Codes & Conventions of Funk Metal

For our class presentation I looked at 4 videos by 4 different bands within the funk metal genre, these were:

Red Hot Chili Peppers - 'Can't Stop'

Primus - 'Over the Falls'

Faith No More - 'Ashes to Ashes'

 

Infectious Grooves - 'Therapy' 

This is the presentation i presented to the class:
  
Emma g Funk Metal Presentation

From these i found that common aspects found in each video are:

• The visuals are often concept based, not necessarily around the lyrics, within these videos the concepts appear to be quite abstract.
• There is often some performance scenes, and this is often without any audience present.
• The main focus of the video is often the front man, shots of other band members are also used.
• The budget appears to be quite high in most of the videos I viewed.
• CGI is often used

Codes and conventions of performance videos

Point of view shots: 

These are used to demonstrate the singer's point of view whilst on stage, such as other band members and the crowd. They are cut in following shots of them looking in that direction.

Constant camera movement:

Often the shots are all either tracking, panning or zooming, this constant movement matches the tempo of the music and helps create a feeling of energy within the audience and aids their enjoyment of the music

Shots of the Front Man / Singer:

This is because he is the main focus of the band and will catch the attention of the audience. The are often framed as low angle shots to make them appear even bigger and more important.

Shots of the other band members:

The shots they feature in tends to be cut in whilst they play the instruments matching the soundtrack, this helps to show off their talent and ability.

Shots of the crowd:
These shots serve the purpose of displaying their target audience and demonstrating how they're enjoying the music.

OK GO - 'Here It Goes Again'

This video is a perfect example of a low budget production, the band have used one camera set up on a tripod and taken a continuous film with no editing what-so-ever, of their dance routine using treadmills. 

This would fit in with Goodwins' music video types as the band have performed a dance routine, this is counter typical of this genre as it is more usual for dance routine performance's to be seen in pop or dance music videos and OK GO are more renowned for their 'indie rock' and alternative styles of music.

However, it has now become stereotypical for the band themselves to do dance routine performance videos' and almost all of their subsequent music videos have been done in a similar, individual fashion.

The set is basic, with a silver curtain behind then and nothing else. Their costumes are their everyday clothing, this may be an attempt to convey their style to their audience.

A music video like this may have taken numerous attempts as it would be relatively easy to mess up the routine. The routine its self isn't difficult but would have required practise to perfect timing etc. It also fits well with the tempo of the music.

The bands' target audience is likely to be teenagers possibly of both sexes, but males are most likely to find this video amusing.

This innovative style of video helped to gain the band fame on youtube as the video became more popular, so did their music. This style of video could be used as a counter-argument for post-modernism, as this is original and creative, nothing had been seen like this before this video, although now it has been released anything performed in a similar style will be a creative copy.

Guns 'N' Roses - 'Sweet Child O' Mine'

The band Guns 'N' Roses were famous in the 80's as a glam rock band, this track is one of their biggest hits.

The video is set in a studio and the main focus is on the band as they practise the song. This type of video would fit in with Goodwin's music video types as it is a performance video. The difference between this and the performances we see in other Guns 'N' Roses videos such as 'Paradise City' and 'Welcome To The Jungle' is the absence of a crowd.

The simplicity of the video; without any narrative scenes such as the ones seen in 'November Rain' the bands highest production cost music video of $1.5 million, suggests that this video, in contrast, had a low production cost.

The opening shots focus mainly on Slash, the lead guitarist as he plays the intro. There are other shots of the band members, including lead singer Axel Rose, and other people who are unknown setting up the instruments and other equipment. This gives a sense of realism, the audience feel as though they have this opportunity to witness Guns 'N' Roses backstage as they practise their set.

The shots are cut in time to changes within the beat. 

According to the wikipedia entry on this song, the video features all the band member's girlfriends; including Axel Rose's then girlfriend Erin Everly, daughter of Don Everly. The dog seen in the opening shot belongs to guitarist, Izzy Stradlin. This suggests a rather personal aspect to the video.

The scenes in the video change between colour shots and black and white, the use of black and white sometimes signifies the past, this may be a negotiated reading although it is more likely the change between colour and no colour has been used to make more obvious the difference between the bands' performances and fame and the bands' private life, as it is in the black and white shots that the bands girlfriends feature. 
In one short shot a sexual relationship is conveyed as a hand is seen sliding up a woman's thigh, their faces aren't seen so their identity remains anonymous although we can predict it will have been one of the band members and their girlfriend.

Junior Senior - 'Move Your Feet'

This song, by Junior Senior is a mainstream dance record and therefore would also appeal to fans of pop. The main target audience for the pop genre is the younger generation, and therefore explains their choice to use an video using only CGI.

