Diversity

 

Diversity

Diversity can be defined as 'a point or respect in which things differ'. By having a diverse music video, it is unique, not only according to the stereotypical generic conventions regarding; theme, style, mis ens scene, censorship and characteristics, but in the opinion of the audience. Directors such as Chris Cunningham and Michael Gondry are well known for their diverse style, opposing the conventional style of a music video.

Chris Cunningham

Cunningham has worked with artists including Autechre, Aphex Twins, Bjork, The Horrors and Madonna. Although diverse in style, Cunningham was very successful in being awarded for his works. His video 'All is Full of Love' in particular won 'Best Break Through Video', a 'Gold Pencil' award at the D&AD awards and was nominated for 'Best Short Form Music Video'. Here, is an example of Chris Cunningham's diverse work in his interpretation of Madonna's song, 'Frozen' in which this also won 'Best Special Effects' at the MTV music video awards in 1998:

The track 'Frozen' falls in to the genre of Pop, however the style of the video to accompany the song can be perceived as diverse as it subverts the gneneric conventions for a Pop video. The presentation of the artist is very much gothic, with Madonna being dressed in black with very pale skin conveying her as almost scary in appearance rather than happy; a conventional representation of a Pop artist. The black and white theme connotes thriller conventions, as does the deserted location as this makes the artist alone and vulnerable. The effects that transform the artist to both a dog and crow present her as beastly, further connoting thriller conventions as if she were the antagonist with a 'split' personality. The representation of the artist in this video very much subverts the conventional presentation of Pop artist as she is seen to be sad, scary and almost angry in her appearance rather than happy and upbeat. With Madonna creating the conventional Pop video previous to this, her target audience in very much mass. However, this video is more likely to appeal a niche audience who's interests lie in the gothic nature she presents in this particular video.

In this video, the audience can references to Goodwin's theory, in particular the proposal of a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. At this point of the video, the lyrics play, 'love is a bird' in which the audience can visually see birds flying, possibly perceived to metaphorical for love as suggested in the lyrics. This builds a relationship between artist and audience as the audience are able to interpret the song according to the artist's intentions, giving them a deeper understanding of both the song and artist.

The style of the video is mostly performance based, with Madonna singing the song in the deserted location for the majority of the video. This brings the focus on her, allowing the audience to further build a relationship with her as she is present for nearly all of the video. However in her performance she appears to be almost eerie in her behaviour, opposing her usual style of performance by dancing and upbeat suggestive of a proposal made by Richard Dyer; 'stars are commodities produced and consumed on the strength of their meanings'. In terms of Madonna, this proposal suggests she has become a product rather than an artist in order to be consumed by her target audience, reasoning why she has changed her appearance and style. Dyer proposed that artists should remain incoherent and therefore range in style and appearance in order to remain an enigma for their target audience and keep them interested. The video also has a slight narrative as the artist has included animals to represent elements of love. For example, the bird may represent the freedom in which she feels when in love whereas the dog may represent her anger from the love she has lost, suggested in the lyrics of the song. 

Aphex Twins - Come to Daddy

Cunningham also directed the music video for the track 'Come to Daddy' by the Aphex Twins which is constructed as a short film, a typical style that Cunningham adopts in his works. The presentation of the music video connotes thriller conventions similarly to the 'Frozen' video. The music is eerie, there is low key lighting throughout and the face performing the song is distorted so that the audience are unable to recognise them, as if an antagonist keeping a hidden identity to create an enigma. The colour scheme also consists of black and white, similarly to 'Frozen' in which this also creates an eerie atmosphere as this portrays a lack of life, also portrayed though the deserted location. The video begins with an old lady walking her dog on what appears to be an estate, a conventional location of terms of crime as stereotypically 'youths' would love here which creates anticipation, as if the audience are waiting for something to happen, again conventional to a thriller film. With similar stylistic features to 'Frozen' regarding music video content, it is more likely to appeal to a niche audience as the video is very creepy in it's portrayal, rather than enjoyable. The genre of this track falls in to Dance/Techno in which conventional features of such genre consist of parties, dancing and lights in order to create the idea that the song stimulates people in having a good time. However, lack of such conventions make the video diverse and therefore does not appeal to a mass audience.

Goodwin's theory is evident in the video as there is a clear relationship between the music and the visuals. However rather than being a illustrative relationship, the video adopts an amplifying relationship as the editing of the video is shown to be in time with the beat of the song; in which this is conventional to a dance/techno track as this emphasises the beat of the song to the audience in order for them to see and hear the beat to become more familiar with the song. This attribute of the video is conventional rather than diverse to the genre as it encourages the audience to familiarise themselves with the song, appealing to a mass audience.

