Conventions within music videos

Beyoncé – “7/11” – pop music videoVoyeurism – this shot focuses what the viewer is seeing on the other woman as Beyoncé is rolling dice on her while she is wearing little clothing. This is done quite ironically because if a man did this to a woman it would probably be seen as objective and outrageous but because it’s a woman doing it

to a woman it’s seen as humorous, because they’re pretty much making fun of female objectification; which is quite a big convention in contemporary pop music videos.

Glamourous/pop star life – this shows her wearing a lot of expensive-looking jewellery and designer clothing, and from the rest of the video we see she seems to be in a big fancy hotel having fun and drinks. This is another main convention in pop music videos – showing the audience their glamourous high lives and

portraying this through the way they act, how they dress, who they’re with and where the actual music video is filmed.

Destroyed environments are another pop music video convention; however, it’s used very differently in this example. Usually, the destroyed environment is an actual outdoors sort of location that is showing the artists to be rebellious or edgy, whereas in

Beyoncé’s video she has a messy hotel room which is used to portray that although she is extremely famous and living this glamorous lifestyle: she is normal like everyone else. But, because of her brand identity this destroyed environment is seemingly quite trendy and cool.

Taylor Swift –“Bad Blood” – pop music videoIntertextuality – this shot shows two of the women racing on bikes that are very similar to those of the “Tron” franchise which connotes masculinity. This could be interpreted in two different lights; one interpretation could be that it is empowering the two women because it is showing them to be controlling these large powerful bikes with ease, however in contrast

it could also be representing the women to be sex objects because they are wearing skin tight leather costumes and in some respects portraying the ultimate male

fantasy.Urban locations - this shot shows that the video is set in an urban location which often has connotations to strong business men controlling the city, which again can be seen in a way that it could be empowering the women in the video by showing that they are up there with the men, however from that it

could also be implying that to be powerful the women have to be masculine and be in a man’s world to have the same power the men have.

Destroyed Environments - in this shot you can see that the city is being blown up behind the women which could imply that the women are destroying the man’s world and taking over, however the fact that the women look so small in comparison to the guns they are holding could imply

Singing while acting – this shot shows Taylor singing whilst acting in the music video, which is a very common convention in contemporary music videos – especially in pop videos.

Fifth Harmony – “Boss” – Pop music video

Self-appreciation – because fifth harmony is a girl group they are all about girl power and self-empowerment and also the song is about being a boss so they include a couple of slogans like this in the music video. However contrasting with this idea, generally when people think of a boss they think of a business man in a suit etc. which

could be implying that in order for women to have any sort of power or authority they would have to think and act like a man.Voyeurism – this is a huge convention in contemporary music videos, the camera or lighting is placed in a certain way to focus the viewer on something on the screen, for example the light is hitting certain parts if this woman’s body which draws the viewer to look at it.

Glamour/ pop start lifestyle – this shows the group looking very glamourous but in more of a 19th century, lady-like aesthetic which contrasts the way the girls are dressed/acting in other parts.