CONVENTIONS OF THE MUSIC GENRE

CHELSEA SPENCER ADVANCED PRODUCTION

CAMERA TECHNIQUES

• Music videos tend to have a range of shots; from close ups, to mid shots, to long shots.

• Close ups convey emotion of the artist and help to establish a link with the audience.

• Mid shots contain the artist in their surroundings.

• Long shots show the artist in their greater surroundings, possibly to create a sense of realism.

Mid shot Close up

Long shot

CAMERA TECHNIQUES

• A variety of camera movements are used in music videos; tracking, tilts, pans, zoom, reverse zoom and crane shots are particularly frequent.

• Tracking, tilts and pans follow the artist or the acting agent in the video.

• Zooms and reverse zooms attracts the attention of the audience on a specific focal point in the video.

• Crane shots are used to show the artist in their surroundings.

NARRATIVE • Most pop videos have a narrative structure in order to develop a story line. These can be moral or emotional and they generally

focus around a theme.

A “geeky” girl is in love with the popular boy next door

In order to get him she must complete a transformation

She changes from a “geek” into a prettier girl

The boy notices her and falls in love with her too

In the end she achieves her goal and lives happily ever after

PERFORMANCE• Some videos have a strong performance element in them. This can include dance, singing and

instrumental visuals.

Artists who can play instruments like to display these skills, often giving them a USP.

Dance can be used to make the video exciting and visually appealing

Singing focuses on the artist entirely and conveys some of the emotional meaning behind the song

MONTAGE• A montage is where there is little or no structure to a video. So the images are more than often stylistic and

rely on editing to bring the video together.

Some editing techniques are:• Iconography• Graphic match• Cross cuttingCutting from one scene to

another livens up the video

By having a visual of a lyric in the song it makes the song more memorable. Like in Nelly’s ‘Hey Porsche’

COSTUME

• Costume is really important as it helps the artist to either take on a certain role, reflect the message of the music video or to create their separate identity.

This is Kylie’s costume for the music video ‘Hand on your heart’ She has a heart on the dress reflecting the lyrics.

This is Madonna’s costume for her music video ‘Vogue’. It is fashionable and risqué emulating the fashion world

Although Madonna has a phone on her head and the song is called ‘telephone’ it is still incredibly outrageous and gives her a USP