From the Poptimist Mailbag

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Hi,

I am currently studying for a BTEC National Diploma in Media and I have been asked the following question:

What codes and conventions are related to different genres of music in videos?

I am sure you know what the codes and conventions mean (i.e.) camerawork, narrative, clothing - basically typical things that are included in videos.

I was wondering if there was any possibility of you advising me of what codes and conventions there are for say, 3 or 4 different genres of music.

I have picked four that I was going to investigate:

Rap (hip hop)
Heavy metal
Indie Rock
Techno

The above are just really examples, however, if you were kind enough to offer me any advice, whether it be for the above genres or ones of your choice and if there were more or less than four that you gave me advice on I would be very grateful.

I know this is probably a rather unusual request, and I would be very grateful.

Hope to hear from you,

Thanks,

STUDENT X

Comments

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

Rap (hip hop)
v high saturation/soft focus colour
hazy sunshine or night time only (if they're in da club it's probably night time innit)
girls obv. - major flesh fair, fixation on bottoms (more than breasts)
in-yer-face camera close-ups (less common now perhaps but championed by luminary Hype Williams, as was silly 3D text announcing the artist, title, director)
enormous group of friends on display - they more friends than we have cows

Heavy metal
dark dingy rooms or classic concert footage
noise/pestilence themes (inc. static/interference on screen or the TVs in the video which can be common)
high school halls/grounds (a bit like teenpop!) tho this may be more dated nu-metal thing

Indie Rock
Geeky special effect and high concepts now more common but the term is so generic that anything goes these days

Techno
Nobody really makes techno videos because of dance music polarisation so most conventions of techno videos are now dated but...
Artists were less likely to appear in video compared to other genres if it's 'highbrow/clever' dance altho they might make a cameo e.g. Chemical Brothers, Norman Cook.