This document discusses genre conventions for pop ballads and their music videos. It defines pop music as being oriented towards youth and focusing on themes of love and relationships. Pop music videos typically feature close-ups of the artist, performances, fast editing, and depictions of glamour. Ballads are described as slow love songs that often have narrative music videos. The document proposes applying these conventions - including close-ups, performance, narrative, and focus on relationships - to a music video for the pop ballad "Not Like the Movies" by Katy Perry.
2. Our finale song choice is Katy
Perry’s Not like the Movies. This
song is a Pop ballad. Therefore I
will be looking at the pop and
ballad conventions to see how
we can link this to our main artist
and our music video.
3. What is Pop Music?
• Oriented toward a youth market
• Pop artists are usually teen idols
• Early pop music drew on the sentimental ballad for its
form
• By the early 1980s, the promotion of pop music had
been greatly affected by the rise of Music Television
channels like MTV
• The lyrics of modern pop songs typically focus on
simple themes – often love and romantic relationships
• Much pop music is intended to encourage dancing, or
it uses dance-oriented beats or rhythms.
4. Conventions of Pop Music Videos
• An emphasis on recording, production, and technology, over live
performance
• Close up shots of the artist /band
• Performance
• High Lighting
• Fast Pace editing
• Representation of glamour lifestyle
• Related social activities and scenarios of teenagers e.g. Fashion and
crushes
• Mise en scene reflects atmosphere
• Artist tries to portray a certain image (intertextuality)
• Singing while acting
• Straight forward Narrative
5. Ballads
• Took on the meaning of a slow form of
popular love song and the term is now often
used as synonymous with any love song
• The most common use of the term ballad in
modern pop music is for an emotional love
song
• They music videos will often be narrative
• Power ballads are slow tempo songs often
building to a loud and emotive chorus
6. Examples of Pop Ballads
•Beyoncé – If I was a boy
These songs are all pop ballads and in
•Katy Perry – Thinking of you
their music video they combine
conventions of pop. They all have close
•Christina Aguilera - Hurt up of the artist, have a narrative, all
based on love and relationships and they
•Kelly Clarkson – Because of You all perform in the videos.
•Fergie – Big Girls Don’t Cry
7. Conventions and our Music video
• The song itself is a ballad and therefore fits
the conventions as it is about love.
• The video will also fit the ballad and pop
conventions as the video will have a narrative.
• The narrative will be relatable to our audience
when coming down to relationships.
• To fit pop conventions we will have a lot of
close ups of the artist with high lighting.
8. Conventions and the Main artist
• Our main artist will be wearing outfits such as
party/evening dresses which will relate to
production.
• Our main artist will be performing in the video
to fit pop conventions.
• Even though she is ginger naturally we made
our artist dye her hair to make it brighter and
more her more iconic.
