Deconstruction of a Rock Music Video

Pre-production Deconstruction of a Rock Music Video

Rock music is largely based around heavy musical instruments such as base, electric guitars and drums, rock music is dominated largely by white males. I am going to deconstruct a rock music video to understand and determine the conventions.

SHOT: Long Shot

ANALYSIS: The shot shows us instruments which instantly tells us it is likely that it is of a rock genre, it is apparent that the two people within the shot are only part of the band. This shot is of them practicing which is another thing we know of rock stars, they’re always practicing. The clothing that is worn is that of a rock star too, the long hair, the leather trousers, sleeveless tops, crazy hats this is very typical of rockers. Their body language tells us a lot about their genre too, they are very much focused on their instruments and what they’re doing ensuring that they are giving the best performance they can, it is so apparent within rock music videos that their focus is their music not their audience, how they come across and so on, which is why it always feels so intimate and it feels real and is something that the audience can really enjoy. The lighting is also very dark which depending on what they’re singing can give off different affects, when they sing about death it makes it darker but when they sing about current situations or love it just makes it feel more intimate as if we’re looking in on their lives. It is also filmed in black and white which makes it feel a lot older which is something that we would cherish more as we don’t often see it. The setting is very simple which is what you always see in rock videos as it is about the music and not the fancy places and sets they could record it in, the thing they want to stand out is the music itself.

EDIT: This shot was part of a panning shot, this is like backstage filming, its as though we get an insight into the rock and roll life that is so famous, it gives their audience something that makes them feel closer to the band itself creating a special connection. The shots itself are soft, only on the drums does it do quick harsh shots, this is to emphasis and coincide the visuals with the music.

MUSIC/LYRICS: There is no lyrics at this point just music which is visually matched by instruments being played.

SHOT: Medium Close-Up

ANALYSIS: This close up is to express the relationship between him and the girl that he’s with, again the outfit, and general keep of himself is very much the rock style. The romance element shows the softer side to the rocker letting people see them more venerable.

EDIT: The edits are soft which go with the idea of the song.

MUSIC/LYRICS:

      “I’d hate to look into those eyes and see an ounce of pain”

This expresses the visuals quite clearly and again shows the different side to rockstars.

From doing this deconstruction I understand that rock music videos conform a certain stereoptypical person, they are males who are a bit more 'out there' than others, for instance the clothing (and in some cases not alot of clothing which is where their female fan base comes from), the long hair, the tattoos, the attitude they have. Their surroundings are usually minimalistic as they are focused on their music rather than how they look on a video, there is a lot of camera action on the imsturments being played, there is also usually footage within the music video of them practising or performing at an actual gig, this makes it more apparent that they are not fussed massively about the video but more about the music because they don't spend hours/days performing for a camera in elusive sets for a music video, instead they come across very down to earth and passionate about what they do instead of fame hungry. These are all factors I would consider if I were to create my own rock music video.