A2 Music video- media A level. Forms and conventions and similar media products. Examples of other bands, performance, narrative aspects of the videos and symbolic and technical conventions

1. Music Video
FORMS AND CONVENTIONS- ELEMENTS OF MEDIA PRODUCTS WHOSE MEANING IS
GENERATED BY THEIR REPETITION TO US.
DAISY JELLEY

2. Form
THE STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS WHICH DETERMINE THE ‘SHAPE’
AND MEANING OF A PRODUCT.
Conventions
SYMBOLIC AND TECHNICAL ELEMENTS WHICH ARE USED TO
CREATE THE REQUIRED FORM.

3. Form: Use of Performance
 Use of performance.
There are reasons media products include a use of performance which benefit both
institutions and audiences. Use of performance is used to showcase the artist this allowing
the audience to see their style and if it’s a band, their relationships. It is also used to
demonstrate the genre and abilities of the artist and create a marketable star image which is
displayed and would attract their target audience. Keith Negus’– Producing pop is an
academic study of producing in the music industry. It explores the organic ideology of
creativity and the synthetic ideology of creativity. The organic takes a naturalistic approach
allowing the artist to chose their own style and gives them time to evolve and progress
through their career. Synthetic is when the artist is often constructed by the record company
to fill gaps in the market. They are given a short time to prove their success so performance
aspects helps build their star image.

4. Use of performance in a real music video
The 1975- Love Me
In this music video for The 1975’s song ‘Love Me’,
there is a performance element which is a
contribution to the form of the video. The
institution have used this to create a star image for
the band, it is also a way of them displaying all of
the band and their style whilst showing the
audience their musical skills. These shots add live
performance aspect making it more personal and
immersive for the audience as if they’re watching
them live. It is also a great way of making the
target audience want to see them live, leading to
them buying tickets.

5. Use of performance in our music video
In a similar way to the 1975’s use of performance in
their song ‘Love Me’ we used it as a way of showing
the whole band, alongside their relationships, style
and musical abilities. Especially in the part in which
they perform with the toy instruments, we wanted
to show their Playful-ness and how they are fun
and young. The instruments being used suggest
the genre of Indie-pop music they’re playing and
the toys contribute to the fun of the song. The fact
they are performing creates a star image of the
band, making the target audience want to watch
them live.

6. Form: Use of Narrative
 Use of Narrative.
Likewise to use of performance there are reasons media products include a
use of performance which benefit both institutions and audiences. Use of
Narrative holds audience interest- it makes music videos more unique and
makes the audience want to carry on watching as it isn’t the same thing all
the way through the video, this being more enjoyable. It helps the artist share
the point of their song/ their ideologies which helps with the portrayal of
their image. It also makes the video more memorable, which could lead to
word of mouth and/or them watching it again.

7. Use of Narrative in a real music video
The 1975- Girls
In the 1975’s video for their track ‘Girls’ there is also a narrative
element alongside a performance element that makes up the
form of the video. In this song there are little scenes of girls
doing different things. For example, in this screenshot there is
a girl driving a car and she crashes the car and the word
“crash” come up on screen. This is very unrealistic as she poses
at the camera whilst fake driving but fits with the songs theme
of girls. It makes the video more interesting, exciting and
memorable as it isn’t just performance leading to the target
audience to watch again or watch the artists’ other music
videos. This implies that the band is wanting to be unique and
show that they are fun. It suggests the audience is mainly
young women/girls as it is a boy band yet the video is drawing
in more of a male audience as they may be attracted to the
girls in their underwear, swimsuits and dresses. The band
would like an audience of both genders.

8. Use of Narrative in our music video
In our video we used narrative shots to break up the performance
shots and also add to the ideas of the music video. The narrative is
two young children thinking about their dreams of being in a band.
To tie in with this we added some other dreams for example, in the
screenshot, Holly is sitting in her “dream car” similarly to the shot
from The 1975’s music video for the song “Girls” , in another Harvey
is sitting on a giant throne snacking into junk food and drinking
juice. Likewise to the reasons of the 1975 including narrative, we
did this to make the music video more interesting and memorable
making audience members want to watch again or watch more. We
also used this narrative to foreshadow the band’s playfulness. It
suggests that the band is trying to make themselves look more
unique. It may also suggest that they want an audience of all ages
and portray that they are young and cheeky through narrative. This
choice of narrative could make the audience feel like they know a
bit more about the band by seeing how they acted and what they
dreamt about when they were younger.

9. Conventions: ‘Artistic’ camera work
(Technical)
 ‘Artistic’ Camera work.
‘Artistic’ camera work can be used for the reason that it helps the visuals link
to the rhythm and even the style of the song. Also, the use of ‘artistic’ camera
work can encourage an audience to watch it again as they may find it
interesting to watch or something caught their eye. It draws attention to itself
and acts as evidence that a lot of hard work has been put into the visuals.
These reasons showing that there are benefits to both institution and
audience from the use of ‘artistic’ camera work.

10. Use of ‘Artistic’ camera work in a real
music video
The Wombats- Lets dance to Joy Division
Throughout this music video, there is sections
of hand held camera work. This is done to add
to the overall excitement of the video. It also
reflects the genre of music they are playing and
helps the visuals link to the rhythm of the song.
It could also be a way of showing the
organization and loudness of the band
suggesting their image as rebellious and fun. It
may encourage the audience to watch again as
the camera is moving so fast, something might
catch their eye.

