What is Genre?
Dictionary definition: A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter
Genre we have chosen and why
The song Andrea and I chose to make a music video to is from the electropop genre. Electro pop is one of the most dominating genres in the music industry with artists such as Lady Gaga, La Roux, Calvin Harris and many more. Furthermore we agreed that this particular genre of music is what suits our personality and us best which is why we decided to go with Electro pop.
What are the main generic conventions of a music video in your chosen genre?
Background research:
Although synthpop in part arose from punk rock, it abandoned punk's emphasis on authenticity and often pursued a deliberate artificiality, sometimes using synthesizers to replace all other instruments. It owed relatively little to the foundations of early popular music in jazz, folk music or the blues, and instead of looking to America, in its early stages, it consciously focused on European and particularly Eastern European influences. Early synthpop has been described as "eerie, sterile, and vaguely menacing", using droning electronics with little change in inflection. Later the introduction of dance beats made the music warmer and catchier and contained within the conventions of three-minute pop. Because synthesizers removed the need for large groups of musicians, these singers were often part of a duo where their partner played all the instrumentation.
Characteristics:
Synthpop was defined by its primary use of synthesizers, drum machines
and sequencers
, sometimes using them to replace all other instruments. Many synthpop musicians had limited musical skills, relying on the technology to produce or reproduce the music. The result was often minimalist, with grooves that were "typically woven together from simple repeated riffs often with no harmonic 'progression' to speak of". Early synthpop has been described as "eerie, sterile, and vaguely menacing", using droning electronics with little change in inflection. Common themes were isolation, urban, and feelings of being emotionally cold and hollow. In its second phase in the 1980s, the introduction of dance beats and more conventional rock instrumentation, made the music warmer and catchier and contained within the conventions of three-minute pop. Synthesizers were increasingly used to imitate the conventional and clichéd sound of orchestras and horns. Thin and treble dominant synthesized melodies and simple drum programmes gave way to thick, and compressed production, and a more conventional drum sound. Although synthpop in part arose from punk rock
, it abandoned punk's emphasis on authenticity and often pursued a deliberate artificiality, drawing on the critically derided forms such as disco and glam rock
.
Which iconography fo music vids in yout genre use?
Electro pop music videos usually consist of bold/ bright colours, lots of patterns and shapes, funky clothes, make-up (for girls), graphics etc. They look very artistic and some almost look like video games with all the graphics and patterns.
Is your chosen song's grenre typically narrative, performance, concept or a combination?
Our chosen song's genre is a combination of narrative, performanve and concept. However the music video that belongs to the song we've chosen (Aly & AJ - Potential Break-up Song) is all performance based but we plan to have a mixture in our own music video.
Which props, location and set design, costume, shot types, angles, stereiotypical characters are archetypal of your genre?
I've noticed that Electro pop music videos like the use of quick choppy shots, either really plain in Aly & Aj's case or really bold, bright, patterend clothes, various angles such as close-ups, low/high angle shots, panning shots etc.
