media studies, A2

1. QUESTION 1 – IN WHAT WAYS DOES
YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT, USE,
DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORM
AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA
PRODUCTS?
Hafsah Zaman

2. WHAT ARE CODES AND CONVENTIONS?
• Different techniques to construct the meaning behind a music video or specific parts
within a music video
• They tend to be split into two parts
Technical
Symbolic

3. TECHNICAL
• How the meaning and message is put across using technical equipment.
• Examples of this include the camera shots, angles and movement, sound which
could either be diegetic or non-diegetic, the pace and the style of editing and the
genre

4. SYMBOLIC
• The meanings behind what you can see e.g. mise en scene, facial expressions,
gestures and poses.

5. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
• During the process of putting together our final product me and my group have analysed a
variety of different music videos which will be useful in helping to unpack and answer this
question. This is because we are able to compare and analyse if our music video has used,
developed or gone against typical features of a music video. While doing this we are also
able to incorporate theories that were put forward by Andrew Goodwin and Sven E
Carrlsson and see if our music video uses, develops or goes against typical features that
these two theorists have put forward.
• From the beginning of our coursework we knew we wanted to do the pop genre for our
music video as me and my group decided it was the genre we knew most about thus
making it easier for us to create a music video that was suitable for the pop genre.
• While answering this question I am going to talk about specific parts of a music video such
as: camera shot/movement, mise en scene, editing, sound, narrative/performance, special
effects etc.., and I am going to compare our music video (based on the featured listed) with
the conventions of real music videos that we have analysed throughout this process.

6. THEORIST CODES AND CONVENTIONS

7. THEORIST – SVEN E CARRLSSON
WHAT CODES AND CONVENTIONS DID CARRLSSON IDENTIFY?
• Sven E Carrlsson used a specific music video to formulate his theory, the music video he used was
Cher – Believe.
• Carrlsson believed that the most common way to analyse a music video was to break the video down
into black and white boxes and then everything is perceived as opposites e.g. trash or art, commerce
or creativity, male or female, naturalism or antirealism…
• This means that common approach to music videos is the sense that binary (coming together)
opposites drive the narrative of the music video forward.
• Carlson believes there are two categories that music videos can fall into which are
Performance – When the audience are able to see the artist singing and dancing throughout the video.
E.g. Rihanna – Rude Boy
Conceptual - When the audience watch something other then the artist throughout the video. E.g.
Justin Bieber – Love Yourself

8. THEORIST - SVEN E CARRLSSON
CONTINUED…
• Carrlsson developed the following mythical method of analysis “modern mythic embodiment”
• This means Carrlsson believed that the music video artist is seen as embodying one, or a combination of “modern mythic characters of forces”
• The music video artist is representing something other then themselves something which is ‘mythical’
• Carrlsson came up with three characteristics to describe music video artists.
- Commercial Exhibitionist- In one type of performance, the performer is not a performer anymore, he or she is a lateralisation of the
commercial exhibitionist. He or she is a monger (seller) of their own body image, selling everything to be in the spotlight – selling, voice, face,
lifestyle, records and so on. The commercial exhibitionist want success and tries to evoke charisma of stardom and sexuality, he or she wishes
to embody dreams of celebrity, to be an icon, the centre of procreative wishes.
- Televised Bard- He or she is modern bard singing banal (lyrics with no deep meaning) lyrics using television as a medium. The televised bard
is a singing storyteller who uses actual on-screen images of inner, personal images. Sometimes the televised bard acts in the story – sometimes
he or she is far away and inserted images help him or her tell the story. The greatest televised bards create audio-visual poetry. They transform
the banal story of the lyrics by employing on screen images to create a story about life and death. However, too often the televised bards only
contemplates her or his own greatness and unfilled wishes.
- Electronic shaman - SHAMANISM Reaches altered states of consciousness in order to interact with the spirit world and channel it’s energies
into the world. Sometimes within the music video the shaman is invisible and it is only her or his voice and rhythm that anchor the visuals.
He or she often shifts between multiple shapes. At one moment the electronic shaman animates dead objects or have a two dimensional alter
ego (as in cartoon comics), seconds later he or she is shifting through time and so on. The electronic shaman is our guide on a spiritual journey
through blipping images and magical attributes. The electronic shaman promises that there is a hidden meaning in everything; he or she
promises that we live in a magical, mythical reality. The electronic shaman’s voice and rhythm form the lifeline that connects images and
sound simultaneously creating new experiences and associations for those involved in the conscious-streaming journey outside time and space.
The electronic shaman’s performance, and the other two types of performance, can be seen in Cher’s music video.

