Genre- American Rock

The similarities occurring throughout the editing of American Rock music videos are visible. The colour grading is always black and white however, some shots have a sepia look to them in some videos.

Another similarity is the pace of the video, they are all quite fast paced in terms of changing from shot to shot. Some of the panning/tracking shots however are slightly slower between the shots.

Throughout the American Rock music videos that I have studied they all contain low key lighting with spotlights on the band members.

One video however had differences in lighting to make the narrative shots distinctive from the performance shots. This included using low key lighting and spotlights for the performance shots and natural sources of lighting for the narrative shots- this made the narrative sections look more realistic.

In terms of MES, this is the use of props, make-up, clothing and lighting. It can also include posture and gestures.

Looking at clothing, the band members often tend to wear dark-coloured, casual clothing such as: jeans, t-shirt, leather jackets etc. However, some also wear more elaborate outfits like glam rags. Throughout the videos I analysed their clothing were more casual.

The posture and gestures includes the band members pulling the microphone towards him or screaming into it. Guitarists will tend to throw their head back and forth, or arch their back over the guitar.

In many rock videos the make-up would tend to be minimal, however they would generally use black eyeliner to give them the stereotypical rock look. As well as this, sometimes they may wear pale foundation to enhance the contrast between the pale skin and dark eyes- which also creates a corpse-like vision.

The shots were similar throughout each of the music videos that I had analysed. They included a mixture of different shots from long shots to close ups.

Long shots were used when showing multiple band members or when they involved the setting around them, i.e. the stage.

Mid shots were used on individual band members playing their instruments to enhance the idea of the performance context and them playing on stage.

Close-ups and extreme close ups were used when focussing on specific sections of an instrument (for example, the guitar strings). However, they were also used to reflect the individuals emotions.

Panning and tracking shots were used throughout a couple of the music video that I had analysed, this was mainly seen when they panned from the audience back to the band performing. This also enhanced the performance context which all American rock videos portray.

All of the shots included within the American Rock genre emphasise the importance of the band and their musicianship.Although there were several panning/tracking shots throughout a few of the music videos I analysed, when looking at a wider range of American rock music videos I figured that many videos lacked camera movement, this is due to the context of these specific music videos being performance based. For videos which included narrative context as well, they tended to include more camera movement.

Low angled mid-shot

Close-up

Extreme close-up

Many American Rock music videos are located within a large room or a stage. The rooms are set up to indicate a performance, therefore they will have chairs or allocated seats, which face a large spacious area for the band.

Although many of the American Rock music videos only include performance throughout, some have included narrative which are interlinked within the performance shots. Therefore, the locations of the narrative sections are usually shot within Urban areas however, can also be located within Rural areas, deserted houses etc.