analysis of music genres

How do music videos appeal to an audience

Nowadays a lot of music videos focus more on computer generated visual effects to appeal to the audience; particularly in EDM genre music videos, a lot of flashing lights and edited effects are used as they allow the audience to get into the mood of the genre. The visuals of a video allow for the artist to portray a narrative to the audience, which is appealing to the latter as it allows them to gain a closer relationship with the artist as they learn something new about them and connect with them. In some cases, a music video appeals to an audience as the artist is trying to portray a certain message to their target watchers which is usually shown through the lyrics. Having lyrics in a song is appealing to the audience as it is predominantly the voice of the artist being presented and therefore it is a connecting appeal for the viewer. Due to the vast range of technical aspects that can be included in a music video

One of the music videos I am going to analysis is Drake's song "Over", which is a rap genre song which appeals to Drake's target audience of about 14-30 year olds. 

The song uses a lot of codes and conventions of the rap genre, as shown through the misc-en-scene, editing and camera techniques. When the lighting changes to high-key lighting at the beginning of the video, the audience can clearly see the costume that Drake is wearing: the mid shot of the white coloured outfit instantaneously connotes freshness and wealth. Wearing all white also connotes innocence, which is highlighted near the end of the video in the lyrics "I'm really too old to be feeling this old". The clothing itself is very conventional of the rap genre; casual and not too characterized. In the mid shot the audience also see Drake wearing a gold chain which is a stereotypical accessory that rap artists wear as it connotes wealth and is a symbol of the genre they belong to. It is also important to note that Drake does not actually wear the same outfit twice which is a clear indication to his high regard for money and always looking the best. Rita Ora, who is featured in the video as Drake's love interest, is also wearing specific clothing that is conventional of the genre. She is shown wearing an arguably revealing dress which looks quite expensive; the rap genre often sexualize women and they are shown in a submissive manner. This is elucidated in the shot of woman dancing in quite a sexual manner; however, she is presented as merely a blurred silhouette. This signifies that she is not the centre of importance and emphasizes the distinct difference between Drake as the dominant and the women as the subordinate. The lighting used in the shots with Rita Ora also show conventions of the genre; high-key lighting is used mixed with a gold color scheme. The choice of color again exhibits the wealth associated with Drake as an artist but also shows how wealth is significant to the genre. Often in rap artists like to show that women and money are the two most important things to them.

There are a variety of camera shots used throughout the video which helps to give meaning to the song. For instance, near the start of the video, a close up shot is used on Drake when he says the lyrics of "Who the f*** are y'all?"  The close up shot allows you to see Drake's facial expression which highlights his protectiveness over his privacy as the public are nosing into his life. The symbolism of wearing white links in here as Drake's innocence to the rap industry and being a star in general is elucidated in this shot. Having a close up shot is important in that it signifies intimacy, which connects Drake's lyrics to the audience, who, in this case, are the people Drake is actually addressing. Here, Andrew Goodwin's music video theory can be applied; in his second key aspect, Goodwin states that there is a relationship between the visuals of a video and the lyrics. This is significant as it allows the audience to actually see the artist perform the lyrics so they can really convey the meaning of them, consequently creating a better connection between Drake and his target audience, as it is quite personal. What makes the music video even more personal is the conventional use of direct contact at the camera used in this screenshot and other shots; the use of direct contact makes it seem like Drake is actually having a conversation with the target audience.

This is another example of a camera shot used in the video; here, a long/wide. There is also a silhouette-like effect of Drake's image edited into the background behind the real figure of him. As the latter of the two images is actually as big as the silhouette, the idea of Drake being superior is strongly conveyed. However, there is also the idea of Drake having two sides of him as two of him is shown as the silhouette signifies ghost-like connotations. As well as being very conventional of the rap genre, this also relates to Goodwin's fifth aspect of a music video; all the different shots used are predominantly of the star, making them the centre of attention. The audience can clearly see here that Drake is on screen almost every single second of the video as the video has been mediated so the audience are only thinking and talking about him.

