ICONOGRAPHY OF DIFFERENT MUSIC GENRES

By Fearghal McGlinchey

Indie Indie music videos are perhaps the being generally more low key

and relaxed and with more of an emphasis on the actual music and lyrics, using the videos to employ performance the most. Bands tend wear casual clothing and are also casual in their movements.

The settings and lighting can differ depending on the song and can be either bright or dark, the colours used tend to be more plain. It is not a video genre known for extravagance, such as pop videos, and are usually set in more familiar environments this reflects. The artists usually prefer to be judged on musical and artistic merit rather than how they look.  

Pop Pop music videos are extremely popular with the teenage audience and are

primarily aimed at this market, therefore lots of their themes and visuals tend to be what teenagers would find attractive. Pop videos tend to be fast paced and vibrant in terms of colour. The colours used in pop videos are usually bright and convey the mood of the songs which is usually an upbeat party atmosphere, or a relationship.

One of the most notable use of mise en scene in pop videos is through the costume choices, as in order to create the right image for the artist they need to be made to stand out, even in their videos. Pop videos tend to show choreographed dance routines and tend to use a performance and narrative mix. The use graphics and cartoons is also common.

The portrayal of the artists themselves can be important to the video’s success, for example they are usually portrayed in a sexual, seductive way or in a very happy way. By using their appearance to their advantage, the industry is often accused of sacrificing substance over style.

Rock A common feature of rock videos is to show the band performing with instruments either live on

stage or on video location. Lighting and setting is usually very dark to give edgy, scary, gritty tone and this is reflected in the

type of music. Rock musicians tend to want the music to be the centre rather then themselves, however there can be very charismatic lead singers who like to show a dark side in videos. Because of this it is seen that rock videos take a far more "no nonsense" outlook on music videos, letting the music do the talking.

Where  themes are concerned, the videos often tell a darker story that is reflected in the lyrics. An example of the representation of more hard hitting or rebellious issues can be seen in the video for "Sleep Now in the Fire“ by Rage Against the Machine in which the band both perform outside Wall Street and mock television shows like "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire", all to send their anti-establishment message about equality and rights that the band is known for. Rock is a much more difficult genre to define with iconography in terms of narrative, due to the fact that it is a very broad genre in which the punk, metal and sometimes indie sub genres all dwell. An example of a metal video showing a dark narrative can be seen in the video for "Enter Sandman“ by Metallica in which the imagery is used to instil feelings of anxiety and fear of the unknown as a tie in to the lyrics.

Close ups and obscure angles used to match edgy tone and the editing follows a mixture of slow shots and fast cuts.

Hip-Hop/R “n” B It is common for hip-hop/rap genre music videos, to be set in an

urban location, often around graffiti, sky scraper buildings, skate parks or streets giving them a gritty feel. Alternatively they can show a lot of excess such as cars, money, women etc. Men wear ‘urban’ clothing or are topless, women wear sexy revealing clothing.

Conventionally these videos employ a lot of close ups of artists and long shots of settings.

Low angle shots are used to make the artist(s) be shown as superior and powerful, as well as asserting authority.

These videos are not usually straight performance and are usually linked to a narrative or concept.