Introduction to genre!

An Introduction to genre...

What is genre? 

genre

ˈʒɒ̃rə,ˈ(d)ʒɒnrə/

noun

1. 1.

   a style or category of art, music, or literature.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genre 

To put it simply, genre is the French word for type. Each genre has a set of conventions and this makes the genre easier to identify. 

Pete Fraser says: "Some music videos transcend genres, others can be more easily categorize. If you watch some (music) channels you will be able to identify a range f distinct features which categorize different genres".  

We have been establishing what we as the audience expect to see from certain genres and distinguishing different genres and the different types of music videos, for example whether they are performance, narrative or concept based. 

Here are some of the examples which I have studied: 

Name of the artist: Girls Aloud- Something New

Genre: Pop

Genre Expectations: 

- Bright colors

- Dance routines

- Love/Romance

- Close ups of body parts (such as lips, eyes, faces etc.) 

Performance/ Narrative/ Concept: Performance

Examples from the video: 

- Unusual editing

- Pop of color (orange dresses among a black and white set) 

- Dancing

- A lot of use of close ups 

 Name of the artist: Muse- Supermassive Black Hole

Genre: Indie/ Rock

Genre Expectations: 

- Performance

- Close-up of instruments

- A lead singer

- Dark colors

Performance/ Narrative/ Concept: Performance and Concept

Examples from the video: 

- Guitarists 

- Lead Singer seen

- Dark lighting 

- People in body suits