Wordle of Genre Conventions

Music video deconstruction...

Music Video Deconstruction... on Prezi

Above is my deconstruction on 'When She Was Mine' by Lawson. I have explored representation, media language, narrative, genre and audience for the video. After doing this deconstruction, I researched further to find out what genre the band are categorized as and they are alternative rock/ pop rock.

Deconstructing existing music videos

We decided to deconstruct All Time Low's video for their popular song 'Time-Bomb' from their album 'Dirty Work'.

As shown in this screenshot to the left, a large proportion of the video is focused on telling a story, from this I can see that the story which is presented within the video I make will need to relate to the lyrics of the song and show the characters thoughts and feelings. Within this video the story contains clips of action, this makes it gripping and allows the audience to consider what the outcome will be, this fits well with the song title 'Time-Bomb' as it has an element of danger, therefore making it exciting and eye catching, therefore I know that I need to make my video eye catching and interesting even if it is a calm song that does not contain action; I need to get my audiences attention and keep them interested. 

Within this video they have used some of the conventions of modern rock music; particularly the clips of the band playing on a rooftop, the dark clothing and the natural lighting. The setting of a rooftop is a popular choice of location within the genre of rock because, as shown in the picture to the right, it is urban, could represent rebellion and has masculine connotations. As the rooftop is outdoors it also allows for lots of natural light which is common within the genre of Pop Rock as the sky shows simplicity, beauty and strips the video back to basics; this is very different to a lot of pop videos which use bright artificial lighting and bright colours. Although the band itself are in a setting with natural light, the story within the video is quite often dark; this creates a sense of mystery and danger which draws the audience in and connects with the title of the song. The clothes which the band are wearing are black; this is a popular choice for clothing within pop rock videos because it reiterates the idea of being natural as they do not draw attention to themselves; they look like they belong within the scene, it's also simple and the band members look good together because they're all wearing similar clothing.

Within the video there are scenes of a man using tools which create sparks and also many men carrying guns, this again re-emphasizes the masculinity and suggests danger as the sparks and weapons relate to the song title 'Time-Bomb'. This is a convention for the genre of Rock but is not used commonly for Pop Rock, this is probably because the song lyrics relate to danger, however as I plan on using a slightly softer song I do not plan on including any action within my music video.

Another convention which this video uses is the focus on instruments; throughout the video (especially at the beginning) the camera is zoomed in on the instruments, the screenshot to the right is an example of this. Close ups of instruments are often used to show that most bands write and produce their own music and put a lot of effort into not only the lyrics but also the music behind it; it is also a chance to show off the skills of the other band members as well as the frontman.

The camera regularly focuses on Alex (lead singer) when he is singing; during a lot of these moments he looks directly into the camera which grabs peoples attention (particularly the female audience) and allows the viewers to feel a connection with Alex. During all the clips of the band the other band members are always moving around, this shows that they are enjoying themselves and suggests that they're getting lost in the music, this encourages the audience to enjoy the video as much as the band are.

Overall the video does use some of the conventions of modern Pop Rock videos, however it includes some aspects which convert some stereotypes such as the a typical romance story line which is common within this genre of music, this subversion helps to make the video more unique and keeps the audiences attention.

Deconstructing music videos

In the presentation below, I have deconstructed The Scripts music video, 'If you ever come back'. I have explored the genre, audience, representation, media language and narrative. By doing deconstructions on existing music videos, it helps me to gain ideas as to what people are already expecting to see from a music video. It also gives me more of an idea as to what shots, colours and lighting I may consider using in my video.

the script deconstruction from Kaylee1234