Genre Conventions of My Music Video

The genre of my music video is British/Indie pop, and Kate Nash is known to be proud to be born British. I think this is a good genre to chose for my audience as it will appeal to the age range, but will also promote the English artist, which encourages the listening of British music. Other artists that are influencial and British, that fit the same genre like Kate Nash, is Lily Allen. Her and Kate Nash's music are seen as very similar, and both women have the same backgrounds, which could be a reason why, as both grew up in London. This shows that genre could be affected by the artists own background, as it would influence them into what music they enjoy, which like I said above could be seen as a relection of their own persona.



The video itself does fit the general conventions of music videos, but in it’s own way. British Pop music is seen as quite upbeat, even if the lyrics and theme are quite negative. The videos by artists of this genre, mixing with indie represent this. The mis en scene matches the mood of the songs, and ‘Pumpkin Soup’ is quite an upbeat, tempo song about love. We associate with love, reds/pinks/flowers/love hearts, and all these sorts of connotations are represented in the video. The main colours used are reds, yellows, and pinks. This is similar to other videos of the same genre. For example, Lily Allen’s ‘Smile’ sees many different abstract colours such as red and green clashing together. These are used to create a positive outlook, even though the song is quite negative, with lyrics such as ‘at first when I see you cry, it makes me smile.’ This shows how artists of this genre don’t categories themselves and break the conventions of what is expected in a music video from listening to their songs, as typically a pop song about heartbreak or topics of depression would be matched by a much more depressing video.

The lyrics are used to also effect what is on screen. A current occurrence of music videos, is the lyrics matching what decides to be shown on screen, and this is also shown in the music videos of British Pop/Indie music, but in a different way. The artists seem to go more extreme. An example of this is seen in the Kate’s video. ‘You chat to me, like we connect.’ As the shot cuts from Kate, we then see a medium long shot of her sat on a huge red telephone as she sings this lyric. This makes the mis en scene match with what she is saying, but on a bigger scale. The video is seen more as a cartoon, making it less serious and more enjoyable for the viewer, which is different to the usual Pop music videos, as they are seen as a chance for the artist to show off, whereas these artists do not care. An example of this is Kate and her friend in the video covered in red lipstick. This goes well with the lyric ‘I just want your kiss boy’ and has been done deliberately to create humour. This again matches the main convention of the lyrics influencing what is shown in the video. Another video which is seen as quite abstract is by Lily Allen, called ‘Alfie’. She goes along with the same conventions as seen in Kate Nash’s song. Abstract colours are used, such as greens and blues together, which represents how they break the conventions of what you’d typically see from female artists. This makes their videos more visually entertaining, and also shows how they may not be created for a narrative purpose as they dare to be different.

The artists of this genre also break the general conventions of what would be expected from female artists if you listen to the lyrics. Kate Nash is singing about wanting the sexual sides of relationships in her song which I have chosen, with lyrics such as ‘Whoops I think I’ve got too close, co snows he telling me that im the girl that he likes most.’ and could be seen as shocking to a listener, as usually the males would be seen as wanting more physical contact then women. Another example is from lily Allen, who wrote a song named Alfie. It is based around her little brother, and has controversial lyrics such as ‘Oh deary me, my little brothers in his bedroom smoking weed.’ This shows how the artists from this genre are not scared to express whatever feelings they have through their music, good or bad, compared to pop music.

Another convention I have noticed from music videos of this genre is the use of editing. At the start of ‘Pumpkin Soup’ we see a sequence that is very abstract, and like I said earlier cartoon like. Cuts are used here to match the beat of the song, as at the start an instrumental is before the artist begins to sing. This makes the video flow more visually, and gives the audience much more to look at. Another use of editing which is common, is medium shots of the artist. This is common in most videos, and gives the audience a chance to see the artist performing.

After analysing various videos from my chosen genre, I can see deliberate twists on general conventions. The artists of this genre usually break the mould on what is typically meant to be seen, and create much more artistic and abstract videos to create a positive visual treat for viewers, even if the songs are depressing. Other conventions such as the lyrics influencing what is shown on screen are used, but are created more for visual pleasure than for anything and props are used on a much bigger scale. I have also realised how the pace of editing is used to keep the songs upbeat and positive throughout, which is the aim from the artists.