In contrast, however, the graphics of the animation are largely pixilated in a smililar way to old fashioned computer games of the 70's or 80's which are more likely to have been played by a much older generation. This suggests they are aiming to appeal to wider audience. 

The retro video, contrasting with the modern style of music may reflect the bands image of 'Junior' and 'Senior'. This links with Goodwin's music video types as the visuals are linked in some way to the music.
The visuals also link with the lyrics very closely, as certain clips match directly with the lyric being sung at the exact moment they appear on screen. Also throughout the characters in the video are all dancing, which is the key focus of the lyrics.

The graphics present cartoon interpretations of the band members although they're not easily recognisible.
It is not uncommon in the Dance genre to not have the artist themselves within the video, as they're usually well known in association with their music instead of themselves as an artist, however in the Pop genre, the artists as individuals are the focus of most if not all of their music videos.

An animated video like this could easily have been achieved with a relatively low budget, which is likely as this was the bands only hit single.

Snoop Dogg - 'Sensual Seduction'

This video is unusual because they've taken elements of the older style of music video's from the 70's and used images which look as though they have been filmed with an old camera, as the pictures far less clear than today's high definition videos. 

They have then mixed that with the style of video we would be used to seeing from Snoop Dogg's more recent videos, featuring semi-dressed women to appeal to a male audience.

Snoop Dogg's target audience and fan base would be young males ages 15 - 35, most probably of black origin, and it is clear they have tapped into that audience with this video, using an all black cast of young females.

The video its self could have been produced quite cheaply as the visuals have been edited in such an old fashioned way. However aspects such as costume and props, which again fit with this theme of the 70's era suggest a higher budget.

The video has been compared to 70's porn [by FHM magazine] which, by using Goodwin's theory we can suggest that the lyrics have been matched to the visuals, as the lyrics are based entirely on sexual activity.

Snoop's character in the video may also show some intertextual reference to his character 'Huggy Bear' in the remake of 'Starsky and Hutch' set in 1974.

This track is different to Snoop Dogg's usual music which is much faster rap than this, it may be for this reason that he has gone for an old fashioned style of video to highlight the difference, as his other music video's focus more on the modern style of Rap eg, cars, bling etc. this contrasts with that.

The artist is the focal point of most of the video, the rest focusing on the females and the old fashioned CGI, this is typical of solo artists as they're selling only themselves to their audience.

Taylor Swift - 'Love Story'

This track was Taylor Swifts first hit single, her music falls into the Pop genre, although it is described to have a slight 'Country' edge. Her immediate target audience and fan base would be young female teenagers.

Using Goodwin's music video types we can clearly see a direct link between lyrics and visuals within this video, the lyrics themselves based upon a love story and the video straight forwardly following the tale told by the lyrics.

An imaginary past is used instead of present, verisimilitude is achieved through the use of setting and costume.

The main focus of the video is the tale, however there are frequent cut away shots of the Artist lip syncing, this is a common convention of the Pop genre as the Artist is who the audience want to see. It is also a common convention that the main character in the plot of the video is also played by the Artist themselves, which again is seen in this video.

There are no special effects within this video as that wouldn't fit with the narrative, though a large production budget is clear from the use of settings, costume, lighting etc.

As the target audience is prodominantly young females, they have cast an attractive young man to play the role of 'so-called Romeo' as this will draw their attention and keep them interested. In opposition to this there is very little effort made to attract a male audience, the clothes worn by the Taylor Swift are entirely modest and not revealing.

The style of music matches the pace of the editing and the action withing the scenes, eg. the dancing. We do not see examples of modern dance routines as is common in music videos of the pop genre, instead we see traditional, old fashioned dance scenes to match the lyrics and narrative, which has intertextual reference to William Shakespeare's play 'Romeo and Juliet'.

Taio Cruz - 'Dynamite'

This track would fit within the R'n'B genre which has fast become one of the most common genres in the music world, alongside Pop. It is currently ranked; Number 3 in the UK Top 40 chart.

For this reason the main target audience would be young female teenagers, as their music preferences tend to dictate which songs reach chart topping status.

This video begins with scenes of young women using power tools, this has intertextual reference to the video for Benny Benassi's 'Satisfaction' which was well known at the time for it's sexualy explicit material. 
Since then it has become more common for women to be seen in a similar way within music video's, particularly within the Dance genre.

In this one the music doesn't begin until 25 seconds into video, this suggests that the visuals in some way link to lyrics or music. 
Further into the video we see the women handling some dynamite and further on again we see some large explosions, this matches the lyrics directly and perhaps more literally than the lyrics mean.
They have most likely used explosions for visual effect, and to advertise a large production budget.

