Codes and conventions of pop punk music videos, Media A-Level.

1. Codes and Conventions of Pop Punk
Music Videos
By Joanna Attwell

2. Pop Punk
Music
Videos
There are two key types of videos in the Pop punk genre, dark
emotional ballads and upbeat fun tunes.
One important aspect of all pop punk videos is the use of young
adult and teenage actors to appeal to a specific target audience.
There are 3 key common features in pop punk music videos:
1. Shots of the band performing in a room alone or in front of an
audience.
2. An accompanying storyline related to the theme of the song.
3. Colorful dress and punk style hair and piercings.

3. Mise en
Scene
The artists can be seen as performers with a full band in various shots often including
Eletric guitars and an extensive drum kit.
The lead singer can often be seen as the main feature and move around the set holding a
mobile microphone.
The location of the videos often are in a public space and the extras make the setting
appear as a party.
The band members and extras are often seen to be wearing 'grungy' or 'alternative'
clothing that would reflect the way they expect their audience to dress.
They usually cut between shots of a narrative and the band peroforming and the band often
don’t appear in the narrative but the actors used are often a representation of the audience
The lighting is often lowkey presenting a sub-culture of outcasts of society. When the band
can be seen performing, there is often flashing lights.
Hair, makeup and costumes appear to be scruffy and dark and even the men often are seen
to be wearing dark eyeliner.

4. Lighting
The lighting is highly dependent on the video, for example a song about a
breakup has dark, low-key lighting to represent the depressing narrative.
There is often cutting between the band performing and an ongoing
narrative related to the song
During the narrative, the lighting is often natural and looks like it would in
real life.
The sense of the narritive is almost like a film meaning the light is
naturalistic and depends where the actors are.
During shots where the band are performing, the lighting is like concert
lighting with flahing lights in a dark set.
When the band are performing the lead singer is often in a spotlight to
emphasise their importance.

5. Shot Types
Pop punk videos feature a number of shots for various reasons; to relate with
the audience by expressing thoughts and feelings, but also to show the viewer
what is happening.
Close-ups to the singer's face or the bands instruments are common and
emphasize the idea of the artist as a performer.
Close-ups and medium close-ups are good for showing the artists thoughts and
feelings which often appear to be frustration, this helps them relate to their
audience.
Wide shots mainly support the narrative by showing the audience the location
that often has significance to the story line, such as a school or party.
When filming the band there are lots of wide shots so you can see the whole
band as a unit, often with some kind of crowd in the background.
In the narrative the shots are cinematic in order to tell the story of the song,
but these are often interrupted in the chorus to shots of the band.

6. Editing
Techniques
Editing is the process that concludes the making of the music video, in pop
punk videos the editing is often fast paced to reflect the angsty mood of thye
song.
When you edit, you cut scenes down, add special effects, stylize or colourize
the video and put it in order so that some type of story is being told.
Parallel editing is common in pop punk music videos where there are cute
between the band performing and a narritive.
Zoom jump cuts are often used when filming the band, staring with a wide shot
and then jumping to a close-up of one of the band members or instrument.
The video narrative often relates to the lyrics of the song in the verses and
the band is often filmed in the chorus as they are repeated.
The editing of the video supports the storyline to create meaning for the
audience of the video.

7. Camera
Angles and
Movement
The camera moves to follow the artist or to show the
performance of the artist. These movements include panning
and tracking.
A director may choose to move action along by telling the
story as a series of cuts, going from one shot to another, or
they may decide to move the camera with the action.
In the narrative shots, pans are common to show the location
or elements of significance. In these shots the camera is
often stationary on a tripod.
When filming the band there is often fast-paced camera
movement to reflect the energy of a concert.
The use of up and down shots helps present the idea of
the performer as an aspirational figure.

8. Representation
The actors and extras are often a representation of the target
audience which is alternitive teenagers.
Most of the extras are young adults or teenagers who are
conventionally attractive dressed in a grungy, alternative style
with dark makeup and heavy eyeliner.
The audience of the music videos are likely to see a
representation of themselves in the video as the bands assume
their audience are alternative, Caucasian teens.
The artists appear as aspirational figures, but at the same time
the appear as rejects, helping them relate with their young
audience.
The idea of being up against the world is clear in these music
videos with often a 'jock', parent or the police being the enemy.

9. Narrative
A Narrative music video follows a story line. There are two types of narrative:
linear and fragmented.
A linear narrative follows the standard storyline structure: beginning, middle,
end. ‘'Wheatus- Teenage Dirtbag’
A fragmented narrative is one that doesn't but depicts the lyrics from the song.
Between scenes of the narritive, there are shots of the band that are unrelated.
The common narrative in these music video is a misfit going after a girl and
getting the girl in the end.
In music videos like misery business the band in implemented in the narrative,
but in most the band and the actors in the narritive are separate.