Style and Conventions of Music Videos and Post Modern Styles Task 2B

Style and Conventions of Music Videos and Post Modern Styles

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

 Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. Performance in rock videos, Choreography in Indie and Pop music videos)



 Andrew Goodwin's theory suggests that music videos within a specific genre will  demonstrate certain characteristics, most modern music videos typically demonstrate genre characteristics. This can be done to amplify and convey meaning within the video. However, the main reason why it is done is to sell the image of the artist and promote the music, which sells more to the audience.


This is an example of a music video that demonstrates it's genre conventions. Hip Hop music videos tend to have the artist performing. They also tend to include low angles. These are particularly used in Hip Hop videos to make audience believe that the artist has a high status. , Hip Hop music videos also include the artist wearing designer clothing or mainstream brands. This is clearly highlighted in this music video as the clothing of the artists are modern and mainstream. Because of this, it is easy for the audience to identify it as a hip hop video which is a way of promotion for the artist.

 A Relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).

Goodwin's theory also suggests that some music videos create a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. The purpose of this is to amplify the music video. The video below is an example of this. In this video, Jessie J is talking about money, this is later visualized  and showed in the video at (1:00) where dollar notes can be seen growing on a tree. The purpose of this is that it gives a sense of hyper reality.

 Relationship between the music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).

This is when there is a relationship between the music and the visuals. This is particularly done to emphasize the concept of the music video or to visualize a deeper/hidden meaning.  Conceptual videos tend to use this method. The video below is an example of this.

Frequency reference to notions of looking and voyeuristic 

Notions of looking is a way of looking through something or something that is related to the idea of looking. The video below is an example of a music video that includes voyeurism because women are sexualised in this music video as they are wearing provocative clothing. Because of this it appeals to the nature and theme of the song.

Demands of record labels for close-ups

Most artists that are signed with major labels demand close ups. The reason why they do this is because they want the audience to know that the artist has that star image. The purpose of this is so that the audience can identify them more which appeals more and 'sells'.

0.  In-concert music video
1. 
   
2. The purpose of in-concert music videos  is to sell concert tickets. These types of music videos tend to encourage fans to buy tickets as they will want to have the full experience that is shown in the video. This is an example of in concert and as-live footage. As you can see it consists of the artist preforming on stage just as if it was a live performance. The people who watch this video and be encouraged to by concert ticket as they will want to watch it live.

0. (Arctic Monkey- do i wanna know)

0. 
   
   
1. 
   
   
   
   

0. B) interpretive 
   
   
   A music video may also be interpretive which describes a relationship between the lyrics and the on screen visuals. There are two types of interpretive music videos.  illustrative is one. This is when the on screen visuals demonstrate the actual lyrics of the song. Interpretive is the other.This means something that looks like something else, but has a different meaning. Interpretive music videos are normally ambiguous and encourage the audience to make their own interpretation of what they think the music video is about. This video is a example of an interpretive music video as the video does not have a clear meaning  This means that the audience has to interpret their own meaning on the video as it isn’t made clear where she is or why she is there.

(Foster the people- call it what you want)

0. 
   D) Impressionist (Conceptual)
   
   Another type of music video is known as impressionist or conceptual. This is basically when the purpose of the music video is to create meaning. This meaning doesn't tend to relate to the song and a lot of the time it consists of montage used to create meaning. An example of a music video that does this is Sia's elastic heart, which despite being about her relationships, consists of a little girl being pursued by a older man. Both of these characters are suppose to represent the two different sides of the singer and she tends to use this approach in most of her music videos.
1. 
   
2. 
   
3. 
   
4. 
   
5. 
   
   
   E) Referencing (Intextuality)
   
   Intextuality or referencing, in terms of a music vide, is when the music video referencing to another piece of media as a base for the video. An example of a music video that uses this is Robbie Williams' 'You know me.' This makes constant reference to the book and film, 'Alice in Wonderland.' This is by the fact that the entire video is a dream and he is dressed up as the rabbit from the film. This is a good way of selling another product. People will see the video and wonder about the original product which will allure them into watching it.
   
    
   
6. 
   
7. 
   
8. 
   
