MBV first draft 1 min

Demographics

Demographics is a particular section of a population. This can be based on age, race, sex, economic status, level of education, income level and employment, among others. 

Social demographic table...

Stereotypically certain genres of music will be more fitting to certain classes than others. For example class A are stereotypical listeners of classical music and would be considered strange if they listened to punk due to its anti-establishment and sometimes even anarchistic ideologies. 
However classical music do not tend to have music videos therefore I can not stereotypically associate a music video with this social class. Although, the fact that this has no music video could relate to the higher class having the free time and money to go to the opera and to orchestral performances etc...
Middle class and Lower middle class could both stereotypically be fans of similar musical genres as I believe that this consist of a mixture of most genres due to being in between. 
Although, working class would stereotypically be fans of rock music, or even punk or rap. This is because the topic within these genres is often about real life problems and life issues that are not really effecting the higher classes. For example Blondie- Hanging on the telephone would be more appealing to lower classes due to it referring to issues much more strongly directed at them.

Storyboard

Filming

We went to a run down/urban area within the outskirts of Beverley. This made a very good seen to film as it suggested a sense of rebellion within the band, this follows stereotypes of the music choice as it has ideologies of drugs and rebellion.
I had also used rehearsal rooms in order to shoot performance elements of my music video due to the high quality equipment which is conventional of the genre. It also made the performance much more believable as the band could actually perform realistically. I mainly used hand held shots in order to move the camera quickly to create a much more hectic feel to the video. However I still used a tripod for a much more steady shot when wanting no movement.

Scheduled studio filming times

Equipment used to film...

Mise-en-scene used...

I used Fender products as they are conventionally used within this musical genre and therefore fits the music very well.

The large amp and two guitars make the scene look much more legitimate due to the expense of this equipment and the high desirability of it.

The Wytches – ‘Wire Frame Mattress’ textual analysis

The Wytches – ‘Wire Frame Mattress’ textual analysis

I will be analysing the music video to The Wytches – Wire Frame Mattress using technical elements to support this.

Cinematography is used to create meaning to the audience within this video. It creates links with both the lyrics and genre of music within the video and reinforcing the video and songs meaning. This is done through the use of a medium long shot to start the video. The use of this shows the band on a low platform stage in a fairly dull, dark set. This however is not really an establishing shot due to it being heavily blurred in order to create a much distorted and almost delirious feel to the shot. This paints the picture for the rest of the video due to it having blurred elements throughout and retains the dark and smokiness throughout also. Close-ups are also regularly used within this video. For example, there is a close up to Christian Bell (singer) during the bridge to the break down. This singles him and his singing out due to vocals being the only thing heard in this part of the song. This therefore creates a visual representation of the song within the video, creating meaning for the audience. This shot then goes to an extreme close-up onto his mouth to furtherly highlight his singing and build it up greatly before the instruments come powerfully back into the track. Close-ups are also used to highlight instruments within the music video and therefore isolate them in the shot forcing the audiences focus upon it. This however does not completely isolate other instruments as the edits are very short and fast which shifts the audience’s attention around the band and different instruments. This creates a high level of disorientation within the video which could suggest an almost drunken gig experience. This is also reinforced through the smoke and blurred effect.   There are also a lot of medium shots showing the whole band performing together. This therefore shows the band together rather than individuals, and also connotes equal importance and status within the band. This suggests that they are all equally influential in terms of their musical input. This is also suggested through how they are captured on camera. Every member has a similar amount of screen time and they are all regularly shot from lower angles. The use of low angles conveys dominance and authority, this could therefore relate to them being the focus of the video and looked up to by the audience due to them being the creators of the music of which the video is for.

