Music video conventions

Music video conventionsSophie Boston G324introductionWhat is the definition of a convention?A way in which something is usually done: e.g. to attract the best patrons the movie houses had to ape the conventions and the standards of theatresOnce a certain trend has been set, others of the same category will most likely follow the trend, causing conventions, which works well for most businesses and industries, whereas some find success when they break out of the typical conventions.Music videos, books and films in particularly vary on their conventions and this is due to what genre they fall into e.g. a romantic comedy film will most likely have a geeky boy who tries to get with the popular pretty girl, and disaster usually follows, or a horror book may include a creepy abandoned house, torture, blood etc.In music videos, artists can do pretty much what they want, and either follow or break out of conventions of their genre. Theorists like Andrew Goodwin have suggested some conventions of music videos.

Andrew Goodwins music video conventions1. Matching the lyrics to the visuals i.e. is what we are hearing appearing on the screen2. Following the previous statement, do the visuals contradict the lyrics or vice versa?3. All music videos will have their own style and iconography, depending on the artist. E.g. they will have something about that makes them stand out.4. With female artists especially, there is likely to be sexualisation voyeurism sex sells. 5. Most music videos will have close ups of the artist.6. There is likely to be inter-textual references to another artist, song, film, etc e.g. Black Widow by Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora is entirely based on Quentin Taratinos Kill Bill3 main types of music videosMusic videos typically consist of falling into one of the three following styles:

1. Performance based the video is entirely made up of a choreographed dance routine, or the video is mainly the band performing on their instruments. Examples: Single Ladies Beyonce, Chandelier Sia, and Nicki Minajs songs tend to also be performance based.2. Narrative- the music video makes up a story. Many of these narrative videos will have a prologue or epilogue at the end, either to build tension or conclude the story. Many narrative videos will not tell the viewers exactly what is happening to keep them in the dark and let them use their own imagination to think what is happening. Examples: You Belong With Me Taylor Swift, California Girls Katy Perry ft Snoop Dogg, Give Me Love Ed Sheeran3. Mixture a mixture of the two above combined. The majority may be a narrative based video but certain scenes will cut back to a performance. Probably the most common style of music video. Examples: Girlfriend Avril Lavigne, Bad Romance & Telephone Lady GagaPerformance

Bom Bom Sam and the WompVery bright, colourful backgrounds and costumesUnusual lightingBit mad, not a lot of sense can be made out of itLots of characters and propsRepetitionInstrumentsEditing e.g. two frames in one shot, hearts, lightning bolts etcnarrative

Black Widow Iggy Azalea ft Rita OraBased on Tarantinos Kill Bill intertextualityBrand placement e.g. Wicker and the HP tabletSexualisation of womenPrologue and epilogueAction scenesThemes of power, love, revenge, gender roles reversedOriental tintsUnrealistic editing e.g. motorbikes, slash of the sword

mIXTURE

Paparazzi Lady GagaBright, bizarre costumesFluidity of movementsEditing jump cuts from narrative to performanceLots of charactersThemes of love, power, revengeGreat choreography Close upsExquisite settingsColour/black and whiteBrand placement e.g Mickey MouseCONVENTIONS OF POP Music videos

Usually a performance based style videoBright lighting colours, usually gender colours e.g. pink and blueWomen are subtly sexualised a lot, but men are more so in pop.Party props such as balloons, streamers etcFlawless artists auto tune and Photoshop. Women seem to be leading the pop music industry.Repetitive scenesClose ups Continuity editing but sometimes jump cutsUnrealistic settings Lots of dancing choreographyLink between visuals and lyrics are often includedThemes revolve a lot around loveLots of makeup involvedTints and filters to improve coloursSometimes there are quite simple and repetitive lyrics

Conventions of indie/alternative music videos

Usually either a narrative music video or a mixtureTypically a band rather than a solo artistsFilming locations include big cities at nightQuite dark lighting and sometimes a dark story plotWill typically have a dramatic pause halfway through the videoEditing will include continuity editing, but also cuts from place to place as well as filming some parts in black and white Less close ups and artists tend not to look directly into cameraMore casual clothing than superficial pop clothingWill typically have a prologue and epilogueFinal scene will usually finish with a fade out into black transitionInstruments will be filmed more than a pop video, usually guitarsWhereas pops love theme is more happy, indie/alternatives love theme may be more sinister and seriousThe lyrics arent always about love, and not always about love between a man and a womanTravelling is usually involvedSometimes the scene or plot might not make sense, until the end or at all

Conventions of hip hop/rap videos

Rapping is often the majority of the songLyrics are often about money, fame, sex, drugsUsually a flash car is involvedGirls are very sexualised in these videosOften controversy about the amount of black/white people involved in the videoThe rappers will typically have a gold tooth or tattoos, baseball jacket or capMore performance based than narrativeClose ups, panning movements, establishing shots are commonSettings are usually an expensive house or club location