Codes and conventions of punk-rock videos

CONVENTIONS OF PUNK ROCK MUSIC VIDEOS 

Punk rock developed in the 1970s. It is a hard edged, usually fast paced style of music, very successful in the UK. America and Australia. It is a fusion of the styles of rock, punk and some elements of pop. This genre of music became very successful in the 1990s and 2000s. It usually features vocals, and includes bass guitar, lead guitar and drums.

Early bands of this genre would include The Jam, Generation X and the Buzzcocks. By the mid 1990s Green Day and The Offspring had become very popular . Blink 182 were also very successful.

In order to look at conventions of punk rock music videos, I have studied videos from an assortment of artist. “The Anthem” by Good Charlotte, “In Too Deep” by Sum 41 and “Feeling This” by Blink 182 are examples of performance videos of this genre. “Jesus of Suburbia” by Green Day, “Sk8er Boi” by Avril Lavigne and “Sugar We’re Going Down” by Fall Out Boy are examples of narrative videos in this genre.

By studying these videos several conventions of this style of music have become obvious.

The video always features the band or artist at some stage either playing on their own or performing live in front of an audience. There are close up shots of the artist which would be required by the record label in order to promote the artist. This would boost sales of the album.

The artist is often playing with great passion and emotion.

The clothing is often inspired by the punk genre, and can consist of suits, casual clothes, heavy footwear, dark clothing. The tops often have torn off sleeves.

Musical instruments are played by members of the band such as close up shots of guitarists and drummers playing their instruments.

There is a lot of movement and energy in the tracks, shown by crowds dancing at the live concerts or the artist jumping up and down on the stage. The artists often appear to be enjoying themselves and having a good time.  .

The scenery tends to be quite simple as it is the performance that is important. It is often set on the stage.

The band’s logo is often featured in the videos. Also particular artists often have a particular trademark style which is associated with them and which we see in the videos.

Punk rock videos often contain a narrative. This sometimes illustrates the song but can be completely different from the lyrics.

There is often a rebellious edge to the music and the video.

We chose this genre as it is a genre that we are familiar with. It also has some themes that we can easily recreate in our music video. This was also the genre of the band that we have chosen to use.

-Peter Godwin-