9. THEORIST – ANDREW GOODWIN
WHAT CODES AND CONVENTIONS DID GOODWIN IDENTIFY?
• Goodwin identified 5 key codes and conventions in music videos that we as the audience should look out for, the 5 aspects are as follows…
1. Thought beats – Goodwin described this as ‘seeing the sound’. Thought beats firstly means to look at the music itself and think about the
structure of the song e.g. chorus and verses and where they are positioned within the song. Then we should focus on the voice of the song
which is the artist singing. Goodwin also points out the artists mode of address and the fact that songs can be seen as stories and the artist
is the storyteller.
2. Narrative and performance – Goodwin believes are good music video has aspects of both and if they work hand in hand it makes it easier for
the audience to watch the music video multiple times and in order for the audience to do this the artist should be interesting and so should
the story.
3. Star image – This is a visual aspect of music videos, Goodwin identified as sector within this aspect known as ‘meta narrative’ which means
that the music video shows a story within a story which in turns shows the development of the artist and this is an important part to play
within a story(the music video narrative)
4. Relation of visual to song – This aspect is split into 3 different sections which describe what the visuals can do for the song…
- Illustrate: music videos can use a set of images to illustrate the meaning of the lyrics and the genre
- - Amplify: The word repeatability can be used to describe this as it means that the meanings and effects are manipulated and constantly shown
throughout the video.
- Disjuncture – This is when the meaning of the song is completely ignored.
5. Technical aspects – This is when the music video is held to together through the use of camera work, movement, angles, mise en scene,
editing, sound ad special effects which are the general codes and conventions that were identified previously which shows that Goodwin does
agree with the general aspects but has added key components to help broaden knowledge.

10. GENERAL CODES AND CONVENTIONS
• They all tend to vary depending on the genre however throughout the process of
constructing our research we have identified the general conventions of a music video
which are based around:
The style
The camera
Editing
Sound
Mise en scene – Costume, lighting, actors, makeup and hair, props and setting
Stereotyping

11. THE STYLE

12. PERFORMANCE
• This when the music video is made up of just the artist performing in the video e.g. Beyonce – Love
On Top. This video shows that artist continuously dancing, singing and performing the song and the
scenes tend to be similar and in some cases the same. It is known that these types of music videos
are not as common as artist most of the time tend to use a mixture of both narrative and
performance to make the music video more interesting to watch and make the artist look more
appealing. If artist do go down the route of just having a performance based video it can be harder
to capture the audiences attention however in this example it is made more interesting with the
changes of costume that Beyonce undertakes.

13. NARRATIVE
• Narrative – Where the music video tells a story that the artist is or isn’t part of. An example of a
narrative music video that the artist isn’t part of is Jess Glynne – Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself,
which is also a music video that I analysed. It is said there are two types of narrative music videos
and they are known as linear narrative and fragmented narrative a linear narrative is one where
the story carries on throughout the whole of the music video and a fragmented narrative is where
parts of the story are shown in fragments throughout the music video.

14. MIXTURE
• Where a music video is a performance style music video and a narrative style music video mixed
together an example of this is Adele – Hello. This is the most common type of music video as said
before it is hard to make a pure performance/narrative music video that is appealing and attracts
the audience.

15. CAMEO
• Where there are people present in the music video that are not the artist/s but the artists appears
right at the end of the music video a good example of this is Taylor Swift ft Ed Sheeran – Everything
Has Changed.