10. Post modern styles
11. 
    
13. 
    
14. PASTICHE
15. 
    
16. A pastiche music video is a video that imitates or copies features such as techniques, themes and styles of another original music video. This music video is an example of a pastiche music video. This video is called "You Always find me". This video uses a 80s themed party, with retro clothing, in a modern environment. This video is made interesting as the two guys travel from kitchen to kitchen through cupboards, through fridges and using draws as a stairway up to the next kitchen. Also toward the end of the video the artists appear to be dancing on the kitchen ceiling. This also gives the video more appeal and makes it unique.
17. 
    
18. 
    
20. 
    
21. 
    
22. 
    

0. 
   
1. 
   
2. 
   
3. 
   
4. 
   
6. 
   
7. 
   
8. ANIMATION 
9. 
   
10. 
    
12. 
    
13.  Animated music videos are videos that are animated to tell a story. These types of videos can be CGI animated (Computer Generated Images) or 2D animated.  In most animated music videos,  footage is not used. The narrative for a animated music video can be linear or non- linear. The purpose of a animated music video  is to convey a special message. One example of an animated music video is "Rock Mafia- Fly or Die". This music video uses a combination of 2D and CGI animation to complement the song and tell a story. It does not use any actually real footage.This video can also be seen as a conceptual music video. Conceptual music videos can include both performance and narrative aspects. Usually, conceptual videos are based around a surreal, poetic idea. This idea usually grabs the audience’s attention and draws them in. Songs within the indie genre tend to use a mixture of bright and dark colours in their music videos. The fact that both bright and dark colours such as black, red, orange and blue are used in the video, shows that this is a convention of indie music videos. The lyrics of the song relate to the visuals in the video. The video and song are telling the same story. The story is that a village has been attacked and raided by an evil Dictator/tyrant. The dictator and his army have taken control and destroyed most of the village.

0. 
   
1. 
   
2. 
   
4. 
   
5. 
   
6. NARRATIVE
7. 
   
8. A narrative music video is a video that tells a story. The audience will often follow the story whilst listening to the song. The narrative can be linear or non- linear. The purpose of a narrative music video is to convey a message. Narrative music videos differ to interpretive music videos, in that the narrative does not need to follow the lyrics of the song. The music video below is an example of a narrative video. As you can see the video is telling a story about a young couple that are going through a breakup. 
9. 
   

0. (Calvin Harris- Bounce)

1. HYPER-REALITY (Surrealism)
2. 
   
3.  Videos that incorporate hyper- reality are videos that use unconventional images that the audience does not anticipate. These types of videos include the distortion and over exaggeration of certain situations and notions. Hyper- realism is used in most music videos. The idea behind these videos is to immerse the viewers in a unrealistic world. Videos that use hyper- reality are often memorable to the audience. The video above is an example of a hyper-reality video.
4. 
   
5. 
   
6. 
   
7. 
   
8. 
   
9. 
   
11. PARODY
12. 
    
13. A parody music video is a video that is created with the intention to be humorous. This is often done by exaggerating features of the original video or changing features such as the lyrics. Parodies are often an imitative work and can be created to mock, comment on, or trivialize the original music video. The music video below,"DRAKE- HEADLINES parody" is an example of a parody music video. In this music video, the appearance of the original artist and the lyrics of the song are being mocked. in the video it clearly shows the lyrics at the bottom. The purpose of parody music videos is to create a comedic effect. Videos that include comedic and humorous aspects often go viral. This is one reason why some artists create parody music videos.
14. 
    
15. 
    
16. 
    
17. 
    
18. 
    

0. 
   
1. 
   
2. 
   
3. 
   
4. 
   
5. 
   
6. 
   
8. Performance 
9. 
   
10. A performance music video is a video that features the artist or group singing (lip syncing) The purpose of this kind of music video is to give the audience and fans a in-concert experience.Some artists use footage from their real live performance rather than a staged one. The Audience and fans  generally enjoy these music videos as they want to see the artist playing the song rather than just hearing it. One example of a performance music video is "The weeknd- losers".
12. 
    
13. 
    

0. 
   
1.  
3. 
   
4. 
   
5. 
   
