Section 1B - Genre

"Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to Genre." 25 marks

Daniel Chandler explains that 'Genre is a distinctive type of class/text used by audiences' to make for example music videos easier to distinguish. Barry Keith Grant introduced the idea of specific 'sub genres/hybrids' that audiences identify through characteristics. The music video I produced came under the pop/dance genre, the song title was Cannibal from the artist Kesha.
In this specific essay I am going to discuss the ideas of each of the theorists I have investigated; Goodwin, Altman, Mittell, Abercrombie and Bordwell then apply their ideas to my own piece of work to understand if I have applied their idea or challenged conventions to make it more unique.
Andrew Goodwin's theory includes 5 characteristics that should be used in a typical music videos; the first was thought beats which is when the visual is cut to beat of the audio, in the pop sub genre this is a common convention that is included, that I found through my research stages. In the chorus of the song the main character says 'cannibal' numerous times, which is where the jump cuts would fit in suitably because each shot would be different and eye catching to the audience. The star image is about focusing a high percentage of the scenes around the lead singer/character by capturing meat shots and making sure the audience understand the main storyline is about them. This was the exact case of my own music video because the character was a 'cannibal' and the only scenes that included others was the beginning and end where the male actors could be seen to distinguish they were her 'victims', but because she was the only female her leadership and dominance could be shown clearly. Relating the visuals to the actual song is another one of he's ideas and this can be found in 3 different ways Illustrate, Amplify or Disjuncture. My video specifically linked into the Illustrate and Amplify because in some scenes like the lyric 'you better run' is shown a male actor is shown running away from the cannibal. However I have slightly Amplified my idea by the leopard print screen the character is stood infront of and the variety of dance moves, but this still links into the idea of her being a cannibal.
Although all of these ideas show I have adhered to the specific conventions David Buckingham discusses how 'genre is not given, the process is negotiated and changed'. I used class feedback to find out what type of conventions each of them thought I had challenged and the main response was that the dance routines were only contributed by the male actors and it's usually the females that take part in dances so shows I took risks in order for the video to look unique. Also the main conventions of a pop music video are bar scenes, these were not used in my video as I used derelict buildings and landscapes to relate to the background of my main character (cannibal) as these would be the locations she would stay in to hide away from society. A bar scene would have no relevance to my character because she feels like her secret won't let her be herself around other people, so that type of location being used would totally contradict my storyline and the outcome of the video wouldn't have had a real structure to follow.
Altman then talks about how 'genre gives the audience pleasure'   there are 3 different types of 'pleasure' that the viewers of a music video can feel. Emotional - which means the audience actually have real emotion or feelings towards the video, Visceral - the physical feeling for example sickness and excitement you feel from a roller coaster ride through the conventions used in the video and Intellectual - the idea of trying to figure out a puzzle that has been added to the video by the creators to keep the audience interested. My personal video includes an emotional pleasure that the audience will pick up on because the main character is seen as a dominant female who seduces then attacks the males to feed off because of her 'cannibal' background, this shows that if she goes about it the right way then she gets the outcome she was hoping for. So the audience watching this video - especially females would feel like if they want something in the future they should be more confident and demanding of it because our main character has played with their emotions and made them realize that if you want something you need to be determined enough to get it, which will differ depending on the person as each of them will have things they want to achieve, our music video would hopefully be able to guarntee to help them in the right direction. The reason Altman's theory is so compatible with my own music video is because the more they can interact and understand the story line the easier it will be to 'sell it to them' and hopefully enjoy it.
This then relates back to Mittel's idea of how 'genre is used to sell products to audiences' this can be transferred through the story line, camera skills, mise en scene e.t.c.really any sort of element that you have to conduct yourself through the production stage in order for your video to stand out from the others but also include the correct conventions usually seen in the pop/dance genre that I am personally working in. For me to relate back to this idea with examples of my own work the camera skills I used would be the easiest to explain. Most of the effects or clips that were completed in different scenes of my music video are usually common conventions anyway so it shows that I thought about what exactly needed to be added in order for it to be classed as the correct genre. Jump Cuts were used precisely through the duration of scenes in the video because I used a fast paced song, matching the clip to the beat of the music meant the audiences attention would be successfully captured throughout. For example the last chorus of the video, when the males and the main character are singing I decided to cut when it said cannibal to show only the males in a scene then the female alone to give them allotted screen time to themselves but also for the audience to see exactly who the characters where and see they were lip syncing in time. Super imposing of two scenes was detected through my thorougher research techniques and decided in the running scene in my video where the male has escaped from the cannibal's grasp I over layered it with a clip of the main character expressing an evil laugh as if to say that she would actually find him as she always gets what she wants, this could interest the audience and although you don't see her actually catch him again in the video suggestions can be assumed. Finally the slow motion affects added to some of the clips to add to the creepy and un lifelike personality of the main character as well as the fear and uncertainty of the male character who was running away from the torture she had already put him through. It added more drama to the sequence because the audience wouldn't have known if she was going to run up behind him or he was going to actually get away. Without adding all of these elements my video wouldn't have been half as successful and may not have been 'sold' to much of my target audience who consist of 17-25 year old females because they would look for the conventions and understand the story line correctly.
This finally leads onto Abercrombie who says that 'boundaries between genres are shifting and become permeable - merge together'  this can mean bringing in a variety of sub genres to 'mix up' the usual conventions of a specific music video you would instantly follow. for example in a pop video usually a dance routine is always scene including the main character and lots of girly colours, however if shots of the instruments used to create the sounds used in the video which are usually only shown in rock music videos this would show the merging of two together and the outcome could work if it was directed correctly. In my video personally I didn't feel like there was room for other conventions from various genres to be included in a pop/dance video as it would confuse the target audience as it's not something they would be used to seeing but also mean a lot of planning to make sure the other conventions would actually fit into the story line I was hoping to achieve because changing it was not something I wanted to do. The main thing I believe I did challenge that are usually typical pop conventions is the locations I filmed my video in, typical bar and nightclub locations are used where I used alleyways and forestry but I believe to get my story across to the audience in the best way the clubs wouldn't have worked because the main character is already hiding away from the social aspect of her life because she feels like she cant be herself so if I did show her in a nightclub setting it would go agaisnt the story I was trying to tell.

Overall I believe each of the theorists I have spoken about can relate back to my music video personally in some way, whether it be I have followed what they say perfectly in conjunction or totally challenging their points to make mine seem more unique and interesting to view.