Analysis of music genres

Drake – over (rap)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lTB1pIg1y0

The mise en scene is a bedroom, Drake is sitting on the edge of the bed but in the center as he is the focus of the video. As the light dims at the beginning of the video Drake is still in the light.  

There are low angles shown of Drake dancing, whilst his lyrics are projected on the wall. The low angle shots make Drake seem superior not just as a person but a rap artist. This camera shot also represents Drakes as a new rap artist and the shadow represents his image. Relating this point to Dyers theory, the rap genre defines his emotions/life that he has been through. The audience would be interested in watching this as this is a typical convention and the audience are interested in learning information about him.

The video has fast pace editing and is used when the backgrounds change image from streets to fire etc. This excites the audience as it matches the lyrics and his previous life. This informs the audience that his life is moving quickly, which also establishes his style. There is a long shot silhouette of Drake which has been edited with fire effects and then there is a straight cut to a fire editing shot of him, this makes the video more interesting to watch and the fire is a cool effect which relates to rappers as they want to be seen as cool.

There are long shots of a woman in a revealing swimming costume dancing in the background during the middle to the end of the music video, she isn't seen as being an important character to the video but fits in well with the rap genre as she is dancing. Also there are mid shot of another woman dressed in gold/silver, each time she is filmed she is looking directly at the camera which the audience will be able to connect to, the way she turns around slowly portrays her as being mysterious and relates to dyers theory as the video is a rap genre which usually includes showing girls in it.

In this video the visuals match the music, for example at the very beginning of the video there is silence but when the thunder sound effects are played there is fast paced editing effects shown in drakes silhouette. The scenes shown in the silhouette represent of what’s to come in this music video, the fire conveys anger and the woman wearing gold is shown, so it could show that he is angry at the woman.

Relating to Dyers theory once more, throughout this video the lyrics match the visuals. For example Drake says ‘I’m living life right now man and this is what I’m gonna do till it’s over’ whilst there is an image of dozens of people walking around a city projected onto his bedroom walls and the to represent ‘til it’s over’ there are clouds shown which helps convey the idea that he means death or ‘til I die’.

Drake is wearing a white tracksuit with a gold chain, the chain is stereotypical of the rap genre as it conveys wealth and money, and although he is a new up and coming artist by wearing the chain it shows he is already doing well as he can afford expensive jewellery. 

Flo Rida - Club can't handle us (dance)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgM3r8xKfGE

The location of this music video is in a club, this is evident as there are loads of people dressed up, there's dancing, a DJ, flashing strobe lights and everyones hands are in the air, showing they are having a good time enjoying the music. This relates to the dance genre, as people are dancing and girls are wearing minimal clothing. It is stereotypical for females in the video to wear minimal clothing and tight fitted tops and dresses to show off their figures as they are seen more as they're significance in the video isn't very important they are seen more as background people so they have to appeal to the target audience which dance attract which is around 14-26 year olds. 

Iconography is shown in the video right at the beginning with an establishing shot shows two lamborghinis parking outside the club and Flo Rida getting out. Flo Rida is wearing sunglasses, chains, an expensive watch and he throws money up in the air, this shows his fancy celebrity lifestyle and shows off how much money he has. This is also conventional to the dance genre, as it is seen as fashionable and cool. His medallion matches his ring and looks stylish with his outfit, and he pops champagne bottles, which relates to dancing as most people especially non-professional dancers usually have a drink before they have the confidence to dance. It also shows a high life as champagne is an expensive alcohol.

There are mid shots of Flo Rida singing looking directly at the camera and he puts his wrist up to show off his expensive gold watch, conveying how rich he is and this may appeal to the target audience as they want to buy into his fabulous rick life style.

The video is made up of fast pace editing which is in sync with the song as it is fast and and has an up-beat tempo, this also relates to the dance genre as hip hop dance is full of fast moving actions similar to the editing that is used. At the beginning of the music video up to around 40 seconds in from each shot there is fade in, fade out editing, which portrays the build-up to the song and shows the mash up between the artists, the club and the main characters of the film ‘step up 3D’ which this video is partly advertising.

