· Music videos are what promote the artist and his/her/their song. Music videos also show how the artist represents themselves; by the narrative in which they use and also by how they perform in the video. Music videos also help the audience to buy into the artist’s lifestyle. Music videos are also used to target specific audiences, for this video in particular, this would be aimed at teenagers from around the ages of 15 and up, the reason for this is because they can relate more to the storyline and lyrics used. Using music videos enables the audience to build a relationship with the artist, as they can understand the lyrics through the way the sing, dance and act. The level of understanding differs with the level of performance. Without music videos, the audience do not fully understand the meaning of the song, the video (in most cases) show the storyline of the song which means that the song is easier for the audience to understand and therefore like more.
Style of music video
Music videos are split into 3 different categories, which are:
· Performance- (singing/dancing)
· Narrative- (telling the audience a story)
· Concept- (selling the audience an idea/theme/ideology)
This video contains all three categories; there is performance because the band is shown now and again singing and performing with their guitars and drum kit. This shows perfect performance. There is also a narrative which is portrayed. Through the lyrics and the acting of the people inside the video, this helps the audience to understand the song more and the storyline which is shown through the song. Concept is also used slightly throughout this video. It shows that, although 'Stacy' is pretty. The boy likes her mother. Who is clearly out of his league.
Generic Conventions
The genre of this song is Indie and Rock. It is also Power Pop as well. As this is an Indie/Rock band/song. It is expected to see the band playing their guitars and drums. This fits the generic conventions of the genre. In this video, the band are 'rocking' and jumping which is also expected as by doing this, the rock image is portrayed.
Target Audience
The target audience for this video are teenagers from around the age of 15 and up. The reason for this is because it touches on things which go on in a teenagers life i.e. crushes etc. There is also a teenage theme as a school is used and there are teenagers in the video.
Goodwin's theory
1. Throughout this video there is dancing which suggests that this is a pop/rock/indie video. There is also a band which suggests that also.
2. There is a relationship between the visuals and the lyrics as throughout the music video it shows ‘Stacy’s mom’ and also the storyline goes with the lyrics.
3. There is a relationship between the music and the visuals because the music is up-beat and the dance routines that show are also up-beat.
4. There are close up shots of the characters which are acting in the music video this shows the facial expressions of the characters and therefore creates a relationship with the audience.
5. There are voyeuristic shots which show the females body, this attracts a certain target audience and therefore promotes the video.
6. There are no intertextual references to films, tv programmes or other music videos.
