Generic Conventions in music videos include: 1) How the main artist dresses reflects the mood of the song, such as Mumford and Sons dressing in indie style. 2) The genre of the song is often reflected in the video, such as a relaxing rural setting for a Mumford and Sons song. 3) The main singer mimes the lyrics throughout most videos to portray the story and emotions of the song.

1. Generic Conventions AGATHA TUKENDORF

2. DRESS A convention of a music video is how the main artist dresses and how it reflects the mood of the song. Some artists will also dress appropriate to their genre of music. For example, Mumford and Sons dress within their indie feel to their music – checked shirts, skinny jeans and loafers. Lately, music videos have become more creative and outrageous, and so has the dress sense. Lady gaga is a prime example as in the video for her song ‘Telephone’ she is only covered by some tape, and is has also creatively made outfits and accessories out of coke cans and glasses made out of burning cigarettes

3. Genre The genre of a song is often reflected in the video. This is because those watching are obviously interested in the genre and therefore would like to see this theme in the video. It may convey the genre on the whole or possibly only touch on it. For example, the Mumford and Sons song ‘Winter Winds’ was filmed in a rural area as opposed to an upbeat busy city, suggesting a relaxing song.

4. LYRICS Throughout most videos, the main singer or a group of singers are miming the lyrics to the song. This is a big part of most music videos. The lyrics also tend to portray a story line, which the video draws. Often, when the artist is singing, there is a shot of the artist lip synching, which conveys the artists or characters true emotions and feelings towards this song

5. Camerawork In videos, a lot of different camera shots are used to show different images. Close ups, two shots, long shots and mid shots are often used in music videos. Close ups tend to show the emotion of the main singer and character, and shows that they are in power of the scene whereas long shots tend to establish the scene and give a feel of theme.

6. Editing Editing is used in every music video in different ways and has developed a lot over time. Editing is used to bind shots together, to add music to fit in with the flow of the video and to enhance particular things. Some videos only use basic editing, where it unnoticeable whereas other music videos use it to completely recreate a scene digitally, to make it more interesting.