The General Conventions of Music Videos

By Zara McDermott

The effect of genre on a music video

The music as a whole is the primary factor in the creation of a music video. Different genres have different codes and conventions. Click one of the links below to find out more about a few of the

most popular genres within music.

Rock

Country R&B Pop

Electronic/Dance

There are, however, codes and conventions for music videos in general, and these will be further explored.

MusicThe music is the determining factor in how the video will be shot, edited, how the sets will be designed etc. More often than not, the music will drive the pace of the editing. Music videos are commonly reflective of the song, as mentioned in the previous slide,

and again this depends on both the genre and meaning. Most importantly, however, it is about the sound of the music and how the whole design will incorporate the ideas of a

general listening audience and how it will captivate them. A music video is a visual representation of a song, giving people the chance to connect with the song visually as

well as orally. An example of a music video that I think clearly demonstrates the idea of a climax within the song which is reflected both in the editing and the diversity of shots used is “Neon Lights” by Demi Lovato. Not only does the video personify the meaning

within the song though extensive and advance mise-en-scene (e.g. neon makeup, the set looks as if the ‘neon lights’ on the set are the only thing lighting the studio etc), the video generates a feel of a climax and also a sense of atmosphere. The song starts of with very

little instrumental support and the voice is the main focus, however as the song progresses, more instruments are added and this is reflected clearly in the editing of the

song.

Lyrics are undeniably one of the key components to the song. Singers often manipulate lyrics to correlate with events within their own lives, and it is these lyrics which sets up and establishes the mood and, in turn, what the music video will be about. For example, a song with lyrics about a tragic break-up will have a follow up music video with a much

sadder mood and atmosphere created by subsequent music video conventions. One of my favourite songs is “Paper Hearts” by Tori Kelly, and I think that this is a very good

example of how the depth of meaning and emotion which stems from the lyrics can act as the framework for the music video. The song is about the ending of a long relationship

where the girl singing is responsible for the split, and this song acts as some sort of an apology and verification to her lover that she remembers fondly all of the good times they had together and how she regrets her decision. This music video is different in

many ways, as it reflects the true meaning of the song. This is because the male actor in this video is a lyrical/contemporary dancer, and he figuratively dances the lyrics as the female lead sings them. It acts metaphorically in the sense that it shows how much the male is influenced and affected by the words of the female. Not only are the lyrics the catalyst for each event which happens within the music video (e.g. “pictures I’m living

through for now, trying to remember all the good times”, as this is said, we get a shot of several pictures of the couple who seem to be having fun). Having dancers in music videos is very much a common convention within music videos, however this one is

slightly different due to the fact that because the dancer acts out the lyrics, it makes the audience more so drawn to him than to the actual artist.

Lyrics

CameraworkCamera work is extremely important for a music video when trying to get a certain message across to the

viewers. It is also important in revealing aspects of the location or other characters/dancers within the music video. It is vital that there is a balance of a variety of shots within a music video because otherwise, when edited together, the video would be boring. For example, if too many close-ups were use in a video, the audience would not see the location of the video in as much depth as they probably would like to. On the other hand, if too many long shots were used, the viewer would feel emotionally disconnected from the artist as they would not be able to see the facial expressions of the characters within the video.

A music video which I think is quite creative with its use of camerawork is Ariana Grande’s “The Way”. A lot of mid shots and medium close ups are used aswell as some long shots. This is because the video was filmed in two locations, one in a studio with balloons on the floor and another in an all white studio filled with Polaroid pictures and a blanket on the floor. The idea was to have the artist mime to the camera in the balloon filled studio and the projected video of her and her co-star in the other location would act as the lighting in the studio. This meant that the camera-crew had to restrict the amount of close up shots that they did in the main location because otherwise, the audience would not be able to see the projected view of the other film. The shots are just close enough to see her facial expression but far away enough for the viewer to be able to distinguish what is happening in the projected film. These shots give the song a lot more meaning because they give the impression that the projected film is her memories and thoughts. Another interesting thing done in this video is the shots of the artist being filmed by her co-star aswell as shots taken from the camera her co-star was filming with (point of view shots). This adds a much more personal touch to the video as it shows the intensity of the relationship between the two characters. In addition to this, there are several noddy shots used to give the impression that the Artist is talking to someone behind the camera, which would make sense as her love interest in this video was on set with her therefore she did not need to directly address the audience as much.