Mise-en-scene is also used to create meaning for the audience within this music video. The bands dark clothing and long hair are all iconic conventions of this heavy alternative rock genre. Long hair has almost become a stereotype of this due to its unconventional and non-popular style within modern society. This therefore reflects the less popular style of music itself and the fact that neither their aesthetic nor music is generally conforming to societal norms. The instrument choice is also conventional of the genre. However, Christian’s choice of guitar within this video is slightly unconventional of him, the band and even the genre. Although the way it is thrashed about and dangled low arguably makes up for this due to these being very prominent features within this alternative genre. Also, the guitar being a Fender is also very iconic of this alternative/punk like genre and are chosen over all else by many bands within this musical field. The use of green light reflects the style of music and the ideologies it retains. The use of this dark green and black creates a very gloomy tone to the scene and almost creates a sense of doom to the video. This reflects the darkness of the music and the almost doom rock like sound that the band are loved for. This therefore appeals to the audience due to fans of the band liking this style of dark, and dinginess which would lead to them also liking the music video due to it being a fitting reflection of the band music. Although this use of green could also relates to its connotations of life and growth which could reflect the fact that the band were becoming quite big in the music world around the time of the music video. Within the video Daniel Rumsey (the bassist) is shown to be wearing a Misfits t shirt. Misfits are an American punk rock band often recognized as the progenitors of the horror punk subgenre, this therefore appeals to the audience due to The Wytches fitting loosely within this sub-genre too. This also shows the band to be fans of this music which can personalise them showing them as real people – which can also be considered appealing by the audience of the music video.  

Editing is also used to create meaning within this music video. The use of very fast, short edits does this and creates a distorted and delirious effect which reflects the distortion within the music itself.  This also creates disorientation within the music video which almost suggests a drunken gig experience. This is also reinforced through the cinematography of a handheld camera and that they are shot from a slightly lower angle from the area that a crowd would usually be. However, this fast pace increases during the instrumental parts that highlights the build-up within the actual music and reinforces this link with music and video. This speed increase reflects the increase of intensity within the music itself; therefore this is a fitting editing choice in relation to the song. Text at the start is also used to create meaning for the audience due to it being the bands name and the song title. This therefore tells the audience the name of the song and band providing them more knowledge about the band and song. This is also in a very unconventional wavy font which reflects the unconventional nature of the band and their music. This therefore reinforces the videos reflection upon the music itself being distorted and non-mainstream.

Initial ideas

1. Idea 1 is to have a performance based music video in a run down garage band style set-up. This would be edited at a very fast pace linking to the high intensity of the music. This would involve a bassist, guitarist, drummer and singer as this is a conventional band line up which would therefore conform to the ideologies of a band.
2. Idea 2 is a selection of various montage clips, relating to music, distortion and a slightly rebellious life-style. I will use shots of stereotypical situations and activities that people of this genre enjoy. 
3. Idea 3 is to have more of a story element rather than being only performance. This narrative would be in relation to the lyrics suggesting a sense of post breakup suffering and sadness. This would also turn into anger as this fits the distorted anger within the music. 

My Bloody Valentine - You Made Me Realise

"You Made Me Realise"

What did you say you'd find

Then come, come, come, get the hell inside

You can close your eyes

Well, you might as well commit suicide

Wait for me 'cause I waited for you

No, that's not what you should do

Don't hate me 'cause I don't hate you

Insane eyes

You made me realise

Something in you died

Well, no, no, no, no fault of mine

Something in you died

Well, no, no, no, no fault of mine

Make the hell out of what you can see

Maybe then you'll not hang beside me

Don't ask me 'cause I cannot see

Insane eyes

You made me realise

What did you say you'd find

Then come, come, come, get the hell inside

You can close your eyes

Well, you might as well commit suicide

Wait for me 'cause I waited for you

No, that's not what you should do

Don't hate me 'cause I don't know you

Insane eyes

You made me realise

Analysis 

This song seems to be directed at someone, I personally believe it is about a break-up due to the person being insane in a sense. This is suggested through lines "you can close your eyes" followed by "well you might as well commit suicide". The first line seems like quite interrogative and suggest shock at her being able to close her eyes and ignore things. The juxtaposing of these two lines conveys a feeling of, if you can close you're eyes and ignore the situation you might as well be die as nothing will ever be solved. 

