The codes and conventions of music videos.

1. By Ellie
Plummer
MUSIC VIDEO
CONVENTIONS

2.  A music video is a short film mixing a song and imagery, produced for
promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily
made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of
music recordings. Although the origins of music videos date back much
further, they come into prominence in the 1980s, when MTV based
their format around the medium.
 Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques,
including animation, live action filming, documentaries, and non -
narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music videos blend
different styles, such as animation and live action. Many music videos
interpret images and scenes from the song’s lyrics, while others take a
more thematic approach. Other music videos may be without a set
concept, being merely a filmed version of the song’s live performance.
WHAT IS A MUSIC VIDEO?

3.  Visuals either illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics.
 Illustrate – Music videos can use a set of images to illustrate the
meaning of lyrics and genre. This is the most common.
 Amplify – Repeatability is an aspect of amplification. Meaning
and effects are manipulated and shown through the video and
drummed into our vision.
 Disjunctive – The meaning of the song is ignored.
GOODWIN’S THEORY

4.  Performance – this is when the music video purely consists of the
artist performing.
 Narrative – this is when a story is told throughout the music video
and the artist is not performing. A good example of this is
‘Paradise’ by Coldplay.
 Combination of performance and narrative. – this is when the
artist is performing but there is also a story being told in the
music video. A good example of this is ‘Dance Dance’ by Fall Out
Boy
 Animation (often includes narrative)
DIFFERENT FORMS OF MUSIC VIDEOS

5.  Long shots are used to establish setting. For
example, at the beginning of ‘Like a Hobo’ by Charlie
Winston, there is a long shot of the setting to show
the audience the location.
 Mid shots and close ups are used to emphasise the
artist/band and not only the emotions but to reflect
the words of the song with the movement of the lips
of the artist. This is often done to promote the band.
 With bands, long shots maybe be used to show the
rest of the band in performance. For example, in the
music video ‘Let Her Go’ by Passenger, there is a long
shot of the band to show off the band to the audience
and also to build a personal relationship with the
audience
 Conventionally the camera will follow the lead singer.
Which is also shown in the music video for ‘Let Her
Go’, there are a lot of close-ups of the lead singer.
 Editing is done in fast cuts if the tempo is fast,
rendering many of the images impossible to grasp on
first viewing, ensuring multiple viewing.
CAMERA

6.  Editing is different for each genre of music as
you wouldn’t have the same effects used in a
slow song than in an up beat song.
 Different effects are used to create different
scenes or feelings.
 Changes in colour and saturation can be used
for a flashback or to show a different person’s
point of view.
 Transitions such as a fade is used to tell us
that time has passed.
 The editing pace fits the music pace.
 Digital effects often enhance editing, which
manipulates the original images to offer
different kinds of pleasure to the audience.
 Editing is done in fast cuts, rendering many of
the images impossible to grasp on first
viewing, ensuring multiple viewing.
 Some artists choose to include diegetic sound
if their music video has narrative. For example,
at the beginning of ‘No One Does it Better’ by
You Me At Six they are driving and one of their
other songs from the same album is playing on
the stereo.
EDITING AND SOUND

7.  The mise-en-scene can vary greatly depending on
the genre of music and the type of music video.
 Props – performance equipment, band merchandise
 Costume – certain outfits
 Location – concert halls, venues, street. The
location can help to sell the song by interlinking
with its characteristics and possibly the digipack.
For example, in ‘Violet Hill’ by Coldplay, the location
is very grey and dull which is again reinforced by
the weather.
 Costume is very important as it can dramatically
reflect the mood of a song. For example, a happy
song might have the characters dressed in bright
colours to reflect happiness whereas a sad song
would have the characters dressed in dark colours
to symbolise the bleak mood of the song. ‘Someone
Like You’ by Adele is a good example of this.
 The genre of the song might be reflected in types of
mise-en-scene, themes, performance, camera and
editing styles.
MISE EN SCENE