EditingThe way in which different shots are composed together in sequential form is called editing. There are several

techniques and methods used in the editing process to give a music video a particular effect. These are a few:

• Cutaways: A brief that interrupts continuous action by briefly inserting another related action. This interruption is usually only momentary. The person or object is not always associated with the original shot. The cutaway is followed by a cutback to the original shot.

• Continuity Editing - The most common type of editing, which aims to create a sense of reality and time moving forward. Also can be called invisible editing as it does not expose or draw attention to the editing process.

• Eye- line Match - A type of edit which cuts from one character to what that character has been looking at. • Flashback - a scene or moment in a film in which the audience is shown an event that happened earlier in

the narrative. • Match cut - A type of editing where the position of one object get in the next cut, but using a different

object. • Parallel Editing - A type of editing in which events in two locations are cut together, in order to imply a

connection between the two sets of events. Cross Cutting-  The editing technique of alternating or interweaving one narrative action with another- usually in different locations or places, thus combining the two: this editing technique usually suggests Parallel action. Often used to dramatically build tension and/or suspense in chase scenes or to compare two different scenes. Also known as inter-cutting or parallel editing.

• Graphic Match - An edit effect in which two different objects of the same shape are dissolved from one into the other.

• Juxtaposition - The placement of two images on either side of an edit to create an effect. The two images are often unrelated.

• Linear Narrative - A style of storytelling in which events happen chronologically. A music video which I think exhibits a lot of editing which is in time to the beat and also a lot of techniques is

“Mmm Yeah” by Austin Mahone and Pitbul. Even though the song is extremely repetitive and the location is the same throughout, the fast-cut montage effect and also the way in which several angles of the same shot are edited together in some points of the video makes it a very aesthetically pleasing and captivating video simply through the editing.

IntertextualityIntertexuality is when media texts reference another media text – this can either be reflected in the

style of the video or done in a humorous way. It can help audiences take further levels of meaning away from a text. An example of this could be when Madonna imitated Marilyn Monroe in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” in her music video for “Material Girl”. Even though there is distinctive differences between the style of a film and a music video, there are also many similarities thanks to the extensive range of media software and hardware that we have available to us nowadays. In short, it is easy to make a music video look similar to that of a film. Intertexuality can also relate to other media being referenced, for example in Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” video she references newspaper headlines, something which the audience can directly relate to. In Robbie Williams- ‘You know me’, the video features the artist being taken to an ‘Alice in wonderland’ style setting with Robbie Williams dressed up as the rabbit from the film (1). This creates intertextuality between the film and his music video. Katy Perry’s ‘Last Friday night’ video includes intertextual references with there being credits in the start and end of the video and out takes. Creating a film like effect. The characters are all wearing clothes that were typically worn in the 80’s. The artist looks on a social networking site called ‘Friendplace’ this is acting as a ‘Facebook’ in the video (2).

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ExhibitionismExhibitionism is used to attract a predominantly male audience. Nowadays, in almost every popular

music video there is some type of exhibitionism. Girls are most often wearing skimpy outfits which show off their bodies and sometime this is the same for men. Sigmund Freud established this as “settling an inner most desire for sexual pleasure through the observation of others. The person doing the sexual action is unaware of the viewer”. Men tend to be much more open about their sexuality than women, therefore men are often the target audience of these music videos. A clear example of exhibitionism in terms of women is Duke Dumont’s “I Got You”. Here, we see women as being both desirable yet a sexual object. The ratio of males to females in this video is probably around 1:20, revealing that in order to be happy and in a paradise (as this video suggests), a man needs to be surrounded by lots of women on a beach. This, we know, is not the case.