Analysis of music video genres - Miss Georgiou

Music videos appeal to audiences in several ways, music videos are a great way of expressing the artists true emotions to their core audience these emotions or feelings may not be obvious in the song's lyrics so the video is just to further emphasise these feelings. Audiences like controversy in music videos and when videos are risky or weird there always seems to be more people trying to understand the artists intentions of the video or to see how bad the video actually is. The audience also like the videos artists create at they can make their friends watch it and talk about it afterwards. A lot of hard work goes into making a video as every micro element is considered and implemented to make the video everything the artist wants it to be.

Drake - Over
27 seconds into the video whilst Drake is singing the hook for the chorus, the audience see a clear example of the use of cinematography. There is a close up shot of drake at eye level wearing a white hoodie while he is sitting on the bed. This close up is trying to suggest that Drake is talking to the audience, as if he is sitting the audience down trying to talk to them about what is going on with him, especially because it was around this time he signed a record deal, he is trying to get across that he is doing this for his audience so that he can keep making the music he wants. This is stereotypical to the rap genre as it shows that the artist wants to be true to his core audience and still wants to make music for them and performs the song as a kind of message to them. Another clever use of cinematography in the video is about 38 seconds into the video where the audience can see the room he is sitting in. It's a medium shot of Drake sitting on the bed in the small room, when he starts to say "Oh yeah, that's right, I'm doing me, I'm doing me". This lyric does have some relationship with this shot specifically, he feels pressured that he's making songs that he doesn't want to make and the lyric "I'm doing me" just means he's doing what he wants instead of doing things that he dislikes, the relationship this has with the video is that the audience can see on the walls that there is a perspective of a car driving slowly down one road and when he starts with the lyrics mentioned earlier, the walls show hundreds of cars speeding past instead of one going slowly, this shows that he wants to change his music direction and just wants to do the things he wants as this is his lifestyle now. This is stereotypical of the genre as most rappers show off their new lifestyles and always like the faster lifestyle and want to do the things and music that they want to do and not what people would prefer them to do, Drake's audience understand the point of this and what the lyrics are trying to say and would try to support him in his career. The next micro element I would like to discuss is the mis-en-scene or rather the lack of it. Throughout the video there is one location that he stays in, a small room with plain white walls, the audience can also see some dressers, some lamps, a seat, a bed and a phone and they're all plain white, the audience can also see drake's costume which is again plain white, plain white hoodie and shirt and even trousers with a golden cross. All of this together suggests that drake has become pure or has become something else that he wasn't before, this is very symbolic of a resurrection like jesus, he's even wearing a golden cross so it is clear they're trying to make the comparison, and it does make sense, as he is becoming more popular to audiences and his lifestyle has changed so much, he feels he's living a new life than before not a resurrection but more of a rebirth into his new life, this also makes sense because his room doesn't have any personal belongings almost as if he has just started living this new life that he hasn't got anything yet, this is stereotypical to the genre as many famous people feel as if their lives change forever as soon as they start becoming successful and sign to a record label, Drakes audience then understand that his music is about to change and that his new life is rather alien to him and want to support him for his new turn in his music career. The last micro element I would like to look at is the editing of the video and the different connotations each one has. At 1:03 into the video, the audience see a mirror edit while Drake does his first verse. This is shows the audience that Drake is reflecting on himself, as a person and even the music he makes the lyric "I'm doing me" is almost trying to imply that he will better himself as a person, he will do himself but as we've seen prior this is his new self he is trying to be, to fit into this new lifestyle and reflecting on his past actions. This is stereotypical to the genre conventions as rappers always do reflect themselves and maybe criticize some of their music or decisions they they have made, but drake is doing this to better himself and to fit in to this lifestyle. The last use of editing I think is important to discuss in relation to the lyrics of the song itself is at about 1:44 of the music video. Drake is seen in a sort of corridor on the left while all these people, that are all blurred, walk past at a quick rate while the lyrics are "I know way too many people here right now that i didn't know last year". This conveys that Drake has started living his new lifestyle but notices how different it is, as he keeps meeting new people (presumably other artists) that he can't keep up with, it all seems like a blur to him as he can't remember a lot of these new people in his life, the video shows the audience a visual representation of the new lifestyle as he sees loads of blurred faces go past or meet him everyday. This is stereotypical to the genre because a lot of artists in the rap genre feel as if their lives are very different, some people don't like the change and feel as though they won't fit this new lifestyle.

