Genre Theory - Queens "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Firth

Performance

Nearing the end of the music video, the "Bohemian Rhapsody" music video abruptly switches from  Conceptual to basic stage performance. The stage is lit up with bright vibrant lights and the artists switch to a more 70's rock-esque attire.

Narrative

The music video has no real narrative plot per se. However, the lyrics for two-thirds of the song seems to suggest some semblance of a story. It seem to be about a man who just murdered another man and is being sent to jail/hell.

Conceptual

The beginning of the music video seems to be very original and experimental in style. There doesn't seem to be a narrative, neither do we see the artists playing there instruments like a performance piece. It is simply the heads of the artists singing along to the music video in the dark.

Carlsson

Commercial Exhibitionist

A commercial exhibitionist is where the artist is prominently featured throughout the music video, with plenty of close-ups being used on the lead singer. The genre this typically applies to is Pop.

One well known example of a Commercial exhibitionist is Beyonce. In the music video "Single Ladies" Beyonce is almost always on screen, with plenty of close ups on her face and voyeuristic shots of her and the background dancers.

Televised Bard

A televised bard is where there is usually a narrative implemented into the music video to tell a story or to get the meaning of the lyrics across.


Electric Shaman
Electric Shaman is an artist who is never seen performing in his/her own music video. This is essentially the exact opposite of a Commercial Exhibitionist. The genre this typically applies to is Techno/Indie

One of the more popular examples of "The Electric Shaman" are the music videos of Fatboy Slim. He is known for not appearing in his own videos and in the music video "Weapon of Choice", it is neither a performance piece (owing to the artists absence) nor a narrative as their is no story involved in it (Christopher Walken is sitting down, he gets ups and dances, then sits back down).

Textual Analysis - Nickelback "Someday"

Nickelback – “Someday” Textual Analysis

The media I am analysing is the music video to Nickelback’s “Someday”. The person who had directed the music video was Nigel Dick, who has also directed music videos for Nickelback before and after this one. The genre of this music is Rock (Specifically Alternative Rock). The characteristics of this genre is shown through the mise-en-scene and the artist’s costume. The music video takes place in a modern day city setting with the band playing in a highrise building behind a window. The band members are wearing casual clothing like most modern rock stars.

The story behind the lyrics of the song is about two peoples relationship problems and how the artist wishes he could talk out their problems rather than breaking up. This similar scenario is played throughout the video as cut between scenes of the band playing, there is a narrative storyline about a woman seemingly breaking up with her boyfriend and moving out of his apartment while crying. The narrative takes place in the point of view of the boyfriend and his attempts to win his girlfriend back. The ending of the narrative actually subverts the meaning of the song as it is revealed that the boyfriend had died before the beginning of the narrative and the girlfriend was mouring his loss rather than leaving him.

While there maybe a narrative being conveyed throught the music video, around half of the video is the band performing the song. Throughout this there are plenty of close ups of the main artist/lead singer, even starting out with a close up of the lead singers face. Overall, there seems to be an even amount of narrative and performance based content in the music video.

 

Todorov's Theory on Music Videos

Todorov's Theory is that the narrative of music videos can be split into five different sections. The Equilibrium (The setting is set), Disruption (A problem arises), Recognition (The problem is recognised by the main character's), Attempt to repair (The main character(s) go off to solve the problem) and the Restored Equilibrium (The problem is fixed and Equilibrium is restored). Usually the new Equilibrium is not exactly like the old one.

NickleBack "Far Away"

Equilibrium
The narrative is set up as a love story between a couple in bed. They appear to be quite happy with each other, with no problems being shown at the moment.

Disruption
The disruption comes in the form of a phone call on the man's mobile phone. Immediately the couple start to look depressed. The man takes the call and soon afterwards gets out of bed. The woman look distraught.

Recognition
The man grabs a firemans uniform, showing that the phone call was him being called out to put out a fire. This is why the woman is sad as she is obviously concerned for his safety. He comforts her for a moment, then leaves.

Attempt to Repair
The man, along with others, are trying to put out a forest fire. It seems like an impossible feat and the firemen begin to leave via helicopter. The man, however, gets left behind trying to save another fireman and is implied to have been killed by a falling tree. The woman gets the news through a phone call and breaks down in tears.

Restored Equilibrium
The woman leaves the house, hearing the sirens of a car. She sees several firemen and eventually, the man walks out of the car, revealing that he survived the fire.

Conventions of Hip Hop

1: The lyrics of hip hop are quite often boastful, the artist usually being quite confident with him/herself.

2: Low Camera angles are often usually make the artist look a lot more larger and dominating.

3: There is typically a very large focus on the main artist, with plenty of close up shots and shots solely focusing in him/her.

4: A lot of the time there is a voyeuristic treatment of female extras and the artist herself if she is female.

5: The type of clothing/costume the artist wears is very casual and urban. Hoodies and Baseball caps are the usual style of clothing worn.

Conventions of Rock

1. There is an extensive amount of close ups of the band members, but mostly the lead singer is focused on throughout most of the shots.

2. At least half of the the music video is comprised of the band performing alongside the music and singing the lyrics.

3. Some of the time, there will be a narrative interwoven throughout the music video. The most common form of narrative is typically a love story with it usually taking place in the mans point of view.

Nickelback Album Art Analysis

#1 - "All the Right Reasons"

The main image of the album cover is a long, straight road in a lone, desolate desert leading toward the horizon. This suggests that the albums theme is a about someone's lengthy journey through life alone. The sun appears to be either setting or rising, symbolizing that the journey has either just begun or nearly at it's end. However, the title of the album has little to no significance to the album art. The title "All the Right Reasons" has no connection to a Black car driving into the sunset. 

#2 - "The Long Road"

The main image of the album art is a long highway bridge leading into the background. This of course is the eponymous "Long Road" mentioned in the name of the album. The colors of the sky is primarily dark red, but as it reaches the horizon line it progressively gets lighter. The long road also is heading towards the bright horizon line as well. This could suggest that the overall theme of the album is about a journey of sorts. 

#3 - "Dark Horse"

The colors used in the artwork are primarily Black and Gray. This relates to the name of the album "Dark Horse". The name and the colors suggests that the overall theme of the album will be a lot darker than in previous albums with a more mature outlook. The central image appears to be similar to that of a horse shoe. The connects to the album's name "Dark Horse".

Conventions of Pop

1 - Extensive use of close-ups on the main artist. This is done so that the artist is advertised as much as possible as Pop artists are typically solo with less focus on the people actually making the music.

2 - If the artist is female, then there will typically be voyeuristic shots of said artist in order to increase sex appeal and keep people focusing on the music video.

3 - The overall atmosphere of the music video is very optimistic. There is a lot of enthusiasm with little to no subtlety. The main artist is typically overactive through the music video.

4 - There are usually a large amount of extras in the video, but they are in the background and out of focus so as not to take any attention away from the main artist.

5 - The locations used in the music videos are many and varied, with them seemingly being random. These locations are also typically man-made rooms as opposed to natural locations.