2. What are media forms?
• A form is the overall shape of a media product
e.g. a music video or a comic book, video game
• The media form will typically determine the
medium that is used
3. Music video or ‘promo’
• (e.g. a music video is made in video or film),
the length (time or space) of the product (3-5
minutes for a music video)
• and the content that is contained (a music
video would contain a performance, narrative,
lip sync, stylistic elements or a combination of
several of these)
4. What are media conventions?
• Media comes in a format that we recognise; like a list
of ingredients, or a set of clues.
• In film if you see horses, a desert, some cowboys and
tumbleweed - you know you're watching a Western.
• A celebrity presenter, questions and answers,
catchphrases, graphics, live audience, winners and
losers all crammed into a half hour TV programme?
5. • So forms and conventions are the codes that
identify what type of media text or genre it is.
• These are the things that an audience
expects from a particular type of text and
also from different types of genre.
• What would you expect from a music video –
does this depend on genre?
6. What are media conventions?
• A convention is an established way of doing
something
• Conventions can be split into technical
conventions (how the video is typically filmed,
lit and edited)
• symbolic conventions (how costumes, colour,
performance, sets and props are typically
used within the genre)
• Written conventions- use if text, such as
graphics/titles
7. Why follow conventions?
Conventions make it easy for an audience to understand
what type of text they are consuming and enable them to
situate a song and artist within a musical genre.
By following established conventions a producer can
increase the chances that they will successfully
communicate their intended messages to the target
audience (they have a shared understanding of the
meanings created through the established uses of the
conventions from previous media texts).
Remember the purpose of video is to help sell the single,
album, concert tickets and merchandise as well as to help
build a brand image for the artist or band. The ways in
which conventions are used are intended to achieve these
goals are shared?
8. Technical and Symbolic conventions
• Technical conventions relate to styles of camera,
editing, lighting, and sound (can be diegetic or
non-diegetic, part of performance obviously but
also part of narrative in some cases too)
• Symbolic conventions relate to mise en scene –
costume, props, location/setting, colours, make
up, arrangement of band members (singer at the
front to show he/she is most important),
performance - & STYLE.
10. Camera
Close ups and ECUsto help build recognition of artists (build star
image), and also to emphasise link with music and lyrics (show
singer’s face/mouth singing, guitarist’s fingers playing guitaring,
etc.)
MCUs and mid shots to show body language and costume of artists,
this can demonstrate emotions and can connote values and
attitudes.
Tilts, pans and tracking shots to follow the artists as they move
around a stage or set, to move from one band member to another
emphasising their relationship/collaborative effort
Long shots and wide shots to show band in location and props
Crane/tracking shots to add to movement and pace to the image to
match the movement of the music (these are important as there is
often a very narrow depth to the sets
11. Editing
• Lip synched with the song to mimic a live performance
• Matched to pace of the song to emphasise tempo and
emotion of music
• Cut to the beat to emphasise beat of track
• Discontinuity editing, such as jump cuts fast/slow
motion, overlaid shots, frames within frames, etc –
these are all cuts that the audience notices and these
can be used to express meaning (contrasting to
invisible editing found in Hollywood films).
• Can also be divided into repetitive chapters to mimic
the verse-chorus-verse structure
• How do these technical conventions help construct
your timeline?
12. Lighting
• Artificial lighting is extremely common and
often used to give the artist a glow of
perfection (clear skin, glow etc)
• Can help create a tone or atmosphere – dark
and dangerous, or bright, safe and
unthreatening for your teeny bopper crowd
(Anyone for One Direction, Mikey?)
13. Symbolic conventions
• Again these are highly generically specific - a
teen pop idol would not be in the same
studded collar, dingy basement, or be biting
the head off the same live chicken as a death
metal singer. They embody entirely different
values and ideals and their symbolic
appearances attempt to create their
meanings for a target audience. However
here is a rundown of a few areas to look at in
your genre:
14. Costume, hair and make up
• Take influence from different trends in society
and can set new trends
• Can indicate membership to a subculture: a
cultural group within a larger culture, often
having beliefs or interests at variance with
those of the larger culture. Eg.
• Facial piercings + died mohicans = ?
• Parker jacket + target symbol = ?
15. Props
• The instruments themselves are
highly symbolic and fit into
distinct categories that link to
other bands that use similar
instruments and have various
connotations
16. Sets and locations
• Establish the domain of the artist, where they
belong
• May also feature locations familiar to target
audience to enable them to identify with artist
• If behind the scenes can give glimpse into
private life. This privileged access is highly
cherished by fans and helps to establish the
personalities of the band
17. Colour
• Can represent the mood of the artist, bright
colours generally are feel good, dark colours
down beat
• Neon colours relate to artificial environments,
the city, urban life
• Black and white can have connotations of ‘classic
artists’. B+W is also extremely flattering so good
for solo artists (esp. females whose looks are
generally perceived as more integral to their
success)
18. Performance
• The direct address. Unlike most other media
texts the performer looks straight into the
camera, breaking the 4th
wall. This gives a sense
that they are communicating directly with the
audience. When combined with slower paced
editing and CUs and MCUs this gives a feeling of
intimacy and closeness, like the song is being
especially for you. Has other connotations in
different genres but overall a sense of the artists’
message being directly given to the audience.
19. Music Video
• Music video serves a number of different
functions:
– Promotes a specific single and, normally, an album
– Promotes a specific artist or band
– Creates, adapts or feeds into a ‘star image’
– Entertains as product in its own right
– Reinforces, adapts or undermines the ‘meanings’
of a song
20. Music Video
• Often contains a number of different
elements:
– Performance
– Narrative
– Thematic
– Symbolic
21. What makes a conventional and
good music video?
• Visually stylish – ‘artistic’ mise en scène?
• Experimental use of camera/editing
• Appropriate pacing of edit
• Conspicuous lighting and cinematography
• Intertextuality
• Often breaks the rules of continuity editing
• ‘Rhythmic’ montage, fragmented style
• Intercutting