6. 
   
7. 
   
9. Homage and Allusion 
10. 
    
11. Homage music videos are often created by artists, to pay respect to another artist, music video style or film and TV series that has influenced them. This reference can be noticed by the audience and can encourage them to engage with the original video. One music video that has homage elements is Michael Jackson's  Smooth Criminal. The music video pays homage to the costumes and scenery used in a scene in the film The Band Wagon  (Minnelli, 1953).
12. 
    
13. 
    
14. (Michael Jackson- Smooth Criminal)
15. 
    

0. 
   

0. (The Band Wagon film ,1953)

Another example, of a homage music video is logic- super Mario world. In this video, Logic pays tribute to Nintendo, Super Mario and Satoru Iwata, the creator of some of Nintendo's iconic video games. An allusion is when references are used in a music video, such as when it refers to a person, place, an historic event that happened in the past or present. It could be fairly obvious or discreet but either way, many music videos feature allusions.

Task 2A Genre Conventions (Pop,Hip hop, indie, Rock)

Indie

(my section)

These videos tend to have varying combinations of conventions; such as bright and dark colours and lighting. Sometimes black and white depending on the tone of the lyrics and music. 

Indie music videos tend to be a mixture of narrative and conceptual. However, there are also performance based videos. A performance music video is a type of music video that  features the artist or group singing (lip syncing) The purpose of this kind of music video is to give the audience and fans a in-concert experience. A narrative music video is a video that tells a story. The narrative can be linear or non- linear. The purpose of a narrative music video is to convey a message. Conceptual music videos rely heavily on poetry and metaphors. These videos do not tell a story in a linear way, rather, they create mood and feeling.

The focal point can either be the main vocalist or the performance of the whole band, or even the band or artist not making an appearance in their music video. The narrative music videos in this context usually are more representational or symbolic, rather than illustrating the lyrics. In this sense, they are typically quite versatile. The editing techniques differ based on the pace of the music, whereby it can vary from slow to fast pace. The artists are generally presented in a casual manner reflecting upon their outfits. Indie artists typically try to promote their independent status in the music videos. They do this so that they can be seen as "different" or "unique". This helps to create their star image. 

Mise-en-scene (Location/settings,props and costumes)

Many Genres of music videos have a unique visual theme.This is normally something the audience will recognise and can relate to. Props,costumes and location all make up Mise-en scene. "Mise en scene" plays a large role in a lot of music videos. Props and costumes help create a artist's identity and sets them apart from other artists. They also make the video look and feel realistic. For indie music videos, the common props are normally the instruments. As mentioned before, indie artists want to promote their independent status and be branded as "real" musicians and creators. Using actual instruments in the video helps reinforce this notion. In indie music videos, the artists typically wear clothing that relates to the theme of the video. The clothing that indie artists wear in their videos often symbolizes something or creates meaning. For example, the clothing could represent the mood of the music video. If the mood of the music video is happy and energetic, the artists will wear bright colored clothing.However, If the mood of the video is dark with angst and sad, the artists will wear dark colored clothing (Black and grey). 

Locations that are often used in indie music videos are "everyday places". The purpose of indie music videos is not only to promote the indie artist, but to create a "real" image that the audience can actual relate to. This is why locations such as skate parks, residential areas and cities are used in indie videos. 




Foster the people's "Call it what you want" music video uses instruments. 

(Foster the people: "Call it what you want")

The Givers's "Up,Up,Up" music video is mostly set in new York city. However, a chroma key  effect with green screen is also used.

(Givers- Up,Up,Up)

Rock Mafia: Fly or Die

Rock Mafia’s Fly or Die music video is very different. This music video separates itself from the typical Performance and narrative videos one would usually see. The music video itself is an animated narrative. It uses a combination of 2D and CGI animation to complement the song and tell a story. It does not use any actually real footage. This video can also be considered as a concept music video. Concept music videos can include both performance and narrative aspects. Usually, concept videos are based around a surreal, poetic idea. This idea usually grabs the audience’s attention and draws them in. Songs within the indie genre tend to use a mixture of bright and dark colours in their music videos. The fact that both bright and dark colours such as black, red, orange and blue are used in the video, shows that this is a convention of indie music videos. The lyrics of the song relate to the visuals in the video. The video and song are telling the same story. The story is that a village has been attacked and raided by an evil Dictator/tyrant. The dictator and his army have taken control and destroyed most of the village. Everything the dictator touches turn evil and is stamped with an “Anubis industry” logo. The dictator himself is riding a giant Anubis robot. The logo is the letter “A” with an eye over it.

