1. Conventions of a
rock video.

2. Videos referenced:
• November Rain – Guns N’ Roses.
• Paradise City – Guns N’ Roses.
• Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N’ Roses.
• Don’t Cry – Guns N’ Roses.
• Poison – Alice Cooper.
• Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen.
• Wanted Dead or Alive – Bon Jovi.
• You Give Love A Bad Name – Bon Jovi.

3. Fits
characteristics of
genre.

4. Theatre in November Rain. Arena in Wanted Dead Or Alive.
Locations in rock music videos are usually quite large and dramatic. The
use of the arena is very similar to the use of TV in hip hop videos. Gigs are
a big thing in the world of rock music, so to have a video of the band
playing an arena makes them seem popular, to give them the ‘star image’.

5. Jon Bon Jovi in Wanted Slash in November Rain Brian May in
Dead Or Alive. Bohemian Rhapsody.
BEAUTIFUL HAIR
No seriously, I’d like to make a point about pseudo-individualism here.
These three people all had one main physical feature that made them
stand out: their hair. However, what made them stand out is something
that made many other people stand out.

6. Bohemian Rhapsody. November Rain.
There are often panning mid/long
shots of the artists performing.
These generally show off the skill of
the artist, to illustrate that they can
actually play their instruments,
rather than stand in a line and sing
a pretty harmony. In the rock music
scene, this is something of
Poison. importance.

7. Slash wearing no shirt, leather Jon Bon Jovi’s tighter than tight
jacket and jeans in November Rain. jeans/leggings in Wanted Dead
Or Alive.
In rock videos, the artists’ costumes consist denim or leather. They
generally wear jeans or leggings (which are tighter than is probably
healthy) with either a vest or denim jacket. This goes back to the ‘rise of
the teenager’ in the 1950s, where the rise of rock n’ roll led to an outburst
of rebellious clothing and attitudes.

8. Wanted Dead Or Alive. Poison.
A lot of videos are edited into black and white. This makes them seem
more dramatic.

9. Wanted Dead Or Alive. November Rain.
There is usually song sort of moving
strobe lighting in rock music videos.
These fit with the cinematograhy,
as there are not very many static
shots in rock videos, so the erratic
strobe lighting matches that. These
show the artist to be exciting .
Poison.

10. Bohemian Rhapsody. You Give Love A Bad Name.
Men dominate rock videos for two
main reasons. The artists themselves
generally tend to be male, as rock is
meant to be a ‘man’s music’. Also,
the target audience for rock is male,
so having males in the video makes it
relatable to the target audience.
Sweet Child O’ Mine.

11. Don’t Cry. November Rain.
November Rain. Poison.
In rock videos, women do not generally feature heavily unless the artist is
female. When they are featured, they are usually just a love interest of
the lead singer of the band. This is because the main audience for rock is
male, so the women are added in to appeal to the male gaze.

12. The theatre in November Rain adds As Bohemian Rhapsody was the
to the seriousness of the piece, as first real music video, the band
theatre is generally considered quite wanted it to be taken seriously.
serious. Having the performance element
makes it serious because it shows
they’re actually doing something to
promote their music.
Rock bands usually use dramatic settings or performance so that their videos,
and their music, will be taken seriously. This is so they can attract more of an
audience to their piece and ultimately make more money.

13. You Give Love A Bad Name. Sweet Child O’ Mine.
LOOK AT THAT HAIR. I LOVE HIM IT.
However, the bands also want to Axl Rose tries to cover the fact that
appear human and likeable, so they he’s going to be an awful person by
use supposed “candid” shots in tour pretending to be all awkward. NOT
videos to make them seem more GONNA WORK, AXL, YOU’RE AN
human. They do this because nobody AWFUL MAN NOW AND
wants to buy music from a band full EVERYBODY KNOWS IT.
of horrible robots, and it makes the
music seem more personal.

14. Link between lyrics
and visuals.

15. Axl Rose standing in the ‘cold The people going ‘their
November rain’ separate ways’ in Wanted
Dead Or Alive.
There is usually a link between
the lyrics and the visuals in rock
videos, otherwise the video
would be irrelevant and
wouldn’t appeal to an
audience.
The woman putting the ‘venomous
poison’ into Alice Cooper’s drink.