The next genre I would like to discuss is the Indie genre or indie rock genre, the video I'll be analyzing for this is Jake Bugg's two fingers. The first micro element I'll be referring to for now is cinematography. The first shot i'll be looking at is around 30 seconds into the video. The shot is a long shot of Jake Bugg waiting for a bus in a quiet area, presumably a poor area due to the houses in the background not being massive but small instead. This shows how far Jake Bugg has come as a musician, from living in a poor area to becoming a successful singer and song writer, the shot also shows the he is looking beyond the frame, he isn't looking back at the town of houses, he is looking forward to try and get out of this lifestyle that he's been living in all his life. This is stereotypical to the indie genre as artists of that genre always talk about getting out of their hometown and try somewhere else and just try and become famous, the audience relate to Jake Bugg as lots of people from the indie genre have started in poor areas and slowly worked their way up. The next clever use of cinematography is in relation to the lyrics as well as the song's name. There is a mid shot of Jake Bugg after he tries to fight his mum's boyfriend, Bugg walks away and puts two fingers up towards the camera but he has to turn around to do it. This clearly conveying the purpose of the songs title as well as the fact he grew up in a poor area, the songs chorus says "So i hold two fingers up to yesterday", this lyric saying that he hated his past or his past actions, in this case it's the past, and the reasoning for this is because of the domestic abuse his mum always seemed to have yet she didn't really consider what it would do to Bugg. This isn't really stereotypical but it does show that he has a bad lifestyle and that his target audience sympathize with him as it must have been bad on him if he grew up in the kind of area. The next micro element i'll be discussing is the use of mis-en-scene in the video, the one key use of iconography is the guitar throughout the video. The guitar is always seen when Bugg is trying to get somewhere or leave somewhere, for example when he's walking down the street for the bus it shows he's going somewhere, when he is running for the train the guitar is again on his back that shows he is trying leave somewhere, the other examples include when he chooses to leave home to try and make it he has his guitar with him. The use of the guitar is trying to symbolize that this is his only way out of the neighborhood or area that he lives in, it's almost used as a last hope as starts his life again just to try and make it in the real world, so the guitar is used to hint that this is what will get him famous. This is stereotypical to the indie genre because most artists of the genre have made it or become famous because they primarily focused on the music they liked to play. The next micro-element i would like to talk about is the editing of two fingers and there is one good use to show Bugg's situation. Early on in the video there is a jump cut from Bugg to one of his friends smoking a joint, they're almost identical, one after the other. This could be illustrating that Bugg's friends also want to get out of this area however they can't, or that they have the same views as each other, they want to leave but only Bugg could because of his talent of the guitar. This isn't a stereotype of the genre but it does show that Bugg cared about his friends and that when he meets them later to say goodbye, he has one last smoke just to rekindle that fond memory of Buggs'. The last use of editing that is effective in the video is right at the end and it is used to convey that difference of his past and his present. The edit that is used is again a jump cut but it shows a completely different theme than before, the jump cut is from Bugg's mum screaming to Jake Bugg performing on stage for a big group of people. The purpose of the jump cut is to show how far Jake Bugg has come to where he is now, as it shows the clear difference between the domestic abuses of his mum to him performing for his fans and trying to leave it all behind. This is stereotypical as it's showing the differences of lifestyles to his audiences so that they can further respect his talent as a musician as they know that he aspired to be what he is today and that he got famous with quite a bad upbringing, which inspires his fans to keep trying.