Anubis is an Egyptian god that is often associated with mummification and the afterlife. Anubis guided the souls of the dead through the underworld kingdom of his powerful father. His father was Osiris, the god of the dead. The fact that the giant Anubis is destroying everything could symbolize that he is taking the people of the village to the underworld. In other words, he is “Killing” them.  Not that far from the village, a group of people who seem to be monks, are meditating in a cave. The monks sense danger coming from the village and start to flee using flying vehicles. A girl who seems to be an apprentice is also trying to escape. However, her flying vehicle does not seem to work. 

At this point of the video, the chorus of the song starts, which is “Fly or Die”. The chorus of the song implies that the people must “fly” or risk being “mummified” and turned evil by the dictator and his giant Anubis. 

Editing techniques 

The Editing matches the pace of the music within particular indie music videos. This is common in indie music videos.This creates rhythm for the audience because the visuals are more exciting to watch. In the video below, the pace of the visual effects matches the beat of the song. 

(Bloc Party: Ratchet)





Camera Work and Lighting

The most typical camera shots used in indie genre music video are close up. Close up shots introduce the artist and it helps to promote their "star image". Close up shots highlight the artist’s talents when they are singing. Crane shots are also popular when filming live performances as it allows different angles. Long and wide shots are used as establishing shots to set the scene of the narrative in the music video.​

(Miles Kane- Don't forget who we are)

(Crystal Fighters - Love Natural)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pop 

MISE-EN-SCENE
Music videos from the pop genre are normally performance videos which is either narrative or is just dance. The three music videos in this report are all of artists that are women, which are lip syncing to the song. The lyrics of pop songs are based on the good aspects of life which is shown through the mise-en-scene. The music video is bright and in someways dark because the song is about hiding herself from the paparazzi. 

Costume
In the first music video, Piece of Me by Britney Spears, she has a number of outfit changes, but all of her outfits reveal certain parts of her body, just like the second music video, Madonna Hung Up. This is shown as voyuerism because of the way women are portrayed in these music videos. They are hardly wearing any clothes and the first song is being shown that Britney Spears is being sexualised by the way they are dressed. When it comes to music videos, costume is very important because it creates an image for the artist. For example, if the artist was to wear dull looking clothes, they wouldn't attract their target audience. However, if they were to wear designer or popular clothes, they would attract their target audience because the target audience are young teens and they like to follow the trend their artist sets.

Location/Settings
Normally, the location and or settings for a pop music video is based or filmed in either a club or in front of a green screen because it is a convention of a pop music video as it shows how colourful pop music is; like my example video above. 

Colours
Pop music videos generally have bright colours to bring the songs and music videos to life. My next example, This is What You Came For, is full of bright colours to represent the beat of the song. This music video is a performance music video because the artist, Rihanna is lip syncing to the song where there is a background of people partying and jumping up and down in the back or either on a green screen. 

Choreography
Choreography in pop music videos is popular because of the up-beat tempo. It is used in music videos because if the song was to be performed in either a music festival or concert, the artist and back up dancers will be able to repeat what was used in the music video, in real life. It will create a type of reality where the audience will be able to relate to the dance as they will focus more on the performance than the song itself. 

Performance




In this music video, there are lens flares, and colourful flashing lights from the effects used for this. There is a party atmosphere with the crowds partying and dancing and in the parties there would be alcohol that connotes a fun atmosphere. 

CAMERA & LIGHTING

Most music videos have a range of shot types such as close ups, extreme close ups and mid shots. This is to create the innocence of the artist and also their personality from their music. Close ups are also used for the use of lip syncing, to show the emotion in the artist's face. In Britney Spears' Piece of Me, there is high key lighting and also lens flares. 

