2. The conventions of a music video vary
depending on genre of music. However
the general conventions include:
The style
The camera
The editing techniques
The sound (non digetic and digetic)
Mise en scene – props, lighting etc.
Notions of looking – stereotyping.
3. Performance
Performance is when the music video consists mainly of the
artists performing in the video. A good example of this is
Beyonce – Love on top. This video shows the artists
continuously performing the song and there is no narrative
or any other scenes in the video. This style of music videos
are not very common, as music videos that are solely
dedicated to performance are not that popular, because the
target audiences would not be able to engage with the
song or video, however this example has used costumes
and lighting to display the performance in a creative way
making it more interesting to watch.
4. Narrative
A narrative music video follows a story line, there
are two types of narratives: Linear and
Fragmented A linear narrative. It starts the story
with the beginning goes ton through the middle
and ends at the end. A fragmented narrative
however is one that does not follow that rule. An
example of a linear a narrative is ‘Katy Perry –
Thinking of you’ as it plays a story from the
beginning to the end.
5. Mixture
This is a combination of performance and
narrative. This is usually found in music
videos which are very successful as it is very
hard to have a pure performance and
narrative, by sing both performance and
narrative the video can be made more
interesting and enjoyable to watch for
example ‘Kelly Clarkson – since you’ve been
gone’
6. Cameo
Cameo is a music video where the band or
artist features in the narrative but does not
perform. A good example of this is ‘Drake ft
Rihanna – What’s my name’. In this music
video both of the artists case play a part in
the narrative but do not perform.
7. The Camera
The way the camera is used is
crucial in producing a
successful music video. It can
have and create different
effects by the different angels
and movements. In general
every music video uses a
variety of camera shots,
angles and movements to
create different techniques
and to make the video
different and unique in its
own way, to other music
videos.
8. Editing
Editing is the process that concludes the making of the music
video. When you edit, you cut scenes down, add special effects
and add the track to the music videos etc. The editing consists of
the following things: Jump Cutting, CGI effects etc. An example of
this is in the music video ‘Sweet Dreams by Beyonce. The
background has been added on and the effects on the second
picture have also been generated using computer graphics. Parallel
editing is a method of cutting between a couple of scenes or
stories that are happening at the same time. Also adding non
digetic sound is also part of the editing.
9. Sound
Sound consists of two main forms digetic sound
which is already present in the music video and the
non digetic sound which can be edited in. Sound is
absolutely essential in any music video as this is the
main reason for why people watch and listen to
them, to gain a sense of art via different artists.
Sound, like footage can be edited to create different
effects and variations to the normal vocals that we
hear.
Sound parallel sound is when the music matches the
mood of the video. An example would be if the song
was slow then the video would also be slow to go
with the mood of the song. Also if it was a sad song
then the video would also be sad. Some music videos
would have digetic sound, where they include sound
from the surroundings such as birds, police sirens ,
that make the video seem more realistic. However
the music itself uses non digetic sound.
10. Mise en scene
The Mise en scene for a music video focuses on the lighting, props, costumes, hair and
makeup, location and colour. These elements usually depend on the genre of the
music video and the style. These elements are also important in contributing
towards the chosen genre. They are used to convey the importance of the people in
the music video. They are also used to represent certain characters in different
ways.
Lighting how the scene is lit/ artificial lights/ side lights.
Props – performance equipment, band merchandise.
Costume – certain outfits
Hair and makeup – style of the artist
Location – concert halls, streets etc.
Colour – specific colours representing a mood.