16. THE STYLE - COMPARISON TO OUR MUSIC VIDEO
Our music video takes on the ‘performance’ style of a music video, during research we realised that this is an uncommon style of music video as
the music video can tend to be less interesting to watch. So, in this aspect we have gone against traditional conventions of a music video by just
having a pure performance music video. However, we have tried to make our music video more interesting through the use of locations and
sticking to our theme of autumn/winter. Furthermore, we have gone against ‘traditional’ styles of a music video by not having a mixture of
performance and narrative but we have not completely gone against the typical codes and conventions of a music video as there are some out
there that do have just pure performance and some that have a mixture of the two (which is the most common style.) We have used and developed
the style of a performance music video in our own music video. Below are some screenshots to show how we used performance in our music
video… By looking at our music video we can see that the majority of shots are made of the setting and the performing of the artist. Incorporating
setting shots into our music video is a used and developed idea of music videos that tend to have a mixture of the both as typically performance
videos do not have setting shots, the shots tend to be repetitive and very similar and the artist stays in one location throughout the whole of the
music video. This shows that we have gone against codes and conventions of performance style videos in particular as our artist is not in the same
location throughout the whole music video like Beyoncé is in her Love On Top music video.
Linking to Andrew Goodwin’s idea of around narrative and performance we have gone against what he has identified. Goodwin stated that good
music videos have a mixture of both narrative and performance as they work well hand in hand to help to make the music video appear more
interesting Although we have not used a mixture of both I believe that our music video is still interesting as we have manipulated the lyrics of the
song to suit something that would benefit today’s society, the idea of a natural high. The girl in the song is actually talking about using drugs and
alcohol to get over a break up however, we have manipulated the song lyrics and made it seem like the artist is on a natural high by keeping
herself occupied with other things other than alcohol and drugs. However, we have followed an aspect that Goodwin has identified which is the
category ‘amplify’ we have amplified the lyrics of the song by manipulating them to suit modern society and it’s problems and this shown
throughout the music video with what artist is engaging in such as the scene where she is sat on the horses, this shows she is finding other things
other than alcohol and drugs to remain on the natural high. Furthermore, we have developed the category that Sven E Carrlsson identified called
‘performance’ as the artist is seen singing throughout the whole music video, the lip-synching was purposely spread out across the whole music
video to make it look more realistic to a real a music video which is what Adele has done in her music video for ‘Hello’

17. THE CAMERA
SHOTS, ANGLES AND MOVEMENT

18. CAMERA SHOTS
• Music videos have a variety of different camera shots to reflect and put across a different effects and
moods throughout the music video, the most common camera shots used in music videos are:
Extreme Establishing shot – This is
shot that is usually featured a the
beginning of a music video and it is
usually there to set the scene and give
the audience an idea about where the
artist is. e.g. Nicole Scherzinger – Your
Love
Wide shot – where the artist/s is
present in the shot but the main
focus is still the setting in which
they are in. E.g. Macklemore –
Can’t Hold Us

19. CAMERA SHOTS…
Medium close up – These are common
shots within videos and it shows the
artist from chest to head usually used to
hone in on facial expressions and when
the artist is lip-synching. E.g. Trey Songz
– Simple Amazing
Close up – the focus of this shot is the
artist which again is a shot which is
very common within music videos and
again is usually used to show facial
expressions or lip-synching. E.g.
Rihanna – Stay
Extreme close up – this is when a
certain part of the artist face is the
focus and the whole face isn’t in shot,
this is usually used for effect or to
create a mood. E.g. Rita Ora – Hot
Right Now

20. CAMERA SHOTS…
Long Shot – This is when the whole body
of the artist can be seen they will usually
be walking or can be stood still. This is
used to show the image of the artist. e.g.
Rita Ora Hot Right Now

