CONVENTIONS OF JAZZ/FOLK/ACOUSTIC

By Erica Hall

Introduction

The song in which Chloe and I have chosen has many different genres of music; Jazz, Folk and acoustic. In order to know what to include in our music video I am doing some research into the three different genres to find out about the conventions of each genre. This will make it easier when coming up with our ideas for our music video as will know what to include. Also in the opposite terms we might be able to challenge some of the conventions and make it our own interpretation.

Music Video

There are many different aspect to a music video that have to be considered in any music video and they are: Mise en scen – which includes props, costume, location

and facial expressions. Camera work – the camera can have a big explanation

on the meaning of the video and this is shown through the movement, the different angles that are used, for example Close up to portray emotions in the persons.

Editing techniques-editing effects can have an impact on how the audience interrupt the music video for explain the editing could show moods and emotions.

Conventions of Acoustic – Music Video

Acoustic songs tend to be involve a lot of emotions throughout and this is done through the words in the lyrics and what we see in the video. There will be lots of shots of throughout of the artist singing whilst playing

an instrument in which they will have expressive facial reactions which will to promote the whole emotion in which the artist is trying to get across to the audience

Slow pace movement – This is so the audience is able to everything in good detail which helps to create a deeper emotion and so they not distracted by anything fast.

Editing- There is usually editing throughout this could be to make it black and white and more old fashion as I have seen this in a lot of music videos of this genre. It helps to the whole environment of the music video.

Location- The setting is usually isolated as the artist it trying to express their own emotions and a busy environment wouldn’t help for this to happen. Sometimes they will consider a location in which it remind them of a person in which they would be able to express their feeling even deeper.

Acoustic artist like to base their whole song on a person (friend, love, family etc) in a positive or negative way and show their feelings through the song they sing

Examples Of Acoustic Artist

This is Owl city start of his video of fireflies and he has already used a convention's of having the artist playing a instrument and in a isolated area of a room. This tells the audience that his song will be personal to him as of the setting that he has chosen it seems to be what he like and where he chills.

The use of editing in Jason Mraz “I wont give up” is very effective. As we can see on the screenshot there is a transparent image of a eye which alreay evokes several emotions and thoughts. For example it to me it shows passionate eyes which means that the artist is keen.

Conventions of a Jazz – Music Video

Jazz music videos tend to contain quite a upbeat emotions which makes the audience smile. Bright Lights- By having bright light through a video it

makes it stand out to the audience and creates a happy mood from both the artist and the audience

The performance space is usually quite large and in many different locations through out the video. This is to emphasises the energy with in the song and the video.

The costumes are very sophisticated and men are usually dressed in suits and women are in dress- this reflect more of the older years.

Old fashion location- A lot of jazz songs are set on streets, shops and run down places. This is to lighten the mood if they are run down and to build by the vibe to the whole song and music video.

They usually included a lot of old fashion/ old school vibes in which in a lot is the microphone that they use.

Examples of Jazz Artist

This is Eliza Doolittle “ Big when I was Little” and her song is set in many different locations but the record shop is one this she uses. It add to the old fashion/ old school style. Also there is a good use of bright colours to make to mood very positive. One thing in which Eliza Doolittle has done is she has challenged the costumes and made it her own style which really reflects her own personality which is good to see in the audiences point of view.

This is Gabriella Cilmi “ sweet about me” she has included the old fashion vibe especially the microphone and the use of colours she has used. They are all different shades of brown which I think helps to make it look more older. By having the older microphone it shows that the genre is going to either be acoustic or jazz

Conventions of Folk – Music VideosFolk music tend to have an older target audience due to the style in which they do things. Dark shadows – this is to presented the feeling of what the artist is

trying to say and show emotions to the song and artist Heaving light- this is usually to put the artist in a spot light and

bring all the attention towards them and also to emphasis the shadows around the area

Exaggerated music playing – this evokes the audience more and makes them feel more involved as the artist is getting into their role which makes the emotion more believable

Close-ups on artist and instrument- this will be to show how emotionally the artist is and promote the meaning of the song in more depth.

Editing – They tend to use a lot of black and white in the videos to try and make the whole environment to the song more daunting and eerie from the shadows that are used.

Examples of Folk Artists

This is Mumford and sons “lilttle lion man” and in the screen shot we can see that they have used the convention of shadows and heaving light quite well. One of the band members is really emphasised and stands out to the audiences in this shot and really portrays the emotions as it is quite a dramatic shot.

Conclusion

From my research on the three convention's in which our song consists of it has give me a more open mind of what we could include with in our music video. I think it would be good to include some aspects from each genre and challenge some to make it more our own and not the same as other music videos. As it has three different genres it means we are able to include lots of effects in our video to help show the emotions in the song but also making it a good performance.