Research into chosen music genre.

As a group we've decided to create a music video for Example - Stay Awake which falls into the dance music genre, everyone in the group enjoys this genre music which has its advantages as we're more likely to agree on what aspects to apply to our music video and what are stereotypical conventions within this genre and the music videos as we're familar with the genre and music videos within this catergory too. Example conforms to an artist creating dance music songs well as he is similar to the majority of artists creating dance music and quite a basic image that represents a normal man rather, his image doesnt neccessarily fall into something of a dance music genre overall but certain aspects do. We chose the song Stay Awake as its an obvious song within the dance genre so we could investigate what we'd need to include and apply to our video, by chosing this song we then decided to investigate what the target audience expected to see in a dance music video and of a dance music artist too. After deciding to do this we created questionnaires and vox pops after collecting data from both of these we processed the data by putting the questionnaire results into charts (mainly pie charts) so we could analyse the data and decide on what was key for our music video. Vox pops are basically when you find candidates willing to discuss their favourite type of music, artist and what conventions they expect in certain genre's on camera. As a group we all looked at the results of both questionnaires and the vox pops and decided on what we thought was vital to show in our music video and also how to portray our artist too.

 

 Two artists who are similar to Example are both Tinie Tempah and Flo Rida as they both produce music of the same genre with the same conventions applied, these are two artists who i will go on to discuss in this post.

 

Artist one: Tinie Tempah - Pass Out

Despite being a successful and popular video in the dance genre this song doesnt conform to the stereotype's of a dance music video overall. While other videos within this genre usually include a storyline with a exotic location and bright colours this video is stripped back and quite basic especially for a video in the dance music genre. Mise-en-scene isn't as evident in this video as it usually in dance music video's which is odd for an artist first starting out to create a music video for a certain genre yet go against the stereotypes however this could've worked in Tinie Tempah's favous as the song has gone on to be extremely successful.

 

There are no girls included throughout the whole music video which is considered strange for a dance music video, one main reason videos within the dance genre include girls in the majority of the video is to create a realistic scene making it simultaneously fun. Dance music is played in clubs, holiday locations etc. where there is always girls present, another reason for girls always being evident in these videos is because they're portrayed as sex symbols who wear minimal clothing this is too appeal to the male target audience. Tinie Tempah is however dressed in appropriate clothing, although he isn't wearing any designer labels or jewelry his clothes are in keeping with whats considered cool, he's dressed casual as this will appeal to the male audience as he's dressed similar to what the majority of males wear and is wearing nothing too risky in the video. He wears sunglasses in this video which is something associated with fame despite not being in a location where people would often wear sunglasses it gives the impression of bright vibrancy which is associated with the dance music genre. Wearing sunglasses in dark locations is also common to famous people who do it because of paparazzi or to conceal their identity, this is Tinie Tempah's way of establishing himself as an up and coming artist in the dance genre as this was his first video/appearance int he music industry.

 

Artist two: Flo Rida - Whistle.

This video is a good example of a stereotypical music video in the dance music genre, it includes a lot of things stereotyped to the fun atmopshere and vibe that comes with dance music. Mise-en-scene is a big factor contributing to the dance genre and relating it to the genre overall. Mise-en-scene is carefully contructed in this music video to create the perfect atmosphere including all the things the target audience would expect to feature in a video for dance music including dancing, girls, an exotic location and more.

The setting is a beach which looks hot and sunny, this conforms to the stereotype of an exotic location being present to make the scene look attractive to the audience, there are lots of females evident in the music video dressed in minimal clothing portraying them as sex symbols to the male target audience, despite there being many females there is only one male which would appeal to the male target audience again as lots of attractive women wearing minimal clothing giving one male attention is a dream for most boys. The overall atmosphere created is fun as everyone dances in the hot weather induldging in alcohol and just generally parying and enjoying themselves which is what expected from a dance music video especially as the purpose is to create something for the target audience to dance too.

Flo Rida contributes to the glamour associated with fame by wearing sunglasses and a chain, these accessories promote his wealth that comes from his career, as well as this the scene also contributes to the image that fame creates a glamorous lifestyle for the artists. These accessories just make it more obvious to the target audience how glamorous Flo Rida's lifestyle is as he enjoys a party which he's created for what he considers work. The second half of the music video takes place at another party yet this one is at night time and also outside, this gives the imperssion that they've been partying all day into the night as the setting changes. Despite it being nighttime in the video at the second part the scene is brightly lit with a lot of bright colours that are similar to strobe lights this creates the right atmosphere as they're evident in clubs which is where a lot of dancing takes place. The colour lights connote positivity, happiness as opposed to using all dark colours this brightens the mood as the second half of the music video is set at night time. The female's again outweigh the males in this scene as Flo Rida again is the only male however despite this he dominates the video as the focus is always on him as he is surrounded by attractive women competing for his attention. The majority of close-up shots on women in this music video are extreme close-up's so you cannot see the entire woman focusing on her lips for example, this could be to highlight Flo Rida's power in the music video as he is the main character with the focus on him throughout.

The second half of the video is similar to first half in the sense that the atmopshere is the same with girls in minimal clothing dancing happily alongside Flo Rida, this vibe is made to look positive as dance music is not played in negative formal situations for example; a funeral or conference. The casual appearance of all the people in the music video contributes to the spontenaous feel as people usually dress up to go out, it makes the atmosphere a lot more relaxed which could be a bid to involve the audience too involving them in the more personal life of Flo Rida where he's stripped back and dressed casually enjoying himself.