Chriastian Metz

Metz was a French film theorist who is known for his genre characteristics theory. In this theory it is discovered that there are four main stages that can be applied to genre and the development of genre; there four stages are:

• Experimental
• Classical
• Parody
• Deconstruction

The experimental stage is the beginning phases of the genre and is where the foundations of the genre are built, in which the codes and conventions are set.
The classical stage is where the codes and conventions of the genre are recognised as iconic and are idealised as 'the' guidelines for the genre.
The Parody stage is where once the codes and conventions are established and widely accepted they can be mocked, yet this can only work on the fact that the audience know and understand the codes and conventions of the genre.
The deconstruction stage is where the genre can merge and evolve with other genres, so it can form cross over genres and the 'rules' can be broken.

Examples of Metz's theory:


Experimental stage; Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody (1975) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ

The music video or video with music accompaniment as argued, for Queens Bohemian Rhapsody was first released in 1975, making it one of the first ever music videos to be made. The length of the music video is a strong indicator of its time of creation and that it belongs to the experimental stage within Metz's theory. The editing and transitions of the music video also shows how it is starting out and creating and setting the guidelines for the codes and conventions of future music videos of this genre.

Classical stage; Beyoncé - Love on top (2011) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob7vObnFUJc

This R&B/soul genre song of Beyoncé is almost a clear cut classic stage music video as it is catchy, easy to relate to the lyrics and has some sort of visually pleasing (sexy) angle of the video however there is not a clear story to the video which is the only code and convention of the genre and Metz stage that it does not match.

John Legend - Ordinary People (2009) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIh07c_P4hc

John Legend is another R&B singer yet his music video to his song Ordinary people fully meets the codes and conventions and dynamics of Metz's classical stage. It has a clear story to the video, which fits the lyrics. The video and song are both easily relatable and can connect with the audience and the visually pleasing (sexy) angle would be the pleasing sight of seeing a man sat at the piano singing about his feelings for his other half.

Parody stage: The Midnight Beast - Tick Tok parody; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4npUdfEmbQ

The Midnight Beast as a band became famous from YouTube videos going viral of their 'micky-taking' parodies. This was the tipping point for the band from being just an online group of friends to one of the most popular bands in Britain during the 2000's. Their music video of Tick Tok which is a parody of Ke$ha's very successful Tick Tok; follows all the conventions of a serious music video, all the acting and editing is done very well and seriously. The music is easy to get into as if follows the same tune as the original just a few changes of lyrics for comedic effect yet the micky is being taken throughout the video which makes it even more enjoyable for the audience to watch.


Deconstruction stage: Asking Alexandria - Right now na na na https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnkJVfSdr2Y 

This Asking Alexandria song is actually a cover of Akorns' Right now na na na yet instead of reproducing the song in the same lyrical way the English Metalcore band Asking Alexandria reproduced it as if it was their own song, crossing the two genres of Akorns R&B and their Metalcore to produce a crossover between the two. For this the music video it is largely made up of tour footage yet it shows the contrast between the two genres and how they can work together and how the codes and conventions can be challenged and broken yet can still produce an amazing piece of footage.

Linkin Park - ''Enth E Nd''  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRC2ICZ4ZIo&feature=kp

Linkin Park are known to have made a few remix albums of their own work yet in this music video it mixes their American rock genre with Kutmaster Kurts hip hop and Motion Man's rap genres all together in one song. The mixture of different genres and way of performing in front of a camera works well as it breaks the codes and conventions of traditional rock music videos however with the variety of editing and presentational styles within the music video it works perfectly at bringing the three different genres together.