Conventions of Music Videos

Conventions for a music video consists of various technical codes; camera angles/shots, mise-en-scene, cutting to beat, effects, lip sync, camera movements, chrome key (green screen), extending songs meaning, allusion and links to other artists. We use these elements to analyse a music video which in turn helps us to define each videos purpose.

Cutting to Beat;

There are usually two types of cuts, either slow or fast. When a song is upbeat like most R'n'B songs then fast cuts are used to emphasise it's speed while a slow song, often love songs will use many long shots with only a few cuts to emphasise it's dramatic atmosphere. Obviously, if you were to use fast cuts on a slow song then viewers will feel confused, for instance, when at a club, you will not see someone dancing frantically to a slow song or vice versa. In conclusion, this method is used to excite the audiences over their favourite songs whether it be slow or fast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqR7oAvy2Z4 is an example of a song that is aimed to be fast pace but seems to feel confusing because there is no emphasis on the dramatic atmosphere of the song.

Camera Angles/Shots;

Music videos often mainly consist of close-ups and mid-shots of either the performing artist or a location, often showing off the musician’s skills or emphasising a female’s body feature. Like in films, at the beginning of a music video, an establishing shot is evident to give the viewer an idea of where the idea/concept is set in order to get an idea of what the song will be about or in what style it’s presented, whether it’s a dance song, rock song or other.

Mise-en-scene;

Again like in films, music is categorized in various genres. Music videos can consist of multiple themes such as R’n’B love songs which almost always includes a hot woman that the main character is obsessed with. These types of videos usually include an exotic location, giving the viewer a chance to forget about their miserable lives and imagine themselves to have a life like that.

The editor always cuts the music video to how fast or slow the song is. If it’s a slow song, the editor is not going to edit so that it becomes rapid nor will they edit a fast song to a slow edit. Because it genuinely will not fit and the viewer will not get the same excitement from a rock music video if it’s edited like an Adele song.

Effects;

Occasionally special effects are used when a certain idea is out of reach, such as space. The purpose of this method is to excite the viewer with something that they don’t normally have access to, bringing them out of reality and giving them a glimpse of a desirable lifestyle.

Lip Sync;

Within music videos, artists are often lip singing which has become a trait for many. The purpose of this method, particularly with R’n’B and pop singers is that the artist can focus on their performance without having to perfect his/her voice, giving the idea that anyone can become a singer thanks to the present efficient vocal effects which will in turn bring many young people to the industry because they believe that its a great lifestyle and not much is needed to recieve such a lifestyle.

Camera Movements;

There are often pans evident within music videos, following someone or something. One of the main purposes of camera movement is to add a moving effect in which the artist is placed in one position, giving it an exciting atmosphere without having the band or artist to put effort in.

Chrome Key (Green Screen);

Green screens are often used as a cheaper method to introduce an object or location without having to fly to the real location. This method is also used to create locations or objects that are not in existence or are incapable of going to, again, such as space. It gives a surrealistic effect that will capture the viewer’s imagination.

Extending Song’s Meaning;

Music videos extend the meaning of the song through visual images, giving the viewer a greater and easier understanding of what the artist is trying to portray.

Allusion;

Weird Al Yankovic is famous for his method of allusion within his music videos, which parody other artists and include subjects unrelated to the original song. In other words, Weird Al Yankovic brings new information into the song that alludes other artists or a way of life. As well, ‘Bigger Than Us’ by White Lies, alludes the scene in E.T by Steven Spielberg where Eliot is seen beside E.T when the scientists begin to experiment on the alien.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW0yynlDmqQ&ob=av2e (White Lies, Bigger Than Us)

Links to other artists;

Again, Weird Al Yankovic links his parodied songs to other artists or concepts such as Michael Jackson, Star Wars, Amish people and Lady Gaga. He does this because parodies have become likeable to the younger audiences who have certain views on a person or subject which is then put into a comedic way. For instance, a parody was produced of the young R'n'B singer Rebecca Black performing 'Friday', which has since its release rcieved critical reception; becoming the most disliked artist ever. The parody was made for the people who dislike her and her song so that they could have a laugh. Since there are more people that dislike her than there are that like her it is only reasonable to produce a song which makes fun of her style and song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcJjMnHoIBI&feature=fvst (Weird Al Yankovic, Eat It)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzfQwXEqYaI&feature=related (Rebecca Black, Friday Parody)

Techniques of Music Videos

Andrew Goodwin’s theory; Goodwin established the theory of the seven components that would make up a music video which included visuals that would illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics and music; for example, a music video that illustrates the lyrics or music is portrayed by visual images that are in some way helpful to the viewers who struggle otherwise to identify the meaning of the song. Genre characters are often evident to his theory, for example, an R’n’B song often includes dancing, an exotic location and romance. Also, intertextuality is often used to make the viewer feel smart by including a reference to a film or person that they should/do know. Notions of looking is when the main character of the music video’s story comes to some sort of realisation, for instance, in ‘Broken’ by Lifehouse, the main character discovers that he is in the crash (having seen the future) which he then tries to tell his past self. Depending on who the artist is and how favourable he/she is, the record label will push for a lot of close-ups, for instance, the record labels will push for female artists to be exploited more in music videos; consisting of a lot of close-ups, ultimately sexualising the video through the camera shots and movements.

