Task 4 (Research - Music Promo Research)

Michael Jackson – Bad (Pop)
Eminem – We Made You (Hip Hop/Rap)
Linkin Park - New Divide (Rock)

The genre for Michael Jacksons 'Bad' is pop, this genre would appeal to young people such as young teenagers, however many older people would listen to the song. Where as the genre for Eminems 'We Made You' is hip ho, which would appeal to fans of jungle or drum and bass music. The genre for Linkin Parks 'New Divide' is rock music, which would appeal to fans who enjoy this genre of music.

Michael Jackson – Bad (Pop)
The music promo for Michael Jacksons 'Bad' has some conventions of the pop culture, as well as conventions of a Michael Jackson video. The conventions of pop are that the artist is always in the video and is shown performing, singing or dancing. Another convention is that there are a group of dancers doing the same routine, which is common amongst many pop videos. Some conventions that are present in this video that you would often see in a Michael Jackson music promo is that, there is a short introduction and a short ending clip, which adds to the narrative of the song. Another convention is that Michael Jackson performs many of his iconic dancing routines.

There is really only one link between the lyrics and visuals, and that is that song is about being 'bad' and so the dancers and artist are wearing cool urban clothes to represent youth and being 'bad'. The links between the music and the visuals is that the dancing is in sync with music and suitable as well.

During the music video it mainly includes Michael Jackson doing his dance routine, however there is other people dancing as well during the video. The music video does have some intertextuality, for example, the music video is part of a mini-film which he has done before for some of his big hits such as 'Thriller'.

The art of looking – voyeurism, during this music video allows everyone and anyone to enjoy watching what is happening on the screen. The reason for this is that the dancing during 'Bad' is extremely pleasurable to watch for people who are fans of Michael Jackson, as well as other people who aren't.

The mise-en-scene in the music video includes things such as, the setting is in an underground subway station. The costumes are clothes that would have been urban back in them days, which also connotes them being 'bad'. There is only a small selection of camera angles used, such as high angle shots, medium shots, close-ups and one pan shot.


Eminem – We Made You (Hip Hop/Rap)
The music promo for Eminems 'We Made You' has some conventions of the hip hop/rap culture, such as the clothes that are worn – the baggy track suits, as well as many beautiful women throughout. As well as in some Eminems music videos, there is a lot of comical moments in it.

There is many links between the lyrics and visuals throughout the whole music video, the examples of this are when he talks about certain celebrities such as; Jessica Simpson and Amy Winehouse, there is an impersonator of them, doing a comedy sketch of them. However there isn't any links between the music and visuals.

The music video focuses on Eminem rapping but the main focus if on the comedy of the different sketches that Eminem is in, this shows his funny side and that he can funny. There is a lot of intertextuality throughout the music video, such as the sketches of celebrities as well as some intertextuality from Star Trek.

The voyeurism during 'We Made You', allows many different people who may not enjoy hip hop/rap music, to enjoy watching the music video as there are many humorous sketches. So this does appeal to many people across a wide range of target audiences.

The mise-en-scene in the music video includes things such as, the setting is in various locations, for example; a bedroom, a restaurant, an office and the Star Trek spaceship. The costumes include clothes that would be worn by rappers, also there is many other costumes that the actors wear to show who they are supposed to be representing. The camera angles mainly used are, long shots, medium shots and close-ups. The music contains a few moments of CGI, for example the imaging behind Eminem when he is rapping.


Linkin Park - New Divide (Rock)
The music promo for Linkin Parks 'New Divide' is the official song for the new Transformers film called 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'. The promo includes a small amount of conventions for the rock genre, for example, there is many shots of the band playing the instruments such as the guitar an drums, also there is many shots showing the lead singer singing as well.

There is only really one link between the lyrics and visuals, the example of this is when the lead singer sings 'the ashes fell like snow'. When he sings this, there is a burning effect on the screen, which looks like burning embers or ash flying off the band members.

The links between the music and visuals is that when the chorus is sung, the colour of the band change colour, also the transitions and cuts change quicker and are in time with the beat. Finally during the chorus the clips shown have got more action in as the music speeds up.

Throughout the promo, the focus is mainly on the group performing, but also there is a lot of intertextuality. As 'New Divide' is the official song the 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen', the music video includes a lot of clips from the new film, so this would help promote the film as well the song.

The voyeurism side of the music video is exciting to watch for anyone. But I think that it would appeal more to fans of the film, as they would have a better understanding of what is happening on the screen.

The music video has some shots of the band normally, however it mainly consists of CGI, which is really effective. The band members are all computer generated and change colour as well as other good effects used. The setting where the band are performing is a scene from 'Transformers', so this again is a piece of intertextuality. Also the transitions used are clever as it shows a clip from 'Transformers', then it would stop and 'swirl' into another shot, this is very effective.

In conclusion, all the music videos use completely different methods in order to promote themselves, Michael Jackson uses a 'mini-film' and fantastic dancing to promote the song 'Bad'. Where as Eminem use comedy including mini sketches to go with the lyrics, this enables him to appeal to a wider audience instead of just hip hop/rap fans. Finally Linkin Parks music video enables the new film 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' to be promoted, as well as the group attracting fans of the film to listen to their song.