MUSIC VIDEO ICONOGRAPHY
In modern music videos, the producers utilise the iconography of former videos that represent or create a certain genre for that song. Iconography refers to a critical "reading" of imagery that often attempts to explore social and cultural values. Below I have presented how the iconography in indie, pop and rock music to highlight points of camparison and contrast between the three. In order for us to reach out to our target audience and create a successful music video, we need to highlight the iconographic elements of existing music videos so we can replicate this technique in our video. Iconography can also be the selection of presentational devices that become synonymous with a genre of which any media product can lie in whether it be a film, television show or, in this case, but in this case a music video.
INDIE VIDEOS
Indie music videos are perhaps the most narrative based of any genre, with, for the most part, the video matching the story being told in the lyrics. Indie music is far less flashy than either rock or pop music, being generally more low key and relaxed and with more of an emphasis on the actual music and lyrics, using the videos to reflect that rather than simply acting as a distraction. The colours used in indie music videos tend to be more plain, with the genre not being known for any type of extravagance and are usually set in more familiar environments than those in rock and pop videos, this reflects the general attitude of the indie genre as one that relies more on deeper meanings and artistic merit than than the showmanship of pop and rock music videos.
In terms of the non-performance and narrative aspects of indie videos, they often take on the same kind of iconography as a lot of indie films as more quirky and much less conventional productions stylistically. As with all genres "Indie" is used to describe a large number of sub-genres, my previous descriptions remain true to what may be seen as the more classic acoustic style of indie music but other sub-genres share a lot with both pop and rock, with the electro music sharing the conventions of pop in terms of miss en scene, and other more classic areas of the genre being more rock influenced in their music and performance-based videos.
"Heads Will Roll"
by Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
An example of electro indie music whichshares the mise en scene of pop videosin terms of costume choices.
POP VIDEOS
Pop videos tend to be the most vibrant in terms of colour, mise en scene and the music itself and the videos mirror that. Rihanna-"Who's That Chick"A video that uses a bright colour palette and dance floor setting,added to choreographed dance to form agood example of the average pop video. The colours used in pop videos are usually bright and convey the mood of the songs which is usually an upbeat party atmosphere, this is often done to mimic the bright lights of night club dance floors where many songs of the genre will endure a lot of their success. The mise en scene of these videos is again one that conveys the party of night club atmosphere for which the songs are intended, this is shown first through the use of coreographed dance sequences which feature in most, if not all pop videos.
The second most notable use of mise en scene in pop videos is through the costume choices, which are usually very over the top representations of current fashions that most people would never normally wear, but in order to create the right image for the artist they need to be made to stand out, even in their videos. For example (left) Lady Gaga in the music video "Paparazzi" she uses outrageous eye catching costumes in every video. This is one reason why pop videos tend to date very quickly as they must appeal to what is commercially successful at that moment in time to ensure that the product can be marketed as part of any current trend. More often than not pop videos use the artists themselves as the main tool of the videos success by using their appearance to their advantage, pop music being an industry that is often accused of a style over substance attitude with many artists success lying on their appearance more than their music. This, however, is irrelevant as it is a proven formula for successful videos that if the artist is displayed in a suggestive manner it will always garner attention and publicity.
ROCK VIDEOS
Rock videos tend to be the opposite to pop videos in colour, mise en scene and purpose. Rock videos tend to use a much darker colour palette to that of pop videos with black featuring heavily in many of the videos in the genre, this represents the often darker, grittier sound of rock music and the narrative of the music. "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses, a video of a live performance Videos of this genre tend to be far more performance based than the other two genres, with many literally being the band playing the song at a concert with a studio recording pasted over the video (for example"Paradise City"right), this is done to replicate the live music atmosphere in which these types of songs will endure their greatest amount of success. Because of this it is seen that rock videos take a far more "no nonsense" outlook on music videos, letting the music do the talking. This, in the eyes of some, is what makes rock music far less commercially successful than other genres of music in recent years as the music video is increasingly more important to the success of the song and in marketing the artists image.
The use of lighting in rock videos remains simple but effective with many videos using an effect that mimics the stage lights at a live performance, this is likely used to give a taste of what to expect from the band live, as this is their primary concern to get people to see them live (for example "All My Life"left)."Sleep Now in the Fire" by Rage Against the Machine.A video that displays a rebellious narrative sectionalong with sections of performance. Where themes are concerned the videos often tell a darker story that is reflected in the lyrics, often taking on a more hard hitting or rebellious stance to pop or indie videos. An example of the representation of more hard hitting or rebellious issues can be seen in the video for "Sleep Now in the Fire"(lower right) by Rage Against the Machine in which the band both perform outside Wall Street and mock television shows like "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire", all to send their anti-establishment message about equality and rights that the band is known for.
Rock is a much more difficult genre to define with iconography in terms of narrative, due to the fact that it is a very broad genre in which the punk, metal and sometimes indie sub genres all dwell. In punk music we can often see the rebellious side of the genre, and in metal we can see the darker aspects to the genre. The most readily associated form of music when rock music is mentioned is metal with an emphasis on darker imagery being something that most people believe rock is most well known for. An example of a metal video showing a dark narrative can be seen in the video for "Enter Sandman" (bottom centre) by Metallica in which the imagery is used to instil feelings of anxiety and fear of the unknown as a tie in to the lyrics.
"Enter Sandman" by Metallica, an example of a rock video that uses dark imagery to link in to the lyrics and tone of the song, showing the boy being caught by the Sandman creating the feeling of anxiety that can be related to when the viewer thinks of fearing the unknown, which has manifested itself in the form of a young boy going having a nightmare.
By Me