21. We have used and developed the traditional ‘establishing shot’ that is
common within music videos. We have many establishing shots in variety of
places in our music video and this shows that we have followed typical codes
and conventions in our music video. However, we have developed the idea
instead of completely against it, the way we have developed establishing
shots is that we have not used one right at the beginning of the music video
like the music video for Nicole’s Scherzinger’s song Your Love, instead we
developed the idea by having the artist at the beginning of the music video
and having establishing shots throughout the whole of the music video, this
prevents us from going against typical codes and conventions completely.
CAMERA SHOTS - COMPARISON TO OUR MUSIC VIDEO
We have used ‘wide shot’ in a music video but we have not incorporated it
as much as a real music video would e.g. Macklemore in his song for Can’t
Hold Us has used a variety of different wide shots at different points
within his music video. We have used the wide shot once within a music
video. With this mind, we have not gone completely against the convention
of having a wide shot within our music video as we have incorporated one
but we have gone against this convention in the way that we have not
incorporated this shot as often as real music videos do.
This is a wide shot as the main
focus on the setting however
the artist is still present within
the shot.
We have used the traditional convention of having ‘medium close ups’ of
the artist whilst they are lip-synching. The majority of music videos use
this shot when the artist is lip-synching like in Trey Songz music video
for Simply Amazing and it is not common to have medium close up shots
of the artist when they are not lip-synching. So, we have developed this
idea and have medium close up shots of the artist lip-synching and we
also have scenes of the artist in a medium close up of the artist licking a
lollipop. We did this to add variation to our music video and make it
seem more interesting.

22. Close ups are a very common convention within real music videos and in
Rihanna’s music video for Stay the majority of the shots are close ups to show
her facial expressions and how she is feeling which is fitting for that particular
song as it is a sad/slow song. However, we have not used any close ups within
our video, the scenes that show the artist are all medium close ups. However,
even though we did not use close ups we were still able to show the feelings and
expressions of the artist and show that she is a positive bubbly character but
through the use of medium close ups instead of close ups . The screenshots show
that we have developed the idea behind the close ups by using medium close ups
for the same effect. This also links to Sven E Carlson's convention that the
artist is presented as a commercial exhibitionist and a monger of their own
image. The fact that we have shown the artist as a positive character shows that
she evokes charisma and wants to succeed by selling her star image through the
use of her happy and positive attitude.
CAMERA SHOTS - COMPARISON TO OUR MUSIC VIDEO
Extreme close ups was another shot that we challenged within our music
video as we did not follow the typical conventions of having extreme close
up shots in our music video. The reason being this is something that was
not consider and if we were to do this piece of work again adding extreme
close ups would be something that I would do to make our music video
similar and more realistic when compared to other music video. The scene
where the artist is licking the lollipop could have been a good opportunity
to add an extreme close up. For this shot we have challenged and gone
against codes and conventions of real music videos.
We have used the idea of a long shot for the reason that most artists use
if for in their music videos. We have used the long shot and followed
codes and conventions of real music video to showcase the image of the
artist so that the audience can see what type of artist the girl is by what
she is wearing and how she looks.
If we did this music video
again this scene would be a
great opportunity to add an
extreme close up so that we
do follow the codes and
conventions of real music
videos.

23. CAMERA ANGLES
• The way the camera is placed in a music video results in a variety of different angles to be created and these are the most common angles we
would see in a music video…
Eye-level – this the most common
angle as it is what the human eye does
so it is replicated in music videos to
make them see more realistic and true
Low angle shots – when the
camera is placed below the artist
to make them seem superior and
someone who is of authority, this is
a shot that is played around with
in quite a few music videos. E.g.
Cover Drive – Twilight

24. CAMERA ANGLES…
High angle – this is the opposite of
the low angle shot and is when the
camera is placed above the artist or
characters within the music video to
make them look small and inferior,
this is used particular in music videos
that portray a sad narrative and the
victim is usually in a shot with a high
camera angle or can be used to show a
room full of people in a party scene
which is also very common
Birds eye angle – this angle shows the
artist or subject from directly above
them it is consider an unnatural point
of view which means it can be used to
add dramatic effect an can be altered
to portray different moods. It can also
be used to set the scene much like the
establishing shot.

