Pop Genre

I also chose to look at a very stereotypical pop music video (California Girls- Katy Perry ft Snoop Dogg) with analysis below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F57P9C4SAW4

The music video is a hybrid of narrative and performance as she is lip singing the song, I like that the narrative and performance are all in one because it helps the video flow better, however as I am having a band instead of an artist it may be slightly more difficult to portray this as clear as this video meaning it may be easier to make and for my audience to watch if my group and I were to have the narrative and performance separate.

After watching this video I believe that the pop genre has become quite ‘samey’ as they have the same beat to them, but different artists. The California girls video has a very clear narrative and the audience can easily see how it all relates, however the narrative has a hidden meaning behind it that I believe to be quite sexual and unnecessary. This has been shown mostly through the costume as she isn’t wearing very much. This gives the impression that Katy Perry is quite a revealing person, however this seems to meet the typical conventions of a pop music video as other artists such as Rihanna wear little clothing within her music videos. Therefore when deciding what my band shall wear I will make sure it is something that will fit the conventions of a indie rock band and music video as then my target audience will not be ‘put off’ by the band. Her costume may be revealing but it relates well to the lyrics as in the lyrics is talks about sweets and therefore the audience are not shocked to see this kind of imagery in the video, when making my own music video I will have to look at making sure the imagery used in my video links with my lyrics as then the audience will understand them more and the meaning behind them.

Something I specifically like about this music video is the colours, as they are bright and draw the audience in, this would also link to her target audience whom I believe to be of quite a young age, as this means they will find the song and the video fun and exciting (many radio DJ’s called it ‘the worlds summer anthem’). From this I will have to think about the colours used within my music video as that may change what my target audience think of it, for example if I were to use dull and dark colours my audience might think that my song and music video is quite boring. Thinking about Synaesthesia from listening to the song I also think the colours work well with the lyrics because the beat it quite fun and jumpy therefore I imagine bright and fun colours with it as then it will all link together. 

The shots and editing used in this music video are quite simple which I like because it means the video is easy to understand and watch. However I notice that shots have been specifically used generally to show off her body rather than more of the narrative, for example when she is on the cloud moth mid and long shots have been used to show that she is not wearing much rather than helping the audience know more about what is going on. This may mean that she as an artist cares more about her look than the music, this can be very stereotypical of pop and generally bands who produce to the mass constantly produce new music that they don't believe in.

For my own music video I think it will be best if my band and I were to look at a different genre as the pop one looks too much into star image, I want my bands star image to come across as being the type of people who care more about their music than their look, meaning they will not necessarily meet the female gaze, but also that the target audience will be much more niche.

By Laura Thorpe