My Music Video - Genre

In the endeavour to gain a better understanding of this genre of music - so as to be able to create a more informed, professional standard music video - I watched various music videos from within this genre, helping familiarise myself with some of the most common conventions.

Example Music Videos of the Genre

The music video for the song "Backslider" by Wild Belle features the band's vocalist standing/singing/dancing in front of a screen which has various artistic images projected onto it. As I mention in my previous post, this is a similar concept to what I have decided on for my own music video.
The 'old film' style is one that seems to crop up fairly regularly within the alternative genre - specifically with female singers - for example, it's also used frequently by Lana Del Rey, in videos for songs such as 'National Anthem', 'Young and Beautiful', and *'Summertime Sadness'.

*(This particular video is very similar to my proposed concept, with Del Rey exploring a love through point of view footage and implied memories. The use of projections and 'old camera' footage is a very stylised effect, and is almost exactly the type of effect that I have in mind for my own video.)

Certainly from videos such as these I can predict that my concept will work, as it fits very well with these pre-existing media products.

The music video for the song "Kamikaze" by MØ  (which is technically not indie, but pop - however, the relevance of this is that MØ is a female singer with fans similar to Briggs, and therefore what appeals to audiences in her videos is likely the same as what will appeal to fans of Briggs,) is typical of videos produced by artists in the pop genre.
It features a semi-apocalyptic, rundown mise-en-scene, lots of young adults wearing grungey urban clothing, and purposefully shaken hi-def quality shots.

MØ also receives star treatment, performs in the video, and utilises looking to 'connect' with her audience.

Codes & Conventions

While certain elements of this genre - such as looking, star treatment, performance (both artists sing) - are common features of all music videos, regardless of genre, I have noted that there are certain themes and ideas that seem to be more prominent within the broad confines of the 'alternative' genre. 

The themes of such videos often deal with 'young adult' issues, exploring things like being 'different' or rebelling against societal expectations. 

While in some ways videos within this genre are artistic expressions designed to explore the 'realness' of being human, they're also very much just a way of crafting a new identity of sorts for the millennial generation. 

Certain common features of videos in this genre:

• Abandoned places, devoid of other people - empty buildings, forests, deserts
• Unfocused style of filming
• A mix of performance and 'story acting'
• Manipulation of light
• Colour themes - e.g. red to connote love, blood, pain etc.
• Unusual clothing, make-up - makes a statement
• Symbolic object - again, designed to make a statement 
• Story lines involving love, fights, rebellion, 'contemplative' scenes, death, surreal scenes

My Music Video - Research & Audiences

As I intend to use an original song I do not have the option to conduct audience research into the artist; however, this does mean that I can have more freedom in the ways I choose to present my artist and what I create with my music video.

Of course as is the case with any business, a brand new product is very risky to invest in, so there needs to be evidence of success in other similar products if the decision to risk the new one is to be taken.
The song I intend to use is most similar to the work of indie-pop group Wild Belle, a brother-and-sister duo who formed in 2011 and mix the genres of folk, dance, reggae, and psychedelic into their music.

The sound of the song for this video is most similar to the original I intend to use; the concept for this video is curious, but relates in no way to the plan I have for my music video. 

The music video for Wild Belle's "Backslider" is however very similar to my proposed concept, in as much as the video features Natalie Bergman (vocalist) standing/singing/dancing in front of screen onto which various images are projected. I intend to use the same concept in my own video (although the projections will be of film, and related to a story.) 

 

I had actually come up with the concept for my music video before I began looking into similar artists and their music videos, so it was comforting to find this music video as it confirmed that my ideas where appropriate to the genre.

Audience
Based off of my intended song/music video style/artist's similarity to Wild Belle, I chose to conduct my audience information research using the information I could turn up about their audiences. I attempted to use YouGov but was met with unsatisfactory results as they had nothing registered under Wild Belle. I then tried to look into the group's wikipedia page and at their website for more information, but it was to no avail - the band are simply too unknown to provide substantial information into audience trends.