The audience can again apply Goodwin's second aspect to a music video to one specific editing technique: in one shot the audience see Drake with a motion blue effect edited in. Whilst this shot is occurring, Drake sings the lyrics "i know way too many people here right now that I didn't know last year, who the f*** are y'all?". These specific lyrics link with this visual, as the blurred figures represent all the "fans" of Drake who want to pry into his privacy. What is interesting is how as as Drake sings the next part of the lyrics "I just can't remember it all", his own face starts to blur into the silhouettes, connoting that either Drake is losing himself into the fans and the rap/music industry or that perhaps he actually does not want to be the star, the centre of attention and simply wants to be an ordinary individual once again.

Another editing technique used is  the use of a green screen to display a landscape, acting as a backdrop, for the scene. However, instead of just using a setting of the city view of New York, he includes different events with people hustling and bustling about the streets. The effect of this is that the audience get a better sense of the meaning behind Drake's lyrics of being constantly surrounded and suffocated everywhere he goes as the overcrowded green screen images actually creates the feeling of claustrophobia. However, there are also times in the video where the setting is quite simplistic (e.g. Drake sitting in a simple white-painted bedroom), contrasting with the hustle -bustle life of New York. The use of simplicity and white connotes innocence and being plain; here, Drake is being represented as any other ordinary human being.

Throughout the video, there is strong editing cuts between a concept styled video and a narrative styled video. This is conventional of the rap genre as the artist is trying to tell a story through the lyrics to make the latter meaningful; however the greater importance is that they are trying to pass on a message/ideology to the target audience which they simultaneously do.

The next video I am going to analysis is of the song "Latch" by the electronic music duo, Disclosure, and featuring the singer-songwriter Sam Smith.

The song is classified as a house song, which is a genre that stems from electronic music. Therefore, a lot of the conventions are those similar to dance music videos. The most prevailing convention of house music videos is the ideology of dancing, love, sexuality and drugs, all arranged together in repetitive and steady beats. This video conforms to all these conventions, with the exception of drugs, as the video features different couples flirting and kissing, alongside being at a party and drinking. All the characters in the video are fairly young as these people represent and relate to the audience watching. Fans of the genre are most likely to be 16-30 and will enjoy dance-style music they would find at an actual party. Following the Uses and Gratifications theory, it is evident that the use of younger people is more relatable for the audience as seeing people close to their age doing things they aspire to do is more appealing. 

The use of colours shown through the misc-en-scene are significant as in the establishing shot of the video, the audience see the title of the song, alongside the unfocused shot of a dimly lit bedroom with light blue, yellow and red shades. These colours connote a natural and simplistic image associated with intimacy between two people, as the shot has been taken of a bed. Using this particular lighting and setting in the establishing shot automatically helps to create the mood of "love" which is featured throughout the video. 

Through the misc-en-scene and the close up shot used here, the audience can see that a girl from one of the three couples is wearing hardly any makeup. This is actually quite a subversive representation of women in the house/dance music genre, as they are usually captured wearing an excessive amount of makeup in order to beautify them as much as possible. However, the shot still conforms to the convention as the girl is looking down and therefore, after her eyes, the feature that is most noticeable is her lips. She is in fact wearing lip-gloss, which draws attention to them and therefore signifies her to be quite sexual and flirtatious. 

This shot both supports and opposes the notion that women are sexualized in this video. In the shot, the audience see one of the women in the couples undressing into her underwear and as the shot is from quite far behind, there is no attempt to try to preserve the women's modesty. The shot itself is a long voyeur shot, which conforms to Goodwin's theory of there often being a notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. The shot is quite interesting as due to the position of the camera from an angle that shows part of the doorway obscuring the woman, it almost seems as if someone is watching the situation, which unconventional of love scenes as they are supposed to be private. Moreover, it is actually suggestive that the woman in this shot is the dominant one as it is her body which is most in view and blocks her male partner, making him seem like the less important/superior; this is sometimes referred to as "femme fatale". This goes against the genre conventions as woman are seen as submissive. However, it is also arguable that as the body language of the woman shows that she is the one standing over the man, she is actually inferior, as it is her half-naked body being observed, whereas the man is still fully clothed. Another challenge to the genre convention is through the misc-en-scene, the colours chosen for the shot are quite subversive to expectations of "love" scenes; the low-key lighting used is stereotypical to set a intimate mood, however, the blue shades actually create quite a cold feel as opposed to conventional pink/red shades used. 

