Conventions of a music video

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Conventions of a Music
Video

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Conventions
 Most music videos that are produced a follow certain
conventions that they have in common with other videos. The
following music videos can be called conventional because
they all have the same features in common.
Halfway off the Balcony –
Big Sean
Light – Big Sean
Poetic Justice – Kendrick
Lamar ft. Drake

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Convention 1
 The first convention states that the artist of the song is in the
music video. This is common in most music videos because the
creator of the song wants to be related to the video and so that
everyone will remember them when they think of the video. An
example of this can be found in Light by Big Sean as the
audience can see him in the video performing the song.
Taken from Light – Big Sean

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Convention 2
 The next convention is the costume the artist wears in the
video. Depending on the genre of the song, the artist or band
would wear costumes that is either related to the songs genre
or the persona of the artist or band. Also there is a lot of
costume changes depending on the genre of the song, but in
most conventional music videos there are costume changes.
An example of this can be seen in Poetic Justice by Kendrick
Lamar ft. Drake when we see Kendrick change from a black
shirt with white squares into a plain black t-shirt with necklaces.
Taken from Poetic
Justice – Kendrick
Lamar ft. Drake

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Convention 3
 Another convention in music videos is lip synching and
performing in the video. This is done to help the artist promote
the song and to show the audience that they care about the
image that they send with the song. This is common in nearly
all music videos and examples of this can be seen in Halfway
off the Balcony by Big Sean. In this example the audience can
see Big Sean both lip synching and performing in multiple
locations.
Taken from Halfway off the Balcony – Big Sean

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Convention 4
 Using multiple locations in the music video is another
convention that can be seen. This is usually done to match the
concept of the it helps to send a message about the video and
the genre will depend on the locations they choose. This can
be seen in Light by Big Sean because we can see the artist in
multiple locations. In this video we see him in a urban area and
in a car park amongst other places.
Taken from Light – Big Sean

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Convention 5
 The concept of a music video is also another concept as each
music video has a different meaning. Each song has a different
meaning, if there is one at all, and it needs to be matched by a
video the projects the same meaning. An example of this is
seen in Light by Big Sean because the video matches the song
in the sense of the meaning. This is seen throughout the video
because it is related to God and the light given by him to
innocent people.
Taken from Light – Big Sean