This document provides examples of different types of shots that could be included in a music video to develop conventions of the genre and medium. It includes shots that show: a link between lyrics and visuals, how an artist may be represented for commercial purposes, illustrations of music genre through settings and costumes, intertextual references to other works, creative uses of camera angles and lighting, and ways to effectively use mise-en-scene to tell a story or set a mood. The document then provides examples from the creator's own music video, analyzing several shots based on these conventions.

1. Evaluation Question 1 – In what
ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms
and conventions of real media
products?
By Jonny Smith

2. Real Music Videos

3. A shot that shows a link between lyrics
and/ or other music and visuals
This shot is taken from Macklemore& Ryan Lewis‟s
Can‟t Hold Us music video.
In the shot we are shown a man crowd surfing under a
large group of people with everyone's hand in the air.
Whilst this shot is being shown “so we put our hands up
like the ceiling can‟t hold us” is being sung. This shot
shows a clear link between lyrics and visuals presented
to us in the video.

4. A shot that typifies the way a record company
would want their artist represented.
This shot is taken from James Arthur‟s Recovery music video.
From this long shot we can see the artist is dressed in a fairly
simplistic and normal way with no obvious „bling‟ or eccentric
clothing being worn which can be un conventional for an artist
of this particular genre. From this the artist is presented to us
as a person who has been put into the public eye having had a
complete career change but has still managed to stay grounded
and normal. This idea is again backed up by the simplistic set
in the background representing a low budget music video
showing the audience that he‟s not all about the money and
glamour side of the industry but focuses more on the music. By
the artist being presented to us in this way it can be very
beneficial for himself and the record company because
audiences find it attractive which means they will support him.

5. A shot that illustrates the use of music
genre
This shot is taken from the Killers Human music video
In this medium shot we are shown all of the band singing and playing their
instruments. From the shot it is clear that they are a band of the indie rock
genre. This is illustrated through a number of different things:
•Clothing – All of the band members are dressed slightly differently but all
have that indie look to them from things such as leather jackets and dark
looking clothing.
•Instruments – In the shot we can see a full drum kit, guitar, bass guitar and
microphone which are all conventional items in an indie rock music video.
•Setting – From watching the music video it is set in what appears to be a
deserted mountainous area which is fairly eccentric and random which can
be typical of an indie rock band.

6. A shot that shows an intertextual reference
This shot is taken from the music video of Adele‟s „Skyfall‟. The video
uses intertextual referencing throughout the video as the song was
made for the opening of the movie Skyfall. The video is edited and
shown in a way very similar to the typical opening of James Bond
films. In this particular the famous bullet hole where Bond normally
stands in the opening of a film is used to display part of Adele‟s face.

7. A shot that demonstrates use of camera
This shot is taken from the 1975‟s Chocolate music
video.
The shot shows the four band members back to back
having a spot light shone at them. This shot could
represent how the four band members are all of a
sudden in the public eye (represented by the bright
light) having had a drastic career change. As well as all
this the shot is very visually appealing which adds
variety to the video keeping the audience entertained
and interested.

8. A shot that demonstrates use of lighting
This shot is taken from Paramore‟s Ignorance music
video
The medium shot shows the lead singer holding a light.
This light appears to be the only source of light in the
video which shows its importance to both the audience
and the band. The lights importance is represented
through the lead singer looking up to it like a godly
figure. By the light being the only source of light it
creates a sense of mystery for the audience due to it
being fairly un conventional.

9. A shot demonstrating use of mise en
scene
This shot is taken from John Newman‟s Losing Sleep
music video
This shot is presented to us in a dark background with
minimal light. This sets the scene as quite eerie and
mysterious causing the audience to think what will
happen next. The lighting used in the shot seems slightly
distorted which adds to the eerie and mysterious
atmosphere. The artist is dressed quite smartly for the
surroundings he is in which appears to be quite odd
again adding to the mystery of the video.

10. My Music Video

11. A shot that shows a link between lyrics and/ or other music and
visuals
This shot is shown to us just as the lyric goes „Brian‟.
This is a clear link between the lyrics and visuals on
screen. This allows the audience to understand who
Brian is making the rest of the music video easier to
follow.
In the music video Brian is supposed to be
represented as a bit of a „douche‟ and his body
language and stance in this shot goes towards
achieving this look.

12. A shot that typifies the way a record
company would want their artist represented
In this shot we are shown the band performing. This is how the
record company wants their artist represented because it shows
they are a live performing band who do live concerts which is
where record companies create a lot of revenue from. This shot
also shows the band in their element and doing what they do
best which ultimately is what the audience wants.

13. A shot that illustrates how your video uses music genre
Here we can see a close up of one of the band members
playing the bass and in the background a drum kit. All of
these instruments are typical of an indie rock band helping
establish the genre of the music.
It is conventional for indie rock music videos to show shots
of live band play so we thought it was important to include it
in our music video as well.

14. A shot that shows an intertextual reference
We decided to display the name of the song in some form at the
beginning of the video. We did this by using alphabet spaghetti to spell
out „Brianstorm‟. It is now conventional for music videos to display the
name of the song at the beginning of the video. An example is the shot
below which is from Coldplay‟s „Paradise‟.

15. A shot that demonstrates use of camera
For this shot we had Ollie (shown in the picture) hold a tripod
down by his hips with the camera attached at the top to
create a shot similar to a worms eye shot. Due to Ollie (Brian)
being centre of attention in the shot it focuses the audiences
attention on him which is what we wanted due to the video
being all about him and snippets of his life.
I think this shot worked well due to it being slightly different
which ultimately creates variation in the video helping ensure
the audience stays focused and interested.

16. A shot the demonstrates use of lighting
In this shot the light is coming from the street light in the
background. We moved Brian out of the light so that he is
shown in the dark. This represents his current troubles in life
and darker side to him which relates to what our music video is
about. The use of showing him in darkness also shows his
rebellious side by us seeing him drinking in a „no public access‟
area shown on the sign next to him.

17. A shot demonstrating use of mise en scene
Here we are shown Brian and another person in a dark and
grungy looking area. The other character standing by the bin
has his hood up and is showing tense and secretive body
language. This encourages the audience to believe that the
character is up to something illegal which he wants to keep
hidden. The idea of illegal activity taking place is again backed
up by the location in which the shot is taken due to its isolation
and lack of other life around.

18. Two shots which you feel demonstrate something which shows
you have watched other music videos
Here is a close up shot of a band member plying the bass. It is conventional
in indie rock music videos for you to see close ups of the band playing their
instruments in performance scenes. A good example of a music video which
has this in is Human by the Killers.
For this shot we added a „wavey‟ effect to indicate to the audience that the
character shown on screen may have just taken something. We got this idea
from the music video „Why‟d You Only Call Me You‟re High?‟ by the Arctic
Monkeys who used a similar effect to suggest something.