Thursday, 18 November 2010

Genre Essay

Genre is the term for any category of literature weather it be acted, read or performed as well as various other forms of art or culture. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time as new genres are invented and the use of old ones are discontinued. Often, works fit into multiple genres by way of borrowing and recombining these conventions.

The Genre of my particular music video is a mix between Rap / Reggae. This is shown by the use of lyrics throughout the song as well as the subtle beat alongside the lyrics. The genre of Rap / Reggae is also represented through the mis-en-scene in the music video.

Conventions of literature of any form is key to creating the specific genre. Since my music video has two different types of genres, I have two different sections of conventions. Firstly, Rap. Rap music videos are presented in such a way that would intimidate a particular type of person. Drug and Crime based cultures are what the rap genre is related with. The lyrics are key to the representation of the musician which form part of his/her image. Some of the most popular rap music videos are shown to be abusive or sexist towards women, Money and some form of personal wealth and some type of fame weather it be social popularity or media related. These conventions are all to represent that individual musician who wishes to be portrayed as that type of person to attempt to target that audience.

Reggae is much different compared to Rap, which is odd considering my music video contains parts of both genres. Reggae is presented in a much different way in terms of music videos and mis-en-scene. In fact, it is almost the opposite to the Rap convention I have discussed. Typical reggae conventions include some sort of peace. This is stereotypical because of the Jamaican legend, Bob Marley. Most of his songs included some sort of Love and Peace which was portrayed through his music videos. This helped to create his image as people see him and remember him as today. Some other typical conventions of this genre are the use of camera movements and decisions made. A small range of shots are made and the use of cuts are dramatically pulled back to stop any sudden movements to create uneasiness etc.

Genre can be shown in many different ways for different types of media that need to be generalised in to a genre. Genre can be sectioned down in to several sub-categories. These sub-categories help the audience to decide what film they want to see and experience dependant on the individuals mood at the present time. For example if the individual is in an emotion mood then he/she will go see a film that offers emotional pleasures. If the individual is in a optimistic lively mood they may go see one containing Visceral pleasures and the last genre pleasure is Intellectual pleasures.

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