Researching Music Genres

Before going any further in the project I decided to research some of the many genres of music. I have only decided to research the main genres.

The main music genres are:

- Alternative - also known as alternative rock/music is a sub genre of rock which became very popular in the 1990s. Sub genres of alternative include grunge, britpop, gothic rock and indie pop. Alternative is one of the most popular and successful out of the genres

- Blues - originated from Africa, in the seep south of the USA. The genre Blues form from jazz, rhythm and rock and roll. Blues always uses specific lyrics, bass lines and instruments

- Classical - became aware in the early 19th century. Usually classical music consists of instruments found in an orchestra plus a few extra solo instruments. Classical music is produced to give a very emotional relationship between the music and the audience

- Country - blend of different musics that people became rapidly aware of in the beginning of the 1920's. Country has produced different forms of the genre, for example 'country rock' and 'country pop'. Sometimes artists use essences of country in their music, for example Lily Allen - Not Fair 

- Easy Listening - a mixture of two or more different genres of music, usually a mix of a big band song and a soft music. People think of easy listening music as simple, yet catchy and relaxing melodies

- Electronic - is music that quite simply uses electronic instruments and electronic musical equipment. Now the genre is used with a mixture of dance in night clubs and is known as electronic dance music

- Folk - is most commonly known to people as the music that is 'transmitted by word of mouth'. Different types of genres have originated from this single genre, including folk rock, folk metal and electronic folk

- Hip Hop/Rap - has four key stylistic elements: Rapping, DJ/Scratching, Sampling and Beatboxing. It is now one of the most popular music genres of todays   

- House - is a sub genre of electronic dance music that became known in America in the 1980's. It reached Europe in the 1990's. House is influenced by elements of soul, funk and disco

- Indie Rock/Pop - Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that became known in both the UK and USA in the 1980's. Typical instruments used in this genre are guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and of course the vocals

- Jazz - Originated from African American communities in the 20th century. Typical instruments used are saxophones drums and trumpets

- Pop - Pop music is one of the most popular genres of music today and is dominantly aimed at the youth market. Pop music is also associated with rock, indie and R&B

- Rock - Rock music is a genre of popular music that first became known in the 1960's. Rock uses rock and roll, rhythms, blues and country. 'The sound of rock' often involves an electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, and keyboard instruments. In rock music a guitar solo is a very important part of the song   

- Techno - is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the 1980's from the USA. Techno uses essences of trance and electronica in the music. Techno is used mostly in dance and night clubs 

- Trance - is also a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the 1990's. Trance consists of short repetitive melodic pieces of sound that is commonly repeated at a speed between 120 and 145 bpm. Like most of the other genres it uses essences of other genres. In trance they use electronic, techno and house

Marketing A Band - The Fleurbelles

Today we were given the task of promoting and marketing a band. We were put into pairs and were in charge of marketing the band 'The Fleurbelles'.

Below is an automated video version of the presentation we produced:

Low Angle Shot - Carol Vernallis

"Low angle shots are used more extensively in music videos, partly because they reproduce relations among the audience, performer and stage. Such shots confer authority upon performers and assert their sexual charisma, often crudely, by highlighting the erogenous areas/zones of performers. On the other hand high angle shots in music videos, as in film, give the viewer a sense of power and mobility."

To summarise a low angle shot gives the audience the impression they are watching a performance and constantly reminds them that what they are watching is a music video, where as a high angle shot gives the opposite effect. 

Dolly Shots - Carol Vernallis

"Most music videos make such extenstive use of the dolly that  a static shot seems anomalous (when it is still it seems out of place). The dolly shot keeps the video moving, it starts almost invariably as soon as the video begins, and only ceases towards the end. It provides a simple way for a music video to catch and sustain a song's momentum."

For example this can be seen in the music video Eminem - Love The Way You Lie (ft. Rihanna) in the scene where Eminem is in the open field

Examples of constant moving on an artist can be when the camera is:
- Hand Held
- On Dolly Tracks
- Falling Effect

Functions And Meanings Of Music In Editing - Carol Vernallis

"quick cutting on the beat"
- Every cut or edit in music video needs to be in sync with the music
- There is 'rhythmic basics clearly connected to the song

"edits in music videos come far more frequently than in film"
"Music video editing bears a far greater responsibility for many elements than does classic Hollywood film editing"
-  There are lots of very short, quick edits in music video. These build up a montage and often tell the story of the video (progress the narrative)

"the editing in music videos works hard to ensure that no single element (the narrative, the setting, the performance, the star, the lyrics, the song) gains the upper hand."
- When I begin to create my own music video I must focus on creating a balance between images and the song itself.
- The video cannot distract from the song but must also grab the audiences attention. 

Still Analysis - Diary Of A Wimpy Kid

Despite this still not being from a music video I felt it would be beneficial for me to analysis a still of a film, I chose this still from the movie, Diary of a Wimpy Kid

This scene happens near the end of the movie. The movie is, for the most part, set in a school where a ‘mysterious piece of cheese’ has appeared on the playground and anybody who touches it gets ‘the cheese touch’.

In this frame we see a slight high, wide angle, long shot of a large group of children running towards the school while one boy, Greg, is standing alone to the left of the shot. By looking at this frame we are immediately attracted to Greg as he stands out from the rest of the school. He stands out because he is the largest person in the shot, as the other children are far away from the camera they look small compared to Greg, our eye is immediately attracted to him. We are also immediately attracted to what he is wearing, the bright orange t-shirt amongst the dull surrounding makes our eyes attracted to the him first, it looks as though the editors of the movie have increased the saturation on Greg’s t-shirt to force our attention to him. We can see that he is holding something; this may explain why the rest of the school is running away from him.

We assume the rest of school children are running away from him, as he is standing alone. We instantly assume that he is an outcast, a loner, somebody nobody wants to talk or be seen with. As you can see in this still we can only see the back of him, this may have been done to make the audience feel that they too do not want to be seen with him, if the camera shot was of a close up of Greg the audience may feel like they are one of his close friends or a close family member, however due to the frame being taken at a slight high angle and as a long shot, the audience feel like they too are running away from Greg.        

As we can only see the back of Greg, we are unaware of his expression, however we can see that his left arm is to his side, his feet are firmly on the ground, and he is making no attempt to catch up with the other children, we assume that Greg looks miserable and slightly annoyed by what has happened.

The light in this scene is not bright, nor dark. The lighting in this scene adds to the dull atmosphere, this atmosphere is a metaphor for the way Greg is feeling to the whole situation. 

The framing in this scene is loose. There is a lot of free space around the frame and in particularly between Greg and the other characters. This gives the illusion that all the free space was once taken up by children and suddenly all the children are bundled together towards the top of the frame leaving Greg alone. The fact that Greg has not moved towards the other children gives us the impression that this had happened very quickly or that Greg know longer cares and is used to being alone and isolated from the world.

Meeting

Today I spoke with Faye to ask her what she thought the next step should be. We have both done analysis' on several music videos so decided to do an analysis on something different; we decided to each analysis a film still of our chose to help use notice the different codes and conventions, camera techniques and editing tools which we could use or change in our own music videos. I decided to do an analysis of the film 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid'.