Tropes and memes of my genre

I chose to follow, challenge and refute tropes and memes of my genre to create a product that was creative and not cliché. When researching into tropes and memes there were three main ones that I came across, only two of which I have really used.

Face of the Band
The lead singer in a band tends to be the most well-known member of the band, and sometimes even the only member that the public have heard of. Therefore, when it comes to music videos for any genre, they will get the most camera time compared to the rest of the band, including lots of close-ups and extreme close-ups. However, I decided to refute these as I feel it is incredibly unfair on the rest of the band. In my opinion, the drummer holds the band together as he sets the tempo for the piece, and so I decided to make him the "face of the band" in my video, and give him the most camera time. Although many people didn't comment on the lack of singer in my audience feedback some did and saw it as very controversial, but I feel it looks just as effective showing more of the drummer, as I think he's more interesting to watch! 

Dress Rehearsal Video
This is a common trope of the rock genre, but only in very small doses. Therefore I have challenged this as I have based my whole video on a "dress rehearsal" style video, as there is no audience there, which none of my audience picked up on, yet they have all the lighting and props set up for a professional gig. I'm really pleased I chose to use this concept for a lot of my video as I feel it looks really effective and appealing as it makes the audience feel as if they are there with the band, watching them perform and enjoying themselves.

Surreal Music Video
Another common trope of the rock genre is a surreal video, which is one I have refuted. Surreal music videos usually include being set in a surreal location, such as an abandoned boat, or a montage of footage that has no relation to the band or song. I find watching surreal videos difficult to follow, which is why I chose not to follow this trope as I find them difficult to follow as they are so irrelevant. Although my video doesn't have a narrative for an audience to follow I feel it is much clearer than a surreal video as it is only set in two locations and it is clear it is a performance video with elements of a homage to the original throughout.

When looking into tropes and memes I realised that I have refuted a lot that are typically associated with music videos, for example:

Conveyor Belt Video
A "conveyor belt" video, involves using continuous tracking shots and nothing else, especially not jump cuts. My music video is full of jump cuts and so I have clearly refuted this trope. My video would be incredibly boring if I didn't include jump cuts and so I can't imagine watching a "conveyor belt" video, and it definitely wouldn't be fitting for my chosen rock genre.

Choreographed Routine
A typical trope of a "boy band" video, is to have a dance break with a huge choreographed number. Once again I refuted this as not only are all of my talent appalling dancers, but it would also look absolutely ridiculous in the middle of an alternative rock genre if they started dancing. Instead, in the break in the song they just move around the stage enjoying themselves, which I believe is much more appealing to watch than a cringe worthy dance routine.

Mid Vid Skit
A final trope I refuted is known as the "mid vit skit", which is becoming increasingly popular in music videos. It is a point in the video where the music is interrupted, usually by talking. I don't like this trope as I prefer the music to carry on until the end of the song instead of stopping and breaking the flow midway. Therefore, once again I didn't include it in my piece as I feel it would have been even worse in a fast pace video with several different cuts.

Overall, I feel I have followed, challenged and refuted tropes and memes in ways that are most effective for my video. I have focused on what will work and what won't in order to make my music video appeal to my target audience, something which I believe I have done successfully. I don't believe in following tropes purely because people are used to seeing them in videos as if it doesn't add anything to my product that it really isn't necessary and I am confident that I have made the right decisions within my video.