Research into music genres

Music videos appeal to audiences with the use of Mise-en-scene, editing and camera shots. Each music has a different reference whether that reference is performance, concept or narrative. The audience can be drawn in by what the music video does alongside the music. The target audience that the video is trying to attract will try to appeal to that audience. For example in Justin Biebers songs and music videos try to attracted a girl audience as he feels this target audience will make him the most money.

I first analysed the rap song by Drake 'Over'. During this song I looked at conventions within the music video that relate to the genre of the song. During the music video there is a low angle camera shot. This is evident when Drake is dancing, while his lyrics are projected on the wall. The camera shot represents Drake as a new rap artist and the shadow on the wall represents his image. This relates to the rap genre as it defines his emotions and the life that he has been through. The audience would be interested in watching the music video and find out more about him. Within the music video there is also a establishing shot, this can be seen when there is a picture of the city on the wall behind Drake while he is singing his song. This shows that his life is moving quickly and that everything maybe be happening too quick for his liking, such as his career and love life. The establishing shot shows the story of his life and it relates to the song as he is saying his life is over as in everything is going to happen fast.

There are a lot of editing techniques that are used within this music video, to help the audience understand what the song is about. Colour filters are visible within the post, the filters can be seen when they use them at the start when Drake is in the bedroom. The bright and quick colours have a red and orange tint which explain that his life is fast and full of drama. It represents that his lifestyle is quick and modern. In addition, to the colour filters, i can see that there is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals. Furthermore, Drakes facial expressions that are used in the bottom screen shot prove that all the words he is singing means something to him, in some way. In this shot he looks angry which must mean he has remembered something while saying them words, which proves the song is related to him in someway. During the song when Drake is stood at the side of the camera shot and there are people behind him. It relates to Goodwin's theory and shows that people have a big impact on his life. It represents the production of people, making a point to tell people how far he can come in his life.

Within the element of mise-en-scene, costume, positioning, lighting and colour, iconography and location are all a part of the music video that help to explain Drakes story. Within the costume element Drake wears a red jacket, this represents that he is angry. It shows that there are a lot of emotions going through his mind during the song he is singing. It could related to how stressed out he is from all the fame he is getting from his music that he is not use to. Iconography is evident in the form of a lamp, it turns on and off quickly. This represents his lifestyle as it shows that he cannot keep up with what is going on. It is typical as it tells a story to the audience. The location of the music video was in the bedroom of a house, this shows the high profile lifestyle that he lives as it was a expensive looking bedroom.It relate to the song as the song is about the being over, therefore he feel most comfortable in his bedroom, he likes home comforts. Drakes positioning within the clip changes throughout the clip, it was evident during the clip his position at the side of the screen, when the people are walking behind him. It shows that he stands out. It relates as the focus is on Drake and the people behind him symbolise how popular he is. The lighting and colouring used in the clip differs on the mood of drake. However, strobe lighting is evident and it has been used as it follows the beat of the song. It relates as the song is slow paced at the start but when he starts to rap the beat gets faster with the lyrics. The facial expressions used by Drake is a hard face, this shows that he means all the lyrics that he is singing and wants the song to go well. Finally, the colour effectives that have been just in the middle and right screen shot mean that he stands out from the crowd as he is in bright colours which would show the audience he is powerful and stands out from the crowd. However, In the screen shot on the left, it shows drake blending in with the crowd which still explains he is a normal person in some peoples eyes. Not everyone thinks he is famous or made it, people still view him as a normal person.

The second music video that I analysed was Flo-Rida 'Club can't handle me' and the genre of this song is dance. The camera shots that are used during the music video help to describe what the song and the music video is about. A high angle camera shot is evident when the camera is above the audience. It shows that everyone is getting into the music therefore backing up the point that it is a dance song. This relates as everyone is dancing and having a good time which is stereotypical to the fast paced music. A second camera shot that is visable is an establishing shot, this is when the city is on the wall behind Flo-Rida and he is in the middle of the floor on the platform. This shows the lifestyle of the artist as he is from a built up area and has the money to still live there. This relates to the success of the artist as he can live in a built up area with a large group of fans following his music.

 Editing is used throughout the music video when there is a split screen which is evident. This can be seen when one of the scenes is calm and the other scene is of the night club.This references to the lyrics to explain that the club cannot handle them. It is conventional of the dance genre having a good time at the party. Additionally, the second editing shot i found, was when the visuals relates to the music. The pace of the video is slow and the music is slow. The music is slow and the dancing is quick, the cross-dissolves are slow and the straights cuts are fast. The fast pace helps to portray the party atmosphere.












