Dance genre analysis

Firstly, upon looking a these three dance music videos, we see an instant correlation between the three in terms of their style and flow - along with camera work and misc en scene. A most obvious similarity in the videos is their use of colour throughout in clothing and location. This genre of music appeals mainly to the younger generation, and so the clothing in the video would tend to appeal as well. Due to this then, very vibrant summery clothes are commonly worn by dancers in the video, which works to allow younger people to associate the song with summer and happy times. The way they flow with the music itself, is also rather unique and necessary in the dance genre. When on the slow parts of the song, many shots tend to be slower and almost telling a story of the journey taken by the main dancer, as well as some of it being slowed down slightly. However, when the beat does drop, the video is played at normal speed which therefore emphasis the pace even more. At this stage, many dancers tend to be brought in and the focus is entirely on dancing which caries this energy across to the viewer. Something else to be noted, is the age of all the dancers and actors in the videos. Upon looking, you can see they are all rather young and so it is clear this is done in order to allow the viewer to relate to these people.

When analysing the use of representation in the videos, we see what they try to represent is almost a false ideology of youth life - though also connecting to the main want of their target audience. With 'sweet lovin' it begins using a girl rollerskating on an open road whilst dancing with smoke all around her. There is a shot which shows her dancing in the middle of the road with it all behind her, and this is obviously something very out there, but really represents the freedom that she has which will allow the audience to want this as well. This same idea of freedom and happiness is present in '17' which is interesting because many of the natives in the video look to not have much money, yet they are all smiling constantly with what seems like no care in the world. Finally, with 'cola' it is an interesting one because the video in it is so different and out there. We see all the dancers are wearing very fashionable clothes that are on trend, though some things are incredibly out there (again in vibrant colours) which could almost be representing how you should not let anyone judge you and simply be yourself. Interestingly, i believe the vibrant "trippy" editing and misc en scene of 'cola' works with the lyrics and video to depict and represent the recreational drug culture that is so prominent in young adult lives. From the first 37 seconds of the video the dancers seem rather normal as the beat rises to the drop, though from 35 seconds as the beat drops we hear "she sips the coca cola, she can't tell the difference yet" and these lines are accompanied by shots of the dancers drinking this drink. Though at exactly 0:38 we see once she dips the drink and the bass drops her eyes are suddenly very wide, and now the overall dancing becomes rather frantic and fast. The song may not just be about recreational drug use though, it could be referring to 'date rape' drugs which spike drinks hence the use of coca cola to refer to adolescence and innocence of people drinking something normal, though when spiked can be turned into this nightmare. What we also see, is now the beat is going and it is supposedly in this drug state, the editing is very exaggerated with clips being merged together which again creates this eerie trippy effect.


Finding two of my own videos, i believe that these both come under the genre of dance due to their videos containing some of the key ingredients needed, to create a typical dance video. With 'I got u' the video is incredibly well put together, and even though isn't focused purely on dancing, it still contains the idea of living this idilic life. I believe this follows greatly into the dance genre because many want to appeal to the target audience, and many teens want to live this seemingly perfect life. Also, with 'i got u' it is set in the summer with several cinematic shots which focus on this idea of beautiful weather, which again for many viewing will bring them this feeling of happiness when watching the video - almost bringing them to that place. Now, with 'watch out for this' it focuses more on the typical dance video, which is very similar to the previous three videos. With it, it seems to be set in a hot country and the clothing again is incredibly vibrant. Again now, the focus is on the dance with several fast paced shots, full of dancing being used. Also, the emotions of the dancers in this video suits the dance genre greatly, as they are all happy and this is clear in their facial expressions and body language. This appeals to the younger audience because it makes them want to feel these emotions when listening to the song - it also builds this kind of energy among those watching. To me both these songs fit the dance genre even though they both go about it in very different ways. With 'i got u' it fits the genre because it is representing this ideology to younger people of the perfect life, though it is also up beat when the bass drops because of very quick snappy shots that are all in sunshine with vibrant colours. 'Watch out for this' on the other hand is dance because of the literal dancing in the video. It all works in time to the beat and is very techno and fast paced dancing.