Codes and Conventions:

The Purpose of the Music Video Promotes a single and, normally, an album Promotes the artist or band Creates, adapts or feeds into a ‘star image’ or

‘star theory’ Entertains the audience Sets the ‘meanings’ of a song by the use of

images

Basic Structures• In 3-4 minutes a typical music video combines a mix of live

performance, narrative, and other visual imagery including computer graphics and animation.

• It does this to advertise the band/artist and song

Music VideosOften contains a number of different

elements: Performance Narrative Thematic Symbolic

PerformanceMany music videos include performance of the artists as

part of the videoIt was from clips of performances that music videos

developedOften contain shots of the artists performingCan be a live stage performance, with shots of artists and

audienceCan be the artists in “real life” situations eg warming up,

talking, fooling aroundOften includes lots of close ups of the artist and there can

be a particular visual style that goes with the artist (a motif) eg particular clothing, actions, props, type of images.

Often the artist can appear to perform in an unusual place - all lip-synched eg a field, a rooftop

Idea of Spectacle Music Videos may be considered to be examples of

'spectacle'. • In this the performers are performing, often looking directly at

the viewer. This is called “direct address” - where they are directly interacting with the viewer giving a move personal feel.

In the case of men, this involves the look of the character towards the viewer. The male is seen to be addressing the viewer directly. He is supposed to be singing directly for you.

The female figure is often an object of an erotic gaze, object of male desire which is a voyeuristic gaze. A Voyeur is someone who looks at someone for pleasure. This means females in music videos are often dressed and posed in very sexual ways.

NarrativeOften the video tells a story either that

features in the lyrics or is suggested in the lyrics eg girl dumps boy

This narrative can be like a Mini film, with a beginning, middle and end

Or it can suggest some links to a storyIt can promote a film with clips from the film

included telling a story

NarrativeBecause it is only 3-4 minutes it can be -very fast paced, lots of shots and cuts-use inter-textuality with films, tv and other

videos-mimic other film and tv genre eg horror or sci

fi -sometimes the story can contradict what is

seen for effect-sometimes the artist is a part of the story, or

an observer or completely separate

ThematicThere are lots of common themes in music

videosDepends on the genre of musicEg Heavy metal bands go for perfomance

dominated clips Rap has lots of “street” images dance routines are common for many

female artist performances

SymbolicUse of lots of symbols to build up meaning eg

graveyard…deathLots of use of montage -lots of images to

create meaning sometimes often contradictoryLighting often used to suggest moodFast paced - often only a few seconds per shot

to build up meaningsPictures can support or contradict the lyrics

Some Other Codes and Conventions

Visually stylish – ‘artistic’ mise-en-scene Cutting related to the rhythm of the music Intercutting between performance and images

or story Experimental use of camera/editing (hand held

camera, distortion of colours) Often break the rules of continuity editing.

Can use lots of jump cutsLots of use of digital effects

Types of Music Videos 1 Performance Clips -Concentrate on stage performance of

bands 2 Conceptual clips Based around a theme or story a) Narrative “mini film” idea i)either simple fantasy

situation with other images inbetween eg artist

ii)Or complex genre ‘story’ eg Michael Jackson’s Thriller

b) Non -narrative often dream like , random thoughts around a loose theme eg lost love, use lots of symbolism