Mise-en-scene is visible within this music video by Flo-Rida. The first that i spotted was the positioning of Flo-Rida himself as he is standing on a podium above all the crowd. It shows that everyone is looking at him and he is the center of attention. As an artist he would like the attention that he is getting from the music that he is producing, it shows that everyone is enjoying his music and having a good time. It relates to the song as he want to be focused by everyone and he wants everyone to look at him as he is at a higher level them realistically and with his music. The iconography that is used during this music is bottles of champagne . This is evident when they are brought out with sparklers in the top of them. It relates to the party seen as people stereotypical have champagne at parties. It relates to the party seen at the club. The location of the music video is a club, which illustrates the song is a dance song relating to the genre and everyone should have a good time a party to this song. The lighting which is evident through strobes also shows that the song should be played in a club environment as these kind of lights are normally played in this type of area. It relates to the song and the genre being dance as this kind of song should be played in a club environment. The facial expressions expressed by Flo Rida and David Guetta are happy faces as it shows they enjoy performing this song as everyone is going crazy for it and enjoying themselves. It relates to the dance genre of the song as it is making people happy and people want to party to this kind of song.

The final music video that I analysed was 'burn' by Usher. The genre of this song is R'n'B as it follows the conventions of these genre of music. Through the cinema shot that are evident throughout the music video, i can understand the conventions that is used. Through a mid-shot in the music video, during the start when Usher stands in front of the bed and then the bed is on fire. It can be explained that he has a history with the girl in the bedroom and he needs the bed too go in order to forget her alongside the history that they have had. It relates as he is trying to tell a story through the song about their love that went sour. Within the music video a long shot is evident when he is sitting on the bed and the girl is in the background also on the bed. It relates to the music video as it shows that she is always over his shoulder and she has an effect over him. It relates to the song as it he has made the song about this girl.

 The editing that is used within the music is effective as it also shows the conventions of an R'n'B music video. A fade was used within the music video when it fades from the girl face, then fades out. This was used to show her emotions and to show that she meant a lot to the artist. It relates to the song as it is based on love and their story is a love story. A relationship between the music and visuals which is a part of Goodwins theory, this is evident when the women's face is on the wall and then it has been set on fire. It relates to the song and the music as it relates to the relationship burning and not going well. The song is based around the relationship and it can be said that Usher feels lost without this girl.

Mise-en-scene is used throughout to represent the artist and the genre of the song itself throughout the song. Positioning is used in the clip, it has been used to show that the girl is everything to drake and it is hard to let him. The positioning was used when the women is on top of Usher when they are on the bed together. It relates to the song as it about them two having an relationship together. The location of the video is within a house, it shows the life style that Usher lives with the girl. It relates as it shows that he has a relaxed chilled lifestyle, which is stereotypical for R'n'B artists. The costume that the girl is wearing is a bikini. There are normally women within R'n'B music videos which the song is either based on or they are used to show that artist has a good looking girlfriend. However, in this song it has been used to show that the song is about the women and about the relationship 'burning' hence the name. Iconography has been used during the clip when User dances in front of an Aston Martin car at the end of the video clip. It shows the lifestyle that he lives but he is lost without the girl as he is still singing about the relationship burning at the end of the video. Facial expressions were used in the clip, is when Usher is sad after the start of the video, when he says its burning. It shows how emotional the song is and gives away how upset he is that the relationship has been burned. It relates to the genre of the song as R'n'B songs are mostly about love or losing someone.

The technical elements differ on each song, as i feel the Over song by Drake and Usher's song is much more similar technically to the Flo-Rida. The camera shots used in the Drake and Flo-Rida songs are similar as they both have either high or low angles when Drake is lower than his lyrics which are being projected on the screen in front of him and Flo-Rida is on a platform higher than anyone. Also in the Flo-Rida song the high angled camera shot is above the audience and it shows that they are having a good time, while dancing to the song. The conventions of these the 'club cant handle us' song show in the camera shots that are used as they allow the audience to see the club having a good time and the artist being center of attentions which relates to the genre of the song being dance. The song over by Drake can relate to conventions through the camera shots that are used as they explain the emotions and feeling of the artists through the shots and the lyrics that are shown within the music video. In Ushers song burn the camera shots are more simple as i found two camera shots that were in the form of a mid shot when he stands in front of the bed when it is starting to 'burn' which relates to the song and the relationship that he is in as that is burning. The second camera shot was a long shot, this is evident when Usher is sitting on the bed and the girl is behind him showing she is always there with him, he cannot forget her. This relates to the conventions of the R'n'B song as there is always a girl within the song that the artist is singing about. The high and low angle shots in the Drake and Flo-Rida songs are much more effective as they show the emotions of the artists and the actors within the song, but they are technically harder to shot. The Usher song is much more simpler as he uses easy shots that are right for the lyrics that he is singing at the time of the shots.

