One of Goodwin's theories is that music videos include genre characteristics. One of the genre characteristics is performance which is common in music videos which are being produced today. Performance based music videos feature the choreographer which is generally the artist miming to the camera. In this video we see Eminem miming and choreographing throughout the video. The purpose of a performance based music video is to sell the artists fake image because the Eminem is the product of the video and the record label is selling that product to the audience. The genre of this music video is rap and rap has a base track of the performing artist.
Narrative
Music videos contain a linear or a non linear narrative meaning that they have a story behind it. The purpose of narrative music videos is to entertain the audience with a short film some narrative music videos are related to reality for instance, this music video is related to police brutality and rebels breaking the law and escaping the police in car chase.. An example of a narrative music video will be Kavinsky- Pacific Coast Highway the story of this video is that the driver is being chased by the police. However, music videos regardless of the narrative will involve the visuals overpowering the music meaning that the song becomes the soundtrack for the film. In this example the music in this video becomes a soundtrack for the car chase. The reason as to why narrative music videos exist is to give the audience a basic understanding of what is going on in the music videos whilst keeping the audience engaged.
Conceptual
Some conceptual music videos challenge conventions as you don't see any lip-syncing and you don't see the instruments used for the music video but they can be heard. These kind of music videos are based around an idea or it may contradict the idea, thus carrying no meaning at all, making it a viral video such as Monkey Drummer by Chris Cunningham and the Aphex Twin. This music video is Performance but it is predominantly conceptual because the robotic monkey is thought to be the performing artist in this video and the arms are moving sequentially meaning that each arm represents each part of the drum kit for example, the video begins with two arms representing the snare drums and then another two arms representing the hi-hats. The reason as to why conceptual videos are viral is because everyone is drawn to the visuals more than the soundtrack because the soundtrack carries little to no meaning.
Homage
Homage is when the artist shows respect and dedication to a specific artist or any inspirations which helped the artist make their music. An example of a music video with a homage style is Thirty Seconds to Mars-The Kill because the hotel which was the location used for this music video is a reference to the horror movie called The Shining, meaning that they are paying respects to Stephen King who wrote the novel of The Shining and Stanley Kubrick who directed the film based on Stephen King's novel. The reason why homage is used in music videos is because it shows the audience the artist's role model, their inspirations which lead them to becoming what the artist is now.
Parody
A parody is a imitative work that celebrates or mocks the original work of the artist for comedy and satirical purposes. Parody music videos are also known as viral videos because there artist is being deliberately exaggerated for views on YouTube. This music video is an example of a parody because is a track which deliberately exaggerates Michael Jackson's Beat It. The location and the costume that the artist was wearing in this video resembles Michael Jackson's Beat It. The reason as to why they chose the costume and location similar to the original track is because they are trying to trivialise Michael Jackson. In other words if someone was to watch this viral video, then they would consider Michael Jackson to be a sellout rather than the King Of Pop.
Pastiche
Pastiche is an artist's work that respectfully imitates the style of another artist's work. Pastiche and Homage are very similar since they involve the same thing. This music video is an example of a pastiche music video because the whole video was shot in one take. This was already done before by Lucas Secon in his song Lucas with the lid off in 1994. This however can also be seen as reference to Lucas who was the first one to shoot a one take music video. Therefore, the audience can remember the first artist to shoot a one take music video.
Surrealism
If something you see is surreal in a music video, then it is something so abstract that it's unreal. All animated music videos incorporate surrealism. An example of surreal music videos would be Coldplay because this video uses real locations but however the actual surrealism comes from the apes lip-syncing to the lyrics and dancing instead of swing from tree to tree. In other words, the apes are being given humanistic actions such as the choreographing and the lip-syncing used in this music video. This music video was effective in entertaining the audience as if it was an animated film. Surrealism is also used because the audience wants to be removed from modern-day society and placed in a different world.
Animation
Animated music videos involve drawings or plasticine models to act as an illusion in the music video. Animated music videos are more of a cartoon based approach to music videos. Their sole purpose is to make the video look more abstract and unique so that it interests the targeted audience so that they can be entertained by a short animation film.
No comments:
Post a Comment