Task 1

What is a music video?

What are the conventions of a music video?

The conventions of a music video are that they

include the artist or band. The shots for a music

video tend to be close ups, long shots and mid

shots to either the location of the music video to

set the scene, to show the emotion of the artist to

show the emotion of the song and to show the

actions that the artist is doing for example playing

an instrument, dancing or miming the words.

The mise en scene of a music video

The mise en scene of a music video can vary depending on the artist or band

and what genre of music they are in. For example rock bands tend to have a

clip of them performing live to their fans dressed up in their outfits such as

metalcore music has a stereotype of being dressed in all black to match the

music they play. Whereas a R&B music video you’d expect to see dancing,

women and the clothing worn would be more whites colours and the artist or

band would have a crisp look to them. An example of a RNB music video is

Timbaland ft Justin Timberlake where there is a lot of women, dancing and

the outfits worn are crisp looking. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

NRdHsuuXxfk

An example of a metalcore music video is Architects - Follow The Water

where the video is all performance based on one of their shows to a crowd of

fans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS8sYmTcM4w&feature=relmfu

For the editing in music videos jump cuts are used to

change from one scene to another quickly. To edit a

music video a popular edit is a dissolve or fade into black

to show the audience that the music video has ended.

Also music videos sometimes have parallel narrative so

that the music video is able to show to sides of a story,

perhaps a live performance and a narrative. The lighting

is important in a music video because it sets the tone for

the music video such as dark lighting could be

depressing to match the tone of the song whereas bright

lighting could mean the song tone is happy.

What is the purpose of a music video

The main purpose of a music video is to sell

the song. By selling the song you advertise

the band which increase the CD sales if they

like the single. Another purpose for a music

video is to help the audience understand the

meaning of the song but the main purpose is

the promotion of the band/cd.

Three types of music videos

The three types of music videos are concept based,

narrative based and performance based. Concept

based means a style of music video that is usually

based around a certain concept or idea.

Performance based is where the music video shows

the artist performing throughout the music video.

Narrative based music video means that the music

video is showing/telling a story.

Concept music video

A concept video is a video based around a single idea. The video is usually

unusual and obscure for the audience. The unusual content is an attraction to

many consumers, which draws them in. Concept videos are usually designed

for a niche audience and is something described as pure concept art. A

successful concept video will keep the audience entertained and constantly

looking at what or who is on the screen.

Concept videos are designed to create a meaning. In the concept video of Best

of You by Foo Fighters. In the video there are artistic hints of graffiti and clips

of real life scenes to create meaning behind the song. We only see quick

flashes of these clips which make it a concept video as they are quite obscure

images as we don’t see them for long.

Performance based music video

A performance based music video example is Foo Fighters – The Pretender

because throughout the music video the band are seen performing with their

instruments. In the video there are a range of camera angles which create an

atmosphere of rising energy which matches the tempo of the music as it also

rises throughout the song. The use of camera angles creates the star theory

because we are see the clothing worn by the band but also emotions of the

band creates the feeling of the song but also reflects the genre of the music.

The fast camera shots of this video create a fast and edgy feel creating a stir.

Performance based videos are good when working to a budget as they aren’t

high costing.

Narrative based music video

An example of a narrative based music video is Green Day – Jesus of Suburbia because there are

two versions of this music video, one is 9 minutes long or there is the 11 minutes long version

which tells us a bit more about the song and the music video helping us understand. The music

video for Jesus of Suburbia follows the story of a boy called Jimmy and we see everything that he

has to go through which then leads to him leaving his family and hometown behind. This storyline

is common to the genre of rock music of not belonging. In the music video there are a range of

camera shots to create meaning most of them are close ups of the main character (Jimmy) to

show his emotions. The band aren’t in the music video much which makes us reflect on the

narrative of the story rather than the bands image. The use of a narrative music video is that the

video is designed to tell a story though the moving image. The use of a narrative video is that it

helps the audience understand the meaning of the song. In the video for Jesus of Suburbia it

works with Goodwins theory as most of the video has a notion of looking as there are females

throughout the music video to convey the lifestyle the main character has giving us background

information.