Advanced Portfolio: Genre Research

An introduction to major conventions of pop music videos

Introduction to the target audience of the pop genre, please click the link: http://popplet.com/app/#/1237918

Research Presentation

The music video for Lana Del Rey’s Young and Beautiful includes a number of technical elements, which make it both aesthetically pleasing to the audience at the same time as promoting the song. Particularly in the case for this music video, it also serves in promoting the movie that this song is used in, The Great Gatsby. This means that it also uses elements and concepts from the movie in the music video, an example of this is the way it appears to be set in the time that the movie is set in. This is clear from the way in which the music video is filmed, it appears as if there is some sort of vintage filter applied to the whole video, this is in order to get across the feel of the 1920’s as the movie is set in 1925. This just adds to the impressive music video. This filter used is most obvious in the close ups of the artist herself, Lana Del Rey. The use of the mise-en-scene here in this close up – the make up, hair and jewellery – also helps connote this idea of the 1920’s. This focus on the artist through the use of these close ups is also a convention of the pop genre, less conventional for the sub-genre of indie-pop however, but still this focus on the artist helps establish this music video – and the artist herself – as a part of the pop genre. This will help me in relation to the way I produce my own music video as I can clearly see the style established in this music video and from this I can start to develop the style in which my music video will take place. However, this music video is an exceptional case for an identified theme, this is not always the case and from other research and watching other music videos,the theme/style of the video is not always so clearly defined. Although, the way in which this is defined makes it a strong theme to follow, and I may want to employ this aspect of a strong and identifiable style in my own music video.

This focus on the artist is conventional for the pop genre as a whole; however it is clear that there is not total focus on the artist as we can see throughout the rest of the video as it uses the editing technique of cross-cutting to cut from the artist singing, the orchestra playing and a woman walking symbolising the title Young and Beautiful. In this way it is slightly unconventional for the pop-music genre. The crosscutting to the orchestra also maintains the use of the vintage-style filter. This use of crosscutting is also helpful to me and my research in the way that I produce my own music video, as cross cutting seems to be a clear editing convention of pop music videos; this is often the case so as to cut between the narrative and the artist singing. Through identifying this I can produce my music video in a way so that I use cross cutting as well, and thus make it more conventional and thus, professional.

This music video is very interesting because in some ways it could be considered as an indie music video, but maintains it's label as a pop genre music video because of the artists' image. Although Indie-pop music videos often challenge boundaries and expectations, this music video does something entirely unconventional for music videos as a whole. This music video uses the editing technique of superimposition with again the 1920’s vintage-style filter to get across the idea of Young and Beautiful and subsequently promote the 1920’s style of the movie it is promoting – The Great Gatsby. Although the focus on the artist still maintains the pop-genre conventions to make this a pop-music video. This is very atypical, however, Lana Del Rey as an artist often challenges the conventions of music videos, an example of this would be that the first three minutes and twenty-five seconds of her video for Ride is her simply talking, this dialogue makes her become the character behind her song. This is what makes her such an interesting artist to use for analysing as the unconventional elements within her music videos allow a producer to be able to see “between the lines” and understand that the conventions are guidelines, however they can be challenged in order to produce a powerful piece of film. Through this research I can see that depending on the artist, the music videos vary and now I am aware that when I produce my music video I need to have a clear idea of the artist and their image in order to produce a music video best fitting to the style and persona of the artist.

The cross cutting used throughout this music video also helps entice the audience into the narrative, although the narrative in this particular music video is more unclear than others as it flits mainly between shots of the artist singing and the orchestra playing, it demonstrates the lyrics of the song. This relevance helps make it a good music video and the lyrics corroborate with the video. This will be helpful to me when I produce my own music video, in order to make an understandable music video I must ensure that the lyrics and the video link in this way. An example of this would be in the way that Lana Del Rey sings “Will you still love me when I’m no longer young and beautiful?” and this is the audio over a shot of the artist lip syncing to this song – as if the artist is actually asking this question, and this is repeated throughout the music video several times.

