Genre

"genre is no longer a fixed set of elements"

• Genre aren't as clear cut
• Genres can be mixed

Buckingham (1990) argues that genre is a "constant process of negotiation and change"

• Genre depends on what is trending now
• Development is always happening within genre

Different musical genres create different promotional videos.

Genres are a bit like a recipe containing certain elements. This is often referred to as the grammar of the text. However there is a lot of crossover and also hybrid genres.

Genre is a repertoire of elements that audience expects to see in a media text of a specific genre.

Genre is important and helpful because:

• It allows an audience to find a variety of media which has similar aspects which they enjoy.
• Different genres and their differences.
• Helps a media to use their target audiences expectations.
• Predictable.
• Shorthand means of communicating to the audience.
• It needs a twist or innovation to avoid a cliché.
• Allows quick set up of props and characters.
• Familiar.

Audience likes genre because:

• Know what to expect.
• Enjoy subtle variations.
• Consistent form of escapism.
• Recognisable.
• Engages consumer with the text.

Verisimilitude?
This means how real or realistic a text is.
Yet some genres need to have more verisimilitude than others e.g. Police shows need more verisimilitude than a musical.

Verisimilitude in music promos;
How realistic do they need to be? It depends on GENRE (some genres can be very unrealistic)
-Sledgehammer is unrealistic and it still works!
-Oasis videos have more verisimilitude to show they're more like a real life rock band who are normal people.

Pop genre, conventions:

-CU of singing
-CU of faces
-Lots of movement e.g. Pans and tracking shots- dynamic not static
-Zooms
-Shows sexual features
-Cuts to the beat
-Effects; filters, exposer, saturated colours
-Fast paced cuts
-Set in grand and luxurious places
-Elaborate/ exotic places
-CGI
-Elaborate costumes
-Over the top costume
-Bright lighting, high key to emphasise colours
-Phallic symbols
-Glamorous props
-Dancers; good looking, certain figure, certain age- 'perfect image'
-Abstract performance with singing and dancing
-Narrative and performance are integrated
-Over the top dances
-Disjuncture but without artistic meaning

Pop Punk

Brief history of pop punk

1970's- This is when punk rock was first founded as a well-known genre. A large audience began to listen to this genre of music in the 1970's.

1980's- In this decade music became 'hardcore' and the audience for the punk genre grew to mass scale.

1990's- The 1990's was the beginning of hybrid genres within the pop and punk genres. More bands then began to create music which had 'hardcore' music roots but included punk and pop. And pop punk became a huge success.

2000's- The pop punk genre then became more of a mainstream genre. However by 2005 'hardcore' music made a comeback.

2010-now- Pop punk involves its 'hardcore' roots again.

Conventional lyrical content and themes

• Themes and lyrics about love
• Themes of relationship 
• Narratives about love and loss of love
• Lyrics involving misunderstanding themselves
• Themes of break ups 
• Themes of cheating
• Lyrics about relationships

Characteristics and musical style of this genre

• Bands, including drummers and guitarists 
• Loud
• Instrumental section
• Band shots
• Artistic shots
• Creative shots e.g. canted angles

Ideology

• Live bands
• Gigs and concerts
• Dark clothing
• Jeans
• Unnatural coloured hair
• Electric guitars
• Rebellion
• Individuality
• Tattoos
• Anti-consumerist approach
• Atheist or agnostic religious beliefs

Audience demographic

• Teenagers
• Both male and female
• Middle class
• Artistic
• Rebellious
• Individual
• Don't wear mainstream fashion

Example from pop punk
One music promo which shows conventions of a pop punk music promo is Paramore's 'The only exception'. Paramore is an American pop punk band who adhere to the usual conventions of this genre and the demographic they have. However they also subvert some of the conventions too. For example the use of amplification rather than illustration. Conventionally pop punk bands are associated with illegal drugs, however in this music promo drug usage is not shown or referenced.

This music promo is conventional of pop punk in many ways. One way which shows Paramore adhering to conventions of the genre is the mise-en-scene. The music promo is set in a house in the bedroom and the living room at the beginning and end of the music promo, this is conventional of pop punk promos as it shows a common place and therefore the audience demographic relate to relaxing in their bedrooms and the living room. Also the props of love letters create a atmosphere which the target audience (teenagers) would have witnessed or been part of their lives. Teenagers are beginning to feel and understand love and pop punk promos play on this idea to allow the audience to feel they are not alone in the way their feeling.

Another way this music promo is conventional is the colour scheme. The shots vary between saturated and unsaturated colours to show emotion. When the performer is showing her love for her partner the colours are highly saturated, with the use of pinks and reds. These two colours are connotations of love and romance. These colours are used when the performer is laid on, what appears to be love letters and notes. However when the performer is losing love and in a more depressed state the colours are unsaturated with the use of black and grey. The performer is shown in a black dress at a wedding showing her as different an not as immersed in love. The colour scheme adheres to conventions of connecting the colours to the emotion the song is trying to portray.

The shot types in 'The only exception' music promo also adhere to conventions of the genre, pop punk. It is common and conventional for this genre to have a lot of band shots in their music videos. In this music promo band shots are used in both 'concert' shots and in shots where the performer and the band are 'practising'. Audience shots are also used in this music promo creating a concert-like feel and creating an atmosphere which the target audience would feel involved with. Audience shots also adhere to the conventions of a pop punk promo.

Another convention this Paramore adhere to is the mix between performance from the band and a narrative involving the performer. The performance is shown through the conventional band and audience. This influences the demographic to view the video as they enjoy going to concerts and watching live bands. The narrative is well structured and uses amplification with the lyrics, this subverts conventions. Conventionally illustration would be used in parallel with the lyrics, however this song takes the idea of someone being 'the only exception' to the performers love. Paramore has taken the theme of love and loss and created their music promo around this. Although amplification is subverting conventions, the theme of love is very conventional of the pop punk genre.

Michael Shore, a media theorist, believes 'music videos are recycled styles that contain an information overload'. Paramore's 'The only exception does not use intertextual references and therefore subverts Michael Shores theory. Michael Shore also believes that music videos contain views of 'adolescent male fantasies' but again this music promo subverts this theory. In most music promos women are dressed in provocative clothing and dance in a way which objectifies them. However, as shown above, the pop punk genre subverts this theory and believes objectification is wrong.

Laura Mulvey believes that music videos include the 'Male Gaze'. The Male Gaze is the way the camera makes men and women see other women. Mulvey believes the camera will pan up a women from bottom to top. These shots make women look up to the woman on screen and men look at women as a sexual object. Paramore and the pop punk genre subverts this theory and again shows women and men to be equal, with shots which always show the men and women to be on the same level of importance. An example of this is shown above.