The editing styles of all of the songs are similar technically as they all have lighting, fades or dissolves included within the music videos. Through the Drake song there was the use of colour filters to show the mood that he was in, they filters were used within Drakes body. This technique is technically hard to conduct as the editors have to club the shape of Drake and fill it in with the filters. They were effective throughout the music as when Drake starts rapping and really showing emotion his body would be put in a fire colour to show how much he means the lyrics he is singing. It is conventional to the song as Drake rap genre songs are all about the emotions of the artists through the lyrics they are singing and the colour filters help to show his emotions clearer than his facial expressions. The Flo-Rida song uses a split screen within the song, which shows a normal scene without the song not having such a good time, whereas the other screen shows the people in the club raving to the song. It compares each environment wanting the audience to make a decision on what scene they prefer. The difficulty of the split screen is hard to do as both scenes were in time which the music which is technically hard to perform and executive accurately. The editing techniques used within the Flo-Rida song  express the conventions of the genre of the song as it shows the different scene with and without the music and it shows the effects of the music on the people in the club. The 'burn' song by Usher uses editing to show the relationship between the artist and the girl that he is singing about. A fade is used on the girls face, this has been done to show that she meant everything to Usher but their relationship is starting to burn and when he sings this the girls face fades out of the shot.  This is conventional to the genre of the song being R'n'B the songs are based on a girl or based on a bad or good relationship stereotypical to this type of music. All songs have a hard technicality with editing and it really relates to the conventions and genres of all songs.

The technicality of the mise-en-scene within each music video is simple but is used with a high quality as it is used to show the conventions of music videos and it relates to the song really well. Within Drakes song the costume that is used within the music video to show his emotions while he is singing the songs. The costume is in the form a red jacket, he has this on when he is rapping quickly, it shows that the lyrics mean he is angry and this comes across through his facial expressions with the help of the jacket. This is not a very hard technical element as it is the use of a piece of clothing but it is used in a way in which it shows the conventions of the music with the artist. In Flo-Rida's song iconography is used in the form of champagne bottles which have sparklers in them. It has been used to relate to the party theme which relates to the song. The element of mise-en-scene is not difficult to conduct technically as can be brought, however, they have used it effectively to show people are having such a good time listening to their music that they are buying champagne. It relates as dance songs are related to club scenes which have alcohol in them. The costumes used within Ushers song is used effectively as it shows off how good the girls body is within the music video as she is wearing a bikini. It has been used to show what Usher is missing as the song is about the relationship burning. It relates to the conventions of R'n'B songs as they are normally based around girls or relationships. The costume is not technical at all as it a piece of clothing but it tells the audience a lot within the music video.

The song by Drake will appeal to an audience as they will be drawn in by the emotions caused by the lyrics he sings. The audience will be able to have an connection with the artist as they will not only hear the song but they will feel the lyrics being produced by the artist. They will also be attracted by the song by the editing techniques that are used as they are used so Drake is the focal point throughout the music although there are other people around. Drake is the main focus throughout the song. The Flo-Rida will appeal to and audience as they will want to re-live the experiences of the people within the music video as they are having a good time with the song being played within a club. The audience will want to go to a club and want that song to be played in order to relive the moment that they saw within the music video. The Usher song will appeal to the audience as they will like the emotion Drake as the girl. They will feel that Drake is singing to try to save the 'burning' relationship within the song. All songs will appeal to the audience technically as they all use different elements within the songs which will draw the audience into wanting to watching it again alongside the lyrics.

The audience will build a relationship with Drake as they will see the emotions that he is going through while he sings the song. They will be able to understand how much Drake wants to make it as a artist through the way that he sings the song. Not only will the lyrics allow the audience to build a relationship with Drake through  but the camera shots used with allow the audience to gain an experience of the song which will build a relationship. In Flo-Rida's song the audience will build a relationship with him because of the dance theme throughout the song, they audience will want to use the song at parties and this will be how they build a relationship with the artist. The song will allow the audience to have a new experience as the song is so dance base throughout. The audience will easily build a relationship with the Usher song as they will be able to feel the love he has for the girl but their relationship is burning. The audience will for him as they will want the couple to get back together through the song and the emotions shown by the artist and the girl within the music video.

I would like to use fades and dissolves within my music video as i feel they are really effective when showing the emotion of an artist, through the lyrics or the performance they are giving. I would also like to use facial expression within my music video to show the emotions that the song causes to the artist or to the audience as a result of the expressions. I would also like to use a location that suits the type of song i chose for my music video like Flo-Rida did with his dance song within the club setting. Additionally i would like to use technically effective editing shots as i feel they will be useful when trying to show the conventions of the genre of music video i will be using. I feel as these song will help me with my music video as they allow me to have an insight of what the professional artists use within their music videos to make them appeal to their target audience.