Annotated Still Frames (Genre and Semiotics)

This year I am making a music video. For music videos there are five key genres and they are; narrative, images, performance, spectacle and personal. These genres are often linked to music genres. Usually narrative is used with the indie genre; image is usually associated with the pop genre; performance is linked to metal music; spectacle is seen with rock music and personal could be seen in a rap music video. Some theorist have defined genres in different ways. David Bordwell suggest that the audience defines the genre of the music video rather than the director because it is about how the individual perceives it. Mark Reid adds to this as he implies that the genre of the music video is based on what you are told. He uses the example of tomato puree in a supermarket and suggest if it was put next to cake, people would use it on cake.
We have made some stills and edited them to demonstrate some genres, they are rock, indie and pop music. For the rock genre we desaturated colour, for the Indie genre we used cross frames and we put text for the pop genre.  

Rock Genre

Indie Genre

This image (left) has been desaturated to add an effect of dark colours and suggest a sombre mood. The shot is from a high angle looking down on the band suggesting that the band (as some see them as idols) are the same as everybody else. The lead guitarist is in the first third of the rule of thirds, making him more prominent and drawing your eye to him. This suggests the performance which you would see in the work genre.

Pop Genre

This shot (right) is for an indie genre which would be the narrative genre. It is very brightly coloured with the members looking off into the distance. This suggest a happy scenario, but something has gone wrong linking the the narrative genre. The shot has been copied four times suggesting that they have repeated an action or a moment in their life. The Indie genre tells a story and is shown in the band shots.




This shot (left) is for the pop genre. The pop genre is associated with image and is shown immediately as the band members are the only significant thing in shot. The image itself links to the type of music as it up beat and almost party music.