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Rock music - A form of popular music which evolved from rock and roll and pop music during the mid and late 1960s. Harsher and often self-consciously more serious than its predecessors, it was initially characterized by musical experimentation and drug-related or anti-establishment lyrics.

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Origins - Rock music originated in the United States of America during the late 1940s and late 1950s and soon began to go global. It originally was a genre of music that combined rhythmic music with country and western. The first use of this combination was constructed by Alan Freed who played for a multi - racial audience and was the first perofrmance to be categorized as 'Rock n roll'.

Rock and Roll

Black Sabbath: Rock band

Conventions: Appearance                                  

- Dark clothes                                          - Messy hairstyle

- Piercings

- Tattoos

- Make - up (dark eyeliner)

Performances:

- Lyrics are associated with drugs, alcohol and sex

- Low lighting used for a hardcore effect

- Loud music classed as heavy metal

 

Check out this example

Codes and conventions of a Rock music Video

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Mise en scene: 

- Rock Band with usually four members 

- Usually wearing the colour black or darker colours

- Covered in tattoos and piercings

- Use of low lighting

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Camera:

- Usually pans over a crowd

- Close ups of artists highlighting instruments played

- High angle shots of Band showing the scene

- Over the shoulder shot of artists playing  

Sound:

- Lyrics generally relate to an anti - establishment style that allows audiences to 'let loose' at performances

- Loud music relates to a out of control environment.

 

Editing:

- Slow motion edits in their performances

- Uses cuts specifically to go from one scene to the next as well as being in time with the beat.

- Jump cuts usually used to keep up with the fast pace of the song. 

Relationship between music and visuals

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Black Sabbath - Paranoid

The title of the song is constantly adhered to as the visuals show a background image of someone watching the artists perform. The title 'paranoid' coincides with this as the artists portray they're own fear of being watched. 

'People think I'm insane because I am frowning all the time' 'Think I'll lose my mind if I don't find something to pacify'.

Lyrics clearly show how the artists feel paranoid accompanied with the fast cuts from people watching the band in the background

The psychedelic like images in the background of the video also relates to the lyrics 'think ill lose my mind'. This creates an image of uncertainty which surrounds the title of the song as well as the lyrics. 

Sub - genres of Rock :

Pop Rock - Genre that mixes the catchy style of Pop music with guitar based rock songs

 

Some sub - genres of Pop Rock - Beat, British, Invasion Bubblegum, glam rock, indie pop

Subverts the traditional conventions of a rock genre as it is commercially successful in the music industry

Blink 182 are a typical example of Pop Rock

Pop Rock music video conventions:

 

Maroon 5 - This love

Editing: 

- Cuts between shots of artists and shots showing narrative to maintain the Pop - Rock genre.

- Transitions between narrative and artists to coincide with the beat of the song

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Mise en scene:

 

- Fluorescent setting showing the lighter approach to rock music.

- Clothing is generally colourful when the focus is on the artists showing the 'Pop' nature of the band/group

- Their is a change from high to low lighting signifying the 'rock' (dark) to 'Pop' (light)

Camera:

- Still shots used to establish the distinction between artists and narrative

- Panoramas used to highlight the artists musical talents

Relationship between music and visuals:

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'Whispered "Goodbye", she got on a plane
Never to return again'

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There are clear parallels between the lyrics and the visuals as they appear to show the woman lusting for the males attention when she apparently 'whispered goodbye'. However, this still keeps up with the same theme of romance that is common in a pop - rock video.

Performance and narrative comparison over different types of Rock music

Alternative Rock example:

Radiohead - No Surprises 

In this video the aim is clear to portray a video that is unconventional and so does not conform to the typical conventions of a Rock music video. It shows the artist being drowned in a container (of sorts) and he is attempting to sing whilst in a precarious situation. This is not common in videos such as that of Black Sabbath who focus on the whole band and the talent being shown by the artists. This further reinforces the alternative concept.

Heavy Metal Rock example:

AC/DC - Black in Black

This video shows no real narrative. Instead it opts to focus on the performance of the artists on the real stage and the reaction that they get from the audience. This is the main aim of heavy metal music to provoke an extreme reaction from the audience that is not seen with other rock music. The video shows close - ups of the wild performances by the artists which introduces the heavy metal style. 

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