Diversity UPDATED

A diverse music video, is a video that does not follow the stereotypes of a genre and are not the norm. Artists decide to create a diverse music video because the unusualness of the video attracts the audience and makes them want to watch the video as it is going to be something that they have never seen before. However, some people may not like the videos that do not follow the norm, and this could result in the artists losing fans. 

Chris Cunningham is a well know music video director who does not follow the expected stereotypes of the genre. He is very diverse and artists who don't mind chaining their image and putting themselves out there. One artist that he has worked with is Madonna with her video for her song 'Frozen'.

The video 'Frozen' is from the pop genre and goes against mostly all of the stereotypes we would expect to see in a pop video. Conventionally, we would expect pop music videos to have very bright and bold colours, to make them appear happy and exciting. However, Chris and Madonna go completely against this in the video. A variety of shades of black, grey and white are used, which give the video a very dark and mysterious feel. Madonna's mes-en-scene, specifically costume, hair and make up mirror this.

She is wearing very pale make up with long black hair and a long black dress. Any parts of her body that are showing are pale and colourless. This gives the impression to the audience as her being quite scary and mysterious, which is different from her normal bubbly/girly appearance. It engages the audience as it is different from her normal self, and they will want to see what happens at the end of the video. It is beneficial to the artist because the controversial video will gain attention from new/potential fans and the media. Which creates more publicity for the video.

The song also shows a relationship between the music and the visuals. The song slows down and sounds rather eerie. The sound "ahhh" can also be heard in a ghostly tone. To match this visually, editing, in particular slow editing is used to match the very slow eerie music. Madonna's dress is floating around slowly and covering her face, making the audience think of her as mysterious. This also makes the audience want to keep watching the video so they can reveal the mystery.
The style of video is mainly performance based. Madonna is singing to the camera throughout, she looks into the camera while she's singing, making it feel very intimate with the audience. This makes the audience feel more involved with her and like they know her on a more personal level. Performance based videos is conventional for pop music because they don't want them to be full of narrative as it would be boring. They also want to be taken seriously as an artist, therefore show themselves performing.
Madonna is represented as mysterious, this is shown by cinematography, specifically a mid shot showing her covering up her face with her hands and with black hair and make up and a black dress. This implies her to the audience as quite magical and mystical, which will encourage them to watch the video. This is beneficial to Madonna because the viewers could talk about the video with friends due to it being controversial, therefore creating more publicity.
This video by Madonna is conventional of Chris's work as he has completely remade her look into something that would not have been expected from her. 

Aphex Twin's music is generally from the hip-hop genre. His song Window licker does show some conventions front his genre however it is quite a diverse video from this genre.

One convention of the hip-hop genre is that men are the dominant characters compared to the women seen in the video. In the song this is kind of displayed however a diverse version. The main character is seen sitting in the back of the limo, but with two transexuals behaving lustful towards him. This is diverse as normally it would be expected that there are two girls doing this. This is could be seen as highly entertaining to the audience as it is something different that they most likely would have not seen before. 

One convention that can be seen in the music video is the specific references to wealth and money. This can be seen through a panning shot of a white limo going past the two females and again shown through slow editing when the male is getting out of the limo. He is wearing all white with gold chains. This helps to reflect his wealth as it implies that it is his limo. A the white has connotations of chic and classiness, which implies that he is of a higher status then the other people. This makes him some to admire and be jealous off for the audience because they may want a lifestyle similar to his with nice clothes and cars.  

A common characteristic that we would expect to see in this genre is that men are shown as the more powerful characters and women are objects of lust and disposable. Editing, specifically a montage shows a rich man getting out of a limo and performing sexual movements while the two women stand and look desperate to get his attention. This represents them to the audience as very money orientated and that men can pick and choose at women when they please. Which is conventional of this genre that women are seen as objects for men to lust over. This is beneficial to the artist because hip-hop artists try to gain a 'hard man' image and the disrespect and treating women as sexual objects helps them to do this. 

Goodwin's theory is supported here intertextual reference to the artists logo. This is shown through the use of mes-en-scene, in particular iconography of the umbrella with the artists logo on it. This is helpful to the audience as it is a constant reminded of who's music they are listen to. They will be able to link the logo back to the artist and the song when they see it in other places. Which helps the artist to gain popularity as it will be memorable and stick in the audiences heads, therefore they could gain fans as people will be remembering the logo and may discuss it with friends.

The style of the video is mainly narrative, which is showing the wealthy man gets the two girls due to them enjoying his money and finding that attractive. And it implies the women to be gold diggers, as the instantly find the men with money more appealing. This is stereotypical of hip-hop because conventionally men are shown to have money and be superior to the females as they have a higher status and wealth. This helps to create the brand image for Aphex as it demonstrates him to live that exciting hip-hop lifestyle with lots of money and girls. This could cause the audience to be envious towards the artist as they may want to also have this life style. 

Aphex Twin, is represented as being quite flashy and wealthy, we can see this by the mes-en-scene of the iconography of a big white new looking limo pulling up with the artist inside. This signifies to the audience that the artist has lots of money as they can afford nice things, and that he likes to show off his money. Artist wealth is a convention in hip-hop as wealth and expensive items are meant to signifies status.

Cunningham also directed come to daddy by the Aphex Twins. The music channel that this song would be played on is MTV rock, bass or even AKA due to the nature of the song and the style of the music.
 The style of the video is mainly narrative as it is about an old woman walking her dog and then getting terrorised by the young children. The music video has a performance element due to the vocals on the tv screen. The concept is that we are controlled and influenced by what we see on tv and in the media so we rebel against society through violence. 

