Genre of Alternate Rock

Genre:

Genre definition:  A style or (sub) category of art, music, or literature.

 

Genre is useful when looking at a media text because all genres are represented differently. Genre creates expectations for an audience. Genre is a balancing act between conventions and development/originality.  It mixes familiar with unfamiliar to evolve. 

 

The concept of genre benefits the audience and producers because it allows producers to target a specific audience (sub target audiences) which keeps them interested.

 

Genre is a repertoire of elements – what an audience expects to see.

Chosen genre: Alternative rock – I chose this genre as it is very popular amongst teenagers today and fits in with our generation of music and I have listened to a vast amount of alternate rock songs to gain inspiration from and there is a wide range of bands that date back to the 1980’s who have performed alternate rock.

History of Alternative rock music:  

This genre began in the late 1970’s to the early 1980’s and became most popular in the 1990’s. Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream rock music, expressed primarily in a distorted guitar sound. Some band examples that play alternate rock include Green Day, Nirvana and Foo Fighters.

The name "alternative rock" essentially serves as an umbrella term for underground music that has emerged in the wake of punk rock since the mid-1980s. Alternative bands during the 1980s generally played in small clubs, recorded for indie labels, and spread their popularity through word of mouth. This approach to lyrics developed as a reflection of the social and economic strains in the United States and United Kingdom of the 1980s and early 1990s.

The typical lyrical content in alternative rock genre is about several different things happening but the main focus of the lyrics is focusing on lifestyle that the artist has a concern for e.g. alcohol, drugs etc.

The band/artists in rock promos are often rebellious and perform with a strong emotional feel and passion.

An example of alternative rock artists include 30 Seconds to Mars. They are dressed in all black with similar outfits to match and be recognised by each other.  They are dressed in black to signify rebellious behaviour.

Another example is 2^nd Half where the band are dressed in causal everyday clothing which contrasts against 30 Seconds to Mars as they wear all black which could show a lighter more casual feel to alternate rock as the band appear to look like a typical rock band for younger members of the public in the target audience range.

Audience:

The age that I feel 2^nd HALF target their audience is 15-25yrs old. 

The audience’s gender would be males but a minority would be females included.

The target audience would be in E and D socio-economic groups. This is because the target audience are still in school or have just gotten jobs. E is for schoolchildren who don’t earn any pay as they are still in education and D is for semi-skilled/unskilled manual workers who have just started their first job.

The target audience would be from America and the UK because they are relatable to the singer’s ethnicity and speak the same language so they are able to understand the lyrics 

The interests and hobbies for the audience would be to go out with friends and enjoy outdoor activities. They would also listen to music or see cheap live bands in their spare time.

 

Conventions of a promo:

Foo Fighters – Something from Nothing

This music promo is a performance video where it puts the audience to a live audience’s perspective as they can see the instruments being played and close ups of the band.

This shot is a close up shot on the lead guitarist/singer to start the music video.  This gives the impression that the audience are in a live audience’s perspective looking up at the lead singer. The editing is very complex as there are lots of different short scenes and cuts to each of the band members to gives the audience an idea of who is in the band at the start of the music video.

 

The editing in the music video is very complicated. Words appear on the screen as the singers sing along to the lyrics and it gives the audience an opportunity to sing along with them as they can follow the lyrics. The typography is very scruffy to match the bands style such as the mise-en-scene being an empty stage and their black clothing. The colour of the text is white to make it instantly standout towards the audience and is very easy to follow.

The camerawork within a music video is usually specific to a genre. For example, in this rock music promo, a viewer can expect to have close ups of the artist and accompany the movements that the artist and dancers make. This promo also features medium and long shots which circle the band to accompany the stage performances shown in the music video.

This video applies Andrew Goodwin’s theory of ‘music promos demonstrate genre characteristics’ meaning that the stage in the promo is used for the alternate rock video. Also this follows Knights theory that genre offers various emotional pleasures, such as empathy and escapism. This is applied as the audience are able to escape their reality and can watch this video from a live audience member’s perspective and focus on the singer’s reality as he sings about a topic such as drugs, alcohol and relationships.