. The various locations in the music video really help to enhance the performance e.g. roughly, in the first 20 seconds there are extras in the music video riding bikes around a big space somewhere in Camden. Having a big empty space allows the artists and extras to do various things with their performance like ride bikes, dance, march along with drums, etc. and the performances in this location really helps to create a good mood as it may remind the audience of events they have been to where drum marches have taken place or times where they have rode their bikes around Camden, creating a sense of reality. The artists have a limited amount of props which conforms to my expectations of a performance video as not a lot of props are used in performance videos, allowing the audience to focus more on the performance of the artists rather than the props. However, the performers/extras use props such as graffiti cans, bikes, pillows, etc. This adds realism to the video and creates entertainment for the audience. E.g. At 4 seconds, a group of extras ride bikes around the corner and they look like they are enjoying themselves, creating entertainment for the audience. The lighting is also high key and natural as the majority of the video is set outside and this lighting connotes a feeling of positivity and fun in relation to the performance as the natural lighting in combination with the performance gives the music video a 'feel good' feeling.
Editing
In some parts of the music video, the editing is fast paced which is ironically effective as it goes well with the fast paced hip hop song. The music video only consists of jump cuts. A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly. This type of edit is effective as the jump cut gives an appearance of continuous time and space as it jumps into a shot similar to the previous. This type of edit is more useful to use than transitions when working with face paced edits because transitions take longer to move into the next shot where as the jump cut simply moves to the next shot. The jump cuts are also used at 0.33 to create match on action which creates a continuous sequence of Troy performing, cutting from a long shot to a mid shot. This creates a visual bridge which distracts the audience from noticing the cut.
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