This use of lip-syncing is in fact conventional for pop music videos as a genre but also conventional for music videos as a whole form itself. So this helps the music video fit the expectations of the target audience. This will help me when I produce my own music video as I have identified a strong and popular convention of pop music videos through this research and so now I understand that lip-syncing is a key feature, thus I should really use it when I produce my own music video. For this music video the target audience are most likely fans of Lana Del Rey as an artist, as well as both pop and indie-pop listeners; the target audience is also likely to be both women and men, women because she could be considered a role model for young girls, but also for men as she could also be considered as a “sex symbol”, thus this sex appeal then appeals to young men. This will also help me in producing my own music video as I now understand that I need to include some sort of sex appeal if I produce a music video with a very similar style to this one of Lana Del Rey's. It is more likely for the target audience for this music video to be older teenagers but still quite a young audience, as demonstrated in the title “Young and Beautiful”, this is more likely to appeal to younger people as they are part of this group of young people, and the idea of being considered beautiful just because they are young would be most appealing and so expand the audience further. As demonstrated in the screen shot below she is presented as very desirable: both strong (as a role model for women) and sexy (as a sex symbol for men).

The artist, Lana Del Rey, is represented as very iconic throughout all her music videos, and often uses other sounds (such as engine sounds in Carmen and gunshots in National Anthem) to enhance the originality of her music videos, which makes her very unique to a number of different artists in the pop/indie-pop genre. Particularly in this music video for Young and Beautiful, she is represented as very desirable – as previously discussed – she appears to get across a number of different emotions such as sadness as she questions whether her love interest will always love her, it’s a very emotional video and the use of the orchestra as a prop as part of the mise-en-scene makes it seem much more dramatic. This clear identity of the artist is crucial in this music video, amongst all her other music videos, it helps to decide the style and the narrative that will take place within the music videos. From this I can understand that when I produce my own music video I need to have a clear understanding of the artist I am going to produce a music video for in order to get across the most appropriate image.

This drama and emotion represents her as a typical woman, as they are stereotypically very emotional. However, she breaks this stereotype slightly as she uses this vintage filter, connoting the idea of history, and yet she is singing thus being successful. This idea of success and independence in relation to history allows her as an artist to deny the conformity of the time the music video appears to be set in – reflecting the time the movie The Great Gatsby is set in. So in this way it breaks old age stereotypes, thus in a way the controversial ideas put forward also enable it to gain popularity because people are interested. However, also as an artist she appears to come across as a strong and independent woman who is both free and real, this originality is represented in a number of her other music videos. This clear narrative throughout the video is a defining feature if pop music videos, most are likely to have some kind of narrative and in this research I have learnt that it is key to have some use of narrative in my music video, this is a key thing that needs to be remembered when I produce my own music video. This representation of Lana Del Rey as a strong woman contrasts this music video slightly as she appears very dependent on this mans love as she questions him. However, the strong way in which she sings helps to counteract this moment of weakness, which is often so stigmatized within the media as to be in love, is considered powerful but it makes you vulnerable. This idea is represented within this music video. This is because the depth of her voice as a sound effect itself helps her to remain a role model for her target audience. It also must be remembered that the idea of love and love interests is a very prominent idea within music and especially within the pop genre. The technical areas (as discussed throughout) are used very effectively throughout the music video. This is because they all work together to produce such a powerful music video, as the sound of the song itself builds up and introduces new instruments and further depth to the song itself, the camerawork is used to include this new depth to the eyes as well as the ears by taking various shots of the instruments being played in the Orchestra.

This use of continuity in the way that the elements of all four technical areas work together to produce the music video is demonstrated in this way, through these screenshots it can be deduced that the music video encompasses lots of the musical instruments used to create this track and give them some recognition at the same time as making the meaning of the song much more dramatic and thus powerful as it’s so exaggerated. The use of the mise-en-scene feature of lighting is also adopted differently in this music video, there is a contrast of both high-key and low-key lighting and this concept means that the feeling behind the song and the artist is represented differently. This is because generally it is more low-key lighting with the use of spotlights throughout, this allows the orchestra and setting to be less important, allowing more spotlights on the artist herself. This is clear from the way that the spotlight is used on the orchestra, it is generally used on the instruments themselves rather than the artists playing the instruments, this also allows for a silhouette feature to be used in this video; this creates a focus on the lighting itself and connotes the idea of darkness and light. The song is very powerful, very “solo” although many components are needed to make it up. The voice is the main thing, so the shift of light to dark is used to present the audience with the way that the singer, Lana Del Rey, is feeling through this song. This use of lighting and the massive effect that this has on the atmosphere and tone of the music video - as previously explained - is so important the the overall success of the music video and through this clear indication of the importance of lighting in music videos I will have to think carefully about the way that I use lighting in my music video. As opposed to previous projects, lighting is massively prominent and has to be addressed in the right way - from this music video and it's dependence on the lighting to set the tone I have learned that I need to make sure lighting is a key thing to think about before I go ahead and produce the music video, it cannot be an afterthought.