Styles And Conventions Of Music Videos

Genre

I will be looking at various types of style, convention and technique of music videos and how they impact on the audience. There are many variety of style such as rock, rap, R n B, hip-hop and classical. Each style is designed to target a particular set of audience.  For example, Eminem’s music video “Berzerk” is targeted at an audience aged between 13-25 and ethnicity of white, lower to middle class.

Convention is the association between the musician’s lyrics and the music video such as in the music video “Berzerk” is a fast paced music video to complement the equally fast paced lyrics.  The genre of the song is old school rap/ hip-hop which consist of archive footages to make the music video appear as if it was set in the 1980s. Also the song is a sample of Billy Squier “The Stroke” who is displayed in the music video at 2.24 and 3.47 in dedication to the input he had to producing the song. The song is about going crazy and having a good time such as in his lyrics “Life’s too short to not go for broke” portrays that you should enjoy the benefits of the money you make while you are alive since life is precious and short lived.

Eminem’s record label Shady records would use this style and convention of music video since it is unique in the term that it looks at the past rather than many other music videos that focus on the present and the future.

genre subverting

Genre subverting music videos are music videos that go against the artist’s genre. For example , “the next episode” by Dr dre featuring Snoop Dogg, Kurupt and Nate Dogg. This music video contains explicit adult content as it is set in a strip club. There is a lot of nudity and this video downgrades women as sexual objects such as at 2.13 shows men paying women to perform on stage and later throwing champagne at them. Also there is a scene of the artists smoking maljuihna at 2.04 which is viewed negatively since these artists are suppose to be role models and set an example to the younger viewers. This music video was designed to target older audience members who are more open-minded to western society.

Another example of genre subverting videos is 50 cent featuring Justin Timberlake who use technology to seduce women. It contains some adult scene such as at 2.32 where a woman is dancing erotically whilst 50 cent is blindfolded. The artist use night vision cameras to stalk the women in the video.

Performance in a music video

The purpose of an artist performing in a music video is to get the audience involved and feel that they belong in the music video as well. Also it gives the audience the impression the song is being performed live in the music video. An example of this is Outkast “Hey ya” where the main singer Andre 3000 is Performing in front of a large female crowd. The crowd is displayed in the music video when the artist enters the stage at 1.14.  It should be noted that the crowd is constantly cheering, dancing and getting involved in the music which helps to promote the musician and the song itself. The camera takes many mid-shoots and close ups of the artist ‘s face for the audience to feel an intimate connection with the artist. There are also clips of a woman jumping onto the stage at 2.59 and a woman fainting at 3.19, this is all to create a positive light on the artist. There is a scene where the artist is dancing hence making the audience feel the need to dance as well. The genre of the music video is a feel good hip-hop music and generally makes the audience feel upbeat and cheerful.

Parody

Parody is a copy of the original music video for the purpose of adding humor and comedy into the music video. A person takes the original song and changes the lyrics and music video to make it funny for the viewers.  An example of this is Bart Baker “Blurred Lines” which is a parody of the original song by Robin Thicke. The parody is very similar to the original in terms that both videos have the same background and camera angles. Also they both contain hastags and the artists are wearing the same outfits. The parody attempts to make Robin Thicke look like a rapist whereas in the original video he looks more professional. From 0.00 to 0.12 the parody video has the same camera format as the music video except the reaction of the female dancers who appear to be threatened by Robin Thicke rather than attracted to him. The Parody is insulting Robin Thicke for example at 1.00 we see Robin Thicke sing “I’m a douchebag”. The parody has been a successful hit as it has gained 29.5 million views on Youtube.

Narrative

Narrative is a way of displaying an artist’s lyrics through a music video. This is extremely useful at helping the audience to understand the meaning behind the lyrics and further help the audience to be interested and to engage in the music video.  For example Justin Timberlake “Cry me a river” portrays him showing his unhappiness at realizing that his partner was unfaithful to him. In the music video we see the metaphor of the title “Cry me a river’ associated with the rain at 0.00- 0.04 or the switching the shower on at 4.15. He uses this music video to as a way to express what his hurt and anger to his former girlfriend. Initially we see how much affection he holds for his partner through the lyric “You were my sun, you were my earth” and when he smells her hair at 3.51. Later we see his disappointment at realizing his girlfriend was unfaithful “You don’t have to say what you did I already know.

