Hardcore Punk Genre Research

Hardcore Punk is a genre that has been created by the merging of much heavier rock style music with a punk style; this genre started to develop in the late 1970's but has recently gained is popularity in the music trend of the younger generation.The hardcore punk genre is much faster tempo with a heavier and more abrasive sound that regular punk rock.

In the musical style of the hardcore punk genre it is common that the vocalists will scream, shout and chant lyrics among with heavy distortion on guitars using a powerful drum beat with almost certainly a double bass pedal. Breakdowns are another element that make up the parts of a hardcore punk song and act as the 'bridge' of the song but consist of a tempo change, possibly a key change to create a dramatic part in the song where solo's may be present.

In concept of music video the common conventions of this genre of music is primarily on performance much as with other styles of rock/band type music; hover the shots seen in this style tend to be more violent and explicit if imitating an atmosphere of a gig due to the stereotypical 'mosh-pit' style dancing linked to this style. An enthusiastic stage performance may be the main setting of the video but in a music video there can be multiple settings, these are conventionally places such as: Abandoned Buildings, Churches, Woodlands, or possibly underground settings that help to create the atmosphere in relation to the music style. 

Conventional Hardcore Punk Music Video: Your Demise - Miles Away

In the opening shots of this video we see playing of instruments in a live situation, imitating that of a gig; this shows musicianship and talent and also gives the audience an insight of what a live gig by the band would be like in order to sell the concept of going to see that band live. These elements are conventional in this style of music as live 'gigs' are a stereotypical and traditional concept of a rock style band and they can dwell on their musical talent of the shared abilities to write songs and play multiple instruments including vocals.

Again supporting the previously shown elements we see a crowd dive into a very lively and possibly violent crowd; this shows the atmosphere of a live gig and the enthusiastic dare devil style of the performers as the launch themselves into a hyper crowd whilst still attempting to perform the song.

The lighting in this genre of video is also similar to that of a live gig situation among with the casual costumes of t-shirts and shorts much like a stage performer would wear due to the heat whilst performing. The tattoos are a stylised icon to this genre relating to old rock identities with leather look clothing and tattoos. The performers are always shown to be giving it there all in a crazy kind of way in this genre. 

Conventional Hardcore Punk Music Video: While She Sleeps - Our Courage, Our Cancer

In the start of this video conventions are instantly portrayed in relation to the genre with the setting of the video being an abandoned house, it is very common for hardcore punk bands to film in derelict / abandoned buildings and warehouses to create a harsher and colder atmosphere which relates to the usually negative lyrics of this genre. The main shots used are also very stereotypical of this genre as they tend to use a lot of close up and mid shots along with fast paced editing, long shots are rarely used as they take away some of the pace and fast movement from the video and are rarely needed as the videos are usually based around a performance style rather than narrative. 

 The performance of the band in the video is similar to that of a live gig in this genre and shows the musicians putting a lot into the performance and in general going a bit crazy with the careless swinging of instruments. This is a element related to this genre as any live performances of a hardcore punk band would feature the band and the audience putting a lot of effort in to go crazy with violent 'mosh pits'.
The colour of the shots in this video is very saturated and most of the colour has been removed into a kind of sepia effect, this additionally makes the atmosphere a little more dense to suit into the genre. 

This video is mainly based around live performance in a derelict setting however cutaway clips are featured acting as a very simple narrative relating to the lyrics, this video is created using amplification which is the most common for a hardcore punk video. 

The cut away clips looking back into the past are to emphasise the deep lyrics and also help separate the performance shots so that the video does not get consistent and boring. 

Unconventional Hardcore Punk Music Video: Architects - Black Blood

It is clear to see the contrast between this music video and the other conventional videos I have looked at in the 'hardcore-punk' genre, as the video starts we see that there is no clear footage of band members or shots relating to the lyrics but instead the lyrics are being presented on screen through computer generated image (CGI). This is more common in the pop genre and is very unconventional in a hardcore genre as usually shots of the band performing are used to gain the band interest for future 'gigs' and also for pace of the video to fit along with the music. Instead this uses CGI that manipulates and moves around very quickly along with quick cuts to different  scenes which are then overlaid with lyrics.

As the video goes on it becomes more apparent that there is not much relation between the background CGI / shots and seems that the video has been based around disjuncutre, this is unconventional as it does not allow a band to present their image as well and gain themselves an identity through the video. Even though the backgrounds are not necessarily related to the lyrics, they still help create the deep emotional atmosphere and the lyrics on screen help to emphasise them and leave the audience to make their own interpretation of the concepts behind them rather than influencing / narrating them through the video. 

It seems a possibility that this music video is very low budget however it is very memorable due to its simplicity and how unique it is compared to other video's in its genre. I still feel like this is a good video however I think that due to its simplicity, viewers would not be as interested in viewing it a second time as their would not be much more to see after watching it again.