Genre: Music Video (2)
Genre is a critical
tool that is used to categorise different texts from one
another through forms and conventions such as style and audience responses.
What help to familiarise a genre is the instant recognisable patterns,
techniques and conventions that include setting, mise-en-scene, plot, technical
features, characters and format. I will be talking
about how the music video I produced has successfully met the key concept of genre.
Audience: The track I used for my music video has range of
sub-genres such as hybrid ambient sound with electro and Dubstep creating a new
hybrid genre. This attracts a wider audience. Genre is a useful ‘hook’ for an audience, trailers for example
will clearly indentify the genre along with the establishing of enigma which
will draw the audience to resolve, this genre attracts an audience. However, Abercrombie (1996) suggests that
‘the boundaries between genre are
shifting and becoming more permeable’ which I agree to some extent as the music
video I created is a bricolage of several sub-genres which is becoming more
common in music production in recent years which enables to audience more
choice in taste of likening more than one genre for one type of artist.
Codes and conventions: Mittell has argued that genres are cultural
categories that surpass the boundaries of media texts and operate within
industry, audience and cultural practices as well. Being familiar with codes
and conventions I believe that I was able to use genre to sell my product
through the use of stylistic approach to the music video and the representation
that the video offers through ideologies and the way in which the artist was
presented. This meant that the target audience were more like to consume the
music video because it was fulfilling their particular pleasure. I used
symbolic does through the representation of the artist who is presented as a
young, powerful independent woman who has a ‘role model’ figure which the
target audience would feel more likely to identify themselves with thus
developing an emotional release from this. I found that when it came to using
genre to sell my product through research on existing artists that have a very
similar sound to the artist I created I was able to reference and achieve the
right genre through looking at the already given audience and fan base where I
was able to learn more about the genre in which they like and what the
characteristics are that the audience define them with making them
recognisable. Such symbolic codes that include of mis-en-scene that had
relation to genre were the costume that the artist wore which was black and
sparkly which also represented energy. I used a lot of ways to incorporate
lighting which was enhanced through extra lighting objects such as ‘sparklers’
and ‘fairy lights’ which gave a soft lighting effect to emphasise the ambient
music style.
Uses and gratifications: Uses and gratifications’ Blumer and Katz has
identified many potential pleasures of genre that include ‘pleasure’ from
particular genres because of our familiarity with it and the sense of emotional
pleasures of empathy of escapism. In the music video that I created the
audience definitely will achieve the sense of ‘escapism’ because of the ‘hyperreal’
state in which the video visuals provide to the audience, where I have used
locations such as London at night time with the energetic lighting and freedom.
I also believe that the audience when watching the music video will gain
aesthetic enjoyment because of the creativity of the simulation of the
performer singing in the hyperreal state.
Further on, a similar approach I also believe
that my production offers what Altman
has argued as ‘a set of pleasures’, he explain three type of pleasures,
‘emotional’, ‘visceral’ and ‘intellectual’ pleasures. The one pleasure that my
production relates best to is having an emotional pleasure, as the audience
generate a strong response to my music video. In order to successful meet the
emotional principle, I found that by using certain shot types such as close ups
and the use of mise-en-scene would help support the genre. The close-up shots
provided the ambient genre creating the more personal appeal to the audience
allowing the audience to feel empathy and build up emotion towards the artist.
I believe my work
has successfully met genre conventions through maintaining the theorists that I
feel had a good relation to my production. I would however criticise the uses
and gratifications theory of the audience being able to chose the media that we
consume from what is available to watch as on television such as music channels
the audience are given no choice or control over what videos are shown.
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