Conventions of Form & Genre

In order to understand media texts, there are expected conventions of both the form and the genre. The difference between the two is the form is the product and the genre is the conventions linked to the specific genre.

Within a music video, there are expected conventions that an audience would expect to see in order to understand it – the singer/artist featuring in it, music, performance, lip sync, editing to the beat, narrative, cinematography, editing and mise-en-scene.

Whereas, conventions of genres are different; for example, within a rap genre there would be common elements that would be usually seen - gangsters, groups of men, drugs, violence, money, dark locations and urban areas.

To prove this idea, I am going to complete 2 textual analyses of 2 videos of different genres – including how the use of mise-en-scene, editing, cinematography and sound is used to make an appealing and enjoyable music video.

Chosen Music Videos

Rap Genre: Jay-Z - 99 Problems

Pop / Rock Genre: Coldplay - Magic

Textual Analysis: 'Jay-Z - 99 Problems' and 'Coldplay - Magic'

Fading into a black and white medium close up shot of stairs, immediately communicates the location of the music video: an urban area; which is an expected convention of a location for a rap song. Via the use of the black and white filter, it connotes a sense of danger and violence – which is usually stereotyped with black rap music where ‘gangs’ and  ‘hoods’ are commonly apparent. A stedicam is used to film parts of the urban area where the location of the video is set – shown on screen are snippets of tall buildings and graffiti on the walls – creating a negative feel for the audience. The opening lyrics of the song “If you’re having girl problems I feel bad for you son, I got 99 problems but a bitch ain’t one” suggests how males in ‘gangs’ perhaps view their girls as being a sexual object (Laura Mulvey) - Jay Z is referring to his girl as a ‘bitch’; connoting negativity and that she is there to be used whenever he feels necessary, as she is just an object to him.

A low angle is used when Jay-Z first appears on screen to make him appear tough and hard. Shown to be wearing a hoodie and baggy jacket along with a big necklace implies that he is a gangster from the hood. This idea is reinforced by the lyrics “I’m from the hood”. Simple cuts are used throughout the video to change shots – helping to create continuity within the editing. The use of a canted angle and slow motion is often used – creating the idea that perhaps Jay Z’s thoughts are confused due to the fact he is from a gang and could be associated with drugs– therefore, as an audience we stereotype that he is all bad (Tessa Perkins – Stereotypes).

Via the use of mise-en-scene, it adds to the convention of the genre - rap music through the use of props; guns, police, fighting, promiscuous women, rough dogs and raves. These props correspond to the explicit lyrics within the song “nigga”, “pussy”, “fucking”, “shit”. Together, these things represent a corrupt image for the youth living in the hood. However, through the lyrics, Jay Z addresses the fact that most young black lads are stereotyped for being bad so get picked on by the police– “Am I under arrest or should I guess some mo? “Well you was doing fifty five in a fifty four. License and registration and step out of the car, are you carrying a weapon on you I know a lot of you are””. These lyrics show the harsh reality of how some black males get treated purely due to their ethnic origin.

Editing the different shots to the beat of the song creates an effective and interesting media text to follow – keeping the audience interested. A tracking shot is used to follow Jay Z around the hood almost like he is taking the audience on a tour of where he came from; the urban streets. As Jay Z is now a self-maid multi-millionaire, the video represents the idea that anybody can make something out of themselves no matter where they come from – proving that they don’t have to conform to their stereotypical label.

Like Jay Z’s – 99 Problems, Magic by Coldplay fades into a black screen. However, it soon differs as white writing appears on screen “A Jonas Akerlund film” whilst non-diegetic music plays in the background; the opening introduces the video almost as if it’s an old fashioned movie – revealing the cast members staring in it (‘Cecile – a beautiful young magicienne’, ‘Claude – her moustachioed husband, the famous but drunk magician’ and ‘Christophe – her assistant’). As the music fades out, via the use of editing, a fade in transition is used; revealing a white dove on screen. White doves portray purity – hence, the fact the dove is circling around Chris Martin (lead singer of Coldplay playing Christophe) suggests that he is the protagonist in the story. Similarly to ’99 Problems’, a black and white filter is used - conversely, instead of connoting danger it implies a sense of mystery – adhering to the title of the song ‘Magic’.  Next, a long shot reveals to the audience the location of the video: a magic show where the plot begins to develop.

Unlike ’99 Problems’, the structure of ‘Magic’ follows Tzvetan Todorov’s (1977) narrative theory – where a media text follows a simple 5 staged narrative structure. Stage 1: A point of stable equilibrium, where everything is satisfied, calm and normal – all actors are ploughing along with their obtained roles. Stage 2: This stability is disrupted by some kind of force, which creates a state of disequilibrium – Christophe decides to start trying magic as he likes Cecile which upsets Claude. Stage 3: Recognition that a disruption has taken place – Christophe sees that Claude has been abusing Cecile due to his drunken antics. Stage 4: It is only possible to re-create equilibrium through action directed against the disruption – Christophe devises a great magic trick and comes up with a plant to get rid of Claude. Stage 5: Restoration of a new state of equilibrium. The consequences of the reaction is to change the world of the narrative and/or the characters so that the final state of equilibrium is not the same as the initial state – Christophe performs a magic trick on Claude to make him go away and Cecile and Christophe result in being happily left alone together. Through this narrative structure, the music video acts as short film – whereas, ’99 Problems’ conforms to the stereotypical music video – including the expected conventions of lip singing, editing to the beat and a performance.

Within the music video ‘Magic’, the variety of shot types are more varied – unlike ’99 problems’. For example, there are close ups, long shots, over the shoulder shots, extreme close ups, low angles and shot reverse shots; along with fading transitions to different scenes. This wide range of cinematography and editing adds to the development of the narrative, whilst keeping the audience interested. Furthermore, the video conforms to the stereotypical conventions of the pop genre – due to the main star being focused on throughout (Richard Dyer – Star Theory). Although there are 4 members in the band Coldplay, only Chris Martin gets shown in the video – following Dyer’s idea that viewers perception of a film is heavily influenced by the perception of its starts and that publicity materials and reviews determine the ay that audiences experience a media text. Therefore, as Chris is the most popular member of the band, viewers will watch the video purely to see his performance.

To conclude, from my in-depth textual analysis of two different genres – rap and pop/rock, it is clear that different genres contain different conventions - making distinct recognisable conventions within music media texts for different genres. However, both videos conform to expected conventions of music videos, in order for audiences to understand them. These include the artist/singer featuring in it, music, performance, narrative and micro technical elements – mise en scene, editing, cinematography and sound.