The costume in the video reflects the genre of the music video; dance/house videos tend to stick to already established trends. Here, both the girl and boy are wearing modern clothes which a lot of the target audience would also choose to wear or aspire to wear. Therefore the audience can relate more to the character's costume and find it more appealing as they recognize the fashion trends.

Editing is important in this video as it is used to create a reaction/feeling from the audience in some parts of the video. For example, slow motion is used to emphasize the moment of intimacy shared between each couple and create a longer and more appealing effect for both the characters and audience. In this shot shown to the left, the other members at the party have been frozen in time, which in the case of love scenes, often connotes a happy, timelessness feeling between the two people sharing a kiss; they feel like they are the only two people in the world and nothing else matters.

In addition to slow motion used in the editing for when the couples kiss, a water effect is also used. The cuts between the shots become slower as the shots become longer and therefore the intensity of the climax of the couples going to kiss, builds. As the beat finally drops and the couple kiss, the rain appears in the elevator, creating a dream-like sense of romance between the two. This shot also relates to Goodwin's aspect of there being a relationship the music and the visuals, as the shots change in time with the beat. 
                                                                                                  

The use of continuity editing throughout the video is extremely effective as creates verisimilitude throughout the narrative. Therefore, when the target audience are watching, they can relate to the video more as it is a realistic story that they can actually achieve themselves. 

The final shot is simply the iconic face of the band, edited in to show on the couples' faces'; this is just simply to promote the artist.                                                                                                                                                               

The final video I am going to analysis is "Breezeblocks" by the indie rock band Alt-J. The video is narrative based and features a violent fight in a darkened apartment between a male and female; however the entire video is shown in reverse. 

The establishing shot of the video is of a dead woman lying in a blood-stained bath tub with a concrete "breeze block" on top of her. The shot foreshadows the upcoming narrative as it tells the audience what the narrative is roughly about: a murder. In the misc-en-scene, the use of low-key lighting can be seen which is stereotypical of murder-like scenes and adds to the mystery surrounding the genre. It is quite conventional of the indie genre to make a narrative-style music video that features an unusual story-line that you most likely have to figure out the deeper meaning behind, which this video does perfectly. It is highly conventional of indie genre bands to be more creative with their videos as they prefer to focus more on the content of the lyrics and articulately illustrating them in order to personally connect with their target audience. Following Goodwin's theory of there being a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, it is clear that the video conforms to this as during the establishing shot, the lyrics "but hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks" is sung. The fitting lyrics almost makes the story come alive and believable.

After the establishing shot of the woman lying dead in the bath, there is an extreme close shot of a man holding his head in his hands. The main focus of the shot is his wedding ring.  Goodwin's theory of there being a relationship between the music and the visuals can be applied here as the preceding shot of the close up only changed to this extreme close up when the tempo of the music increased. This signifies the importance of the wedding ring and suggests that the woman in the bath tub by in fact be his (now dead) wife; however using shots like this also allow room for the target audience to make their own interpretations concerning the narrative, as this is conventional of the genre to allow for.

The use of editing in the video is key to the relationship between the music and the visuals (Goodwin). There is a use of varied speeds of the shots; some are in slow motion such as when the male and female protagonists are fighting over the breeze block. The use of slow motion editing on this shot is important as it prolongs the fight, making the audience cautious as to the outcome. It also raises the significance of the object, as the song is titled from the object that is the murder weapon. Within this fighting sequence, there is a close up of the two characters' feet which connotes the idea of an almost dance-like movement, which juxtaposes with the actual nature of the shot and therefore conforms to the conventional unusual nature of the indie video. There are also shots where the speed has been edited to quicken which increases the suspense for the target audience and is good for keeping the viewer engaged in the video as you yourself feel on the edge watching it, and therefore feel more connected to the video.