During the video there are midshots of David Guetta DJ-ing, this shows representation of the artist which helps conveys the fact that the mise en scene is a club because he has all of his equipment out and all clubs have a DJ. Also he is dressed casually in jeans and a white t-shirt which goes well with the dance genre and this appeals to the target audience because that is probably something they would wear as well. Also David Guetta appears to be playing the music so showing him in the video is very significant.

There is a long shot in the middle of the music video, in which the mise en scene is a street and there are dozens of people standing on the pavement watching one man dance who is placed in the center of the screen showing he is the most important subject in the shot. Also the two cars shown at the beginning of the video are either side of the dancer, this informs the audience that this is filmed just outside of the club, so it is reverting back to a mise en scene we have already watched but different actions are taking place. To conform to the dance genre there is low key lighting, which tells the audience it is late and there is an added light affect shinning horizontally through the middle of the shot, this conveys the strobe lights in the club. (1.14)

Whenever there a long shots of Flo Rida and the people in the club, Flo Rida is always in the center of the frame, which tells the audience he is most important.

Taylor Swift-You belong with me (pop)

The establishing shot is two block of flats. typically the girl admiring the boy and typically about love.
There is a close up of her looking at her admirer and we can see shes in love because of the look in her eyes, this may relate to her fans which are mainly girls so they may be in the same position as her. The video has two main locations which are two blocks of flats and a high school, there is a long shot of the sinister character in a car stopping in front of Taylor Swift and her admirer, this shot shows the sinisters point of view. This relates to Dyers theory as pop isn't a very extravagant flashy genre and all of the characters are conveyed as normal casually dressed teenagers, but the sinister character is shown more superior as she is wearing sunglasses and when she looks at Taylor Swift her head is slightly lifted and her eyes look down on Taylor. Another point which relates to dyers theory of the pop genre is that the editing of this music video is all done by using straight cuts which is very simple and straight fowardsimilar to the pop genre.
Towards the beginning of the video there is a long shot of Taylor Swift standing in front of a mirror trying on several different outfits, this relates to her target audience who are dominantly teenage girls. She is conveying a stereotype that girls always try to be someone their not just to impressive a boy, so in doing this I think her fans will connect more with Taylor as they're the "same".
The lyrics match the visuals when Taylor says 'you're on the phone with your girlfriend shes upset' it shows a mid shot of Taylors crush on the phone and there is a close up of his face which helps show the audience that he is arguing and annoyed. Later Taylor says 'sitting on a park bench thinking to myself' and whilst those lyrics play a long shot is shown of Taylor Swift sitting on a bench with her crush and the mise en scene is a park. Matching the lyrics and the visuals is important as it helps tell the story and it makes it more enjoyable for the audience also a lot of pop music videos are narrative based so showing this in the video sticks to the conventions of the pop genre.
Taylor Swifts crush is shown as quite a masculine character, there are mid shots of him playing american football and as he is one of the star characters in the music video he scores the last goal concluding his team to win, so he is conveyed as an american heroic jock. Another image to support this idea is when all of his team mates hold him up in the air to portray that he is higher up so he is better than everyone and it shows there gratitude towards him as he won the game for their team.
Near the end of the video there is a black screen which fades in and shows a mid shot of people slow dancing at a party and there is a parting in the middle as Taylor Swift enters, this portrays that she is the main figure in the music video as she is the artist. Also the lighting around Taylor is low key but there is a light shinning on Taylor which makes her stand out, especially as she is wearing a long white dress which conveys an angelic persona. There is then a straight cut to a close up of Taylors crush, who has an amazed look on his face, which tells the audience how stunning he thinks Taylor looks. It uses shot reverse shot to convey the relationship between Taylor and her crush, and the audience can see that for themselves.