16. Link between music
and visuals.

17. Slash’s guitar solo in November Rain David Bryan playing the keyboard in
Wanted Dead Or Alive.
There is generally a big link between music and visuals, as performance
elements are a big thing in rock music videos.

18. At the beginning of You Give Love When the beat kicks in, fireworks
A Bad Name, before the set off, lights brighten, the cuts
drums/guitars kick in, the shots become clearer and more rapid
are very slow, not a lot happens and everybody starts moving.
and the transitions are fades. The pulsion of the song is
reflected through the video.

19. Close ups.

20. Bohemian Rhapsody November Rain
Wanted Dead Or Alive
Poison
There are lots of close ups in rock videos, although they are mostly usually
of the lead singer or frontman. This is because music videos are meant to
promote both the song and the band, so to have a close up of the artist
links the artist to the song. They’re also generally of the lead singer
because they tend to be egotistical maniacs.

21. Motifs.

22. Sweet Child O’ Mine Paradise City was You Give Love A Bad
was released in 1987; released in 1988; it Name was the first single
it was only Guns N’ was only Guns N’ to be released from Bon
Roses third single. Roses fourth single. Jovi’s first big album.
When artists first hit the big time, their first few videos tend to feature
close ups of their name or logo, so that people will know who they are.
The images and constant references to their name make them stick in
the audience’s head, so they will remember the band if they liked the
song.

23. When bands become well known, they tend to do more dramatic
videos, because they know they won’t be a waste of money as they
have an established fanbase.
Don’t Cry was released in November Rain was Estranged was
1991, once Guns N’ Roses released in 1992. released in 1994.
were more well known..
Don’t Cry, November Rain + Estranged by Guns N’ Roses have three linked
music videos. This font is the common motif for these three videos, to
make them seem more like movies (as each of the videos are theatrical),
but also links the three.

24. Guns N’ Roses also have the
common motif of costume in
their music videos. This makes
them instantly recognisable,
seemingly adding to their
popularity as they are easily
identifiable.
November Rain Paradise City
November Rain Don’t Cry Paradise City
Slash says he wears his hat because he feels “nervous in a crowd” and it
makes him more “comfortable”, and so it became a common thing for
him to wear it in videos/concerts etc.

25. Looking.

26. Looking in from the audience Looking in from the audience in
in November Rain. You Give Love A Bad Name.
Looking in from the audience
This effect can also be achieved
makes the viewer feel connected
by using low angled shots from
to the video, as they can imagine
the bottom of a stage, as if the
they are actually watching it from
person is in the crowd, such as in
the perspective of somebody
You Give Love A Bad Name.
there.

27. Looking in at Bon Jovi on tour in Looking from “backstage” at
Wanted Dead Or Alive. Steven Adler preparing for a gig.
The second type of looking, looking in on the band “on tour”, makes
them seem more friendly and more human, because it’s almost like a
candid shot that “catches them off guard”. They are usually mid shots to
make it look as if a person has just run around with a camera spying on
the band.

28. Voyeurism.

29. Stephanie Seymour’s dress in The woman in Poison is shown
November Rain shows off her legs, in such a manner to fit the
so she seems attractive, and gives lyrics of the song , as it is about
Axl Rose (as he marries her in the a dangerous but desirable
video) some ‘reputation’ for being woman.
able to ‘get’ a beautiful woman.
There is generally not a lot of voyeurism in older rock videos, because the
audience range for rock music can be teenagers or it can be older; however,
there is some in some videos because the main audience category for rock
is male, so some videos appeal to the male gaze.

30. Intertexuality.

31. There doesn’t tend to be much intertextuality in older rock videos;
however, the idea of pseudo-individualism can be seen in them.
Gig/performance videos are done to make the band seem more
human and to make a mark with their name and faces, but every band
does it.
Here it is in Livin’ On A Here it is in Paradise Here it is in Sweet
Prayer. City. Child O’ Mine.