Band: Green Day Track: Minority Release Date: October 3rd 2000 Album Title: Warning Label: Reprise Country: California, United States Genre: Punk rock/pop
0:02 establish introduction shot.
The
opening shot of Minority is a close
up of a hand playing an acoustic guitar that gradually zooms out so as to show
the whole instrument, establishing genre immediately; traditional instruments
such as guitars are very common within the punk rock genre opposed to the
electrical sounds made by new technologies that can be heard in a wide range of
tracks belonging to alternative, more mainstream genres such as house or drum
and base. This shot also reflects Goodwin’s theory in that a relationship between the music and the visuals is immediately established; the image of the instrument is illustrative of the music that can be heard. This idea of relating the music to the visuals is continued throughout the video in that the band members are shown to be miming the lyrics of the track; this enables the audience to establish who the artists behind the song are as well as conforming to Goodwin's successful music video theory. After researching various similar artists I discovered that the opening close up shot of the guitar is seen to be quite a generic opening shot for many artists of this genre; Blink 182 also use a similar shot to this in their production for Dammit in which a band member can be seen playing an electric guitar within the first 5 seconds.
Goodwin's theory is further followed by the way in which the band can be easily identified and stand unique from the rest of the people in the video. Several close up shots of the band members can be seen throughout; these are often incorporated into music video productions due to the demands of the record label, according to Goodwin's theory and aid in creating a 'visual style'. This style is propelled further by the reoccurrence of certain motifs, such as the idea of being alternative and being part of 'the minority', and therefore the shot of the alternative-looking crowd is shown several times to be separated from the stereotypical group, by the way in which they are shown to avoid conversation, eye contact and general interaction with those around them, in order to reinforce this idea of differentiation.
In regards to genre, Goodwin claims an artist should 'demonstrate typical genre characteristics' in order to be accessible and appealing to the target audience. Within the indie/punk rock genre, bands and artists are most commonly seen to show stage performances rather than constructing rigid narrative structures. The video production for Minority shows many different shots of the artists within the band performing their individual role as well as showing the band as a collective. These shots are most commonly close up and/or tilt shots and have been edited to a very fast tempo in order to reflect the upbeat feel of the track and to also comply with the generic conventions of the indie/punk rock genre. Camera movement is also very typical to videos of this genre; rock is a very up-tempo, fast-paced genre and therefore the video productions for tracks of this type very commonly use movement to reflect this; the camera is almost constantly moving.
According to Goodwin's theory the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals can be used to perform one (or sometimes two) of three things; to illustrate, amplify or disjuncture. In my opinion, although not necessarily relating the specific lyrics to the visuals, the music video for Minority aims to primarily illustrate and to secondly amplify the implied meaning behind the lyrics as a whole. The band is shown to be performing on an unusually decorated float, led by a group of alternative-looking people, travelling down a realistic, ordinary-looking street location. This contrast between the familiar, ordinary location and the outrageously presented band directly reflect the lyrics that express a wish to 'be the minority' and gives examples of individuals who stand above the stereotypical majority; alternative extras as leading the parade. The repeated use of these shots support the idea of amplifying the relation of visuals to the track; they are frequently included so as to ensure that the implication of the lyrics is fully comprehended by the audience. These distinctive individuals and the promotion of individuality within the lyrics also act as a reflection of the genre; the punk rock scene is commonly connoted with minority, alternative styles.