However, as a teenaged female, I have spoken with others in my demographic and I know that this style of music is relatively popular within my age group and gender, and this is why I have chosen females aged 14-28 to be my primary audience, whereas my secondary audience will be males within the same age range. The reggae genre mix of my intended song opens my audience up to potentially link with those living in the Caribbean, although as a genre indie-pop generally encourages a large enough fan base of all ethnicities and nationalities.

Music Video Codes & Conventions

Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Theory: 

"Dancing in the Distraction Factory" 

To briefly summarise, Goodwin published a book called "Dancing in the Distraction Factory" in 1992 that explores his theory of music videos. Goodwin's theory is as follows; that music videos are often constructed by the link between the visuals, the song, and the artist.

Just like all media products, music videos follow a set of codes and conventions - Goodwin focuses on 7 key points in his theory:

1. All music videos have certain genre characteristics, depending on the genre of music.
2. More often than not there is a relationship between the visuals and the lyrics.
3. There is a relationship between the music and the lyrics.
4. The demand of the record label will be evident in the video.
5. Artist Iconography
6. The notion of looking
7. Intertextual

1.) The Genre Link

This point argues that the visuals we see within a music video are going to be appropriately chosen to suit the genre of the song itself. For example, if you look at the song "Teenagers" by My Chemical Romance, you'll see the video has a link to the genre of the music which is punk rock and in the video the people are dressed in the grunge fashions associated with this genre.

2.) The link between lyrics and visuals

It's considered the norm for the lyrics of a video to have a direct link to the visuals, meaning that the visuals can either enforce or contradict the point the lyrics are trying to put across (depending on the intended message of the song/video.) 

For example, in "Chasing Pavements" by Adele, we see the subjects of the video shot from above enacting their meeting; they're laid on a pavement (which is an artistic exploration of their memories, while their positioning is due to a car crash) while Adele sings out "should I give up, or should I just keep chasing pavements".

3.) The link between the music and the video

To match the tone and atmosphere of the music with the visuals simply makes sense, because otherwise audiences are likely to fail to see the link and the music video will be pointless. In "TiK ToK" by Ke$ha for example, the dancey pop music is matched appropriately by the visuals showing it as being played in a houseparty/rave at the end of the video, while the coloured club lighting and glitter further anchors the party atmosphere.

4.) Meeting the label's demands

The record label are 99% of the time the source of the video's funding, which means that ultimately they get control of what happens. So it's very common that the label will often make executive decisions about what an artist does/how they appear (they're only the label's product right? They're obviously not actual humans with emotions or anything, oh no, they're just marketable goods.) These decisions aren't always beneficial to the artist as an individual, and occasionally lead to public backlash, but most of the time everything's 'just fine!' 

5.) Iconography

Continuing with the idea of selling the artist as a product brings us to branding! The quickest way to create a memorable brand for an artist is to find their unique selling point, and then find some visual to use in association with them, such as Sia's wig or the unnerving, mickey mouse-esque head that DeadMau5 never takes off. 

DeadMau5

Sia

Daft Punk

6.) Voyeurism 

Screenshot from "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke. An alternate
version of the video was released, featuring the women fully nude.

Voyeurism, to put it simply, is the pleasure people feel when viewing someone sexualised. Basically, this links to the constant sexualization of women and Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' theory; music videos are as equally guilty as film and television for playing on these tactics, as evidenced in videos such as Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" video or Justin Bieber's "Sorry" video.

Screenshot from "Sorry" by Justin Bieber

7.) Intertextuality
Intertextuality is the referencing of other media's or events, and while it can be/is often used for humour it can also facilitate the linking of the video to a certain theme/idea/concept.
For example, intertextuality was used within the music videos of the songs released for the Suicide Squad soundtrack, such as "Heathens" by Twenty One Pilots, and "Purple Lamborghini" by Skrillex and Rick Ross. These videos included intertextuality by recreating the film's atmosphere (e.g. sets), using the actors in character, and including actual clips from the film.

Intertextuality is used here where we see Jared Leto in the music video as the Joker