My Chosen Genre

My chosen genre for my A2 advanced portfolio is rock/pop genre. I have chosen this genre because I feel that I have some ideas of songs with good lyrics from this type of genre. In relation to sound, the typical sound conventions of pop/rock music videos are for the lyrics to match the narrative and music video, but this is usually conventional for most music videos of all genres. The editing of the music video usually matches with the sound. There are usually a lot of cuts in pop/rock music videos as the music is quite up beat and fast, and therefore the video is trying to keep up with the music. There are sometimes hand held camera work used to create the effect of of a fun and wild atmosphere. An example of hand held camera work is in Avril Lavinge's video - Girlfriend. They typical mise-en-scene setting in rock/pop music videos are usually in garages or on a live set or the band playing live, although this isn't always the case, and some music videos tend to break these conventions. The typical ideology and expectations of this genre are for the artists to be playing an instrument, usually a guitar, and this allows them to be represented as talented musicians, but it also reminds the audience that they are associated with the rock genre. In pop rock videos, one of the main ideologies are that if you are in a relationship, then you are either going to get hurt by the one you love but usually get 'revenge' or you will stay with 'the one' forever. Artists such as Paramore, Avril Lavigne, Pink and Maroon 5 are examples of artists within the pop rock genre, and they represent this genre through their costumes which are typically leather jackets/jeans, t-shirts and slack bottoms or punk dresses. The target audience for the pop rock genre are typically teenagers or young adults aged 13-21. Music videos now usually consist of women half naked and this would be targeted for the boys, were as the lyrics that actually have meaning would be more specifically aimed at girls.

EXAMPLES OF POP ROCK ARTISTS

PARAMORE - STILL INTO YOU

AVRIL LAVIGNE - GIRLFRIEND

P!NK - SO WHAT

MAROON 5 - THIS LOVE

HISTORY OF MY CHOSEN BRIEF - MUSIC VIDEO

A music video or a song is a short video or film that accompanies a piece of music or song. The role of a modern music video is to primarily increase sales of the implemented tracks as well as promote the artist or band. Music videos are becoming a necessity for any rising artists due to worldwide YouTube access and the increasing number of music television channels. Audiences are growing constantly and they are wanting more of a variety of music and music videos. This includes techniques such as live filming, documentaries and abstract film. Artists and directors interpret the music in different ways, sometimes portraying a narrative or a series of events completely different to the songs lyrics. This can be more entertaining for the audience.

The first step towards the creation of modern music videos occurred in 1894 when George Thomas was hired by duo sheet music publishers Edwards Marks and Joe Stern to create a new form of promotion of their new piece via the use of a 'magic lantern' Thomas and his team projected multiple images onto a backdrop, synchronized with the music at live performances which soon became known as the 'illustrated song'. Vitaphone shorts became of use to this music industry in 1926 with the invention of the 'talking picture'. Singers, dancers and genral performers were projected onto a screen in an almost perfect synchronistaion with the seperatley played audio reel resulting in the early forms of modern television. Depending on the director and the artists budget, the more advanced shorts of this time contained basic animations integrated with the live action film. Due to the size of the reels, shots were only normally 6 minutes long allowing a single track before reloading the projector. 

'Screen song' were invented by revered animation artist Max Fletcher. He produced a number of detailed animations, accompanied by the public's favourite songs, allowing the audience to sing along by following the circle over the lyrics displayed at the bottom of the screen. Walt Disney's Fantasia was inspired by this, and they took this concept to a whole new level by producing a film based on the idea. 

In 1929, St Louis Blues was released to the public by singer Bessie Smith. The film portrayed a performance of the song and promoted her image throughout the world. Many followed this example, for example Louis Jordan integrated a series of his short clips into a feature length film titled 'Lookout Sister'.

 The 1950's brought the era of musical films which were a worldwide instant success. Many new music videos still take inspiration from these films. often imitationg the style of filming, dress and sometimes even an entire scene. An example of this is Madonna's 'Material Girl'. In this video she is imitating the well known singer and actress Marilyn Monroe as she was seen as an iconic figure. Her doing this is conveying to the audience that she is as good as Marilyn, or maybe even better. 

With the invention of the television, more artists came to the public eye due to programmes such as Top of the Pops. These programmes promoted the artists, making them more money.  The Beatles were a band that were very enthusiastic about the rising music videos and by the end of 1966, the Beatles style of filimg had become unique to the public eye. They became one of the first groups to utilise the beginnings of colour TV when they filmed clips for 'Rain' and 'Paperback Writer'.

From 1967 artists began to produce 'song films' as an alternative to appearing live to an audience. Pink Floyd were at the cutting edge of the industry and went on to create one of the first ever 'plot driven' music videos. Band throughout Australia and New Zealand began to produce early versions of their own music videos for new releases. This year also bought the first colour music video directed by The Stones for their new realse 'We Love You'. The clip featured a number of new effects such as speeded up footage. Artosts such as Bruce Brown and Alby Falzon deserve a special note for the creation of a number of films syncing surfing footage adited alongside music tracks such as 'Echoes' by Pink Floyd. 23 minutes long, the film was widely shown on TV and went on to inpsire many other bands into following their footsteps in the TV industry.

Australia soon overtook the British in the development of the music TV and premiered shows such as 'Countdown' to popularizing the music video in 1974. They featured live performances as well as regular viewings of the current greatest hit music videos. The UK soon caught on to this and soon after released Top of the Pops. 'Devo' an American alternative punk rock group were responsible for a collection of self produced music videos directed by Chuck Statler. They were one of the first sets of music videos to be released on the video cassette as well as utilise the newly available computer animation and editing effects.

In 1981, music videos breached onto mainstream TV with the launch of the US channel MTV. By the mid 1980's, and now playing a major role in music marketing, this channel begun the era of 24 hour a day music on TV. The music video industry further expanded with the creation and retail of easy to use, inexpensive video recording and editing equipment. The newly developed and widely available visual effects encouraged new techniques of filming and introduced a whole new era of music video. Artists made it their personal aim to expand the various forms and styles related to the genre increasing usage of effects and including more plots in their music videos. 

The hip hop and rap genres of music were introduced to Britain  and America by the MTV show 'Yo!'. This style of music had not been experienced by a mass audience before now.

From 1977, the internet became 'music video friendly' with the launch of the website 'ifilm' which feautured a wide range of short clips, music videos and was generally an early version of YouTube. File sharing websites such as Napster and Spotify also appeared, allowing users to share music and video files. With the wider available access to the internet, websites devoted to the uploading and viewing of online videos such as YouTube were launched. These allowed for an even wider viewing of music videos upon demand rather that on a TV schedule. As the general public have the option to upload their own creations directly to these sites, some artists have been discovered online, for example Justin Bieber was discovered online. 

The industry is constantly growing with the enhancement of broadband and the constant advances in video clips resulting in high quality with shorter loading times. Our music industry now is still growing and growing thanks to online websites such as YouTube, that have allowed the public to stream and listen to music videos when ever they want.