Surreal/Abstract

Surrealism is when music videos contain unexpected juxtaposition as well as videos that are considered to be outside the norm for audience members. An example of this is David Guetta “Turn me on” featuring Nicki Minaj. The video appears to be set in a factory where a worker is constructing a doll model at 0.51. There are elements of abstract such as the way the dolls are produced is similar to that of a clock at 0.43 and the way the dolls transform the worker into a silver metallic doll at 2:33. At 1.55 there is a doll dragging an axe from the ground, which can be compared to many horror films cliché. The music video will surprise the audience in the sense that the artist has used dolls instead of human actors. It is difficult to understand the plot of the music video and it doesn’t follow the lyrics hence making the audience think outside the box.

Interpretive Music Videos

This is where the artist’s lyrics match exactly that is occurring in the music video, for example, The Lonely Islands “like a boss”. Initially we see Andy Samberg having a meeting with Seth Rogen discussing what his job role requires of him. For instance, at 0.19-0.20 He uses thee lyric “talk to corporate” whilst on the phone to a client. This is also a way of making the music video more hilarious such as “Hit on Debra, like a boss, get rejected, like a boss” at 0.32-0.35. This is more likely to gain the attention of audience who enjoy humour in the music video. This makes the music video more unique in the sense that the lyrics have to match the music video which helps to attract more audience members. The benefit from the artist point of view is that this does not require a lot of creativity since they are just displaying what is in their lyrics. It also pleases the record labels since the music video is likely to be cheap. For example, this music video requires the use of a green screen to portray “Crash into the sun” at 1.20.

Referencing 

Referencing is similar to synergy as it displays clips of a movie into a music video. For example, Pitbull “Back In Time” which shows scenes from Men in Back 3.  We see Pitbull dressed in a black suit, the same suit as the agents in the movie. The music video also feature Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones who are the main characters the film. The music video also shows Pitbull entering the underground facilities of the agency organization at 1.38. It even shows him entering into the same black ford car as the agents at 0.30. This music video is likely to attract all the audience that enjoyed watching the Men In Black franchise as well as the people who wish to see it. The record labels benefit since this music video will be promoted by Men In Black franchise leading to more audience watching this video and increasing the sale of the music downloads/CDs.

Patiche

Patiche music videos are those that refer to another type of media. They use a reference from one media and imitate it into the music video. For example, Busta Rhymes “I love my chick” ft Will.i.am, kelis. This music video is imitating scenes from the movie Mr and Mrs Smith such as at 0.00-0.05 Busta Rhymes and Gabrielle Union are in couple therapy which is a copy from a scene in Mr and Mrs Smith.  Also the music video labels “Busta Rhymes as Mr Smith” at 0.07 and “Gabrielle Unions as Mrs Smith” at 0.19. This is likely to attract the audience that enjoyed watching the movie Mr and Mrs Smith. Mr and Mrs Smith was a box office hit starring international superstars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie therefore likely to gain attention from a large scale audience. The record labels understand that more audience members will be intrigued to see the similarities of this music video to that of the movie therefore increase the image of the artist which can lead to higher sales.

Impressionist

Impressionist music videos are designed to set the theme and imagery of a music video. This is to direct the audience feeling and for them to express it in a way that will promote this music video. This can be produced by setting a particular background or camera angle shot. For example, Gorillaz “Clint Eastwood” which set a dark theme when a character is laughing wickedly at 0.14- 0.17.. The background throughout this music video is dark which is portrayed by heavy rain and lightning at 2.56 and the pace of the song is slow. Since the artist is using an animated music video it is very easy to set the tone of this video. This entertains the audience as they feel spooked and this music video targets younger audience who enjoy watching animations. The record label understands the importance of producing a music video, which contains structure and a theme to appeal to mass audience members.

Animation

Animations are a creative way for artists to produce music videos. For example, Kayne West “Heartless” portrays Kanye into a cartoon format.  The music videos contain a range of blight colours as Kanye West is walking through different backgrounds. At 2.00- 2.14 we see the visual effects of the smoke from the cigarette rise. It shows the artist in a different light as a cartoon. The benefit of animation videos is that the artist can create an image that they are satisfied with. Also it is easier to show emotions through characters by animation rather than hiring actors to perform, for instance, at 1.42 a woman is crying and behaving emotionally. In the music video Kanye West is wearing different outfits in each scene and there are pictures of The Flintstones at 2.34. These animations are more appealing to younger viewers who are more likely to understand the meaning of the music rather then just observing the artist singing.