The style of the video is heavily based upon narrative as a result of it's short film style construction, having a beginning, middle and end.The video begins with an old lady walking her dog around an estate, the middle being consisting of a small collection of midgets taking over the estate portrayed as both rebellious and violent in their attitudes. Finally the video ends with what appears to be a parental figure to the midgets being born from a television on the street of the estate. Such a story can be perceived as diverse as it has no relationship with the lyrics or meaning of the song, it is simply random in accordance to the track. It also isn't realistic in terms of the audience being able to relate to the narrative as this is more than unlikely to happen in real life, whereas a narrative of a break up of a relationship can be easily related to as it is a common occurrence. The video also has minor aspects of performance as the audience is able to see a distorted person in the TV singing the lyrics, however this is not the artist as the artist is not in the video.

By not having the artist in the video, this doesn't allow the audience to build a relationship with the artist, which may affect the success of the artist as Richard Dyer proposes that an artist must both present and absent in order to remain the audience's interest. By being present, the audience get to know the artist in terms of appearance, image and personality portrayed to the audience, and by being absent the audience are wondering where the artist is, what they are doing and therefore obtain an obsession with the artist. However, because the video doesn't show the artist, the audience don't have a figure to attach to and therefore become disinterested.

Michael Gondry

Michael Gondry is an Academy Award-winning French film-maker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He has worked with artists including Kayne West, Kylie Minogue and the White Stripes. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène, creating an unusual and unpredictable visual for the audience. In comparison regarding directing style, Cunningham adopts a much more narrative based style of music video as they are typically constructed as short films that normally create an eerie atmosphere, increasing their diversity. Whereas Gondry conforms to the style of a  conventional music video regarding layout but subverts generic conventions through his manipulation of mis en scene i.e. in the music video fo Kylie's 'Come into My World', a pop song, it is conventional for the artist to be positioned central to the video in order generate interest from the audience as they are focused on her. Gondry conforms to this convention as Kylie is in fact focused on, but  as a result of her being replicated several times in the video, increases the video's diversity.

Kylie Minogue - Come into My World

The track 'Come into My World' by Kylie is considered to be in the pop genre; however there seems to be a lack of conventional generic characteristics such as dance and party scenes, typical of the genre. Instead, the artist is seen to be walking what appears to be in circles in a town similar in appearance to France. Such a simplistic narrative connotes the style of an independent production company constructing the video rather than such a well known artist like Kylie, presenting the artist as down to earth and relaxed. However, the replication of the artist each time she walks in a circle has a relationship with the lyrics 'Come into My World' as it suggests her 'world' is busy and exciting. This presents her as high in her fame and therefore possibly hard for the audience to relate to as their lives do not consist of such lifestyle. Such representation is similar to the proposal made by Richard Dyer, that stars must be ordinary for the audience to relate and extraordinary for the audience to become interested in something different and unusual. The ways in which Gondry presents the artist is diverse in style as it opposes the generic conventions, so much so, that it makes it hard for the audience to relate to the artist and therefore this may cause them to be unable to become interested in them.

Goodwin's theory is present in the video, proposals he claimed made a video successful in appealing to an audience. There is a suggested relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as Gondry has presented Kylie's world as being hetic through placing her in several positions in the frame, also suggesting her exciting lifestyle. The lyrics invite the audience to 'come into [her] world', in which her 'world' is shown though the manipulation of mis en scene, a conventional style of Gondry.
There are is also a lack of Goodwin's theory which arguably is significant in the role of contributing to the video's diversity. There is a lack of close ups of the artist, which are usually included in order for the audience to feel closer to the audience, to build a relationship with them in order to generate an interest in them as an artist as well their music. By having a lack of close ups, the audience feel disconnected to the artists and have no encouragement to engage in the song and artist. This makes the video diverse in style as it subverts the typical approach in representing the artist.

The style of the video much consists of a performance based structure, as the artist is always in the frame consistently singing the song. This subverts the proposal made by Richard Dyer, in which he stated that an artist must be both absent and present in order to maintain the interest of the audience as they are able to build a relationship with them and therefore uphold an interest when absent. However, in the video, the artist is always in the frame constantly repeating the narrative over and over again. This may become boring and uninteresting for the audience as they are able to predict what is going to happen. This also unconventional to the pop genre as they typically show a party scene to engage the audience in having a good time because of the song itself. Therefore, due to the lack of variety regarding the narrative this not only makes the video diverse, but disengaging; the audience find the video unappealing as it lacks exciting content. The video also has aspects of a narrative based video as the artist appears to be walking through a town, in which the audience see the background which includes the everyday life going on. However this is not focused on and therefore may considered irrelevant.