This idea of a relationship/break-up is reinforced through the lines "something in you died" and "well, no, no, no, no fault of mine". This suggests that the person who he is leaving is no longer fully how she used to be however it isn't his fault. This topic of love and sadness is often used within this genre of music and almost creates an attitude of anger when matched with the heavy guitars and music. This anger is reflected through the high intensity drums and heavily distorted guitar riffs. The lyrics themselves are sang quite softly which contrast greatly with the rest of the music, however, this pushes forward this sadness while the music itself carries a sense of anger. 
This is also reinforced through the repeated use of words with very negative connotations such as, "Hell", "suicide", "insane" and "died". The use of these relate to sadness and anger mentioned above. 

Conventions of form and genre.

Form

The conventional elements that are expected within music videos in general. These dont differ between genre.

• Narrative
• Performance
• Music
• Different locations
• Costume changes

Genre

The conventions that are expected which differ between genres. For example, different costumes will be expected within a metal video and a rap video. 

Media Language

This is how media texts are communicated to us.

This is done through technical elements, codes and conventions, signs and symbols and things such as choice of fonts and even layout. 

• Every medium has its own language - or combination of language - that it uses to communicate meaning. Television, for example, uses verbal and written language as well as the languages of moving images and sound.

We call these 'languages' because they use familiar codes and conventions that are generally understood. 

• Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules. Each form of communication - whether newspaper, TV game shows or horror movies. These all have their own creative language: scary music heightens fear, camera close-ups convey intimacy, big headlines signal significance. 
• Understanding the grammar, syntax and metaphor system of media language, especially the language of sounds and visuals which can reach beyond the rational to our deepest emotional core, increases our appreciation and enjoyment of media experiences as well as helps us to be less susceptible to manipulation.

Semiotics

Charles Sanders Peirce (1931) 

"we think only in signs"

Signs we take the form of words, images, sounds, odours, flavours, acts or objects, but such things have no intrinsic meaning and become signs only when we invest them with meaning.

"Nothing is a sign unless is it interpreted as a sign"

Anything can be a sign as long as someone interprets it as a 'significant' something - referring to or standing for something other than itself. We interpret things as signs largely unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions. it is this meaningful use of signs which is at the heart of the concerns of semiotics. 

Icon/iconic: a mode in which the signifier is perceived as a resembling or imitating the signified (recognisably looking, sounding, feeling, tasting or smelling like it) - being similar in possessing some of its qualities: e.g. a portrait, a cartoon, a cale-model, onomatopoeia, metaphors etc... 

Index/indexical: a mode in which the signifier is not arbitrary but is directly connected in some way (physically or casually) to the signified - this link can be observed or inferred: e.g. 'natural signs' (smoke, thunder etc), medical symptoms (pain, a rash), measuring instruments (weathercock, thermometer). 

Symbols/symbolic: a mode in which the signifier does not resemble the signified but which is fundamentally arbitrary or purely conventional - so that the relationship must be learnt: e.g. language in general (plus specific languages, alphabetical letter, punctuation marks, words, phrases and sentences, national flags etc...).

Roland Barthes (1977)

Death of the audience

There is no meaning unless the audience create the meaning. No matter what meaning the author wanted to create, if nobody interprets it like that then it therefore does not have that meaning at all. 

He noted, Saussure's model of the sign focused on denotation at the expense of connotation and it left to subsequent theorists to offer an account of this important dimension of meaning.

He argued that in photography connotation can be (analytically) distinguished from denotation.

Ferdinand de Saussure (1974) 

He was a linguist who offered a 'dyadic' or two-part model of the sign. He defined a sign a being composed of:

• A signifier (denotation) - The form which the sign takes
• The signified (connotation) - The concept it represents

John Fiske (1982)

He states that denotation is what is photographed, connotation is how it is photographed. Link to Barthes editing at stage of production. 
The connotations of a thing reflects the ideologies and beliefs of the person that created the product.

