Conventions of a rock video.

Videos referenced:• November Rain – Guns N’ Roses.• Paradise City – Guns N’ Roses.• Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N’ Roses.• Don’t Cry – Guns N’ Roses.• Poison – Alice Cooper.• Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen.• Wanted Dead or Alive – Bon Jovi.• You Give Love A Bad Name – Bon Jovi.

Fits characteristics of genre.

Theatre in November Rain. Arena in Wanted Dead Or Alive.

Locations in rock music videos are usually quite large and dramatic. The use of the arena is very similar to the use of TV in hip hop videos. Gigs are a big thing in the world of rock music, so to have a video of the band playing an arena makes them seem popular, to give them the ‘star image’.

Jon Bon Jovi in Wanted Dead Or Alive.

Slash in November Rain Brian May in Bohemian Rhapsody.

BEAUTIFUL HAIRNo seriously, I’d like to make a point about pseudo-individualism here. These three people all had one main physical feature that made them stand out: their hair. However, what made them stand out is something that made many other people stand out.

Bohemian Rhapsody. November Rain.

Poison.

There are often panning mid/long shots of the artists performing. These generally show off the skill of the artist, to illustrate that they can actually play their instruments, rather than stand in a line and sing a pretty harmony. In the rock music scene, this is something of importance.

Jon Bon Jovi’s tighter than tight jeans/leggings in Wanted Dead Or Alive.

Slash wearing no shirt, leather jacket and jeans in November Rain.

In rock videos, the artists’ costumes consist denim or leather. They generally wear jeans or leggings (which are tighter than is probably healthy) with either a vest or denim jacket. This goes back to the ‘rise of the teenager’ in the 1950s, where the rise of rock n’ roll led to an outburst of rebellious clothing and attitudes.

Poison.Wanted Dead Or Alive.

A lot of videos are edited into black and white. This makes them seem more dramatic.

Wanted Dead Or Alive. November Rain.

Poison.

There is usually song sort of moving strobe lighting in rock music videos. These fit with the cinematograhy, as there are not very many static shots in rock videos, so the erratic strobe lighting matches that. These show the artist to be exciting .

Bohemian Rhapsody. You Give Love A Bad Name.

Sweet Child O’ Mine.

Men dominate rock videos for two main reasons. The artists themselves generally tend to be male, as rock is meant to be a ‘man’s music’. Also, the target audience for rock is male, so having males in the video makes it relatable to the target audience.

Don’t Cry. November Rain.

November Rain. Poison.

In rock videos, women do not generally feature heavily unless the artist is female. When they are featured, they are usually just a love interest of the lead singer of the band. This is because the main audience for rock is male, so the women are added in to appeal to the male gaze.

The theatre in November Rain adds to the seriousness of the piece, as theatre is generally considered quite serious.

As Bohemian Rhapsody was the first real music video, the band wanted it to be taken seriously. Having the performance element makes it serious because it shows they’re actually doing something to promote their music.

Rock bands usually use dramatic settings or performance so that their videos, and their music, will be taken seriously. This is so they can attract more of an audience to their piece and ultimately make more money.

However, the bands also want to appear human and likeable, so they use supposed “candid” shots in tour videos to make them seem more human. They do this because nobody wants to buy music from a band full of horrible robots, and it makes the music seem more personal.

You Give Love A Bad Name.

LOOK AT THAT HAIR. I LOVE HIM IT.

Sweet Child O’ Mine.

Axl Rose tries to cover the fact that he’s going to be an awful person by pretending to be all awkward. NOT GONNA WORK, AXL, YOU’RE AN AWFUL MAN NOW AND EVERYBODY KNOWS IT.

Link between lyrics and visuals.

Axl Rose standing in the ‘cold November rain’

The people going ‘their separate ways’ in Wanted Dead Or Alive.

The woman putting the ‘venomous poison’ into Alice Cooper’s drink.

There is usually a link between the lyrics and the visuals in rock videos, otherwise the video would be irrelevant and wouldn’t appeal to an audience.

Link between music and visuals.

Slash’s guitar solo in November Rain David Bryan playing the keyboard in Wanted Dead Or Alive.

There is generally a big link between music and visuals, as performance elements are a big thing in rock music videos.

When the beat kicks in, fireworks set off, lights brighten, the cuts become clearer and more rapid and everybody starts moving. The pulsion of the song is reflected through the video.

At the beginning of You Give Love A Bad Name, before the drums/guitars kick in, the shots are very slow, not a lot happens and the transitions are fades.

Close ups.

Bohemian Rhapsody

Wan

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Dea

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November RainPoison

There are lots of close ups in rock videos, although they are mostly usually of the lead singer or frontman. This is because music videos are meant to promote both the song and the band, so to have a close up of the artist links the artist to the song. They’re also generally of the lead singer because they tend to be egotistical maniacs.

Motifs.

Sweet Child O’ Mine was released in 1987; it was only Guns N’ Roses third single.

Paradise City was released in 1988; it was only Guns N’ Roses fourth single.

You Give Love A Bad Name was the first single to be released from Bon Jovi’s first big album.

When artists first hit the big time, their first few videos tend to feature close ups of their name or logo, so that people will know who they are. The images and constant references to their name make them stick in the audience’s head, so they will remember the band if they liked the song.

Don’t Cry was released in 1991, once Guns N’ Roses were more well known..

November Rain was released in 1992.

Estranged was released in 1994.

Don’t Cry, November Rain + Estranged by Guns N’ Roses have three linked music videos. This font is the common motif for these three videos, to make them seem more like movies (as each of the videos are theatrical), but also links the three.

When bands become well known, they tend to do more dramatic videos, because they know they won’t be a waste of money as they have an established fanbase.

November Rain Don’t Cry Paradise City

November Rain Paradise City

Guns N’ Roses also have the common motif of costume in their music videos. This makes them instantly recognisable, seemingly adding to their popularity as they are easily identifiable.

Slash says he wears his hat because he feels “nervous in a crowd” and it makes him more “comfortable”, and so it became a common thing for him to wear it in videos/concerts etc.

Looking.

Looking in from the audience in November Rain.

Looking in from the audience makes the viewer feel connected to the video, as they can imagine they are actually watching it from the perspective of somebody there.

Looking in from the audience in You Give Love A Bad Name.

This effect can also be achieved by using low angled shots from the bottom of a stage, as if the person is in the crowd, such as in You Give Love A Bad Name.

The second type of looking, looking in on the band “on tour”, makes them seem more friendly and more human, because it’s almost like a candid shot that “catches them off guard”. They are usually mid shots to make it look as if a person has just run around with a camera spying on the band.

Looking in at Bon Jovi on tour in Wanted Dead Or Alive.

Looking from “backstage” at Steven Adler preparing for a gig.

Voyeurism.

There is generally not a lot of voyeurism in older rock videos, because the audience range for rock music can be teenagers or it can be older; however, there is some in some videos because the main audience category for rock is male, so some videos appeal to the male gaze.

Stephanie Seymour’s dress in November Rain shows off her legs, so she seems attractive, and gives Axl Rose (as he marries her in the video) some ‘reputation’ for being able to ‘get’ a beautiful woman.

The woman in Poison is shown in such a manner to fit the lyrics of the song , as it is about a dangerous but desirable woman.

Intertexuality.

There doesn’t tend to be much intertextuality in older rock videos; however, the idea of pseudo-individualism can be seen in them.

Gig/performance videos are done to make the band seem more human and to make a mark with their name and faces, but every band does it.

Here it is in Livin’ On A Prayer.

Here it is in Paradise City.

Here it is in Sweet Child O’ Mine.