Artist:The Roots
Song: Make my
Genre: American hip hop/ Neo soul
A narrative music video is one that has a storyline, usually in relation to the lyrics. In this narrative video by The Roots, we see a young black American youth in a dilapidated area of the US, get murdered as he attempts to defend his home from another hooded youth much like himself. We can tell that the area is undeveloped and rundown due to the mise en scene and the condition of both the interior and exterior of the house. Inside, the walls are worn and crumbling, even the light-switch beside the door is old , while outside the concrete pavement is cracked, the wooden decking is shabby and the plants are considerably overgrown to the extent that the entire fence is covered in ivy.
Although the video could be considered stereotypical in its representation of young black American youth, it does little to romanticize the scenario, and instead emphasizes the horrors of living such a lifestyle, this juxtaposes with the lyrics.
Performance:
Artist: Green day
Song: American Idiot
Genre: Rock
One of the many conventions of rock music videos is that they are usually performance based, as is the case in Green Day's "American Idiot". Almost the entire video is made up of clips of the band playing the song, however it also uses some conceptual effects such as the green American flag in the background, that is both a reference to the name of the band 'Green Day' as well as a connotation of the corruption and decay of America. What makes the video even more interesting is the point in which the 13 stripes on the American flag turn into what appears to be a 'toxic' green liquid, as the 13 stripes in the flag represent the thirteen British colonies that declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain and became the first states in the Union, the message that they are conveying could be that they are not actually free, and are instead under the influence of a 'redneck agenda', as said in the lyrics.
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