25. Eye level angle is an angle that is so common within music videos, me and my
group have also used this convention od incorporating eye level angle shots
within a music video. The purpose of these angle shots is to make it look natural
to the audience making the music video look more realistic and professional
overall. We have used the eye level angle shot throughout our music video and
the screenshots show where and how it has been used. We have used it during
the shot where it looks like the artist is holding the camera and waking (the
first screenshot) that is what the audience see naturally as it is at eye level.
CAMERAANGLES - COMPARISON TO OUR MUSIC VIDEO
A low angle shot is also a convention of music videos. However, we have
not used a low angle shot in our music video, which mean we have
challenged and gone against this particular convention. The reason for this
is that we felt the low angle shot is best suited to music videos for songs
that are of the dance genre like Cover Drive’s song Twilight and because
our song is a pop song we felt that the low angle shot would not be relevant
for our music video.
We have followed and developed the codes and conventions of real music
videos by using a high angle shot within our music video. We have used
a high angle shot when the artist is sat on the bench looking down and
sad This is the type of shot that a high angle should be used as the angle
makes the artist look small and inferior which can be seen as a mimic for
the way she looks and feels. This is the music video to show the
progression of how she went from being sad about her break up to
becoming happy by occupying herself and maintaining a natural high.
This also links to Goodwin’s idea of ‘star image’ and how he identified
that music videos show the development of the artist, which is what we
have done by following general conventions and the conventions that
Goodwin put in place.

26. CAMERA MOVEMENTS
• This is when the camera moves to show the movement of the artist or an object within the music
video the two most common movements that are present within a music video include panning and
tracking. Some examples of camera movements…
Panning – this when the camera moves
horizontally and it is usually when the camera is
mounted on a tripod which helps to move the
camera horizontally without getting shaky footage.
This is most commonly used to capture moving
objects such as cars etc.… or the artist running if
that is present within the music video.
Dolly/tracking – this is when the camera is
mounted on a track on a tripod which allows the
camera to move smoothly and designed to
capture shots in music videos which are similar
to panning shots.

27. CAMERA MOVEMENT – COMPARISON TO OUR MUSIC VIDEO
• The only type of camera movement we have used within our music video is panning and this is
the most common type of camera movement within a music video which shows that we have
used the typical codes and conventions of a music video within ours. The way we achieved
panning was to mount the camera on a tripod, there are many scenes were panning was used
e.g. in the majority of the establishing shots, the big wheel and when the artist is running from
the tree. We have incorporated panning in a variety of different ways to ensure that we
followed the codes and conventions of a typical music video.

28. CAMERA WORK – LINK TO THEORIST
ANDREW GOODWIN
Goodwin identified a convention known as ‘technical aspects’ which means that the whole
music is tied to together by different camera angles, shots and movement. I Feel that we
have followed this convention to a certain extent as we have used quite a variety of
different angles and shots. However, in terms of movement we have gone against this
convention as we have only incorporated one type of camera movement which is panning.
With this in mind, if we were to do this project again this is something we would do
differently to make our music video look more professional. Furthermore, when our music
video was done we asked our teacher for feedback and she told us that we could have
included lip-synching of the artist from different angles instead of just frontal shots. Which
shows that our music video may not look as tied together as it needs to be which shows we
may have slightly gone against the convention that Goodwin identified in certain aspects.

29. EDITING AND SPECIAL EFFECTS
• There are many different approaches to editing that could be put forward, the general editing process that
occurs is cutting out parts that don’t quite fit in the music video. The software we used for editing our
music video was Adobe Premiere. Different techniques that could be used are..
CGI – there are many parts of CGI such as
green screen and other editing techniques.
One example of a music video that uses
CGI is Beyonce – Sweet Dreams.
Green screen – this is also a common
CGI and editing technique used in
music videos. It is used to create
interesting images to capture the
audiences attention and promote the
artist in unique way

30. EDITING AND SPECIAL EFFECTS
Another common convention that music videos follow
is the use of transitions between shots. They tend to
be used throughout the music video but they are not
overused as this can take the effect away and could
lead to the music video looking repetitive and less
professional. The editing software that we used was
adobe premiere, we added transitions between the
shots where it we felt it was appropriate.
There are also basic editing features such as speeding
up footage and slowing down footage which is quite
common within music videos. E.g. Drake ft Rihanna –
Take Care
Another common convention of music videos which
links in with editing is the fact that typically the pace
of the shots and the cutting and editing links with the
pace of the song

