Music Genre Research: Choosing the Right Type of Rock Sub-genre

At the beginning of the course, my group and I had to secure the copyrights to a song in a genre for which we would want to make a music video. To accomplish this, we had to research  the genre of music that we wanted to portray in a music video and a musician/singer who could do this.
The type of music we looked into producing was rock/alternative rock:

History, Origins & Influences:

Rock music is a genre that originated in the 40s/50s and that later became known as 'Rock and Roll'. It was influenced by other music genres such as blues, folk, jazz, rhythm and soul. The lyrics of these songs, much like pop, focuses on love but also has many variations to it to appeal to the bands' different audiences.
Alternative rock is one of the many sub-genres that have stemmed from rock. However, it was a result of independent music in the 80s and 90s where underground (not legally commercialised) music became popular through: its diversity, word of mouth and college radio broadcasting. 'Alternative' is a broad term used to describe something that differs greatly in its sound and roots. Hence, sub-genres such as gothic rock, jangle pop and industrial rock came into being.

Representation:

Musically, rock has always been centred on the electric guitar with electric bass guitar and drums accompanying it as part of the rock band. Although, the inclusion of other instruments such as the piano have become a part of and led to the reason why there are typically 3-5 members in a rock group. Rock, unlike pop, also places a higher focus on the music itself, live performance and the authenticity of the band.
In terms of aesthetics, the bands usually link to the ideology of 'rebellion' and being unique/different. Therefore, it makes sense that some bands wear different accessories, mix (dark) colours (which are mostly black), wear makeup, etc.

Well known bands include: (ROCK)

• AC/DC
• Metallica
• Queen 
• Nirvana 
• Black Sabbath 
• Rolling Stones 
• Pink Floyd 
• Aerosmith 
• Van Halen 
• Kiss 

ALTERNATIVE:

R.E.M

Linkin Park

Foo Fighters

Radiohead

The Cure

U2

Coldplay

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Oasis

Iconography & Music Videos: 

The typical kind of music videos for the rock genre would be centred mostly around performance with some narrative to mimic a live performance that focuses on the band and its brand of music. 

Usually for the rock genre, it is normal for the music video to focus on the band as if they were centre stage with high key lighting.
An example can be that the camera cuts between a wide shot of the band, close ups/zoom-ins of their individual faces and close ups of the instruments being played. Sometimes even lyrics are portrayed on screen to emphasise the connotations/importance of such. 

Alternative rock similarly has a focus on the band, but some more than others have a conceptual music video focussing on the meaning of the video and that it is like Andrew Goodwin's idea that it is a visual aid to the lyrics. Hence, low key lighting is utilised and they all wear dark clothes to keep attention away from themselves. Though, sometimes all of these aspects in alternative rock are ignored and there is no purpose to the music video other than conveying people playing loud music to ignore everything (just like their audience can tend to act as well).

 

 

Some exemplar shots of what typical rock music videos can look like

We also researched the elements of the sub-genre Irish rock and its music videos as this is what we were leaning towards doing after the majority of our research.

History & Backstory: 

It started in the 1960s/70s when the musical culture of Britain spread and gained popularity in different countries. Eventually it reached Ireland and with it came influences such as blues and psychedelic rock. Irish music started to become popular with the creation of Irish 'showbands' which had musicians playing British and American hits in dancehalls and clubs across the country. Being a professional musician in Ireland at the time was the best way of making a living so the musical culture kept on growing. 

Bands: 

Artists like Van Morrison, Henry McCullough and Rory Gallagher started in Irish showbands and went on to putting their country on the musical map. 
A friend of one of our group members knows an Irish band called 'Creeds Cross' and we are considering making a music video for one of their songs (most likely the one below).