Genre

Definition of Genre:

The word 'genre' is French for kind/sort and means a repertoire of elements/contentions being like a list of ingredients expected in specific genre.
Theories:

1. Genre is no longer a fixed set if elements
2. Buckingham (1990) argues that genre is a "constant process of negotiation and change"

Punk Genre

• 2/3 mins long
• Fashion changed, No clean appearance
• Drugs and alcohol
• not much talent needed

Why is the concept of genre attractive/useful to an audience?

The audience know what to expect from the music promo because they want it to fulfil their expectations. Also because the band will have a specific target audience they know that different audiences have different tastes, so they'll need to attract the right target audience through the conventions. Genres need to be predictablebut every changing like The 1 st theory - Genre is no longer a fixed set if elements -
Allows you to communicate with the audience - 'shorthand' communication
Allows quick set up of character/plot
Needs a twist - Must avoid cliché
Mixes familiar and unfamiliar

Verisimilitude: How real/realistic something is. 

Oasis are very good at using verisimilitude because they are a very down to earth band. They come from a working class and this, i think, has an effect of their ideas they put in their music promo's. Their song 'The importance of being idle' uses a lot of verisimilitude, its all about a man working in a casket builders, they show the real world as it is and don't put a false view on it like most modern promo's do today. 

Pop promo genre conventions

Rock genre Convention Analysis

Bubbles by Biffy Clyro is the song I have chosen to analyse.

The song is very stereotypical with the conventions it adheres to, for example throughout the song there is constant performance being shown either of the band members playing the instruments together or just of one member at a time playing, this helps for the audience to develop their familiarity of the band memebers, it will let them link certain positions in the band with the members, so the still shows who the singer is. This is good in a music promo because it lets the audience know what members of the band play what instrument. The still being shown on the left shows the audience that he is the main singer of the band. Also in the still you get to see how he sings through the use of a close up, this lets your get to know the singer and it also makes it feel more personable because you up close to him.

Also in the still you can see that the background is unfocused but you can still make out the drummer playing in the background, this again reinforces the fact that it is a performance promo and adheres to the convention of the instruments being played throughout the promo.

 

Linking to the performance convention is the use of props expected to be seen in a heavily performance promo. Throughout the promo there are instruments being used whether it’s a guitar, drum set or a microphone. This is a common convention that has been used in this promo and it helps to add to the realism of the promo because it imitates a live performance but it doesn’t have any fans or a crowd in front of them to make it believable.

 

Very commonly used throughout the promo is the use of effects after a cut has been used. The effects would range from a burning effect to a old fashioned effect that your would get with imperfection on the lens with old fashioned cameras. This could mean that the promo is trying to relate back to the lyrics and its trying to make certain words stick in your head with the visuals but it could be something to keep the audience interested because there no narrative. The still to the left shows the effects that have been used and the lyrics during that time are “is it gone, is it gone, is it gone”. This effect then seems to tie in well with the lyrics because it fire burns things and you can never get them back.

But the promo subverts the narrative convention because there is no story behind the promo; it’s just of the band performing. This has its negatives and positives because it makes the promo more enjoyable to watch because its simple and there is no further meaning but it could be made more artistic and had cut away to something that would make you think about the lyrics or the message behind the lyrics.