11. Use of ‘Artistic’ camera work in our music
video
Likewise to in The Wombats’ song ’Let’s Dance to
Joy Division’ we chose to use hand held camera
work in our music video to emphasise what the
atmosphere would be like there and how they have
let go and are having fun. This creating an image
for the band and suggesting the genre of music
they are playing. It makes the music video visually
interesting and helps the visuals link to the rhythm
and what is happening in the song at these
moments. It may also make the audience want to
watch again- something might catch their eye,
similarly to in ‘Let’s Dance to Joy Division’.

12. Conventions: Breaking continuity rules
(Technical)
 Breaking the rules of continuity editing.
Many music videos edit in a way called Rhythmic editing, this is when the
editing is cut to the beat, there is grouping of shots and there are often jump
cuts. Overall, this creates interesting visuals, keeping the audiences interests
and making the video easier to watch. If this editing is done successfully, it
can lead to audience members watching more videos by the artist or watch
their video again. It impacts both the audience and institution in positive ways
and creates a visual equivalent for the music/ soundtrack.

13. An example of breaking continuity rules in
a real music video
Bombay Bicycle club- Always like this
It is evident in this music video that the editors
have ignored the rules of continuity and have
edited rhythmically. Throughout the video, there
are what they portray as pauses and fast
forwarding where they speed up and stop the
video. The video clips alternate in location and
placement of band members through use of
jump cuts. This is done to make the video visually
easier and more exciting to watch as it makes the
visuals more interesting whilst fitting in a lot of
different footage. All of this may lead to the
audience wanting to watch the video again.

14. An example of breaking continuity rules in
our music video
As seen in the ‘Always like this’ video by Bombay Bicycle
club, we have also edited our music video rhythmically
and used many jump cuts and groupings of shots.
Therefore breaking the rules of continuity. This was all
done to keep the video exciting reflecting the bands
image and showing both performance and narrative
shots. The grouping of shots makes the video visually
better to view and keeps the audiences interest. This
positively impacting the institution as the excitement
makes the audience want to watch again or view the
artists other music videos. The image that they are fun is
reflected through the fast paces, exciting cuts as the
music has a fast tempo. It also shows their quirkiness due
to what is being framed, for example in this shot Phil has
his own style, with his unique guitar creating a star
image.

15. Conventions: Artist Close Up (Technical)
 The importance of an Artist Close up.
Artist close ups have Institutional and audience benefits. They help the
institution create a ‘star’ image for their artist, especially if it is a new artist. It
is a great way of early identification of the artist. Also, in terms of fans, the
target audience would like to see the artist up close so that they can know
what they look like and their style but also so that the music video feels more
personal to them.

16. An example of a Artist close up in a real
music video
Circa waves- Stuck In My Teeth
In Circa Waves’ video “Stuck in my teeth”, artist
close ups are evident frequently throughout.
Their main reason of choice would be to add
to the fun of the video. Suggested in how he is
pulling a face at the camera. It also makes the
audience feel it is more personal and that
when they’re watching it they have a bond
with the artist. It also identifies the artist in a
very detailed way allowing the audience to see
what they look like and their style. It also
shows the importance of the person being
shown in this video thereby creating a “star”
image.

17. An example of an artist close up in our
music video
In our music video an artist close up was extremely
important. This is because we needed to give early
identification to the audience of the artist to allow them
to create an instant relationship with them, see their style
and create a “star” image. We also used them to highlight
the cheekiness and show the audience that the artist is
fun, creating a positive impact and making it feel more
personal to the consumer. The idea that it is close up
could make the audience feel that they are closer to the
artist and make them want to watch on. Our target
audience is girls ages 15-17, the close up works with them
as they would want to identify what the band members
look like, especially the lead singer. This is because around
this age, fan-bases are common. They are also around the
age for audience members to want to buy artist
merchandise so seeing the artists face more in the video
creates a star image for them creating an audience to
‘fangirl’ and put products.

18. Conventions: Mise-en-scene (Symbolic)
 Mise-en-Scene
The choice of Mise-en-scene in a music video is important in the portrayal of
the artist. For example, the costume created the artists image and could act as
a symbol of the genre of music they are playing. The lighting could create a
specific aesthetic which could be interesting to the target audience. Props
could relate to the artists interests of if they are instruments, they could act as
a symbol of music or the genre. When looking at location and set, it could
give more visual impact than the narrative itself, and they are usually obvious
so that the audience can easily identify where it is set in such a short time.

19. An example of symbolic Mise-en-scene in
a real music video (costume)
One Direction- History
There are many elements within Mise-en-
scene but looking at the choice of costume in
One Directions video for the song ’History’,
you can see that they all have their own quirky
individual style. Many would put their style
under the name “indie” which is a very
common style for the target audience to like
or wear. Therefore the costume suggesting
that they all have their own individual style.
The costume in this video acts as a symbol of
the genre of music they are making. The
casual and cool style helps create the “star”
image.

20. An example of symbolic Mise-en-scene in
our music video (costume)
Like in One Directions video for their song
’History’, the members of the band all have their
own individual style. The idea that they are all
slightly different suggests that they are individual
and make them look more normal, this helping
the audience create a positive relationship with
them when watching the video. This cool and
quirky look goes goes with the genre of music
’Indie-pop’ and helps create their “star” image.
Our target audience might have an interest in
similar clothes therefore might relate their style to
the bands. Overall, the costume helps with the
whole aesthetic and atmosphere being created
making the video visually better and more
interesting to watch.