The last genre I am going to be looking at is pop, the video I will be using to talk about conventions of the genre is "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars. There is good use of cinematography in the video to display the group of men as cool people. At around 1:07 there is a mid shot of the group of people, including Bruno Mars, dancing while the camera pans to its side while some people in the background dance to the beat of the song. This shot is trying to convey just how cool these people are, the reason why the camera pans is because that's almost supposed to be an actual person turning their head to look at them, the people in the background on the stairs are dancing because they want to be like these people and have their happy lifestyle. This is stereotypical of the genre as most pop songs now have a dance that goes with it so that when people here it a club or party, they dance like Bruno Mars from the video as it makes them feel like him in the video. The next use of cinematography is presented in a way that conveys the artists lifestyle and how busy he always is. There is a tracking shot at 1:33 of Mars and his friends walking down the street, the lyrics here are relevant as Mars sings "fill my cup put some liquor in it, take a sip, sign the check Julio! Get the stretch!". This is trying to show how quick and busy this lifestyle is, he can't take a break at all because he is so cool and popular and wanted 24/7, he has a quick drink and not even a drink a sip instead, and then he's off somewhere else probably to perform another song. This is stereotypical of the genre because the artist always attempts to come across as popular as shown by the lyrics and the video, but they also want to show off their lifestyle, he always drinks and he always performs at venues to the audience. The next micro element for this song is editing. The editing occurs when Mars first sees some women that he likes the look of, there is a reaction shot of the first woman going past then it goes to Mars and he is really happy. This shows these men like women and, as the lyrics throughout the song suggest, they can always get women all the time whenever they want. This is stereotypical as male pop artists are always seen with girls or they flirt with girls to show how good looking and attractive they are in real life and that any woman they see they could probably get, this makes the audience envious of their lifestyle as they are presented in a way that makes them get girls easily. The next use of editing is used to convey their lifestyle as said earlier. It shows the whole group dancing down the street with a limo in the background slowly following and then jump cuts to a gig that they're all performing in and doing the same dancing from before. This suggests that their lifestyle is always on go and that they have to almost be everywhere at once as they're so popular and famous to everyone and it also shows the lifestyle of someone famous as limos to the venues they'll be performing at are a stereotype of famous music artists. This is stereotypical to the pop genre as it shows they're cool, famous and have nice cars which makes some of their target audience jealous but also makes the audience aspire to be famous as them. The last element and discussion point i'll be referring to in this video is the mis-en-scene of the video. The costumes that the group wear are all nice clothes that probably cost a great deal and they look quite jazzy with the sunglasses and the hats and they never change the clothes once in the video. This shows that the group of people including Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson are materialistic and care a great deal about the clothes they wear and how they look as it's part of their image, they believe it's what makes them so famous. This is stereotypical as most pop artists are materialistic to designer fashion wear and aren't shy about it at all and wear what ever costs the most to give everyone the image that they're so rich and famous.

In conclusion, all types of music video genres vary, for example Drake and Jake Bugg mostly talked about their problems, however in uptown funk they couldn't get any happier, though Bugg does come across as being happy now, he does miss his friends. Uptown funk showed them being so popular but in two fingers no one really seemed to notice Jake Bugg, Drake had been popular but he didn't like the sudden change into his new life but he just wants to keep himself to himself. Music videos appeal to audiences in many ways, some think that the video tries to give away an implied meaning behind the song to make it easier for the audience to understand in further detail (Drake over) , some are meant to just better visualize the song (Jake Bugg Two fingers, Mark Ronson Uptown funk) and others just want to show the lifestyle they live on a daily basis(uptown funk). The audience build a relationship with the artist in many ways within the music video, they like the fact that people perform the songs for the videos because it feels a bit more real, as in they're actually watching them perform live, some just like to see the artist in general as they may be big fans of the artists, audiences like the fact they got to far lengths just to show themselves for the video and some like the stories that are part of the music video and make it more memorable, all of this is done in music videos so the audience can build a relationship with the audience, so the audience feel as if the creators of the song or video really care about the fans which encourages them to buy merchandise and albums to further support their artists. One inspiration i have is to show the artists in the video at some point performing the song or singing the lyrics as all the videos i've looked into have done exactly that, so showing the artist is very important to me and another inspiration is to have a story for the video but this may be up for debate as some videos are very successful without them.