This document discusses the codes and conventions of music videos. It identifies the main types of music videos as symbolic, technical, narrative, and abstract. It also discusses common styles as performance-based. Key elements that are analyzed include lyrics, camerawork, music, mise-en-scene, editing, voyerism, and intertextuality. Camerawork, in particular, aims to keep the viewer interested through a variety of shots and camera angles. Mise-en-scene also plays an important role by establishing visual elements like lighting, character appearance, and location that align with the song's genre and message. Proper editing is also essential to sync the video to the beat and lyrics of the music.

1. CODES AND
CONVENTIONS OF
MUSIC VIDEOS
Bill Pain

2. TYPES AND STYLES OF
MUSIC VIDEOS
Types of music videos:
Symbolic- this is mainly facial expressions and mise en scene.
Technical- this is mainly using equipment and camerawork using a
range of shots.
Styles of music videos:
Narrative- lyrics will support the storyline of the music video.
Abstract- It has no performance or story, as its main purpose is to
create a particular mood.
Performance- The artist performing their song as the video, a great
example is Queen- Bohemian Rhapsody
Most videos nowadays are a mixture of performance and narrative

3. LYRICS
The lyrics of the song normally match the music video to tell a story,
however not all music videos link with their lyrics a great example of
this is “Take Me To Your Heart" from Rick Astley:

4. CAMERAWORK
The camerawork is an important code and convention of a music
video as it is what the audience will pick up. The star of the music
video is normally the primary focus of the video, where normally
close and mid shots are used, great examples of this is Beyoncé and
Taylor Swift.
Camerawork in music videos are used to make it more interesting for
the viewer by having a large range of shots such as long shots and
even extreme close up shots.
A range of camera angles also are very important in music videos as
it can tell who is dominant in the video and who isn’t.

5. MUSIC
Music is also a very important code and convention of a music video
as the tempo of the song can determine the music video. For example
if the music is of a quicker tempo they music video can use shorter
cuts making more exiting for the audience. However when there is a
slower tempo it is harder to have shorter cuts. Normally faster tempo
songs are easier to follow storyline and be abstract but harder to be
performance based music video, where as slower paced songs are
more able to make performance based videos a great example of this
is Bitter Sweet Symphony from The Verve:

6. MISE EN SCENCE
The mise en scene of the music video is very important as a code and
convention of a music video. Mise en scene of music videos differ
from what genre the song is, for example pop music videos may use
strobe lighting where as rock music videos may use low key lighting.
Also the way the characters look is important in the mise en scene of
the music video as they always change their appearance to suit the
music video they are making, an example of this is when Rihanna
dyed her hair red for a music video. Also the location of the video is
very important as it needs to link to the song, for example a pop
song may want a party location like a nightclub where a punk rock
music video may use the location of a graveyard.

7. EDITING
Editing is a major part of codes and conventions of a music video as
you need to edit the video in beat with the song, also you need to
make sure the lip sync is in line with the lyrics unless it is out of place
for an effect, for example character being drunk.

8. VOYERISM AND
INTERTEXTUALITY
Intertextuality- This is where the music video uses current trends in
order to maximise the target audience.
Voyerism- This is an important code and convention of music videos
as it is where the audience enjoys watching something they shouldnt,
e.g. sexual acts.