Evaluation 1 part 1

1. Codes and
Conventions of
a Pop Ballad
video –
Evaluation 1
Laura Neale

2. Links between visuals and lyrics
– In pop ballads there are often links between the visuals you see on screen and
the lyrics being sung, for example in Adele’s song “Hello” when she sings
“Hello? How are you?” which is a phrase we would commonly associate with
being a greeting on the phone. A shot of her on the phone followed by a shot of
a phone box is displayed whilst these lyrics are sung, linking the visuals to the
lyrics.
– This is again evident in Sam Smith’s song “Writing’s on the wall” from the James
Bond film “Spectre”. When Smith sings the lyrics “’Cause the writings on the
wall”, a clip from the film is played where Bond’s name has been written on the
wall, again demonstrating an effective link between visuals and lyrics.
– The link is done to ensure the video makes sense in context with the song,
which in turn makes the video more appealing to watch as the viewer can
understand the storyline.

3. Dark Lighting
– Pop ballads are often slow and sad, and so often have dark lighting to reflect
this mood. Again this can be demonstrated in Adele’s video for “Hello” as her
song is about a break-up, so the dark lighting reflects the sad mood in the song.
– Sam Smith’s song “Writings on the wall” is also sad, so the video makes use of
shadows to create dark lighting, as well as dark shots from the film itself to
reflect this.

4. Themes
– Common Pop Ballad themes are love and loss, with a lot of singers basing their
songs on failed relationships. Singers often do this with a mixture of
performance and narrative. This is again evident in Adele’s song “Hello” where
she uses flashbacks as her narrative and lip-syncing as her performance.
– This is also shown in Sam Smith’s “Writing’s on the wall” as shots from the film
are used as narrative and lip-syncing is used as performance.

5. Mise En Scene
– Pop Ballad artists often wear simple yet fashionable clothing for their Pop Ballad
videos. This is because Pop Ballads are supposed to be relatable, and wearing
expensive clothing would alienate a lot of people who couldn’t afford it. This is
shown by Sam Smith who wears a suit in his video – its fashionable and nice, yet
simple enough for lots of people to own one.

6. Mise en Scene
– Pop Ballads tend to have only a few props in the video, and the ones that are
there hold a lot of meaning, for example the telephone in Adele’s song, which
represents her reaching out to her ex to apologise.

7. Editing and Filters
– Editing in Pop Ballad videos tends to be quite slow to fit with the slow tempo of
the music, as demonstrated in both Sam Smith and Adele’s videos.
– Some videos also use filters over the footage to help to convey a certain
message, for example the black and white filter used in Adele’s video to convey
sadness,

8. Camera Work
– Pop Ballads tend to have a lot of close-ups of the artist in their video, as it
enables the artist to get the importance of the meaning of the song across to
the audience effectively. This is again evident in both videos.

9. Music/Lyrics
– Music in Pop Ballads is normally slow, with only a few instruments in it. And the
lyrics are meaningful, usually about topics like love, heart break and loss.
– Both of these are evident in both videos, with both songs only having a few
instruments, and the lyrics being about love and loss:
– “I’m sorry for breaking your heart” (Adele)
– “How can I live? How can I breathe? When you’re not here I’m suffocating”
(Sam Smith)