Genre Theory - in relation to my music video

Genre is a French word meaning ‘type’ or ‘kind’, generally seen as a fusion of semantic (stylistic) and syntactic (substantive) features that become conventional to audiences over time. When considering my music video Hey There Delilah by The Plain White T’s in is categorised within the genre of Alternative Rock. Firth, 1988 argued that music videos can be characterized by three broad typologies: Performance, Narrative, and Conceptual. These types describe the form and content selected by the director or artist to attract viewers and to convey a direct or indirect message. They can act as extended advertisements, as popular art forms or as self-referential filmic texts. When observing the music video Hey There Delilah it would be classed as a narrative based music video, telling a personal story from the artist’s perspective. Giving out a message to the audiences indirectly to ‘not lose the people you hold dear’ through the flashbacks created with the contrast in black and white overlay edits to the vivid colours. Goodwin’s music video analysis puts forward that Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics e.g. stage performance in rock video, dance routine for boy/girl pop band. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting. Finally the demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work a visual style. The Plain White T’s and the music video I have created follows these concepts due to the artist having a particular style which is followed through being; high street, every day clothes contrasting the genre pop which is fashion focused. Furthermore, there is a strong relationship between the lyrics and the video being illustrative and amplifying the emotions the artist is trying to portray. This is shown through the extreme close ups of the males use and feathered shots of the female.