Conventions of form and genre explained

1. B Y P H O E B E N O E L
Conventions of Form and genre

2. What is a media form?
The form of a media text is the way in which the text exists. Different forms are
categories for the different media texts.
Some example of media forms are, films, newspapers and TV programmes.
With each form, they have their own set of conventions. For example TV
programmes follow the conventions of: opening credits, usually continuity
edits to make it easy for the audience to follow, the actual context of the
programme and the end credits.
My product will be of the music video form and in order to create an effective
product I must understand the conventions of a music video.

3. Conventions of a music video
The mise-en-scene in a music video is used to reinforce the message presented in the song
and narrative of the video. For example if the song is about love the characters in the
narrative or artist may wear the colour red, or if the narrative has more of a dark mood
and is a song about heartbreak ,the artists may wear the colour black. The props in a
music video are also used to reinforce the narrative.
Music videos tend to use a variety of shots, close ups, medium and long shots however
depending on the genre one shot may be used more than the other, for example in the
‘pop’ genre more close ups are used than medium shots.
The most commonly used edit in music videos is a jump cut as they are only 3-4 minutes
long and therefore jump cuts are used as a quick way to get through the face paced
narrative as music videos are not very long. Jump cuts allow the fast pace to flow and also
help with continuity in order to help the audience easily understand the narrative.
The dominant sound in a music video is always the artists song as the point of the video is
used for promotion of the song.
The colours used in a music video follow from the message in the song which sets the mood
of the video. For example a sad heartbreak song will feature low, dim lighting whereas a
happy, fun song will feature bright and maybe colourful lighting.

4. What is a genre?
 A genre is a category within the form.
For example, within the form of a TV programme there are many different genres for example drama,
comedy, factual, music, sport or information (ie the news).
With each different genre, there are different conventions. For example with a TV Drama, the conventions
are: identifiable locations and verisimilitude within the Mise-en-scene, continuity for realism, theme
tune, many and interlinking story-lines ect.
However for a TV sports programme, conventions are: sports commentator as the dominant sound, the is
narrative is real and focused upon the real event, there are no characters just real people and there is
no story line, it instead includes footage from the sport, interviews and shots of the audience.
This shows how even though a TV drama and a sports programme are in the same form, because they are
in different genres they have completely different conventions.
This is also in references to music videos, music video is the form and there are many genres within this.
Again the conventions of the form music videos are the same, however the genres have their own
conventions. For example with an R&B music video, they mainly feature materials like gold chains,
gold teeth, big houses and fancy cars, and also women, with a mixture of performance and narrative
elements. However this is in contrast to an 'Indie' music video who feature mostly performance
elements and focus much more on the band. They also may have a more obscure location and is
usually much less expensive.

5. Conventions of the indie pop genre
I have chosen to do the song 'No angels' by Bastille and Ella Eyre, this song is of the indie pop genre.
Although my video will feature the conventions of a music video, such as a variety of shots, performance
and narrative shots and jump cuts ect... my video also have to fit to conventions of the indie pop genre.
The conventions of an indie pop music video are that they are usually narrative based, however some do
have performance elements, hat consist of shots of the band playing.
The video also makes connections to the lyrics (visuals to lyrics) in order for the audience have a better
understanding of the lyrics and the video.
The narrative will also focus around the story of the song, which is important as they must be related in
order for it to be successful and understandable.
Narratives of the indie pop genre are usually more sad than happy as the majority of indie pop songs
usually focus on more sad issues such as heartbreak and teenage issues than happy alternatives. Due to
this the mise-en-scene is usually more dark, for example the use of low and minimal lighting and the
clothing wore is usually balk or brown.