Basic Conventions

Let's establish the basic conventions of a music video first and then we will go into more detail. One of the most obvious conventions is the lyrics to the song. These are one of the most important things. The lyrics to a song influence you a lot, maybe even subconsciously. They can determine your mood and also the mood of the song, for example if the lyrics are very aggressive you know that that's what they song is going to be like, whereas if it has softer more romantic lyrics, the chances are it's going to be a slower song. The lyrics can also be portrayed in the video as a narrative.

The music is what makes the song when paired with the lyrics. It can generally set the scene as if it has a fast tempo you identify that with a faster moving video that may also be more up beat. Whereas if the song has a slower beat it is more commonly going to be a sadder song. The music that is used can heavily influence you changing your mood massively, if the music is very upbeat and has a faster tempo it is more than likely going to wake you up and make you feel good (if that's the type of music you like obviously) compared with a slower beat which could dampen your mood if linked with the lyrics it is quite depressive. Almost all music videos are non diegetic however it may be added to create effect. For example one of the most well known songs amongst the younger age groups is “Niggas in Paris” by Kanye West and Jay-Z.

Although this is not a convention, it is something to think about when talking about music videos. There are varying music channels that cater for the audience that like that genre of music. For example MTV have a lot of different music channels such as MTV Rock and MTV Dance.

The narrative of a video is something to consider when making a music video. It is not so common throughout the whole video so much, many artists decide to have some singing and then a narrative in some parts, such as Pink’s ‘ Fucking Perfect’. The narrative shows how the lyrics depict the image. The narrative obviously varies depending on the lyrics of the song and what they mean.

A Storyboard is another thing to consider when creating a music video. It allows you to get a concept of what the music video will look like when it is created and it also allows you to stage how your music video is going to be. It enables the director to decide what happens and the sequence of it and also what camera movements should be used and when. Although it is not part of the final product it is still cruical to produce a smashing music video and it is a great way to make sure you haven not missed anything out.

Camera

The conventions of the music video are what are essential to making a music video. These come under two categories: technical and symbolic. The technical conventions are things such as camera movement, the different shot used, the sound that you hear, the style of editing and the genre. Whereas the symbolic conventions are the ways in which you convey meaning to a song, for example, through facial expressions, mise en scene and poses etc.

The use of the camera is one of the most important things to encompass when planning your music video and shooting it. This is because the simple movement of type of shot used can create a whole different effect of show a different emotion.  For example in Sam Smiths make it to me video, a lot of close ups are used- this is to express the emotion on his face and it is used so that you connect with the artist through his eyes when he is singing the powerful song, the close ups are mainly used on Sam whereas the pianist is always in the background of the shots. As well as this, close-ups can often be used when trying to show an instrument that is being played in the video, for example in John Legends Ordinary People there is a close up of him playing the piano. There are no rules as to when a close up shot can be used but they’re mainly used to highlight a singer, for example they are used in almost every one of one direction's songs this is to highlight their position in the band as an equal band member, rather than focussing on one main singer.

Tracking shots are used to convey a narrative. A track shot is used in David Guetta's Titanium- this is to show the story of the little boy growing up. They can be effectively used to tell a story for example as someone is walking down the street this may link to the lyrics. As well as this they can be used to show more of the setting and scenery to make you have more understanding of the song.

A panning shot is a common shot that can be found in many music videos as well. This can be used to set the scene. An example of this is in Rihanna’s song What Now at the start of her video to show you the setting. This shot can also be used in a band performance to show all of the band or their setting, an example of this is Kaiser Chiefs Ruby, It is used to show the entire band and it also includes their setting. Panning shots were not used very frequently in this video, yet it is used effectively.

The camera usage is one of the most important things to consider when filming your music video. With the use of wide shots, close ups and all of the above you can convey different meanings to your song. As well as this certain shots compliment the style or genre of song

than others.

Editing

Editing is just as important when making a music video as it helps to bring the whole thing together. Editing consists of the transitions within a video, how quickly it is cut and the animations added to the video. The pace of the editing is normally always linked to the pace of the song. For example a slow paced song like ‘stay’ by Rihanna has slow transitions to the next bit of the song, as opposed to a more fast beat song such as Beyonce's ‘run the world’. The fading out of a song varies again on the beat and the tempo that the song has. If it is for example a calmer band song it may fade out a the end like The Killers ‘Mr Brightside’ this contrasts with Jess Glynnes ‘My Love’ which cuts out at the end of the song. There are many different features that can be incorporated when editing a video, such as the different types of transition for example a popular way to fade out a video is by dissolving it at the end, this is a softer way to end your video.

The editing of a video is used to create a relationship between the song and the video. If it is not cut properly and the transitions do not compliment the song then the video is a failure for that song and it will not put across the message that the producer may have wanted to achieve. The lyrics of the song do not have to relate to the video persay, as the video may be unusual, however generally if you have lyrics that tell a story, the video should link to give the audience a visual representation. Nevertheless, this is not so common in dance music as the lyrics do not always have a meaning and some do not even have lyrics.

Mise En Scene

The style of music video will vary massively depending on the genre of music. This is because most different types of genre have a different style themselves, such as the people singing them, the lyrics that they write and how they want their messages to be portrayed. For example, a stereotypical indie/rock band would be wearing darker coloured clothes, may not have perfectly neat hair and may portray more of a rough edgy look, as opposed to your typical pop boy band who may be dressed in the latest fashion attire with with accessories and have neatly styled hair. The location and setting also changes with the varying genres, for example dance music songs are notorious for using beach locations and big pool party type settings, whereas rap songs are more often set in a more gangster type setting with darker lighting and big cars etc.

Voyeurism is something that is prevalent in a lot of music videos, much more commonly in this current time that the western society is in. It is an act in which someone watches another person commit a sexual act. This could be from undressing, to having sex. It is more common in R&B songs. It is now said that women are objectified in videos. However through the use of sexualising women and men it has shown that it makes the music sell.

Mise en scene is what helps bring the whole video together and keeping continuity within genres is what helps trigger nostalgia that this song is related to this genre. The mise en scene should be so correct that you should be able to know what genre of music is being played just by watching the video and having no sound as there are always certain things that are related to a certain type of music and this is what helps keep the audience intrigued as it is what they know already from watching previous music videos from the same genre, however there are always some anomolies