This document discusses various codes and conventions commonly found in pop music videos. It notes that pop music videos often feature close-ups of the artist's face to show emotions, as well as long shots showing parties or groups of people. Costumes can be extreme or plain, reflecting real-life clothes. Props like guitars, pens, and microphones help tell the story. Lighting uses bright colors and spotlights, while locations include schools and beaches. Editing employs filters and tints to make the video more appealing.

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Codes and
Conventions of a
pop music video

2. z
Pop
 Pop music in its modern from originated in the 1950s from ‘rock
and roll’ music.
 The term pop song was first used in 1926.
 Pop music is an abbreviation of ‘Popular music’.
 Pop music originated in the United Kingdom in the 1950s.
 Pop music tends to follow current trends.
 Artists are usually portrayed as content and happy with life.
 Pop songs are usually between 3-5 minutes long.

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Stereotypes
 A common stereotype of pop music is that they all talk about
relationships and friends and family, or school. This is because
pop music fans are usually younger people and these are the
most important things in their lives, so by making songs about
these topics they are relating to their audience.
 A common stereotype of pop music fans is that they are all fan
girls that are obsessed with the artist that they are listening to.
They are seen to have the name of the artist on everything from
posters to stationary.

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Camera
 Pop music videos often feature lots of close ups of the artists
face. This is used to allow the audience to see the artists facial
expressions and to better understand their emotions, thoughts
and feelings.
 Pop music videos also often include long shots to show a scene.
This scene is often a party or a group of people. A long shot
allows all of the people in the video to seen but does not how
their faces or clothes in any detail.

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Costume
 Pop music video costumes can either be very extreme or very
plain. They link to the music video and help the audience to
better understand what the artist is thinking or feeling.
 Pop music videos costumes often reflect clothes that are worn in
real life. Pop music videos often reflect real life events and
therefore have to reflect real life clothes to make them more
realistic.

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Props
 Props used in pop music videos often link to the story of the
music videos and help to tell it. They help the audience to better
understand the story and what is going on in the music video.
 The props often includes things like:
 A Guitar – Often being played by the artists
 A Pen/ Pencil – Often shown writing songs or letters
 Piano – Often being played by the artist
 Microphone – Often shown when the artists is preforming, in
performance music videos

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Hair and Make-Up
 Artists and actors in pop music videos usually wear lots of Make-
Up. This is define their facial features better and allow the
audience to clearly see their facial expressions. The Make-Up
stops the artists looking washed out by the lighting.
 Make-Up is also used to express an artists views and feelings. It
also helps to communicate the message and meaning of the
song to the audience.
 Hair is more extreme now in music videos than it was 10 years
ago, it also is used to show the artists mood and feelings.

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Lighting
 Pop music videos often use brightly coloured lights to make the
audience feel happy and comfortable. It makes the audience feel
like they are at a party or that they are there with the people in
the music video. Lighting makes the music video seem more
realistic.
 Another form of lighting often used in pop music videos is a
spotlight. These are mostly used when it is a performance music
video as it highlights the main artist. This gives a different feel to
a music video and creates a different atmosphere.

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Location
 Pop music videos are often set in schools, parties or on
beaches. This is because these locations are the most relatable
to the audience of pop music videos.
 These locations have the ability for many different things to
happen. This means that in the same location in many different
music videos different stories and events can happen.

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Editing
 Pop music videos use tints and filters on the videos to make
them more eye catching and appealing to the audience. The
filters can make the video look as though it was filmed at a
different time to when it actually was, for example a dark filter
can make it look like it was filmed in the evening even if it was
filmed in the afternoon. Filter can added effects and change the
mood od a music video.
 Tints can make a music video look a certain colour. Pink is
becoming a popular tint colour for pop music videos in 2017.

11. z
Mise en Scene
 Pop music videos often feature Bright colours, whether this be in
the lighting, costume, make-up or background. These attract the
audience to the video because they are eye catching and draw
the audiences attention to the video.