conventions of music videos

Conventions of music videos

When looking at music videos there are many conventions that are often seen, however many music videos are set out to break these conventions.

camera editing:

The editing is usually fast paced, and sometimes many effects are used to make the video  interesting, the Beatles strawberry fields forever (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r4mJ3aEhHo) is an example of a video that has used lots of edited effects. Its usually band videos where the editing is a lot of quick normal cuts to each band member playing the instruments, the type of shots used will normally be close ups to mid shots as the legs are not often needed to be seen, however this is only normally seen in videos aren't narrative videos, but full on performance. In narrative videos the editing can be very varied, usually as its telling a story the cuts are slower but it will  still keep in time with the music. The types of shots used will be similar, so mid shots and close ups, but will often include long shots to show movement and location. In both narrative videos and performance videos emotion is the key focus of the editing and shots. Common camera movements used will be tilts, pans, tracking and crane shots are also sometimes used.

mise en scene:

mise en scene is the location, costume and where abouts items are placed in the shots. In purely performance based videos the mise en scene will be focused on the location of the band, where abouts each of the band members are placed when performing, the conventional set up being drummer at the back, lead singer at the front and guitarists either side, however this can be varied depending on genre of music and number of band members. The costume as well, dark clothing for darker usually heavier music etc. all of these aspects are used to focus the video on the emotion the band are trying to portrait and make their fans feel.

In the narrative versions of music videos all the mise en scene will be again very varied depending on the story being told but also very much influenced by the genre of the music. The location and the costume of the characters will be key to telling the story, darker clothing for telling a darker story, and then a dark location to create the atmosphere that the artist wants to get across. If the story is a happier or funny story the location will usually be outside, lighter colours will be used. When doing a narrative video it is very similar to doing a short film but to music, an example of this will be Michael Jackson's thriller (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA).

     Technical terms list:

•Performance clips and band shots

•Fast-pace of editing

•Mainly straight cuts

•Bright lighting

•High angle/low angle

•Bright colours against black and white background

•Panning

•Editing to reflect pace of music

•Special lighting effects

•High lighting

•Equal division of shots upon band members?

•Whole band shots

•No real sound effects

•Colour effects – often monochrome

•Dubbed sound

•Zooming out / in

•Shadows

•Mise-en-scène reflects atmosphere

•Animation

•Montage

ILLUSTRATION, AMPLIFICATION, DISJUNCTURE, INTERTEXTUALITY   •Illustration – the promo basically illustrates the ideas / narrative in the song lyrics      Owl cities fireflies is a good example of an illustration music video.   •Amplification – the promo uses a key idea / image from the lyrics and develops it. Coldplay - The Scientist, is a good example of a video that uses amplification.         This still of coldplay's scientist video shows some of the conventions of a lot of popular music videos. The urban setting, not so well seen on this still, is definitely a common theme in popular music. The use of the main character in the illustration and narrative of videos is also a common theme, they are almost seen as the main character nearly always in music videos. Whats unconventional from this video is the lighter colours being used, especially this contrasts with our chosen genre which is rock, often using darker colours.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1oM3kQpXRo - Taylor Swift - everything has changed ft. Ed Sheeran       This is a good example of amplification as it takes one idea and amplifies it throughout the video. It takes the idea of childhood friendships and amplifies it, showing the two main characters, which unconventional are not Taylor swift or Ed sheeran, doing activities together.   •Disjuncture – the promo bears no resemblance to the lyric or its meaning; often seen as unconventional / ‘arty’ videos                  Red Hot chili peppers cant stop is an example of disjuncture as nothing is illustrated and none of the lyrics are represented in anyway. It just features the band messing around. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfOdWSiyWoc  This video bares no resemblance to any of the lyrics. Conventional urban setting and clothing are used for the type of genre that this band are part of. Band shots are also present again following conventions.       • Intertextuality- This refers to the process where one media text may take ideas from another existing text– it may be a carbon copy, a pastiche, a parody or homage – e.g. a music video may borrow elements from a well-known film. Song from film: ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend’ Marilyn Munroe’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PluRW3_FEt0 ) and Madonna ‘Material Girl’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX1Q48Uqses)