Diversity of Music Videos

Not all music videos follow their genres typical conventions, some music videos are purposefully created to go against these conventions and their genres stereotypes, some music video are more diverse and unique in order to tell the target audience something new and different about the artist or song, and also to make them remember it more easily.
Two music video directors that create very diverse music videos are Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry, they create music videos that do not conform to the stereotypical genre characteristics. For example Cunningham directed 'Frozen' by Madonna which is very Gothic looking, so not very conventional to a typical pop music video, and Gondry directed Kylie Minogue's music video for 'Come Into My World' which doesn't follow many of the typical pop genre conventions such as expensive clothing and a narrative about a relationship.

The First music video I will analyse is 'Frozen' by Madonna, which was directed and produced by Chris Cunningham

 

 

Madonna is a pop artist but she is portrayed very differently to the usual stereotypical pop star in this music video, as she is dressed in Gothic black clothing with most of the props and other things used in the music video being black too. The usual stereotype for a pop artist includes bright colours which connote fun and happiness, a fun party atmosphere and expensive, revealing and bright clothing, these things usually help the artist to build a fan base as these stereotypes will appeal to a younger audience as well as some adults aged around 15-35. Also, usually in pop music videos many close ups are used of the artists face to gain a relationship with the audience and to show the artist to the audience so they will remember her face, as most pop artists are designed by the record label.

However Madonna uses none of the above stereotypes in her music video, making it a more mature and diverse music video which may not appeal to her typical target audience, which is young adults who expect party scenes, bright colours and expensive fashionable clothing, as this more diverse and serious music video is not fun and bright which is what her audience will expect to see.

Also most pop music videos are shot in locations such as busy and beautiful beaches, iconic locations such as London and New York, in big houses and/or by a swimming pool. These typical locations help the target audience build a relationship with the artist and it may also help them to relate to the artist which will make them want to watch the artists music videos more and buy their albums. Also it will allow the audience to see the artist lifestyle more and by seeing the artist in all these expensive clothes and travelling to these luxurious locations it will intrigue the audience to watch all of her music videos and possibly aspire to be her as they will want a lifestyle like hers.

 

The establishing shot of Madonna's music video for 'Frozen' is a long shot of an empty dessert with Madonna in the middle of the shot. So already we can see that this music video is diverse and does not conform to the stereotypical conventions of a pop music video, as they are usually shot in lively and bright locations, not empty desserts which usually connote loneliness. Also the film has a dark filter over it which makes it look like night time, this also does not conform to the usual pop stereotypes as they are usually shot in the sunshine, or if they are at night there are lots of lights around them to give a party atmosphere. Madonna is wearing a full black outfit with black hair, dark make up and a black necklace, these are the stereotypes of a goth, not a typical pop star, so this new image for Madonna is very diverse as it is practically the opposite of her usual pop star image. In addition the video is made to look more mature as her outfit is not revealing at all, as her black dress is long and has full length sleeves. After the first few seconds of watching this music video there are no characteristics to suggest that this is a pop music video, so this could possibly show that Madonna is trying to push away her previous stereotypes and peoples previous perceptions of her.

Madonna then falls to the floor and is transformed into lots of black birds that fly towards the camera, this is not a conventional aspect of pop music videos. The camera then turns back to Madonna and we can see a tribal tattoo on her hands, this gives the music video an eiree effect, this is not a typical mood and effect that most music videos want to give off, usually pop music videos want to give the audience a fun and lively vibe. She then continues to make her music video more diverse, as instead of doing a conventional pop dance routine that would appeal to female teenagers, she begins to do a cultural and tribal hand routine which is unlikely to appeal to her usual target audience of teenage and young adult females.

Compared to Madonnas other songs, there is no clear link between the lyrics of the song and the visuals, this is not conventional as it will not help the audience to understand the lyrics, so this is another way that they have tried to make this music video more diverse. However, there is a link between the music and the visuals as Madonna moves with the pace of the song, and when a black bird is seen flying towards the camera its wings move in time to the beat.
This music video is completely performance based as Madonna is shown in most of the shots singing towards the camera. Most pop music videos contain performance based footage, however a lot of them also contain narrative filming as well to excite and entertain the young audience. But the advantage of Madonna only using performance in her music video is that the audience can see her full emotions and can understand her feelings towards the song better, so this shows a different side to Madonna.

It is obvious that this music video is more diverse than her usual music videos, but this could be an advantage to her as it may create a memorable image in the viewers head so that they will remember it and this may work as free advertising. However this could also have a negative impact as it may be difficult for the audience to build a relationship with the artist and it may become boring to the audience if it is too diverse and risky.

 

 

The Second music video I will analyse is 'Come Into My World' by Kylie Minogue, which was directed by Michel Gondry

Kylie Minogue is also a conventional pop artist who has a young target audience of females aged 15 to 30, but the music video for 'Come Into My World' shows no characteristics or conventions to suggest it is a pop music video. Typical pop music videos contain a fun atmosphere, nice clothes, parties, girls and luxury locations, and all of these conventions are usually shown in Kylie's Minogue music video, but they can not be found in the music video for 'Come Into My World'.

 

This music video consists of the same long shot throughout as Kylie repeatedly walks around a French street, each time a new Kylie appears and walks around the street again in slightly different positions. This music video could be considered as risky as it could be considered as boring by many members of her target audience. Although this music video follows no typical pop video conventions, it could be seen as the lyrics relating to the visuals, as in the background you can see people arguing and a woman chucking a mans clothes out of the window, so this could relate to the idea that her love life is difficult. Also, the fact that she is continuously walking around in a circle could relate to a relationship as she could be suggesting that the relationship is hard and they have arguments which make her feel like she is just repeating herself again and again.

 

Another aspect that is diverse compared to a typical pop music video is Kylie's costume, this is because she is just wearing some plain jeans with a plain t-shirt and a big bag. Usually pop stars wear luxury expensive clothing to make their audience aspire to look and dress like them, but this more standard outfit is more relatible to the target audience, so this could have either a negative or a positive impact. The negative impact is that the audience may find her outfit boring and too normal, so they may stop watching the music video as they think Kylie is just a normal person, however it could have a positive impact as the audience may enjoy knowing that Kylie is just like them, a normal person, as they can relate to her and may believe that it is possible for them to end up as famous as her.

 

This music video is both performance based and concept based as throughout the music video we see Kylie singing towards the camera, and also she is walking around the same place several times with a new copy of herself appearing every time, and this could be symbolising the concept that her life has become the same routine everyday and she wants a man  to come into her life and excite her life and change things around in her routine.

 

Overall this music video shows Kylie in a different way to how she is usually represented in her music videos. This music video shows her as more of an ordinary everyday person without the pop star image surrounding her. This diverse music video could help the audience build a relationship with her and does clearly show a different side of the music video which the audience may enjoy, however it could bore the audience or confuse them as to what genre of music this music video belongs to.

 

In my own music video for Example's 'Stay Awake' I could follow some of Gondry's and Cunninghams ideas to make my music video more diverse. This would work well as the lyrics in the song are not the typical happy and playful ones you find in most dance songs, they are more serious and concerning so this could allow us to use more diverse and unconventional ideas in our music video.