The most significant editing technique used is the reverse effect put on the entire video. Using this effect means that this specific video stands way out from the rest of the indie music videos that fans of the genre may see. However, using the reverse effect means that the content can be quite ambiguous as the audience cannot tell exactly who is the hero and who is the villain. The two-shot of the male protagonist putting a piece of tape on the mouth of the woman in the cupboard suggests that he is the villain, yet if the video is in reverse then is he actually? In addition, the body language of the woman in the cupboard shows how she is twisting away from the man, suggesting that she does not want to be touched or near him. Although it is common sense to say the man is not the villain since the video is in reverse, the editing of the whole video makes it flow very well despite it not being in the right order and makes the video seem quite realistic and the way it is supposed to be. 

The overall lighting used is low-key which only becomes more high-key in close-up shots when an object of importance are highlighted. However, there has been a deliberate avoidance of using high-key lighting on a person, as this way, the video sticks to the ambiguous ideologies given; the audience will never know for sure who is good and who is bad in the video. In addition, both the costume and the makeup used on the main two characters is quite plain which does not give any assumption to the roles of the character; however, it is arguable that as the woman fighting the man is wearing a dark jacket, and the woman in the cupboard is wearing a white coloured jacket, the latter is the victim of the video. In addition, the woman in the cupboard is the only person wearing makeup, and both the fact that her mascara is running down her face, and her facial expression is one where her eyes are scrunched and her mouth is tightened, show that she is extremely terrified of someone.

The conclusive shot is a mid shot using silhouette lighting which eventually fades to black. The shot shows how the male protagonist is leaving the apartment, which signifies him being "done" with the whole situation, despite the fact that technically the video is just beginning due to the reverse effect. The final shot leaves the audience wondering what would happen next, despite it actually being the end of the video. This is conventional of the genre as alternative/indie bands often like to play around with meanings, meaning them quite ambiguous.

The technical elements vary throughout all three music videos above. The hip-hop genre focuses more on the actual artist rather than anything else; Goodwin's theory of there being a lot of shots of the artist stands true to Drake's "Over" music video. The video focuses more on a concept rather than a substantial narrative. Whereas, in the indie music video I analyzed, Alt-J put more consideration into creating deeper meaning to their lyrics, as shown through the prominent narrative. On the other hand, the music video for "Latch" is slightly more analogous to Drake's music video as the concept behind the video is similar; there are strong themes of sex and partying. However, like indie music videos, dance music videos conventionally do not predominantly focus on the artist but rather creating a video for meaning or getting a message across to the audience.

The predominant reason why people find music videos appealing is simply as the video gives the song visual meaning; a lot of them time, the audience may feel confused at the literal meaning of the lyrics and therefore illustrating them helps to understand the artist's thoughts better. Another reason why music videos appeal to the audience is because they allow a closer connection between the artist to form as the music video usually comes from the artist's personal thoughts. The audience can build a relationship from this, as if a music video such as Drake's "Over" uses a lot of close up shots of the artist looking directly into the camera, then the audience feel drawn in and a part of the artist's life. In addition, a lot of people who use social networking sites find music videos appealing as they like to share videos round to all their friends to create hype and get people talking about it; particularly if you have a controversial video such as Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball".

Looking at all three videos that I have analyzed I now have a better understanding of the technical elements behind a music video which I can apply to my own. I think the use of lighting in the video will be especially important, as the genre of my music video is indie and therefore as the songs are conventionally more upbeat or about happier memories, high-key lighting will be essential. However, in Drake's music video of "Over', he actually changes the lighting depending on the part of the song he is singing which can be applied to my own music video as in sad moments, I can change the lighting or even make the scene black and white. I also quite liked the use of slow motion editing in the "Latch" music video when the couples were kissing. As indie songs are conventionally about love, this use of editing would be successfully applicable to my own music video.