A common setting for a Rock music video would be an arena or festival. This is because a majority of Rock videos feature footage from concerts and sets. This means the lighting would be quite bright and it would cut between footage shots and performance shots of the band/ artist.
The costume would generally be similar to the costumes the band already wear; black, leather etc.
This example of Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N Roses shows footage of the band performing and cuts to random bloopers of the band as well.
However Bon Jovi's Livin' On A Prayer music video does feature footage of the audience being incorporated into the music video, as seen below.
Key conventions in Pop music videos:
Pop music videos are generally seen to have the artist being the star of the video. Dance sequences and a lot of lip syncing are including to make the artist the centre of attention in the video. Pop artists, particularly females, use sex appeal in their music videos to attract an audience. A good example of all of these generic conventions is Britney Spears' video for Baby One More Time.
Spears has a dance sequence throughout all of the performance shots in this music video. Also during the shots with just her she tends to still lip sync. Commonly an artist will have back up dancers which follow the same choreography as the star. It could be said that male gaze theory is prominent in videos from Spears, Perry and Rihanna etc because they have a tendency to objectify themselves for entertainment.
High Key lighting is usually accustom to a Pop music video because the song is usually positive and quirky.
A male example of this would be Bruno Mars' The Lazy Song. In this song Mars is the star and he lip syncs and dances throughout. Along with quirky back up dancers it is a positive pop song with high key lighting. However, there are no cuts in this video and the camera stays in the same position throughout, giving a lot of audience interaction and making it feel more like the star and the back up dancers are actually in front of you. The realism is then taken to another level when Mars interacts with the camera and points during some of the chorus.
Generic conventions in a Rap music video:
Rap music videos have become more explicit and more objectifying throughout the decades. A recent trend that features in most rap videos is product placement. A Beats set of headphones or Pill speakers are usually advertised in the videos of Jay-Z, Dr Dre and Kanye West.
Cars, women, chains and money are stereotypically seen in rap videos and immediately into this video there is a car full of rappers with chains and women in bikinis.
This video follows the stereotypes associated with the genre and the representations of women are lowered to just sex objects as expected. The lighting is quite high key because there isn't a negative message associated with the song. Generally it is a feel good rap song.
Female rap has become very popular since Missy Elliott, Lil' Kim etc tried to gain equality in the music genre. Since then stars like Nicki Minaj and Iggy Azalea have been topping the charts with their rap music.
Beez In The Trap by Nicki Minaj and 2 Chainz is an example of female rap and also features the same stereotypes as before.
2 Chainz can be seen holding a lot of money in this video and Nick Minaj herself is dressed in little clothing, showing he assets.
Most Watched Music Videos
Music Videos are commonly watched on YouTube nowadays and the amount of views can be displayed under the video. The most watched video on YouTube to date is Psy - Gangnam Style.
The quirky, random music video for Psy's debut single quickly became the most watched music video because the song, the video, the artist and the signature dance move all trended all over the world. With over 2 Billion hits (watches) on YouTube it will be hard to beat which is why it still remains the most watched video.
Another video, which has been watched over 700 Million times is Shakira's Waka Waka. This is because during the Fifa 2010 World Cup this song and music video were associated with the sporting event and incorporated the whole world, just like the World Cup.
The video actually features footage of Footballers making it relevant to the song and building a gleeful and patriotic video all together.
Miley Cyrus' video for We Can't Stop, her comeback single after completely changing her style, sound and attitude has over 400 Million hits on YouTube. What makes it so popular and so watched is the controversy that goes with the new video, Cyrus can be seen erotically dancing and the lyrics for the song are also explicit. Cyrus has turned from a southern bell to a one of the most controversial stars of the decade which is the main reason for the extreme amount of views on the We Can't Stop video and the other songs from her new album.
One of the most popular videos in the 80's would be Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation. The Sgt. Pepper jacket which can be seen on Jackson and her back up dancers was iconic in the 80's with girls of all ages copying both her style and imitating the dance moves. The video was released before YouTube was created but since YouTube the video has been viewed over 4 Million times.
In the 90's Da Funk by Daft Punk was one of the most popular music videos and their breakthrough single due to the new sound of electronic music and their eccentric music video.
The Dog-Man star is one of the appeals to the video because of its originality and the humour that everyone in the video doesn't realise he's a dog. The video is very popular and acts more as a short film than a music video because of the acting and actual storyline in the video.
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