I will analyse my group's music video of Good Life. As OneRepublic is a pop rock band who has a high profile and large following the music video had to fit the mainstream pop genre, which required research into the typical paradigms of the pop genre to ensure it included the key aspects of Pop.
In research and planning I looked into the key conventions of a pop music video. Andrew Goodwin's theory of a relationship between the lyrics, music and visuals suggests that typically in pop videos the visuals relate to the music and in some cases amplifying the meaning of the lyrics. Therefore the ideas of the Good Life had to come across in the video through the narrative and imagery. Shooting in London related to the lyrics as it is referenced in the song which was edited to fit with the parts of the song that link, for example when the singing begins the line lost near Piccadilly, was edited to link to the visuals with shots of Piccadilly. Like most music videos the cuts of the video matches the tempo and beat of the song. Also the London location creates a luxurious, iconic image which is typical of pop music videos most pop bands and artists will shoot their music video in a iconic location to make it easily recognisable and to make the audience aspire to their pop star lifestyle. For example, OneRepublic’s Say All I Need was shot in Paris although it does not have any obvious connection to the lyrics. This is to get across the touring life of the band and to appeal to the audience who like to see places they might not get the chance to visit. We used iconography of typical London locations, the underground, St Paul’s, London Eye, Big Ben and Piccadilly, to make it clear to the audience where the story was set. This does not make the video exclusive though because these locations are well known and a worldwide audience could easily identify them, this fits the pop genre which has a wide appeal. Other iconography used in our music video like the Blackberry is typical of pop music videos which try to sell the celebrity lifestyle of the band. Although we did not completely conform to typical pop convention by making the city an unhappy bad place to be through the narrative and editing; Katie is much happier in the country which is amplified by the fact the footage is in colour whereas the city is portrayed as a dark lonely place to be. Even though this does not conform to pop genre by selling the cool expensive lifestyle of the pop band, it still appeals to the audience because the other conventions of the genre are present. As Neale’s theory explains “Pleasure is derived through repetition and difference.” The audience know that it is a pop music video because of the music and the lead singer star status, however they enjoy the fact the concept of the narrative is different from other pop music videos. Furthermore if the music video followed all the conventions of the pop genre it might be overlooked by the audience as it does not differ enough from other music videos they have seen. It would be dull if all pop music videos were completely similar so breaking some of the conventions makes it more interesting to the audience. The fact it is different makes it more likely that the audience will want to watch it again, a music videos’ repeatability makes it popular which increases the interest, and ultimately sales, for the band. The iconic London location and natural country setting makes the audience comfortable and they can also easily relate to the narrative which makes it a repeatable music video.
As most Pop music videos focus on the luxurious, “cool” lifestyle of the band, Andrew Goodwin identifies that this achieved by portraying a star image especially for the lead singer who will often be the main protagonist in the narrative, which Bank is in the music video. Glenhill identifies that genres rely on audience having knowledge and expectations about the genre’s content, in terms of Pop this implies that the audience expect to see the band, or at least the lead singer, feature in the music video performing or lip syncing to sell the band with a recognisable face. Most pop bands who are similar to OneRepublic; Coldplay, The Script and Snow Patrol for example, will feature the band, focusing mainly on the lead singer, throughout all their music videos. As the audience expect to see that will pop bands the image of the lead singer had to be a dominant in the music video. A further expectation of pop music videos is the use of narrative mixed with performance to amplify the meaning of the lyrics while still appealing to the star image of pop bands. In the research and planning we saw that it was a dominant feature in OneRepublic, Coldplay and The Script’s music video, as these bands fit the genre we took inspiration from creating a mixed narrative and performance music video.
As pop is expected to appeal to both a male and female audience, pop music videos will often feature male and female protagonists however Laura Mulvey’s theory of the Male Gaze comes into this as often the females in pop music videos are viewed in a voyeuristic way as an object belonging to the lead singer rather than the subject within the narrative. Although our narrative suggests that the female character is more independent and in control it can be argued that she is still seen as passive because she does not engage with the audience. As pop genre narratives more often than not will be about romance the audience assume the relationship between Bank and Katie is a romantic one. Konigsberg’s theory that enduring genres, like pop, use universal dilemmas as they appeal to the psychological needs of the audience, as break-ups are a common occurrence in everyday life and in other media; films and TV soaps for example, it is easily identifiable and relatable to the audience which makes the narrative easy to understand and interpret. Although the nature of their relationship is up for interpretation because it is not explicitly explained in the narrative the majority of the audience would identify it as a romantic one because romance is typical of the pop genre. It is also popular because people like to see the equilibrium resorted which happens in the narrative when Katie is seen free in the country which is her natural environment, this gives the audience a feeling of satisfaction and hope in real life. This links to Richard Dyer’s theory that the pop genre can provide escapism for the audience through the iconography and star image that can distract them from reality and introduce an audience to a luxurious lifestyle. As well as escapism as Knight’s theory suggests the genre offers emotional pleasure which allows them to escape into the fictional narrative and create empathy for the characters especially if it is a recognisable situation like a break-up.