Paradigms and Syntagms 

Roman Jakobson (1956) + Claude Levi-Strauss 
The meaning arises from the differences between signifiers; these differences are of two kinds: syntagmatic (concerning positioning) and paradigmatic (concerning substitution).
In film and television, paradigms include ways of changing shot (such as cut, fade, dissolve and wipe). The medium or genre are also paradigms, and particularly media texts derive meaning from the ways in which the medium and genre used differs from the alternatives.

In relations to My Bloody Valentine - Soon
Media language is used with My Bloody Valentine - Soon. The denotation of this video is a band simply performing a song with multiple instruments in an empty white room. However the editing and effects used create a connoted link to the bands genre and abnormal ideologies. This visual noise relates strongly to the noise and unconventional style of which this song and band create. 
However, this meaning itself conforms to Roland Barthes theory as that is only the meaning as I personally have created the meaning. I have perceived this video to have that meaning, but the band themselves might have had different reasons and a different meaning behind it. This meaning that the band and creator of the video tried to create can not be the meaning if the audience dont see it as that.
The video itself is delays creating a distorted, noisy look. This could be reflecting the guitar effects that create the Shoegaze sound especially with My Bloody Valentine due to Kevin Shields huge use of effects to create the bands very unconventional sound and style which is reflected within the video.

 















Kevin Shields effects 





























The use of Fender Jaguars and Fender Jazzmasters within the bands performance within the video are very iconic semiotics of the genre. These are recognisably the instruments of choice for this genre and have become icon of it and also iconic of the band itself due to them pioneering the genre. Although, the instruments in genreal could arguably be an indexical reference to music in general and especially of this alternative rock genre. 

Hypodermic Needle theory

 States that the media acts like a hypodermic needle and injects you're brain with information.

This theory implied mass media had a direct, immediate and powerful effect on it's audiences. The mass media in 1940's and 1950's were perceived as a powerful influence on behavior change. 

Several factors contributed to this "strong effects" theory of communication, including: 

• The fast rise and popularisation of radio and television
• The emergence of the persuasion industries, such as advertising. 

The theory suggest that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by 'shooting' or 'injecting' them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response.

This theory suggests a powerful and direct flow of information from the sender to the receiver.

The hypodermic needle model suggests that media messages are injected straight into a passive audience which is immediately influenced by the message. 

It expresses the view that the media is a dangerous means of communicating an idea because the receiver or audience is powerless to resist the impact of the message.

People are seen as passive and are seen as having a lot media material "shot" at them. People end up thinking what they are told because there is no other source of information.

The theory assumes what we see or hear we believe and consume. The theory assumes we are brainwashed in to believing the media messages. 

No individual differences!

In 1930's a radio broadcast of 'War of the worlds' was performed like a real news broadcast to heighten the effect of the story, people listening thought is was real and assumed mars had come to invade the world. (as played in the short video)

This demonstrates a passive audience and how an audience believes what they hear in the news and how this can quickly lead to misinterpretation. 

This theory is however very dated due to us as modern media consumers we don't believe everything that we hear in media. As a society we have developed and are less likely to believe everything and we are not simply passive audiences anymore. 

We are also more aware of different conventions within media texts and across media platforms and can reject messages if we deem them insignificant. 

In relation the My Bloody Valentine - Soon...

• This video does not conform to this theory due to its lack of narrative as there is no story and therefore no message being injected into the audience. This theory is also very outdated and does not relate to the very unconventional music, and also music video from My Bloody Valentine in the 1980's and 1990's. 
• Due to the band being of an unconventional style of music that fights popular norm this theory does not conform to the music video. This therefore means that the video is not aimed at a mass audience and therefore suggests that this video is not trying to forcefully influence a mass audience. However, the video/bands ideologies could be strongly influencing their target niche audience.  

