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- 1. Indie is agenre of music that has developed significantly over about a 30 year period. Music Video Conventions
- 2. Pop is agenre of music that hasn’t changed a great deal over the past few decades and that is the same with its music videos. To show this I have picked Material Girl by Madonna, which was released in 1985, and have compared it alongside 21st century pop videos. Call My Name – Cheryl Cole Material Girl - Madonna She Makes Me Wanna - JLS http://www.muzu.tv/cheryl/call- http://www.muzu.tv/ma http://www.muzu.tv/jls/jls-feat- my-name-music-video/1376788/ donna/material-girl- dev-she-makes-me-wanna-music- video-music- video/1007280/ video/1031933/
- 3. Conventions •The costume inthese videos is very co-ordinated which the other people around them. For example in the JLS video, were Aston is wearing a pink t-shirt, Oritsé has pink trainers and a pink jacket on. I think co-ordination of clothing gives the pop group a bigger sense of unity. Also, pop videos are dominated by image and so to look at, a co-ordinated group is seen as more attractive than a miss-match of colours. •As well as this, in the majority of music videos the overall colouring is often very bright and vibrant to match the usual upbeat, happy-go-lucky vibe of the song. •Pop videos are usually performance videos and sometimes have bits of narrative intertwined (Material Girl). •They usually, if the song is upbeat, have a dance routine performed by the artist/group. If it is a solo artist, a lot of the time they have a group of dancers around them. There are obviously exceptions to this rule. •Pop videos generally have a lot of close-ups/extreme of the artist/artists singing because the video is all about them and the way they look. •The mise-en-scene in the video is often used to represent the lyrics of the song. For example, in the Material Girl video there are close-ups of her diamond jewellery and rack of expensive clothing emphasising the “I am a material girl” lyrics. •In upbeat pop songs, fast paced cuts are generally used to keep in the tempo of the song.
- 4. Indie is agenre of music that has altered significantly over the past 30 years or so. And not only has the music changed, but the style of videos are different too. The 1980’s was a decade in which indie music became popular with the likes of The Smiths, The Stone Roses , The La’s and R.E.M. She Bangs The Drums – How Soon Is Now? – The Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy The Stone Roses Smiths Division http://www.muzu.tv/th http://www.muzu.tv/thesmi http://www.muzu.tv/joydivisio estoneroses/she-bangs- ths/how-soon-is-now- n/love-will-tear-us-apart- the-drums-music- digital-music- music-video/994763/ video/267008/ video/1157707/
- 5. Conventions •A lot ofthe indie videos from the 1980s, particularly the ones above, are distorted or the whole shot has a colour tint. The distorted colours is used to give a grunge and gritty appearance which could be linked to the style of music. Also, indie music in the 1980s/1990s was associated with the ‘alternative lifestyle’ and heavily influenced by drugs and alcohol which could explain the unusual use of colours. •The three videos I picked are all performance based videos which represents most indie music videos. I think this type of video is used because indie bands normally had a low budget and a ‘do it yourself’ kind of attitude – performance videos being the cheapest and easiest to make. They were also not as mainstream as bands of other genres of music. So instead of pop videos for example which were generally based around image, these videos were based solely around the band and their music. •The mise-en-scene, particularly clothing in indie videos from the 1980s had no real co-ordination or purpose. They were pretty much whatever the band members had in their wardrobes. Again it shows how the genre was less mainstream and image dominated. •The music videos are basically the band performing the song on stage and very rarely have any form of narrative in them.
- 6. Modern indie howeveris a lot different to what it was in the 1980s. Indie has become a lot more mainstream and therefore bands have a larger budget to produce music videos. Norgaard - The Vaccines Rabbit Heart- Florence & http://www.muzu.tv/thev The Machine accines/ http://www.muzu.tv/floren cethemachine/ The similarity in the conventions of indie music videos from the 1980s and the 21st century is the performance element of these videos because at some point throughout the video you see the artist singing the song. However its not solely dominated by performance and includes a lot of abstract narrative elements. The videos are often a lot more centred around the image of the band, and they dress in much more fashionable clothing compared to indie bands from the 80s.
- 7. Rack City -Tyga http://www.muzu.tv/tyga/ Ridin’ - Chamillionaire http://www.muzu.tv/chamillionaire/ridin-music- video/252228/ Candy Shop – 50 Cent http://www.muzu.tv/50cent/candy-shop-music- video/736519/ Conventions •Hip-hop videos are very much dominated by image and money. •A common convention of hip-hop videos is that the artist is the main focal point of the video. The majority of shots are focused on them. There are also lots of variations in the camera shots used with lots of close-ups, long shots, mid shots etc. •Mise-en-scene plays a big part in hip-hop videos. Because they are often all about the image of the artist, they are often dressed in expensive clothing. Particularly in the three videos I have focussed on, money is a large element. In the Rack City video a lot of gold has been used to signify wealth and at one point he is even sat at a table piled high with coins. •Hip-hop videos by male artists often objectify women. Candy Shop emphasises this convention as all of the women that feature in the video are dressed in next to nothing performing raunchy dance routines. The lyrics are often very sexual too (50 Cent again) which is also shown through the skimpy clothing and dance routines. • The majority of hip-hop videos are driven by image, money and sex.