Genre Analysis (Bastille - Bad Blood)

Bastille – Bad Blood

Camerawork:

The camerawork for this video is very conventional as it is done in mainly mid shot, long shot and close up.  These 3 shot types are conventional as they are used within many promos of this genre. They mainly use the close-up to show specific detail that may be important in the video. This is conventional and also creates an intimate feeling in the video. They use mid shot to show faces and some scenery or people in the background. There is also long shot which is used to show locations and people in the locations. For example the girl on the beach shows location change. This follows conventions as long shots are used to show locations in videos of this genre. The compositions of the shots are very conventional and just show the characters in the centre of the shot making them the main focus. The camera work is also done in a canted/dutch angle shot so creates a chaotic/confusing effect. This isn’t very conventional to this genre but does make the video a bit different to watch.

Editing:

The editing of the video is very conventional as it’s done in straight cuts usually fitting to the tempo, e.g. when the tempo speeds up the cuts go quicker etc. This is conventional to this genre as it makes it seem effortless and not mainstream. Also the video has continuity editing where the video goes through time and is like a series of events. This is also conventional as many videos go through a sequence of time e.g.  Artic Monkeys – Why’d You Only Call Me When Your High?

Narrative/Performance:

The video includes no performance so therefore breaks the conventions set by this genre as most videos in this genre do include performance.  The video is amplification as it takes the idea of bad blood and ruined friendships and bases the video on that. This is conventional as a lot of the videos do base the video around the lyrics. The narrative is very basic and follows many of the conventions of the genre (heartbreak/feeling isolated etc). It includes a man missing and also a girl who lives there and gets flashbacks of his death. The flashbacks are of the boy drowning and the girl not saving him. It’s effective as it very confusing and is a puzzle to solve. Again most narratives in this genre are quite easy to follow but this one isn’t.

Mise-en-scene:

Costumes:

The costumes are very conventional and are just casual clothes, including jackets, jeans etc. This makes it seem applicable to real life. The main character only has three outfits and they are all very informal. This fits conventions as many videos do this so it seems more realistic and don’t want it to be OTT whereas in pop videos the outfits are unrealistic/ extravagant.

Make-up:

The make-up is very basic and creates a sense of realism as well as fitting the video. In the video she is very stressed/ worried so without make-up it looks effective. This is conventional as most videos in this genre don’t use make-up.

Lighting:

The lighting is a mixture of natural and artificial. The shots outside are natural while inside its artificial (includes red lighting). This is very conventional to the genre and is used in other videos. This is also very simple to do.

Props:

The video doesn’t have many props within it, only some rotten meat (to represent bad blood), television (to show he’s missing) and photo frame (to show they knew each other). The props don’t break conventions as lots of videos in this genre don’t include many props, although due to the basic narrative it may not include many.

Setting:

The video is set in two main locations only; the house and the seaside/water. These both fit the narrative and fit the storyline. This is conventional as many videos of this genre include 2-4 locations, this makes it quite simple.

The two theories that apply to this video are Allen’s and Knights;

Allen said that ‘To make any sense of any text audiences require ‘cultural capital’ i.e. they bring their knowledge and experience of a text in order to understand it’. This means we are going to make our own meanings of the song/ genre. 

With this video/song this theory links as when watching it we add our own meaning to Bad Blood. For some it can mean that the song is about a bad friendship or a relationship. While other might think its about another reason.

Knight's theory says 'Genre may offer various emotional pleasures, such as empathy and escapism. We enjoy identifying with the characters and imaging ourselves living out their experiences'. This means we fit ourselves into the song/video and feel what they feel (e.g. loss of friend).

With this video/song this theory links as when watching it you see the meaning in it and take it into your own e.g. the rotting meat is a bad friendship that wont escape your thought.