Other theories; in other theories, for instance, Steve Archers has pointed out that there needs to be a strong and logical relationship between the narrative and the performance. For example, in music videos there may be a cut evident from the narrative to the performance by the artist which will have been carefully choreographed. Another theorist, John Stewart, has opted that a music video allows more access to the performer than a stage performance can; the mise-en-scene, in particular, can be used to emphasise a lifestyle.

Styles of Music Videos

·         A narrative based music video centres around a story, which is portrayed through images rather than text so that the viewers could pick up on what the song is meant to be about and how the artist feels about that specific idea. ‘Knights of Cydonia’ performed by Muse, is portrayed via a story which helps the viewer understand the meaning of the song text and what the band wants to accomplish through that. A lot of bands often use narrative based music videos rather than performance based or concept based because a narrative based video is often more efficient, especially when considering a concept or idea that will make the viewer specifically feel something for the idea or character within the video. Another song based on narrative is ‘Broken’ by Lifehouse which centres around a man (lead singer) who discovers that he has crashed his car coming out of the tunnel, killing two other people and his friends that were on the backseat, and then running back into the tunnel to warn himself of the incident. The video is portrayed through non-linear, giving the video a fresh look at the story which the viewers will find upsetting. I find that this is a good method to use because the viewer can walk away with some realisation which will then be passed on to others. In ‘Broken’ the five elements to narrative media forms are the equilibrium that the main character and his friends are in the car, waiting for the traffic to clear, the disequilibrium and recognition is the introduction to the car crash where he realises what has happened; reparation is where he then runs back to the car in hopes of stopping the event and the new equilibrium is he fails to inform his past self and continues driving, leaving the viewers to suspect that the car crash will happen.

·         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Yc3HhSl1Q&feature=related (Muse, Knights of Cydonia)

·         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6cdPeYJh0s (Lifehouse, Broken)

·         A performance based music video includes a performance by the artist, for instance, the rock band Muse performs in almost every one of their music videos. In the music video for ‘Undisclosed Desires’ by Muse, which is set within a recording studio, the band is seen performing behind the scenes; with the camera creating the movement while the performers are seen in the same position throughout the video. In order to make the music video more amusing, the editor has used fast cutting for a greater tempo which subsequently makes the video at the same tempo as the song. There are usually two types of bands or artists that will perform within the music video, the first is rock, as portrayed by Muse above, and the other by R’n’B artists, such as Lady Gaga, who also almost always performs in her music videos. In the music video for ‘Poker Face’ by Lady Gaga, which is set in a surreal location (often used in performance based music videos by R’n’B artists), with the camera creating a lot of the movement while the artist is seen performing at a luxurious house/mansion. In order to make such a music video entertaining, a female artist is often represented sexually, often wearing seductive clothing which subsequently attracts many male viewers as well as female viewers that wish to have her body. Again the video tempo has been raised using fast cutting to reach the same tempo as the song, going slower and going faster when it’s needed. There are also a lot of close-ups and mid-shots of the artist, showing off her good looks which are considered more important than the actual meaning of the song that’s represented through the video.

·         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8OOWcsFj0U&ob=av2n (Muse, Undisclosed Desires)

·         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bESGLojNYSo&ob=av2n (Lady Gaga, Poker Face)

·         A concept based music video almost always includes an idea that the artist wants to inform the viewer, for instance, the rock band Muse have often music videos that people can’t necessarily understand because of its unusual and weird nature. But from their style and the way they perform, people can tell that the band is very political, such a music video can be seen below. ‘Time is Running Out’ by Muse, is an example of a concept based music video where the band perform on a table at which several army related people are sat that gives the audience the idea that the song is about war and specifically the political side of it due to the bands association with the theme. In the concept based videos, the idea is very independent on mise-en-scene and camera angles rather than what actually occurs within the video to get the audience to think about it more without making it too hard to understand. Abstract metaphorical images are used with mild links to the song, getting the audience to create their own interpretations.

·         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2IuJPh6h_A&ob=av2n (Muse, Time is Running Out)

The Purpose of Music Videos

The purpose of music videos is to not only promote the band, but their album, their label and respectively their image, with fans buying into the bands/artist’s style and personality. Firstly, a music video is a type of promotion that can reach far across countries for anyone with a computer or laptop to view through private sites or YouTube. A music label often calculates profits over a 15 year or so period, using promotional advantages such as trailers, music channel’s and website’s which will in turn bring them newer viewers over time. Synergy is used to promote a product through other media products; often music videos will display another product which will benefit the producers because in turn they will receive a lot of money. For example, rappers and R’n’B artist’s often have well-known brand cars appear in their music videos like Lamborghini’s, with the Lamborghini company paying the label and artist to display their product within the video. In addition, the songs displayed within a music video are often cleaner as opposed to a live version. This is because a live version will often contain crowds screaming or a band/artist underplaying their songs. For example, often rock bands will have live versions included on their albums and DVD releases as opposed to R’n’B artist’s that only perform within a studio; this is because rock bands/artist’s tend to give great live performances while R’n’B artist’s often if not always lip sync which gives them a disadvantage. Also, a rock song is more emphasising than a pop song, often being louder while a pop song is relatively quieter.

Introduction

I have been commissioned to develop a blog that shows my understanding of the purpose of music videos as well as the styles, conventions, and techniques of music videos.