31. EDITING AND SPECIAL EFFECTS – COMPARISON TO OUR MUSIC VIDEO
In terms of the use of CGI within our music video we have not used CGI which means
we have gone against typical codes and conventions for this particular aspect. The
reason we never included CGI is because using the software that we used to edit it
would have been difficult to achieve CGI that looks professional and realistic. If we did
this project again and had the opportunity to use more advanced software we would
definitely add CGI into our music video to make it similar to existing real music videos.
We have also gone against typical codes and conventions with regards to green screen
as we didn’t include green screen our video and as we sat down as a group to watch our
finalised music video we realised we regretted not adding green screen as it was
something that would have been pretty easy for us to achieve as we had the equipment
to do so and if we were to do this project again green screen and CGI would be
something we would add into our music video.
For transitions we have followed typical codes and conventions by adding transitions
between shots. This was done after we gained some feedback from our teacher who
told us to add transitions and whilst analysing codes and conventions of music
videos we saw that transitions were a common thing amongst music videos but they
were not overused. We added a total of 5 transitions throughout our music video as
we were advised by our teacher not to overuse them so we just used them were we
felt appropriate i.e. right at the beginning and they were used for effect when it
switches from an establishing/panning shot to the artist and then back to the
establishing/panning shot.
Slow motion/fast motion is not as common as the other conventions but there
are quite a few music videos that do include this. We have also stuck to the
typical codes and conventions by following this particular feature however we
have challenged slightly as not many music video show the speeding up or
slowing down of objects it tends to be of people like in Drake’s Take Care
music video instead of objects. However, we have used this editing technique
on objects such as the street scene with all the passing cars right at the
beginning, we sped up the footage for that scene. We have also used slow
motion near the end of the music video when the artist is stood in front of the
road the cars passing behind her are in slow motion

32. EDITING AND SPECIAL EFFECTS – COMPARISON TO OUR MUSIC VIDEO
We have followed typical codes and conventions by matching the pace of the editing to
the pace of the music. There are many examples of this throughout out music e.g. right
at the beginning when the artist kicks the leaves on the floor we have timed her kick
perfectly to match when the beat first kicks in, in the song to make sure that we
followed typical codes and conventions. Another example is when the artists lifts her
had at the beginning of the music video, the timing of her raising her head is in time
with the music too. Furthermore, the pace of our song is fast so to make sure that the
pace of the editing matched the song we made sure that the shots that were filmed were
cut so that they are short, we do not have any shots longer than 10 seconds within our
music video to make sure that the pace of editing matched the pace of the song in order
for us to follow typical codes and conventions of a music video

33. SOUND
• Sound - Sound normally consists of two types known as diegetic and non-diegetic, diegetic
sounds being those which are already present in the film, not many music videos have this, it
is a rare feature but some do take this convention on board and there tends to be scenes of
when the music is cut and dialogue is exchanged an example if this could be Justin Bieber –
What Do You Mean? Or it could even occur at the beginning of a music video. Diegetic sounds
are sounds that are editing in and are not part of the music video such as the music which in
most cases is added on top and the artist in the music video is lip-synching to the song.

34. SOUND – COMPARISON TO OUR MUSIC VIDEO
The majority of our sound throughout the music was non-diegetic as the only sound we have is the
song that we put on top which was done throughout the editing process we do not have any diegetic
sound, all the sound that was included during filming was muted during the editing process which
is a convention of real music videos unless they have a segment in the music video where the song
is muted and dialogue is exchanged however we did not have any dialogue scenes within our music
video which mean we have just used non-diegetic sound by adding the song on top of the footage
that we filmed.

35. MISE EN SCENE

36. C – COSTUME
• The costume of the artist or band plays a big part in a music video as it is used as a representation of what
type of artist the person is and what image they are trying to create for themselves. An example of this is Lady
Gaga – Bad Romance she is always dramatic and extravagant with her choice of outfits and it shows what her
character is like and what she is like as a person, she is also successful at showing what type of artist she is,
someone who is not afraid to express herself through her music and the way she looks. Costumes for girls
within music videos especially within the pop genre tend to be very revealing and they are presented as an
object for men too look at a prime example of this is Robin Thicke – Blurred Lines as the women are dancing
around Robin Thicke who is the artist and looking at the women up and down(who are also naked) to show
that it has an interest in them and the women are just there for the pleasure of the men. Men on the other
hand in most cases are presented much more laid back and casual, they tend to wear casual clothes such as
jeans and t-shirts but sometimes the roles are reversed and men are presented as objects for women too.