Audience

Stuart Hall - Reception theory 

The reception theory states that media texts are encoded by the producer meaning that whoever produces the text fills the product with values and messages. 
The text is then decoded by spectators.
Different spectators will decode the text in different ways, not always in the way the producer intended. 

Producer encodes

message/meaning.

Dominant or preferred meaning         Negotiated meaning           Oppositional meaning 

Our negotiated or oppositional meaning van be changed through experiences and knowledge and reject the film. For example, a trained doctor could watch a medical/hospital based programme and have an oppositional reading due to seeing that the events that are taking place within the programme are un-real.

Gender, age and social class can also affect the way that we read the media texts.

Dominant 

• The dominant reading of a text is that the audience view the media text in the way the producer intended intended.
• The audience agree with the ideology and message behind the text.
• The audience will view the message in the way the producer wanted them to.
• The ideal consumption has been met and the institution happy.

Negotiated

• This is a compromise between the dominant and oppositional readings, the audience accepts the views of the producer but also has their own input and understanding in relation to the text.
• They do not agree or disagree, they however can see the point being made in relation to the reading yet still have their own opinion.
• e.g. They understand what the institution want the message to be and how they are supposed to consume the text, however they do not fully conform with the message. 

Oppositional 

• The audience rejects the preferred reading and create their own reading of the text.
• The audience reject the meaning fully as they do not agree with the message created for the audience. 
• The audience reject the message fully and interoperate the text in the wrong way, they may be offended, upset and fail to see the intended message from the institution.  

In relation to My Bloody Valentine - Soon...

Due to the lack of knowledge in terms of knowing what the producers intended meaning for the music video was. The lack of narrative within this video also makes it difficult however due to the editing of the video it could force different views into different people. For example the transparent effect used on the band members creates a very empty mood however allows the video to be layered creating an atmospheric tone. The transparency could relate to the empty emotions of the band which reflects the unhappy nature of the lyrics. 

  

Narrative

Sven Carlsson - 3 areas of narrative structure 

Sven Carlsson states that music videos fall into two areas. Conceptual clips and performance clips. He claims that binary opposites push the narrative of a video forward.

The performance element can fall under either, song performance, dance performance or instrumental performance. This performer is being made into a commercial exhibitionist who is selling the product to the audience as some fans will aspire to be like them and buy their products and imitate their style.  

The video for My Bloody Valentine - Soon does not conform to this theory fully as it only involves performance elements rather than any conceptual clips. This however is heavily distorted through the way of which it was edited, creating a very disorientating feel to this video reflecting the music itself. This video incorporate elements of song performance, dance performance and instrumental performance but is dominated through shots of guitars due to this instrumental performance being a very important aspect of the music.  

 

The lack of conceptual clips within this video reflects the style of music due to its unconventional nature and its lack of story. This therefore does not fully conform to Sven Carlsson's theory. However, it does conform in the sense that this video feature performance clips in the form of song, dance and instrumental. 

  Tim O'Sullivan - Culture and Society 

Tim's theory states that through careful mediation, media texts offer a way of telling stories about ourselves. Not usually our personal stories, but the stories of us as a culture or set of cultures.

He suggests that narratives have a common structure, starting with the establishment of plot and genre. 
For example, the disorientation and unconventional style of this video could suggest the fighting against the norm in other ways other than music due to fans of this genre generally do not conform to a common or 'normal' society. 
However, due to this videos lack of conceptual clips this theory is much harder to directly relate. Although the distorted effect could relate to the strong stereotypical drug use of fans of this music, and the musicians itself as it almost appears to be a hallucinogenic drug trip while watching the band perform. 

Bordwell and Thompson - Story and plot

This theory states that the quality of a music video is created through the relationship between story and plot. It will consist of three events...

• Inferred events - things that are assumed by the audience
• Explicitly shown events - what is seen within the video
• Non-diegetic material - soundtracks/text on screen etc...

