Coursework - Codes and Conventions of Dance Music

1. Codes and Conventions
of Dance Music
Louise Banham-Scott

2. Codes and Conventions of Dance Music
Every music video is different is some shape or form but especially
with some genres of music the music videos made have some staple
features through out them. Here are some features that you might
see in a Dance music video.

3. Camerawork
In a typical dance music video there are a wide variety of different
camera shots and angles. This is used to make the video more engaging
as the audience would be more engaged with a video that has more
camera angles and shots as they would feel as a part it. Some of these
camera angles are
• Wide Shot – these are used to make the audience feel that they are
involved with the video
• High Angle shots – These are used to show a dominate persona in the
music video and will also show who the dominant character is to the
audience as well.
• Low Angle shots – These are use to show if someone is weak and again
the audience will be able to tell on how powerful a charter is in a
music video to type of shot.
• Close Ups – These type of shots are used to show a certain feature of
someone, in a lot of music videos the persona or artist use close ups
to show that they are the most important.

4. Environment and Locations of videos
There are many types of dance music and these different types would be
appealing to different people. Therefore, the locations used will have to
interest the audience so they can relate to the music as well as the music
video which means the locations used have to suitable for the song.
• For the upbeat types of dance music the location will be most likely be set
in a nightclub or a party setting, this is because the audience will be able
to relate to the video or even some people will have a nostalgic experience
when watching the video.
• The whole vibe/atmosphere of the video would be high intensity as the
setting of the video would be in a lively place so the atmosphere would
match that.
• Lighting in the video would consist of bright lights and strobe lighting to
match and fit the beat of the song, doing this really makes the song a
dance song as it would be easy to dance to and the audience would really
enjoy it.
• The beat of the song would have to match the location used or else the
music video and song wouldn’t match and seem like two completely
different things. If they match this would get a better response from the
audience as they would be able to relate to the music video.

5. Editing
Most dance music songs are quite fast with some slow sections in it, the
music video has to be able to fit to the pace of the song meaning that if
the song is fast pace the editing matches and is also fast pace. This is the
same for the slow pace parts of songs the editing would follow with either
being less edited or edited slowly to fit the song.
The motion in music video is very important, a slow motion shot can mean
so may things and can be adapted into situations for example a slow
motion shot between a couple could mean that they want time to slow
down and spend every second of their lives with each other. Or, it could
mean that they wish the time they spent together was in slow motion to
savour it if they had broken up. Sped up scenes could be used to show
change in music videos or even highlight the main/ important characters in
the music video.