37. COSTUME – COMPARISON TO OUR MUSIC VIDEO
We can see from our music video that our artist is a female and connotations
and stereotypes that are attached to women in music videos are general
negative. As said the previously slide women are usually presented as
objects for men to stare and fantasise about and they usually wear revealing
clothes especially in the pop genre. However, we have gone against the
typical codes and stereotypes of women within music videos as the artist
throughout our music video is not dressed in revealing clothes instead she is
covered and dressed casually in a black coat and jeans which is quite the
opposite compared to female artists within real music videos e.g. Taylor
Swift and the rest of the girls in her music video for Bad Blood. Many would
say that the artist in our music video is dressed similar to how boys dress in
real music videos e.g. how duo Rizzle Kicks dress as the stereotypes attached
to boys about costume in music videos for the pop genre in is casual clothing
so for our music video we could say that we have challenged the codes
anparticular d stereotypes for female artists for the pop genre by reversing
the gender stereotypes by having our artist present the stereotypical
costume for male artists instead of female artists.

38. LIGHTING
• The lighting in a music video can create and distort different images depending on how the light
hits an object. It can also be used to create a setting and make the music video look more
interesting, bright and alive. It can also allow the audience to recognise the genre of the music video
e.g. pop music videos tend to be really bright and colourful if they are about a positive topic however
there are sad pop songs which can then be reflected in the music video through the use of dark
lighting which is what happens in Jess Glynne’s music video, the scenes of the little boy who is
struggling have dark lighting however when he becomes successful at what he wanted to the
lighting becomes brighter. This is a common theme within music videos the fact that the lighting
creates a mood for the audience as brighter colours have connotations of happiness and darker
colours have connotation of sadness. The pictures show how the lighting progresses as the mood of
the little boy changes throughout the music video.

39. LIGHTING – COMPARED TO OUR MUSIC VIDEO
Our music video follows the codes and conventions of lighting which is the fact that the lighting should reflect
the mood. From the beginning we decided as a group we did not want a music video that was sad and slow e.g.
Rihanna – Stay which means we took that into careful consideration when choosing the song. The song itself is
an upbeat happy song and the meaning behind our music video of a natural high meant that the music video had
to be bright and happy. The majority of our shots do follow this ‘happy, bright’ mood that we were trying to create
and this was done during the editing process as it was impossible for us to achieve bright lighting naturally as
all of our shots were done outside during winter time which meant that the natural lighting was dull and this is
something our teacher had picked up on and advised us to add filters onto our shots to make them look bright. As
you can see from the screenshots, by adding the filters it created a bright and happy mood to our music video
which is what we wanted to achieve in order to make sure our music video followed the codes and conventions
associated with lighting which is to reflect the mood of the song and I feel as group we have achieved this and
followed the codes and conventions of real music videos.
Originally these shots within
the music video were dull
and grey but after we added
the filters it brightened up
the music video and created
happy and bright mood
coincide with the song.

40. MAKEUP AND HAIR
• Hair and makeup has the same effect costumes have as it enables the artist to create their own image about
who they as an artist and what they bring in order to attract audiences and make the promotion of the their
music video successful. Makeup and hair for girls especially in the pop genre as the same connotations that
were explained for costume, they tend to have dramatic makeup as they are meant to be presented as objects
that are there just for men to look at an example of this is the makeup and that Jessie J has in her Do it Like
Dude music video, it is dramatic along with her outfit which follows along with the stereotype that girls are
just objects within music videos. However, it does solely depend on the genre as it Jess Glynne’s other music
video for her song Take Me Home she is shown wearing very little makeup and isn’t wearing any clothes, this
can be taken two ways as the genre of the song is Ballard and one way it could be seen as is the fact she is
showing herself in her raw state, stripped back and is letting her feelings out through the song lyrics another
way it can be seen is that she is stereotyping herself with the idea that she is an object for men to look at
because she is naked but her mannerisms in the music video don’t give this impression.

