Common Codes and Conventions in a Music Video Pop Music
Pop Music videos are usually very high budget. Glamour and expense is key in representing the artist in an appealing way to the audience. Women are often the objectives of Pop genre music videos and are shown in an idealistic way, often heavily made up and wearing provocative clothing. An example of this is Nicki Minaj’s ‘Super Bass’ video in which she is dressed in brightly coloured wigs and low cut clothing. It is evident that it is high budget as she sits on large ice sculptures
R&B Music
R&B and Rap music videos often involve lots of cars, money and women. As men are usually the artists of this genre of music, they use women as objects in their videos, presenting them in a sexual way. Rappers such as Jay-Z and 50 Cent are typical of this as we see 50 surrounded by scantily clad women in many of his videos and JayZ promotes expensive cars and ‘flashy’ jewellery
Rock Music
It is extremely typical of Rock genre videos to be dark and miserable looking, often involving violence and gore. The darkness and shadows compliment the sinister tone of Rock music, purposefully conveying the message the artist wants to portray to the audience. Evanescence’s ‘Bring Me to Life’ is a classic example of this. The use of black clothing and a darkened image finish is typical of the Rock Genre, as well as the patriarchal character falling off a building incorporating violence. This is similar in the Black Veil Brides ‘Legacy’
Indie Music
The Indie genre is particularly obvious to define however it is often colourful, vibrant and involves some kind of narrative. Drugs often play a role in the indie videos, for example, Oasis’ ‘Champagne Supernova’, is apparently a representation of the effects of drugs, “where were you while we were getting high?” The bright, spinning colours give of the impression of being under the influence
Alternative Music
These types of video are often of a very low budget and act upon one simple idea in an innovative way. There are no particular conventions of this type of genre however it can easily be separated from the ideas of other genres, as it is ‘alternative’ to the ideas of those. Bastille’s ‘Overjoyed’ is very simple, involving a narrative of one female. It appears to be very low budget as it is placed in an every day setting and there are no extravagant props
Dance Music
Dance Music has no particular codes and conventions as the music can be about anything and therefore no particular thing is relevant. Calvin Harris’ videos follow a similar convention of an everyday setting. His ‘We Found Love’ and ‘I Need Your Love’ both appear quite similar as they both narrate a love story. They don’t appear particularly extravagant or expensive, yet they are still innovative and eye catching