This theory does not relate to the My Bloody Valentine - Soon music video as due being only performance their is no performance to the video therefore inferred events are not directly related due to the lack of story. 

However, there are inferred events in the sense that they will have had to set up their equipment and practice and write the songs. The performance itself is therefore the explicitly shown event which is the video itself. These therefore suggest that this video does conform to Bordwell and Thompsons theory. The music itself would be the non-digetic material as the performance is just a mime of the recorded track that is played over. 

   

Genre

Genre

• Everything belongs to a genre, it is presented to the audience through codes and conditions. 

• A genre is something that we can categorise from typical codes and conventions through things such as narrative and mise-en-scene. 

• Genre is a critical tool that helps us study texts and audience responses to texts by dividing them into categories based on common elements. 

• Genre conventions inform the text which are produced by institutions who are aware of what makes a particular genre. This is a cultural awareness between the institutions and audience.
• Archetype = Original stereotype of a genre.

• Comedy and animation are not genres, they are styles or treatments.

Daniel Chandler 2001

He argues that the word genre comes form the french word for 'kind' or 'class'. The term is widely used in rhetoric, literary theory, media theory to refer to a distinctive type or 'text'. 

Barry Keith Grant 1995

All genres have sub-genres

This means that they are divided up into more specific categories that allow audiences to identify them specifically by their familiar and what become recognisable characteristics.

Steve Neale 1995

He suggests that genres are dynamic and evolve over time. They are not systems, they re processes of systematisation, this is often dependant of the time period of which they were created.  

Jason Mittel 2001

He argues that genres are cultural categories that surpass the boundaries of media texts and operate within industry, audience, and cultural practices as well.

Industries use genre to sell products to audiences. Meda producers use familiar codes and conventions that very often make cultural references to their audience knowledge of society, other texts.

Genre allows audiences to make choices about what products they want to consume through acceptance in order to fulfil a particular pleasure.

Martha Reeves and The Vandellas - Nowhere to run (1965)
Video is in a car factory which represents the genre of Soul and Motown due to this being dominated by black artist. Therefore the video represents the ideologies of a black member of society during the time having to do manual labour and have a hard life in order to make a living. The ideologies of this genre therefore reflect what live is like at the time of which the song is made, this is reinforced through the video itself. 

Rick Altman 1999
Emotional pleasures: The emotional pleasures offered to audiences of genre films are particularly significant when they generate a strong audience response.
Visceral Pleasure: 'gut' responses and are defined by how the film's stylistic construction elicits a physical effect upon an audience. 
Intellectual Puzzles: Certain film genres such as the thriller or the 'whodunit' offer the pleasure in trying to unravel a mystery or puzzle.

David Bordwell 1989
'Any theme may appear in any genre'
Horror films, for example, are basically just modern fairy tales and often act as morality plays in which people who break society's rules are punished.
Fear of the unknown - the monster is the 'monstrous other' i.e. anything that is scary because it is foreign or different.
Sex = Death - in horror movies, especially Slasher movies, sex is immoral and must be punished.
Duality of man - the conflict between man's civilised and his savage, primal instincts. 
Segregation and alienation - two opposing cultures or beings going through a struggle to survive.

David Buckingham 1993
Argues that 'genre is not simply "given" by the culture: rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change.

Jacques Derrida
A postmodern theorist who states "the law of the law of genre...is precisely a principle of contamination, a law of impurity.
For example, short films and music videos are in the process of genre cross-over. 
Some narrative videos borrow from the conventions of short films and in fact are short films. 

The Strengths of Genre theory 
Everybody uses genre theory and understands it. Media experts use it to study texts, the media industry uses it develop and market texts and audiences use it to decide what texts to consume. 
The potential for the same concept to be understood by producers, audiences and scholars makes genre a useful critical tool. It's accessibility as a concept also means that it can be applied across a wide range of texts. 

