1. 1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics
(e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl
band).
To make the video more appealing to the target audience the producers make
the video and relatable as possible as well as including popular characteristics
of the stereotypes of which are included in the target audience. This way the
video is effective, will sell and make a profit as well as being a ‘good’ music
video.
The video for ‘Red Flag’ by Billy Talent is aimed at its target audience which is
rebellious adolescent audience, and the music itself includes lots of fast paced
riffs and shouted lyrics, being very teenage angst based, and the video reflects
that very well by using fast cuts and pans of a narrative of many kids, of which
you would assume many are of the target audience. Wearing dark and black
clothes with bright red, to relate back to the song.

2.
It also cuts back to the performances in brief cuts, to the band playing the
song, again with fast movements and ‘moshing’ and looking and being really
emotional and vibrant in their movements to the music.

3.
‘Single Ladies’ by Beyonce is a very stereotypical dance video, displaying sexy
girls in small and tight attire, dancing. With Beyonce in the middle, lip syncing
throughout, which is also a stereotypical part of many dance and club
songs/remixes. Lighting is simple and dramatic, high constrast to look simple
and effective. A lot of dance songs have dances along with them, which then
engage the ignition as a lot of the time, the target audience will learn the
dance. The target audience for this song, and indeed many dance tracks, is
girls and woman of varying ages, usually between 14 and 25 years of age, a lot
of them aspire to be like many of these famous singers like Beyonce, Rhianna
etc. Simple yet effective seem to be the theme for many dance track music
videos, which even relates to the camera shot and angles. They are very direct
approach shots, symmetrical balance in the composition as well as the lighting.
This is probably due to the fact the producers don’t want attention to be
mislead from the dancers. There is usually no narrative or only narrative (with
lip syncing) in these videos as the people themselves don’t play the
instruments, if there are instruments used at all, as it is typically computerised.

4. Slipknots ‘Dead Memories’ video is a prime example of many heavy metal and
screamo music videos, being stereotypically creepy and fast, with fast
movements, but with slow pans and cuts to intensify the creepiness of the
video and the song, a lot of the cuts go to the beat of the music to draw in the
viewer even more and emotionally connect to the target audience which is
usually angsty and pubescent teenage boys, trying to rebel or feeling self
destructive.
The shpts are usually artistic and meaningful to relate to its viewers, which is
mirrored by the lyrics and song itself, and typically there is an intro of sorts,
and the narrative plays a big part in the video as these songs are usually telling
a sad story, with still cuts back to the band being emotional and angry, making
you draw even further into the video. With high contrast to emphasise on the
creepiness and dark message of the video.
There is also usually harsh and violent movements in the video, to emphasise
on the anger, emotion is very important in these videos.

5.
Babes in Toyland –
He’s my thing has a
few similarities with
the slipknot video,
but involving
feminism and
creepy stop motion
dolls, as well as
faster cuts and
shots which look
aged and strange.
The narrative isn’t always clear in these kinds of videos, which adds to the
overall eeriness of the
video, you tend to be
able to take your own
meaning from the song
and video, as the song
doesn’t usually make a
lot more sense than the
video at first. The same
feel is when it cuts out
of the narrative and
into the performance.