The drum and bass is conventional due to the images flashing up on the beat of the drum at a fast pace. This helps the audience to relate because they can follow the beat of the song. By the audience following the beat of the drum alongside the song, it helps the video and song stick into the audiences head. By them remembering the song they are likely to look at other songs by the artist and possibly want to go to concerts to get a live experience with the artist and the song. 
 However, elements that are unconventional that makes the video diverse are the setting as it is in an urban council estate area,which makes it diverse because the audience are used to seeing a setting such as a stage where the artist will perform. 
Additionally, the age of the characters is unconventional because it features young children and an old woman. Which is unconventional because you would expect the characters to be the same age as the target audience because then it helps the audience to build a relationship with the characters better as they can imagine themselves in their position; however, i think that subversive characters are used so that the video is weird making it memorable to the audience. This therefore helps the song and video stick in the audiences head and they are likely to watch the video multiple times as they find it enjoyable. 
 Goodwin's theory is presented through artist promotion when the artists face is photo shopped through the micro element of editing onto the children's faces. This is done even though its diverse to makes the children stand out, which will help the target audience remember the artist.  
In the video the artist is represented as creepy due to him screaming on the TV and terrorising an old lady. This is diverse as usually artists want to be represented in a positive light so that they become more popular and idolised; however, he seems to do the opposite to stand out and appeal to a niche target audience. He is also represented as rebellious due to him hiding in a childs body and rioting as this shows him wanting to go back to his childhood when he could do what he wants and this is also shown through the diversity of the music video as he is rebelling against what is conventional of the genre.  Furthermore, the artist is represented as creative due to the advanced editing in the video and he has made the video longer than conventional music videos because he views them as an art form so wants to be able to express himself.

Michael Gondry is also a very diverse director, his is not as diverse as Cunningham but still does not follow the norm with conventions we would expect to find in a certain genre. Artists would typically work with Gondry as it refreshes what their audience would commonly expect from them. Some of the artists he has worked with include white stripes and Kylie Minogue. 

Gondry directed The hardest button to button by The white stripes. This is from the rock genre and could commonly be found played on scuzz channel, as this is a typical genre of music that is played on this channel. A rock convention that is seen in the video is the mes-en-scene specifically, the iconography of the instruments used, such as guitar, drugs and microphone. This allows the audience to see straight away what genre the video is from and even if the overall video is quite unconventional the audience will still be able to associate it with the rock genre.It is conventional to see these instruments in rock videos as the artists want to be stars and playing the instruments show they have actual talent. This is beneficial to the artist as it makes the audience respect them more as they are playing the instruments.
Goodwin's theory is supported in this video as well, we can see this through a relationship between the music and the visuals. Every time there is a new drum beat a new clone appears. This amplifies to the audience the genre of the video, as it highlights the instrument that the artists are playing and they have actual talent. However, the repetition of the artist is not something that would commonly be seen in the rock genre and would be more expected from pop.

The style of the video is mainly performance. Throughout the artists are seen singing and dancing along with the music. Cinematography, specifically a long shot shows one of the artists singing with a guitar and the other playing the drums. This is a convention of the rock genre as again as mentioned before the artists like to she their pure talent and this allows them to showcase themselves. Which could result in the video having a more intimate feel with the audience, this is beneficial to the artist as if the audience feel more connected wight the music they are more likely to buy a CD or want to go and see them in concert. Which means more money for the artist. 
The artists are represented as talented and quite down to earth. Cinematography, in particular a long shot shows the artists performing in a road under a railway bridge. This shows they have talent to play instruments and sing and it is also a public place, making them seem more like a 'normal' person to the audience, leading to them being more approachable. This makes them relatable characters to the audience.

Another video that Gondry directed was Kylie Minogue come into my world, which is front the pop genre. The genre conventions that we would stereotypically expect to see in a pop music video are not evident in most of the video. Kylie's mes-en-scene, in particular her costume. She is wearing very concealing clothes with is subversive of the pop genre. It is also very casual, where as we would expect her to be wearing more flamboyant outfits that reveal more of her body. The casualness of the outfit makes her more relatable to the audience as the see her more as a 'normal' person than a pop star. However, it could be seen as partly convention as its quite a fun outfit with nice pastel colours and theres lots going on with the outfit. Also all of the clones are wearing matching outfits. This shows the audience the genre of the video. 
Goodwin's theory is also evident in the video. There is frequently lots of close ups with Kylie showing her singing along with the song. This is beneficial to the audience as it helps them to build up a relationship with her and gives the video a more intimate feel. This results in them feeling like they know her more as an artist. This would help Kylie as an artist as it could result in people being more loyal to her as an artist. Close ups are conventional to the pop genre as it highlights the artists talent. 
The style of the video is mainly narrative, it is showing her life and everyday routine. 
This shows she is still a normal person and does everyday duties like everyone else and that her life is not always as glamorous as it seems. Which makes her more relatable to the audience as they can picture themselves carrying out the duties that she is doing and it makes her come across as a more approachable star who would be very easy to talk to and get along with. Unlike other stars who are very self indulged and only think about themselves and money. 

This research has made me highly consider producing a diverse music video as i believe it would incredibly help to attract my audience as they will want to see something that is different and doest'n follow the norm. However, diverse music videos take lots of thought and have to be done in the right way so that the it still appeals to the normal target audience of the artist.