Music Videos
Music video is a medium intended to appeal directly to youth subcultures by reinforcing generic elements of musical genres.
They are called pop-promos as they are used to promote a band or artist.
Music video are postmodern texts whose main purpose is to promote a star persona (Dyer, 1975)
They dont have to be literal representations of the song or lyrics.

Andrew Goodwin's 6 features of Music video

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal videos)
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting)
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music. 
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work. (a visual style)
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc)

Hedonism - living purely for pleasure 

My Bloody Valentine - Soon

My Bloody Valentine fall under the alternative genre of Shoegaze which incorporates loud guitar riffs with melodic vocals in order to create a noisy atmospheric feel. Shoegazing (also known as Shoegaze) is a sub-genre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980's and reached peak popularity in the early 1990.This therefore conforms to Barry Keith Grant's theory due to the band being of an alternative sub-genre as he states that all genres have sub-genres.This allows the audience to divided up into more specific categories that allow audiences to identify them specifically by their familiar features and what become recognizable characteristics. these recognizable characteristic fall under mise-en-scene as they consist of everything from clothing to hair cuts, to instruments choice. The bands long hair and over-sized clothing has become a convention of this alternative genre of music, as has the use of the fender Jazzmaster and fender jaguar and have almost become a stereotype of Shoegaze music, and almost a modern cliche. However due to My Bloody valentine pioneering the genre, the cliche does not apply to them.This also relates to Steve Neale's point of genres evolving over time as this alternative rock genre has evolved into many sub-genres that did not exist in the past, such as Shoegaze. My Bloody Valentine themselves set the archetype of this genre of music and therefore have basically created the genre itself and therefore created the codes and conventions that are associated with it and them as a band. This therefore suggest that everything the band do is conventional of the genre due to the band pioneering it. However they still follow many conventions of alternative rock. 

Representation

Tessa Perkins - Stereotypes

Tessa Perkins states that stereotypes are not always negative and are not always about minority groups or the less powerful. However, they are not always false either as they have had to have been based on a certain experience or real view that would have led to this stereotype being made. These stereotypes can also be held about one’s own group and have the  ability to change due to not being rigid or unchanging.

The use of Fender Jazzmasters and Jaguars through the mise-en-scene have become a stereotype in itself for the shoegazing/alternative genre of music pioneered by My Bloody Valentine. Both of these guitars are shown repeatedly throughout the ‘Soon’ music video showing this to conform to this stereotype which is almost conventional. This genre of music is completely dominated by Fender guitars in terms of sounds and general aesthetic styling of these guitars and bass guitars. This is also the case for the bands clothing ass it is over-sized and generally unconventional styles which reflects the music itself and the music video.  

         My Bloody Valentine are portraying themselves as unconventional and fighters of the norm within their mise-en-scene and their general ideologies within relation to music and way of life. This is suggested due to them not trying to confirm to any style or ideology due to them being themselves  both personally and musically. This self expression and being themselves is carried on through their music and this music video.

Richard Dyer - Star Theory

'Stars are commodities that are produced by institutions' 

A star is a constructed image not a real person, they create a persona that is desirable to a target audience but is not actually a true representation of themselves. It is a constructed identity and ideology to make society want to consume them.

My Bloody Valentine however do not fully conform to this theory as this unconventional musical genre and ideology they are famous for fights this norm and the idea that music corporate, and only for financial gain. They are not constructed and are allowed to be themselves through musical expression and performance. This therefore does not conform to Richards Dyer theory of them being constructed by institutions. However, the band do conform in the sense that they are considered stars within their musical genre, and are looked at as inspiration and role models for fans of this genre. This could therefore suggest that they have been institutionalized in order to appeal to their target audience in order to sell their products, and therefore make money. 
Although this dishonest, money minded ideology is what this genre is against. It fights the norm, so therefore this is more unlikely to be the case and they are doing this as a from of self-expression rather than to make money through becoming a brand.