EDITING

Pace, lip synching, cutting, transitions, rhythmic montage, tonal montage
The tone and pace of pop music videos are quite fast, as they cut to the beat, which is also rhythmic montage. There is also transitions such as wipes, which wipe from one scene to another. Also, fade in and outs are frequently used in music videos as they represent the many different effects used rather than just cutting (and also using jump cuts).

Hip Hop

in this report i will be looking at some of the conventions in a Hip Hop/Rap Music Video. these conventions are important because the target audience to will be able to identify with the video as it contains certain elements. 

Camera/Lighting 

Low camera angles are utilised as often as possible as a part of a hip bounce music video, which are utilised to implement the craftsman has control over the gathering of people. This edges recommends this as the artist will look downward on the camera. Case of this edges being utilised can be seen as a part of music recordings, for example, 'Like This', 'by Jaden Smith and Rich The Kid' and so on. Close up shots infer the status that the craftsman is in as it can propose that they're sufficiently essential to have an edge to themselves.  This is done so the artist is seen as more powerful in their video.

Another genre convention in hip hop music videos is the use of lighting. this can variety depending the content of the artist. slower rap song tend to have low key lighting to give more of a gritty image, where as more up beat hip hop song will used high key lighting.

MISE-EN-SCENE


Another convention in Hip Hop music videos is the location is often at some sort of club, which is either is a concert environment or a strip club. On one hand this can be done to show that the artist is living a certain lifestyle. in these videos, merriment is often shown with girls dancing and money being thrown as champaign is being poured. this is done purely for image. On the other hand when they are shown performing this can persuade fans to come to their live shows.









Another genre conventions in hip hop the jewellery that is worn by the artist. This is done as to empower the artist as a wealthy individual. The can be displayed as creating star image, as this is not how they usually live. this is done for image.







EDITING

Hip hop / rap videos are known for cutting to the beat, this is to show the intensity of the song . this can be done to reflect the instrumental of music. Another reason this is done is to keep the attention of their target audience, young people tend to be interested in hip hop therefore this style of editing is done to keep the attention of the audience.









Costume

The costumes are low slung jeans, trainers, tracksuit, highly visible designer labels. this is to portray with that the artist has street credibility i should be respected by their target audience. this is also done to show of their financial status. 





Synergy 

Hip hop music videos often use synergy and product placement. one product that keep on making an appearance in hip hop music video is the "Beats by Dre Pill speaker." This is done by the hip hop artists to encourage their fans to buy the speaker in order to have a more pleasurable.

ROCK AND METAL

Mise En Scene

Rock and Metal have music videos which contain dark themes but they would voyeurism but in a way to objectify women. Throughout metal music videos instruments would be apparent. the artist or band would appear in dark clothing with Gothic tone of make-up. most Metal music videos tend to be violent, abrupt and filled with gore. blood is a apparent in these videos. symbolism is used a lot in rock for example references to cults is Apparent and the use of masks. The location of metal and rock tends to vary between locations such as churches, houses or metal asylums.

This video below is also linked to the notion of looking and voyeurism for example it can be about how we view women and objectify them. For example the half naked girls being tied up and slaughtered like animals.

Editing

The editing in rock music videos tend to be very dependant on the track for example if the track becomes very heavy and the pace of the song is moderately high the editing will fall in suit and it would become rhythmic editing.

Camera and lighting

the lighting in the video tends to be low-key to create a sinister vibe on the artist, the camera shots tend to be close ups which tend to be demanded by the record label. this camera movements tend to be quite violent and abrupt in order to enhance the fear factor.


Intertexuality

Intertextuality is a common convention in Rock and metal. it seems to be apparent for example in this music video there are links to the hit film "The Shining" in the"Slipknot -Spit it Out" Music video. also another music video with an example of intertexuality would be "The Red Hot Chilli Peppers song called "Californication".

Slipknot- Spit It Out








The Shining Hallway Scene

In this Red Hot Chilli Peppers video it is another example of intertextuality due to the links it has to a game called Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas








Californicaton by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers

 

Another example of intertextuality is when Linkin Park paid homage to the Anime fans by creating a video that could potentially widen their Audience.