41. MAKEUP AND HAIR – COMPARISON TO OUR MUSIC VIDEO
As seen on the previous slide we can conclude that women with music videos especially within the pop genre e.g.
Jessie J and Lady Gaga tend to have dramatic makeup looks to link in with the connotations that are found through
the use of costume, the reason being women are presented as objects for men to look at. However, we have gone
against these stereotypes and connotations as our artist in the our music video is presented with a natural look
wearing little makeup. This was done purposely as it links in with the meaning behind our music video of a natural
high and has underlying connotations to support the approach of the manipulated meaning of the song which we
have presented. This shows we have gone against typical codes and conventions of a pop music video. However, we
have also challenged the codes and conventions of pop music videos in particular as we have taken more of a Ballard
approach in terms of the makeup and hair as artists in Ballard music videos tend to have natural makeup and hair
e.g. Jess Glynne in her music video for Take Me Home. We have used the codes and conventions of a Ballard music
video in terms of makeup and hair showing that we have challenged typical pop music video codes and conventions.
The screenshots below show the makeup and hair that our artist had throughout the video.

42. PROPS
• The main reason for props is to help illustrate the narrative within music and help to tell the story
that the artist is trying to tell, they can be used in a fun imaginative way to make the music video
more interesting. One music video which uses props in fun and imaginative way is Katy Perry –
California Girls. Not all music videos use props and they are not a very common convention within
music videos but music videos that do will only contain a few props, it is not common for music
videos to contain props.

43. PROPS – COMPARISON TO OUR MUSIC VIDEO
We have followed codes and conventions in terms of props as we have not included many within our
music video. We have only used one prop in our music video which is a lollipop, another convention
of props is their purpose to enhance the story or narrative and that is what we have used our prop
for. When the artist is eating the lollipop her facial expressions show that she is showcasing a ‘don’t
care’ attitude which links to the storyline behind the music video as it is about her maintaining a
natural high after going through a break up and the ‘don’t care’ attitude while eating the lollipop
enhances the fact that she is not going to let the break up cause her to do things which are not
health i.e. drugs and alcohol instead she is going to maintain a natural high by occupying herself
with other activities. This also shows that we have followed the convention that Sven E Carrlsson
has identified known as ‘televised bard’ as through the use of the prop we have transformed the
artist into a singing storyteller by using the imagery and her facial expressions to show her
personal feelings and thoughts.

44. SETTING/LOCATION
• The obvious reason for a showing the location in a music video is to show the audience where the
artist is but it can also reveal the genre of the music to the audience. Examples of this are,
pop/dance videos are usually set in clubs, on beaches, in cars etc… If the music video is on the
street or in a big house it is most likely hip hop/grime/R&B. An example of this is Young Money –
Bed Rock, it is set in a big house and, the genre is hip hop/R&B. If you compare this to Jennifer
Lopez – I’m In To You which is pop/dance and is set on a beach.

45. SETTING/LOCATION – COMPARISON TO OUR MUSIC VIDEO
With focus on pop genre codes and conventions our music video goes against typical codes and
conventions as most pop music videos are set on beaches or in really extravagant places e.g. in
Katy Perry – Firework, it is set on a palace in Budapest. However, out music video is not set in an
extravagant place or a beach instead the locations are more casual such as a park and German
Markets which comes to Birmingham city centre every year around Christmas time. Our locations
show that we have gone against typical codes and conventions in terms of setting for a pop music
video with the reason being we were limited in our settings and locations whereas stars like Katy
Perry have the opportunity to film their music videos absolutely anywhere in the world.
The set of ‘Firework’ The set of ‘Habits’

46. GENERAL LINKS TO THEORISTS
We have gone against the convention identified by Sven E Carrlsson known as ‘electronic shamanism’
this is because we have not presented our character as an electronic shaman that takes the form of dead
objects. However, this convention can be considered quite biased as Carrlsson came up with these
conventions by analysing just one music video but the research we have conducted and the analysis that
we have done of other music videos does not showcase this convention meaning that this is a convention
which is only prevalent in Cher’s Believe music video and is not a common general convention among
other music videos.
Furthermore, we have followed the convention identified by Andrew Goodwin known as ‘thought beats’
because even though our actual music video doesn’t show a story it is the result of what the artist has
gone through and the story that music video shows is how she is dealing with the situation this links to
what Goodwin said “songs can be seen as stories and the artist is the storyteller. “