Research on Genre

The genre of my song that will be used for my music video is a comedy/ballad song. I have specifically chosen this genre because I think it will be quite fun to do a song that mixes two unrelated genres; a slow ballad that contains some humourous lyrics. My music video will attempt to follow the lyrics of the song, as it will add on to the emotion and mood of the song itself.

1) No Effort by Princess Nokia

The song "No Effort" by Princess Nokia is Rap/Hip Hop song. The music video does not follow a specific narrative, and instead shows Nokia alongside a female group of dancers performing a choreography in front of a store and in a public park. The mis-en-scene shows a lot of cool tone colours (blue, beige, grey, white), with a little bit of warm tone colours (red and yellow). In addition, high key lighting is quite prevalent in the video, and is used to bring attention to Princess Nokia and her backup dancers. However, low key lighting is shown when the bicycle riders are shown, which alludes to their insignificance to the video and the song itself. This music video mostly conforms to the MV conventions of the Rap/Hip Hop genre, as we see a lot of quick shots throughout the video (as is common in rap videos), all of the people featured wear baggy clothing (North face jackets), and features jump cuts of men riding bicycles and the dancers featured in the video. We also see Nokia lipsyncing the song during the video. The song itself is considered a traditional Rap/Hip Hop song, as she is bragging about how good she looks, and not about specific political movements etc. The women in the MV are mainly women of colour, as is Princess Nokia herself. The MV is presenting women of colour in a positive light, which can be seen as unconventional to the hip hop genre, as is most hip hop lyrics, women are presented in a misogynistic way (i.e. calling them the "b" word). But in Princess Nokia's case, she is not seen degrading the women in any way, and instead, are accompanying the rapper. In addition, women in Rap MVs are often dressed in scantily clad clothing, but in this specific MV, women are fully dressed. Princess Nokia is not conforming to the traditional standards of the Rap/Hip hop music videos.

2) As It Was by Harry Styles

The song "As It Was" by Harry Styles is a synth-pop song that includes lyrics that talking about dealing with loss and loneliness. The overall mise-en-scene shows us both warm and cool tone colours (blue, red, yellow, white etc.), and features shots of Styles and a female dancer on a turning platform and lying on a colourful floor and performing interpretive choreography. High key and low key lighting, as well as jump cuts and wide angle shots are heavily prevalent in the video, and are used to signify the importance of Styles and the background actors. Synth pop music videos generally do not contain a narrative, instead the artist wants you to focus on the creative and artistic tone that is conveyed throughout the video. This song fits the traditional conventions of the synth pop genre, as it heavily uses synthesizers. The video also conforms to the traditional norms of synthpop MVs, as it uses both high key and low key lighting, takes place in random settings and is very colourful (both in terms of outfits and background colours). The randomness of the video (lighting, outfits and settings) create the artistic feeling that is seen.

3) Space Cowboy by Kacey Musgraves

The song "Space Cowboy" by Kacey Musgraves is a country ballad song that deals with Musgraves accepting that her lover is with someone else, but it is time to move on because it is the best for the both of them. He is claiming he needs space, and she is willing to give it to him because their love has "faded". The mise-en-scene of this MV includes low key lighting (that is used to enhance to the dark and sad tone of the song) a house (in which Musgraves is seen lipsyncing the song), and a man (Musgraves's former lover) riding a horse through a street. The MV features jump cuts to Musgraves and her former lover fighting with each other (symbolising their turbulent relationship) and long shots of Musgraves herself. The song itself can be considered a typical country ballad song, as it touches on a deep subject (the loss of a lover), and contains a string precussion (banjo and acoustic guitar), that are heavily featured in country MVs. This MV fits the standards of country MVs, as country music videos usually feature the country side, and a more open rural area than the urban streets of a large town or city. The story of country music videos usually follows a similar structure. Generally speaking, a lot of country music videos are rather meaningful and based loosely around a story and some performance, all of which this MV does. It takes place in a house and rural area, has a deep meaning and revolves the end of the relationship between the singer and her former lover, as well as the lipsyncing done by Musgraves.

4) Amish Paradise by "Weird Al" Yankovic

The song "Amish Paradise" by "Weird" Al Yankovic is a parody song, that parodies the song "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio ft. LV. The lyrics of the song talk about the typical life of Amish people, who live in rural areas of the United States. The mise-en-scene includes cultural symbols to the Amish community, such as the clothing that the people wear (bonnets, dark coloured dresses), farming (churning butter, milking cows) and the setting (a barn and a field, where most Amish people live, as they don't live in urban areas). There are also references to the fact that Amish people are against technology (as seen when 3 people step on technological devices). There is a mixture of both low key and high key lighting, with low key lighting highlighting the chores that Amish people usually partake in (farming) and high key lighting the outside setting (the fields). This MV can be considered narrative based, as it touches upon the typical lifestyle that Amish people have. The music video directly matches the song itself, due to the Amish references in the lyrics, with "Weird" Al lipsyncing the song in various scenes in close up shots. The MV features medium close up, extreme close up, zoom out and zoom in shots, which are used to showcase the protagonists in the video. This MV conforms to the traditional standards of parody song MVs, as the video directly correlates to the lyrics.