3. What Is The Purpose Of A Music Video?

Every Tear Is A Waterfall - Coldplay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyMhvkC3A84



Generic Elements


Generic elements are elements that are continually recognised throughout a genre that help to define it. For example, in the rock genre, there is often an element of a performance video or the majority is a performance. This is due to the demographic often wanting to feel a part of the performance and the song being the main aspect. In Every Tear Is A Waterfall by Coldplay, the video begins using stop-go animation, yet switch to the stereotypical performance type of video. However, this could be due to the fact the band are more popular and one of the bigger bands, they can go outside of the set boundaries and challenge the conventional elements.


Coldplay are a big enough band with a large proportion of sales, so the videos can be primary to the artist, so the video is more important than the band. Due to the majority of the video being primary, this creates immersion, where people are 'sucked' in and can't take their eyes away, progressing onto the popularity of the band and the song because people will want to watch the video repeatedly.


The generic pleasures and gratification include intellectual superiority due to the fact the content of the video is so cleverly done and it exceeds expectations as it doesn't just follow the majority of the stereotypical ideas. For example, the stop-go animation is clever and it also implies the added factor of lyrical context, as the lyrics are displayed in chronological order as the song goes on. People are intrigued in the videos and how far artists like Coldplay will take their originality. The generic pleasures in this case are helped with the high profile of the band, they can go to these lengths due to their success and people already know who they are and what to expect. The demographic is large so the generic pleasures are for a large audience. They also follow on from the performance aspect and allowing people to feel involved and there as Coldplay are famous for their impressive tours and shows.

This video continues to show the talent and popularity of Coldplay, continuing to raise their profile.

You can also see how videos have progressed throughout the years and where ideas have evolved from. For example, this video is similar to the ideas and conventions used by Peter Gabriel in his video, sledgehammer. Animations where used and it was totally different to the stereotypical video and used a totally different idea. Just like Coldplay, the animations relates to the lyrics for example, 'steam train' is shown by a train traveling round his neck. Coldplay's video obviously looks more professional and effective due to the advances in technology and the more knowledge on what's effective however, the initial idea possibly came from a video like this.