Research Into Different Genre's

The first genre that I will be analysing is 'pop' I have chosen to look at a Lady Gaga video called 'Applause.' Her target audience is teenage girls, 12-18 years old, she is a very dynamic and controversial artist and this is displayed in her music videos. I chose to look at this video, as I have a recollection of all her weird and wacky antics. The opening sequence of her music video displays the artist name, and also the name of the song, I think this is a clever idea, as if it is displayed on a music video, people are less likely to turn over on the start of the video, this way they are aware of who the artist is. I think that this video fits with the pop genre, as the artist is dressed in minimal clothing, which is apparent in many pop videos, there is also a choreographed dance routine, which is in a lot of other pop videos, this also fits in with Andrew Godwin's theory that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. Lady Gaga shows a performance piece instead of narrative, as there is no obvious story line this also means that the video has an implicit and subtextual meaning, the audience will rely on connotations. In terms of the mise en scene, the artist has many different outfit changes, I think this connotes the change in the music industry. Later in the video, Lady Gaga holds what appears to be a large torch above her head, this connotes that she is winning, this is in relation to the Olympic torch. There are many different shots in this video, most of them are mid shots or close ups, we see the artists face a lot through the video, I think this is to promote the artist. There is a close up of the artists face where she has a variety of different colours painted on her face, I think this is to connote the artists 'colourful' personality. The editing techniques in this video fit in with the pace and tempo of the song, there is a part where the lighting flashes from dark to light repeatedly, this is done to a fast pace to fit in with the song.






The second video that I will be looking at is 'Flo-rida - Whistle' Flo-rida is a hip-hop artist, so this is also the genre I will be looking at. As in the Lady Gaga video, the opening sequence to this video also includes the artists name and the title of the song, I think that this is all for promotion, so that people will know the artists name and the title in hope of purchasing the song. The video is set on an exotic island with beaches, blue seas and high mountain tops, I think this is to connote the wealth of the artist, to be in such a nice place. Flo-rida is without a top for a majority of the music video, as it seems that he has oil on his body, I think this is so that he is to look sexually appealing for his target audience, which in this case would be young girls however, he also appeals to the target audience of teenage boys by putting women in bakinis in the video. This video shows an untrue representation of women, and this is the case in a lot of music videos, women with beautiful figures are often flaunting it in these videos, although it is visually appealing to men, it is not a good role model for young girls. This is a narrative piece, where it starts out that the artist is enticing the woman, by being sexually inviting, and by also wearing expensive jewellery and accessories, the end of the narrative is the woman then giving into the artist. There is also some product promotion in this video, where the artists holds the Nokia phone, and when there is a close up on this Jordan trainers. The main editing technique is the overlapping of transparent images to lead into the next scene, I think this fits with the music, there is also a lot of split screens, which I think tells the story really well as you can see it from all aspects.




The final video that I will be analysis is Dappys 'Tarzan 2.5' this is a rap video, and targeted mainly at young males with an interest in this music genre. The video is filmed in a huge house, where there appears to be a party going on. All the male members of the party are wearing thick gold chains, expensive looking watches and backwards snap backs, this is the representation of a rapper, that they have a wealthy lifestyle, and this is represented by there possesions. This is emphasised by the shots of the possesions throughout the video, there is a long shot of the artist singing, where there is two black range rovers in the background, there is also a close up of some sort of expensive bike. The main wording of this song is 'Versace' which there is many close up shots of the Versace logo. Throughout the video, the artist is surrounded by men, this is to connote that he has a tight relationship with his friends, which is really important, hence the shoutout at the beginning of the music video.

There are two main women in the music video, both of them are wearing matching outfits, I think that this connotes that the women are seen the same, that they are of no real importance, which is how women are represented in many rap videos. The women are also seen to be seducing eachother, this is for male entertainment, and will appeal to the target audience of young males, however, I feel that this is degrading to women, and they should not be represented in this light. This video is a performance piece, as there is no real story line.