Different genres of music videos promote different conventions from their videos. For example, the conventions of a typical rock video will be completly different to those of a mainstream pop video. We have pulled together some examples of how these different conventions are displayed through different genre of music videos.
Hip Hop Video - Jay Z: Empire State of Mind.
This a is a typical hip hop music video which doesn't really push the boundries of what will be expected from the conventions of this genre. This video has many low angle shots of Jay Z performing solo to promote an idea of authority and power. The visuals also refer to the song. For example when Jay Z is rapping about being from Brooklyn, a sign appears in the video of saying 'Brooklyn'. Also, with the song being about New Yrk, their are numerous arial shots of the city. The typical costume for hip hop music almost always includes baggy hoodies and sun glasses, possibly to create an idea of the performer wnting privacy or some sort of confidentialiy. These videos. With the genre of hip hop being so popular in todays society, the budgets for making these videos are often huge (often multi-million dollars).
Pop Video - Britney Spears: Toxic.
Again, similar to the hip hop video, this pop video does not really push the boat out beyond the typical conventions of a pop video. The most noticable feature of this video is the computer aided graphics. For example the airplane and the background when the pair are on the motorbike aren't really there. Another typical feature of most pop videos is half naked woman. They are often there to draw male attention by performing sexual dances. There is a lot of focus on the artist however never really focuses on the artist in the same outfit or in the same place over a longer period of time. The costume is either expressive and their to make a statement or their to draw attention. Typical costumes include flamboyant dresses, bikinis or very short, tight costumes, in this case an air hostess outfit.
Rock: Nickleback - How You Remind Me
When people mention 'rock' music videos, we think of dark colours, low key lighting, guitars, drums and often quite a gothic vibe. In Nickelback's video of 'How you remind me', these basic conventions are followed extremly closly. The lighting is very low key so everything appears darker and the colours of costumes are also very dark. The video jumps between the band performing together and the story line, which follows the lyrics. The video is not extremly expensive to make as their are no hi-tech studios or professional dancers etc. This is typical of rock vidoes and can be seen in other nickelback videos or other bands videos such as incubus and foo fighters. Although, foo fighters do often have larger budgets than usual as they are classed as a major rock band. The video has a lot of close up shots and low angle shots to create an idea of authority however also makes the viewer feel like they have some sort of relationship with the performer.
The kooks video for naive is slightly different to the typical conventions usually portrayed by normal 'indie videos'. The kooks video manages to incorporate different locations with the storyline. Usually, an indie video would jump between the two as though they are two seperate events. Although their is no performance in this video, all the band members are still involved. The lighting is very low key and often uses a red filter to emphasise the fact that they are in some sort of club. Their are a huge amount of close ups which make us form a realationship with the performer. Although the video doesn't particularly follow the 'rules', we can tell that the video did not have a huge budget. There is n studio, no stunning CGI and even the quality of the image is poorer to that of a typical mainstream pop video with multi-million dollar/pound budgets.
By Richard
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