Diversity- Miss Miller

A music video can be deemed as being diverse/unique when it breaks the mould set by conventional music videos. This can be done if the artist breaks out of their traditional genre for example, contains an irregular narrative or concept and changes the typical conventions. A diverse music video would not follow norms of popular/chart music and are typically consisted of a set of images/pictures, engaging the audience and intriguing them with new and unique ideas. 

Chris Cunningham is director born within the UK in 1970 who mainly focuses on creating music videos for electronic music. This director is also known for his controversial style applied to many of his directed music videos. This is evident as Cunningham has previously worked with many popular artists including 'Ahex Twin'. One of these videos include 'Come To Daddy' released in 1999. 

This video can be seen as subverting the electronic genre due to the portray of a negative and alarming atmosphere however, electronic music videos conventionally contain a positive atmosphere including regular conventions such as clubs and strobe lighting however, through mise en scene, the music video is in low lighting through out which causes the themes of darkness and mystery. This is overall unconventional of the electronic genre, as Cunningham includes his controversial style of work causing the video to become unique although presenting a bleak undertone.


Cunningham features subversive mise en scene features again as the setting looks like a typical council estate. Linked with the dark lighting, this gives off a negative vibe as well as showing a relatable setting to some of the audience. However, the use of this setting creates a bleak atmosphere as well as being unconventional of the indie genre as the setting is not expensive and luxurious which causes a more unique outlook.


Cinematography is also featured within the music video as many close ups of the artist are included, which links to Goodwin's theory as the artist is exposed/promoted throughout the whole video and provides the audience with exposure of the artist. However, this is featured in a negative and creepy way as the artist's face is edited on to children. This is unusual and some viewers may find this too strange and hold a negative opinion over the artist. Overall, although in a strange and unique way, the artist is promoted throughout the music video, in a unconventional way to the typical electronic video.

A music video for 'Window Licker' by 'Aphex Twin' released later in 2005, further following Cunningham's controversial work. 

Within the 'Window Licker' music video, electronic music is represented through the use of fast moving images/shots. This is evident though faster editing of people dancing within the video. This shows conventions of an electronic genre however, fits to the genre of R&B/Rap music mostly. It can be argued that Cunningham tries to portray a mixture of styles within the video thus making it seem more unique. 

The video also contains elements of the Goodwin theory as there are themes of women and the exposure of their bodies and voyeuristic treatment. This causes the artist to come across negatively to the audience and also portrays elements of the R&B genre, compared to electronic music, 



The video is also structured as a narrative due to the idea that girls are attracted to men with a 'luxury life style' with money and cars. This also leads to the formation of a concept based video as it raises the idea that women favour men that lead this lifestyle and possess a large amount of money. 

Lastly, the artist is represented in a negative way within the music video as the video features explicit language and events. The artist selects individuals that use explicit language and act in a negative way. This is unconventional of the electronic genre and again, causes the video to provide the outlook of a R&B video, causing the video to become more unique and diverse to typical videos within this genre. 

Michael Gondry a director born in 1963, France and has directed/produced many music videos, films and short films. Gondry has worked with many different artists and genres they classify into such as The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Kanye West, The Foo Fighters and Kylie Minogue. Gondry also directed 'The Hardest Button to Button' by The White Stripes.

Within the video, the band are represented through the use of costume that is less conventional to the garage rock genre as brighter colours are included other than the use of darker/bleak colours. However, the rock genre is shown through the use of a performance as music instruments are featured through out.

The band also perform through the video, which is conventional to the rock genre as there is instruments and performance become the focal point. This is conventional to the band's style which further highlights the artist's talent and their music to the public.

Goodwin's theory is also presented through the music video as the visuals and music link together. This is evident as faster editing is used as the pace/tempo changes and picks up, which is conventional to this genre and causes the video to become more exciting to the audience.







Lastly, the artist is focused on through out the music video. This promotes the band to a wider audience and excites fans as they view the artist through out the video, which is conventional of performances and the garage rock genre.








Gondry also worked with Kylie Minogue's for the music video 'Come into my world', which diverts videos within the pop genre.

Kylie Minogue is well known for being a pop singer and highlighting that genre however, this video is very unconventional to that genre. For example, the artist is wearing casual clothes and is walking around a normal, dirty looking street. This is unconventional to the pop genre as she isn't wearing a designer dress and the video isn't set in a glamorous location this already highlights that the video is diverse from the pop genre, and more unique for the audience to watch.

This video also contains elements of the Goodwin theory as there is a direct  link between music and visuals in two ways. The first is that she walks around to the beat of the music which creates a sense of rhythm linking to the next point that, the artist walks around in a circle through the whole video, which links to the music and lyrics being very repetitive and becoming a motif as the same lines are repeated for example, 'come into my world'.

The point above can also link  to the idea that the structure/style of this video is a performance as the camera follows her and only her the whole time. There isn't a sense of narrative within conventional pop videos and there isn't dance routines either, therefore the whole video is quite repetitive and diverse from others.




The artist is represented as being quite casual and laid back. She is being portrayed as the 'girl next door' as she does everyday things such as taking clothes from the laundry service. This causes the artist to be more relatable which is interesting and creates a more diverse video as in normal pop videos, the singer is very often shown to be flashy and materialistic and the theme of money usually runs throughout. From this video we can see that Gondry uses repetition, causing the audience to remember and reinforcing the same idea over and over in our minds.

Overall, diverse videos are very interesting as they do not stick to conventions that are conveyed in the usual genre. Within the music industry, the artist would be interested in creating a diverse video to be different however, choosing a diverse video has it's positives and negatives.

Advantages:
-Can make more money as it can stick in people's head and they may grow to like the song therefore purchasing it.
- Individuals may watch it more than once to understand it, which gains the artist more views on websites such as YouTube which can get them noticed.
- Linking to that, diverse videos can be eye catching and create more of a buzz as it's more memorable.
- Causes abstract to come to life.
- Appeals to a different audience.
- Gives the artist and intellectual/artistic appeal.

Disadvantages:
- The audience can get bored easily (for example Gondry's use of repetition).
- The video would be a harder to understand as it isn't explained whereas if it was conventional, or in a straight forward narrative structure, it would be easier.
- Harder to build a relationship with the audience.
- As the genre/style changes the artist could get disconnected from fans.
- Limited target audience.
- Explicit content may be censored or banned.

Cunningham and Gondry evidently use very different styles when directing music videos although both directors aim to make their work memorable and diverse to other music videos within specific genres, Firstly,Cunningham creates darker music videos that leave behind quite a negative atmosphere however, Gondry uses repetitive technical and can involve a number of varied meanings. Although using differing techniques, both of these directors aim to create a diverse/unique video for their audience to watch. It can be analysed that Cunningham creates abnormal/unrealistic videos for artists however, Gondry creates videos that are more true to life and relatable. Both directors also possess techniques to reach an audience. Cunningham aims to reach a wider audience as he uses a mix of genres in some videos for example, 'The Window Licker' music video however, Gondry aims to connect with an individual audience and fans that already support the artist as conventional elements are usually added rather than being overly unique.

To conclude, I believe that diverse music videos are a positive options and can work well in certain situations. Personally, I would be less likely to use Gondry's idea such as the use of repetition as as an artist you wouldn't want to bore your audience. A lack of audience means a lack of profit and publicity. As well as this, I would be less inclined to use Cunningham's style due to the use of swearing and explicit scenes and the negative narrative used within the 'Window Licker' music video. Concluding this, if they song is powerful and full of empathy, with a diverse music video it would be more harder to put those messages and feelings across.