2. What is Rock music?
Rock music is a popular genre of music that originates from the United states of
America. Originally called “rock and roll”, rock music first started in the 1950s and
continued to change decades later. Rock music is also influenced by other genres of
music such as folk, country, classical and jazz and soon after it became popular a
number of subgenres of rock were created like folk rock and jazz-rock fusion.
Generally rock music is situated around using an electric guitar along with other
instruments like the drums.
Today rock music is still one of the most popular and recognizable genres of music with
popular rock bands such as fall out boy, foo fighters and Mumford and sons.
3. Codes and conventions: Mise en scene
• Typically rock music is produced by a rock band with usually four or more members in
the band. Normally the artist/band of the music will wear the colour black in most
occasions (for example photo-shoots, performances and music videos). Usually rock
artists/ band members will be covered in tattoos and have piercings, along with this
they can be seen wearing make up (e.g. eyeliner) on numerous occasions, normally
during performances.
4. Codes and conventions: Mise en scene
• Normally a rock music video will use low-key lighting as they normally try to create a dark
atmosphere/theme for the video so it matches the mood of the song. For example the music video for
Hoziers take me to church uses low-key lighting as well as a black and white effect throughout the video
in order to keep in tone with the mood that the song creates. However high-key lighting will be used on
occasions e.g. in the form of a spotlight to emphasis the performance of the band/artist.
• A lot of rock music videos are set in places like outdoor areas and cities. Normally the setting for the
video will be kept simple and filmed in a secluded area so that the video can be focused more on the
performance aspect instead of what's going on in the background.
5. Codes and conventions: Mise en scene
• Normally while performing or when featuring in a music video rock artists tend to use
a lot of facial expressions (e.g. angry) in order to express to the feeling of the song or
to show that they are really getting into a performance. Also they can use different
forms of body language during any performance as a way of expressing themselves
through non-verbal communication as well as verbally, for example if some of the
lyrics have a negative feel to them they may shake their head as a way of saying no, in
order to match the lyrics or the feel of the song.
• One popular gesture that is normally associated with rock/rock artists is this hand
gesture, it is normally used to represent rock and usually will be used by rock artists
when they are performing either live or in music videos.
6. Codes and conventions: Sound
• As normally a rock music video will have a storyline to it, during the video diegetic
sound maybe used in the form of soundscape in order to emphasize in the
performance aspect for the music video. For example at the start of Guns N’ roses
music video for November rain a sound effect of raining is used along with the visual
in order to establish the setting and set the mood/tone of the song that follows.
7. Codes and conventions: Editing
• Editing can be used in different ways depending on the tempo and mood of the song. Any rock music video will
use cuts in order to go from one scene to the next, this is normally to make sure that the artist is seen in
different scenarios and for the video to tell a story. Also the different cuts are normally put into a sequence to
establish a montage. If the tempo of the song is slower and less upbeat the video will use less rapid editing and
take a softer approach. For example at the beginning Mumford and sons audio music video for Believe the
editing technique match out is used to give a smooth transition form one shot to the next , this matches the
slow tempo of the track at that moment.
• When the tempo of the song is fast and upbeat normally rapid editing or jump cuts will be used so that the pace
of the editing in the video will correspond with the pace of the music. For example by the end of the audio
music video for Mumford and sons believe the tempo of the song has increased, now short cuts and fast editing
is used to make sure that the visual of the video matches the excitement of the song.
8. Codes and conventions: Narrative structure
• In a lot of rock songs the narrative is normally about telling a story relevant to the lyrics/music. In many cases
the bands artists are featured in their video but also in a lot of cases their not. The narrative of the song/lyrics
corresponds with the way the music video is made. Generally if the narrative of the song is sad then the music
video would have more of a storyline, take Hoziers song take me to church, as the song is quite sad the narrative
is shown through the form of a short story in the music video. The video is presented like this in order to
effectively show the meaning/message behind the song. In some cases the narrative for rock music videos will
feature the band performing live. There is more chance of this happening if the song is upbeat as the thrill of a
live performance would keep in tone with the vibe of the song. Commonly a music video for a rock artist will
have both a performance from the band and a story to it. An example of this is Guns N’ roses video for
November rain, which features a live performance and a story of someone getting married.
9. Codes and conventions: Cinematography
• Usually if the artists for the music video are doing a performance in the video then close up, extreme close up
and wide shots will be used to in order to influence the way the audience views the performance, as the close
ups will show the artists body languages, facial expressions and emotions as they perform the song.
• Establish shots and aerial shots will be used in order to illustrate the location/setting of the video and may also
be used to foreshadow what the narrative for the video might be. Normally these shots will be used at the
beginning of the music video.
• High angle and low angle shots will be used to emphasis the bands/artists authority in the video as a shot
looking up at them normally illustrates that they are in the position of power over the other people in the video.
• Other techniques like point of view shot, pan and tilt maybe used in the music video to emphasis what the
artist/character is doing, seeing or feeling which can link to the meaning behind the video.
