Genre exam question

Genre

I am going to discuss theories of genre in relation to my advanced portfolio. I plan to create a music video for Marina and The Diamond’s pop song ‘Primadonna’.

My music video is made up of many different genres; the first being performance. Gow (1992) suggests "the predominance of performance indicates that music video defines itself chiefly by images of artists singing and playing songs". The lip-syncing in time to the song reminds the audience that the track is still the most significant element.

My video is also conceptual. It relies on poetic form, primarily metaphor. Conceptual videos do not tell a story in linear fashion, but rather create a mood, a feeling to be evoked in the experience of viewing (Firth, 1988). This type of genre of video contains the possibility for multiple meanings as the metaphor is interpreted by the viewer: I will be hinting at my theme of Goldilocks as opposed to making it completely clear to the audience as I want them to pick the metaphor up.

Another theory for genre in relation to my coursework is Goodwin. He stated that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in rock video, dance routine for boy/girl pop band). My music video will contain many different characteristics of the pop genre; for example the heavy use of the green screen to use a wide variety of backgrounds – generally bright colours such as green, yellow, orange, blue and pink as these colours relate to the pop genre. I will also include plenty of different costumes; Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, James Dean and James Bond.This makes the video stand out more and helpos the audience to associate and understand what the music video is about. It also appeals to youth (the target audience), as it appears upbeat and lively, which is something young people are attracted to and can understand the meaning of the song. The protagonist will also be jumping around the screen through the different uses of shots being chopped together – long shot, close ups etc. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style) (Marxist perspective). These characteristics are often associated with the pop genre.

 

Goodwin also said that there is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). My music video will support this, as it is quite heavily performance based I will make sure that the artist sings in time with the music whilst illustrating what’s being sung on the screen. A lyric that I plan to use includes “Would you get down on your knees for me?” and “I’m sad to the core, core, core.” This helps people to remember the lyrics, as they can see it. That makes the person remember the song and, possibly, want to buy it. There will also be a relationship between music and visuals (also either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting) as the message behind the song is that the ‘primadonna’ will always get what she wants, therefore the music paired with the visuals in the music video is significant because it demonstrates what the meaning behind the song is. I will include rapid cuts in my music video to intersperse images in time with the music. This means it is edited in time to the beat, which is more aesthetically pleasing and suits the theme of the song.