As a solo artist with no accompanying star performances most of the shots are of Taio Cruz himself lip syncing, the others focus on the womens body's.

To this we can apply the male gaze theory, as it suggests the producers are aiming towards a male audience with this video.

Another target audience would perhaps be of black origin as a large proportion of the cast and the Artist himself are of black ethnicity.

Brandon Flowers - 'Crossfire'

This track is the first solo release by 'The Killers' lead singer Brandon Flowers. His music fits within the subgenre of rock; indie rock.

One instant give aways that this video has a substantial budget is the guest star Hollywood actress, Charlize Theron

The focus within this video is between the Artist and the Actress, this is typical of the rock genre as it is both a rich and glamorous genre in comparison to those which are less mainstream. 

The Artist's assossiation with 'The Killers' means that despite this being his first song ever to be released he is already very well known and therefore, shots of him are frequent within the video.


Goodwin's music video types can be applied to this music video as there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, they don't match them, instead they portray a concept within the lyrics in a different manner. The concept of emotional conflict which is instead shown through physical conflict and fighting. 
However it rejects the theory that rock songs feature performance viduals as this video does not.


There could be intertextual refernces relating to Lara Croft Tomb Rader within this video as the Actress plays a character dressed in an almost identical way, and her female character is shown as a strong fighter and defeats the males in battle. This also ties in the male gaze theory.

Both males and females will watch this video as indie rock appeals to a wide audience, typically a youth audience ages between 15 - 35


This video features some special effects, such as the explosionsand there is alot of damage to the sets etc. The fight scenes will have required alot of editing and the stage make-up to suggest the Artist has be hurt is proffesionally done. Again, this all suggests a high budget production.

Magnetic Man - 'I Need Air'

This track is from the Dubstep genre, typically only mainstream tracks within this genre will produce music videos, it is more common that dubstep artists release music which doesn't reach chart topping status and therefore they don't waste money on producing videos.

For this reason it seems appropriate that the video uses only footage of Magnetic Man's live performance. For this reason it has a very realistic and unglamorous feel, suited to typical audiences of dubstep.

The clips are tinted purple, which creates an atmosphere for the audience of being within the crowd, as similar lighting would be seen within the performance arena.

Usually the audience for the dubstep genre is young male's, however this video has not tapped into the typical 'Male Gaze theory' featuring in most modern video's. 

Simplistic editing styles such as straight cuts between shots and blurring and rewinding of certain clips.

Some special effects have been used but again these are simple, nothing more elaborate than would be achieved with lighting within the performance arena this is because the artist has only a small budget for his video and similarly his music suits this style of video, anything more elaborate would appear out of place.

There are many variations of shots such as close ups of crowd members, long panning shots of the crowd as a whole, and long shots of the stage. However the pace at which they change is relatively slow because the changes match the beat, this is a relatively slow song in contrast to others within the dubstep genre.

The video for 'I Need Air' is almost identical to Magnetic Man's only other mainstream single 'Perfect Stranger' featuring Katy B. This suggests a reccuring style or image the artist is striving to achieve.

Similar to the Dance genre, the focus in the video for 'I Need Air' is not on the artist themselves. Shots within the video are of the crowd instead of the artist, and keeping the audiences main focus upon the music not the artists appearance.

This is one of the key differences between this and the dance genre in comparison to other genres such as Pop, R'n'B and Rock

This style of video relates to Goodwin's music video types, as it demonstrates some relationship between the style of music and the visuals, plus there is the performance aspect aswell.

Practise Pitch

For my pitch i worked with Beth Cooper, on the track 'Riot Van' by The Arctic Monkeys submitted by Stephanie Mears.

The song currently doesn't have a video as it is an album track

The lyrics :

So up rolls a riot van

And sparks excitement in the boys

But the policemen look annoyed

Perhaps these are ones they should avoid

Got a chase last night

From men with truncheons dressed in hats

We didn't do that much wrong

Still ran away though for the laugh

Just for the laugh

And please just stop talking

Cause they won't find us if you do

Oh those silly boys in blue

Well they won't catch me and you

Have you been drinking, son

You don't look old enough to me

I'm sorry, officer

Is there a certain age you're supposed to be

Cause nobody told me

And up rolls the riot van

And these lads just wind the coppers up

They ask why they don't catch proper crooks

They get their address and their names took

But they couldn't care less

Got thrown in a riot van,

and all the coppers kicked him in,

and there was no way he could win,

just had to take it on the chin.

This was the pitch that we presented to our class :

Arctic Monkeys Riot Van Pitch