Genre and your music video

Use the guidelines below to make preparation notes for a possible exam question on genre.

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF MUSIC VIDEOS – ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

1.     Institutional/reference information

·       Which video are you analysing, who is it by and, if you know, who directed it?

·       What genre does the music belong to and what broad characteristics of that genre does the video have?

2. What is the relationship between lyrics and visuals?

·       Work through the song and identify ways in which the lyrics are illustrated or amplified or even contradicted by the visuals.

·       Pick out some specific examples to back up your argument.

3.     What is the relationship between music and visuals?

·       Does the video cut to the beat?

·       Are solo instrumental bits illustrated by the video?

·       Does the video change pace with the music?

·       Give examples to support your points

4. Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?

·       How is the record company looking to sell this track?

·       What image of the artist/band is being offered?

·       How does this video relate to previous videos by the artist?

·       Are there motifs, which have been used previously? Or does this video represent a change of image?

5. Is there reference to the notion of looking?

·       Do you get the sense that the artist is on sexual display or that other people in the video are used in this way?

·       Does camerawork, costume, dance or something else imply sexualised display?

·       Are there other references to ‘looking’ such as screens or binoculars, cameras, etc?

·       Give examples and consider why these features have been chosen.

6. Are there intertextual references?

·       Do these relate to other music video, to aspects of star’s image or to completely separate texts such as TV programmes or films?

·       How are they used?

7. Is the music video performance-based, narrative-based or concept-based?

·       How much of each?