Analysis of Different Music Genres

Music video's have various purposes however the main is to sell the record and the artists' image in some cases too. They are used to promote the artist, which is useful when the artist is new and  upcoming, or just to show the audience the message of the song through a concept or narrative. There are many different genres of music each with their own stereotypes and conventions each typically shown in their music video's.

The rap music genre's audience has grown vastly over the last fifteen years. Drake's video 'Over' conforms to both Goodwin and Dyers theories about the conventions of rap music video's. The video starts with a close-up of the artist sitting on a bed singing straight into the camera. The whole room including drake turns red for a short amount of time which could possibly connote the passion Drake has for what he is singing about. The message of the video that Drake is trying to put across to the

audience is the struggle he went through from his old life to his new life. Close-ups of the artist are shown throughout the music video to showing his emotions through the way he is singing the song and also to build a relationship with the audience by singing directly into the camera helps the audience to believe that he is singing directly to them. The editing is quiet slow at the beginning of the song basically the same pace as which the song goes however as the song's tempo begins to build the pace of the editing begins to pick up

too. Drake is wearing all white possibly to show that he does not want the focus of the video to be on him but to show the background more when the walls are shown with a projection of a fast bustling city. As the beat gets faster in the song, the projection on the room changes from a clear road at night to the busy city life and then again changed to a projection of the sky as the beat slows down again. The projection of the city and different roads at the beginning creates the relationship between the  music and visuals as Drake raps 'We've been everywhere and back but I just can't remember it all'.

The only convention shown of a rap artist is that of a busy life, however nothing of fast cars, girls or fancy clothing, allowing the audience to feel the emotion Drake is trying to convey through the video. When the audience see Drake's performance side of the video the lighting is quite dark only allowing you to see Drake. The video's use of CGI is very effective as it shows the meaning of the lyrics that Drake is singing, whether it is the projection shown in the bedroom or even when the audience see's a blurred mid shot of Drake with a full shot of Drake in front of the mid shot. The relationship between lyrics and visuals is part of Goodwins theory.

Conforming to conventions of a dance video is Flo Rida in 'Club Can't Handle Me'. Although this is a dance track, Flo Rida is a rapper which is shown in the video through Goodwins conventions. The first image the audience see's is a close-up of a gold expensive car and then an establishing shot of the gold and another black car outside of a club, setting the scene for the rest of the video. There is a lot of people outside of the club that Flo Rida is about to go into, proving that it is a popular place to hang out. The beginning of the song starts off slowly therefore the pace of the editing is also slow however gradually builds due to the speed of the tempo. As Flo Rida and the man he is with gets out of the car he throws a handful of money up in the air again conforming to the stereotypes of typical rap stars selling their lifestyle to the audience. This song's primary purpose was for the film 'Step Up 3D' as it was the soundtrack to the film therefore throughout the music video clips of the film are shown. This dance track could be seen as Dyer's star theory that this song is what was wanted and Flo Rida fitted in with the image they wanted to sing this song.

This video is performance based which is common for a dance video. Close-ups are shown throughout the video showing Flo Rida's emotions which is happy. This is to show his enthusiasm and how much he is enjoying himself which builds a better relationship with his fans. There is low lighting in the shot however highlight on the artist's face to bring him out from the background. The first of the micro-elements I decided to analyse was the editing style. Whilst the beginning few

frames were slow, the frames faded one into another however once the pace of the editing began to pick up they changed quicker.

Camera shots throughout the whole of the video are mainlylong shots of the artist. An example of this is when there is a long shot of Flo Rida standing much higher than the crowd shown in the image

to the right. This image could possibly connote that Flo Rida is an important star and that he is more than capable of filling a club full of people or even that the artist was at the club for an appearance and was able to bring the club alive. It is clear that the chosen location is definately a club as there is low key lighting, strobe lighting, alcohol and plenty everyone dancing. Women inadequately clothed are shown in the video although deemed appropriate by some by the genre of the music.
Many aspects of Goodwins theories are shown throughout this video from intertextual references for example the cars that Flo Rida and his friend arrives in, to the clothes he is wearing and the film that is being promoted. Although this is a dance video many R&B conventions are shown such as the fast car, the money, the clothing, medallion and lifestyle Flo Rida is presenting to the audience.

 Contrasting to this The Killer's song 'Mr. Brightside' conforms to stereotypes of this specific genre. Most music video's from the rock genre are usually performance based as is 'Mr. Brightside'. It is eccentric and performance based with a narrative running alongside. The first most noticeable shot of the video is close-ups shown of the lead singer in the band throughout. Close-ups main purpose are usually to show the characters emotions which is shown clearly in this video as the main character which happens to be the lead singer sees the girl he is in love with, with another man. Lyrics and visuals do not really have much of a relationship as the video is so diverse and uses a stylistic approach to do something different. The only couple of times the audience does see the link is when he sings 'I just can't look its killing me' and covers his face with his hands. Also when he sings 'She's taking a drag' he acts as if he has a cigarette in his hand and pulls it away from his mouth.
During one close-up of the lead singer' face whilst singing he is looking to the audiences left towards the woman he is in love with sitting with another man. You can tell from his expression that he feels jealous and upset. The wacky hairdo's, makeup and old clothing make this video interesting and leaving the audience wanting to watch more.  The color of the set is red which can connote love and lust linking to the emotion of the song and also the character's feeling. The music video was inspired by "Moulin Rouge" therefore set in a burlesque theme. The deep colors such as the red provide provocative and sexual feel to the video. The expensive suits that the men are wearing and the long dresses that the females are wearing are reinventing the time period of which "Moulin Rouge" was made.
The editing is relatively fast-paced due to the song having a fast tempo. As the video is like a three way relationship between the female, the lead singer and another male, the transition of frames changes quickly to see all of their facial expressions near enough at once. The lighting on the female's face in close-ups is usually really bright possibly leading to connotations that she is angel-like or that is how both men view her.