White Stripes - The Hardest Button to Button

an everyday location, unusual for the rock genre

This particular track by The White Stripes is considered to in the alternative rock genre, in which the presentation of the video arguably, is very similar to his previous video 'Come into My World' as he once again adapts the conventional style of which mis en scene is typically used in a music video. The director uses replication to manipulate mis en scene, however instead of the artist being replicated, the instruments are replicated throughout, with the artist moving along with them. However, such editing style created a relationship between the lyrics and visuals in the previous video, whereas in this video it may be considered slightly more random as it does not create such effect, or any other effect. This makes the video more diverse as they is no illustrative reasoning behind the justification of such decision; it becomes confusing for the audience they are able to understand why the director chose to do so. Another unconventional aspect of the music video is the director's choice of location; alongside roads, underground train stations and parks, for these are everyday locations rather than dark and mysterious settings, typically for the rock genre.


As a result, the audience may not be attracted to the video because the representation of the artists lack convention according to the rock genre. The artist has conventional aspects of their image including the clothes, either black or red in which these are typical colours for rock as they convey anger and darkness, appealing to the audience. They also play instruments including electric guitar and drums, considered to be typical rock instruments as they are loud and harsh in sound, they suggest edge. However, with the location being an everyday location, the artist is represented as quite the opposite to edgy, rather everyday, normal people. This will not appeal to the target audience as they expect the artist to be dark and edgy as this is conventional to the genre - making both the video and artist diverse.

artists wearing black and red, connoting danger and edge

Goodwin's theory is evident in the video as there is a clear illustrative relationship between the music and visuals. The editing is time with the beat of the music, in which this emphasises the song as they audience are encouraged to remember the song as they can both visually 'see' the beat, and hear the beat as a result of the music. However, again, there is a lack of Goodwin's theory making the video diverse in style, which could decrease the success of the video. There is a lack of correlation regarding the lyrics and visuals which may cause the audience to be unable to truly understand the concept of the song and therefore become disinterested. Goodwin proposed that such relationship contributes to a successful video, and therefore the video can be considered diverse.

The style of the video is both performance and narrative based; the artists perform the song throughout however due to location changes and interaction with other people the video has a minor narrative. The style of the video is very similar to Kylie's 'come into my world' as it shows the artist always performing the song without appearing absent - again, subverting Richard Dyer's theory that a star must be both present and absent to maintain a fan base. The style of the video is diverse, as it doesn't conform to the generic conventions of rock; it lacks darkness and edge. It is conventional for a rock artist to do a live performance in a dark and dingy location to suggest rebellion and anger, an aspect that this video particularly lacks.

Why have a diverse music video?

There are many positives in making a diverse music video; for example, it gives people something different to watch. By conforming to generic conventions, the audience are able to predict the typical outline of a music video, however by having a diverse music video it is possible that the audience may become more interested as it unpredictable and therefore more exciting. Also, as it is unpredictable it may interest a different target audience as it is something they haven't ever seen before, therefore widening the audience you have intended to appeal to. There are examples of diverse artists such as Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Eminem, all very successful artists and therefore  this proves that diversity does appeal to an 

audience as it is something different and sometimes controversial, 

generating more interest. 

Finally, in terms of the perspective of the director, a diverse music video allows them to have more creative freedom as they do not need to manipulate the micro elements to conform to the generic conventions. They are able to go completely against the typical style of a music video and create their intention easily; in which both Cunningham and Gondry do. These directors subvert what is expected of a music video, however have been deemed successful in their own ways i.e. Cunningham was awarded with the 'Best Special Effects Video' and therefore his work had been recognised as successful regarding the special effects used.

However, a music video has typical generic conventions in order to create a desired affect on the audience; appeal. Therefore it can be argued that a diverse music video can lack appeal as it doesn't offer certain requirements for the audience to deem it successful. For example, in the music video 'Come to Daddy' directed by Cunningham, there is lack of artist presence and therefore the audience are unable to build a relationship with them, they become bored and therefore move on to find another artist who they find interesting. It is conventional for the artist to be present in a music video in order for the audience to have a reason to watch it, they feel closer to them. Such style of diversity doesn't encourage the audience to watch the video and therefore, they wont. There is a lack of connection between audience and artist. Also, as a result of this, it is common for music channels to reject such videos to play on their channel, because they are not appealing to an audience and as a result of them being played on their channel, the audience will not want to watch such channel, affecting their success too. This also influenced the song's success as there is a lack of distribution and promotion, so the target audience are unaware of the song and video entirely; affecting the artist's image as becoming irrelevant.

How has this research impacted your decisions regarding your own music video?

From the research I have conducted in to diverse music video, we have decided as a group to maintain to the generic convnetions of an indie music video. Our artist Nina Nesbitt, is very down to earth and much focused on her music, and by doing a diverse music video this may alter our intended artist representation. Indie artist's have very simple music videos in order for the audience to relate and focus on the music, in which we want our music video to do so. Diverse music videos are much more suited to artist's who known to push boundaries such as Lady Gaga, as this becomes a topic of discussion and therefore artist promotion; it keeps the artist relevant in a good way. However, such a subtle genre like Indie, must remain subtle in order to appeal to the audience as they want an artist to relate to, as well as their music, not a topic to discuss.