Genre theory

Genre as a system (Neale) = 'A system of orientations, expectations and conventions which circulate between industry, text and subject'.



This music video of Biggie Smalls' song 'Sky's the limit' meets our expectations as an audience as it suits the genre perfectly as a lot of the conventions of a hip-hop music video are used to accompany the hip-hop song. The conventions of a hip-hop music video are clearly shown as we see lots of big expensive jewelry, expensive cars, alcohol - champagne, black glasses, mansions, girls, swimming pools in back gardens, paparazzi and fans, there is also a performance element within this music video which is a typical convention of the hip-hop genre.

Repetition and difference = Pleasure for the audience comes from the repetition that they knew would happen and the difference that they did not expect.



Blink 182 use the theory of 'repetition and difference' in their music video as they stick to some of the typical conventions of a boy band within the rock genre, for example - the use of guitars, screaming girls, the lip piercings, etc. But they stray from the typical rock boy band image in their music video as they add a comedic element as they imitate other boy bands and make them seem very effeminate as they dance like girls, dress in women's clothing, dress half naked, etc.

David Bordwell

'Any theme may appear in any genre' (David Bordwell 1989) = 'One could... argue that no set of necessary and sufficient conditions can mark off genres from other sorts of groupings in ways that all experts or ordinary film-goers would find acceptable'.

In my music video, the themes I plan to use include; love and romance. I want to use these themes because the song I have chose to use is of the 'soul' genre and therefore I feel that these themes in my music video will suit my genre very well. These themes will engage my target audience as they may be able to personally relate or identify with them and the situations that will occur in my music video.