Music Video Research - Genre Conventions

Generic conventions don't apply to every single artist. The way music videos are made and what they include entirely depend on the artist.

Pop Music

Pop music usually has music videos that contain very bright and eye catching colours along with some dancing and close ups of the artists. Examples of these conventions can be seen in famous pop singers' music videos, such as Ariana Grande's "7 rings". We can see that the focus of the video is Ariana Grande as pretty much near the beginning we get a close up of her. The video contains mostly bright pink colours which could be due to its influence from japanese anime, while also fitting the typical genre convention of pop music videos. There is highkey lighting throughout the music video too, which is very often used in pop videos to give off a positive vibe to the people watching it. Furthermore, a common prop used in pop music videos are cars. In "7 rings" we see cars shown occassionally throughout the music video. We also notice that the cars shown are vintage which gives off an expensive vibe. This links to the general idea of the song which is based entirely around the amount of money that Ariana has. The editing in this video is relatively fast, matching the tempo of the song. That is usually how pop music videos are edited.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYh6mYIJG2Y

Another example of a pop music video that follows typical genre conventions is "Sorry" by Justin Bieber. Though it doesn't have the artist as its main focus, it contains dancers shown dressed in very vibrant and eye catching colours. This really makes them stand out as the background of the music video is white. The majority of the camera shots are wide angle however, we get some close-ups of the women in certain parts of the video. This is another common convention for pop music videos, male artists tend to include more female performers in their music videos and vice versa. We can see this in Justin's video since all the dancers are female. However, this is not seen in Ariana Grande's "7 rings". She goes against the typical generic conventions by showing only women. This could be due to the influence of japanese and anime that is seen throughout her album.

Both Ariana's and Justin's video show performers wearing revealing clothing, which is very normal for pop music videos. This is used to sexualise the performers and keep the viewers' interest throughout. However, this may no longer be a good technique as it may be seen as disrespectful as they are objectifying women in hopes to keep their target audience, especially males interested.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRh_vgS2dFE

---

Alternative Rock

Another major genre that Billie Eilish's music contains is Alternative Rock. The lighting used in Alternative Rock music videos is usually very low-key and natural. The music video consists of a focus on the artist and the camera shots consist of mainly close ups and long shots. Unlike Pop, the artists in Alternative Rock music videos don't wear a lot of make up. Overall, this gives the music videos of this genre a more realistic vibe compared to Pop music videos which are very focused on being extra.

An example of this is Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". The video starts with a wide shot of what seems like a convention. The camera then goes across the room leading to a close up of the drummers foot as the music is starting. Throughout the video we see alternating shots from wide to close ups of the band. The lighting in the music video is very dim and natural looking which fits the conventions for this genre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWKbfoikeg

Billie Eilish's music videos themselves do not fit either of these genre conventions specifically. It has influences from both genres. Her music videos generally have lowkey and dim lighting which is taken from the Alternative Rock conventions, however, the mainly follow a narrative or a concept which is common in pop music videos.

Her older videos such as, "watch" are more similar to genric pop music video. In that video, she uses expensive cars as props and a bright red is dominantly shown throughout. Two of the four cars are red, most of the people who appear in the video, including Billie herself have red clothing on, and the ladder in the middle of the room is also red. Some of the other dancers are wearing other bright colours such as green and violet, which is also used to grab the viewers' attention. However, the music video does have dim lighting throughout which is not common for pop music videos.

Her newer videos such as "everything i wanted" and "xanny" both have mixed conventions. They both follow a concept and a message that Billie is trying to get across to her fans, which is related to the lyrics. For example, in 'xanny", we see medium close-ups of people turning off their cigarettes on Billie's face which is used to interpret the lyrics in a visual way so the viewers understand her pain. Both these music videos have lowkey lighting which is used to give the videos an overall sad vibe, unlike generic pop music videos.