RESEARCH: PRESENTATION on MUSIC VIDEO CODES & CONVENTIONS

By Elliot Hogan-KeoghMedia A2

MUSIC VIDEOS Key Codes & Conventions

(Andrew Goodwin 1992 Dancing in the Distraction Factory)

My sources for music videos:Youtube www.youtube.comMUZU www. Muzu.tvMTV www.mtv.com

These are the websites I use most for music video’s because they are simple to use and focus mostly on music videos.

Music videos are products designed to sell albums

Performance based: Jack Johnson – I Got You – focuses mostly around him singing directly into the microphone -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBWFUVq85gs

Narrative based: Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends – focuses on the storyline of a soldier in love going to war. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBWFUVq85gs

Concept based: Red Hot Chili Peppers Can’t Stop]

Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics:Dance routines in girl/boy bands like Chris Browns ‘Turn up the Music’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQWG8BVeryUStage performance, extravagant light shows, outlandish behaviour in metal video like: Slipknot – Psychosocial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wws

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Lyrics and visuals are related:illustrative [The Gorrillaz – Feel Good http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw8PpYBiDsc]

amplifying [Christine Aguilera Beautiful http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAfyFTzZDMM]

contradicting [Wait for Me – Kings of Leon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC8QcaMMVQE]

All 3 of these music video’s show examples of lyrics and visuals connecting in some way, whether its using illustrative, amplifying or contradicting techniques. The Gorrillaz use illustrations to depict a story using lyrics and visuals to relate. Whilst the Kings of Leon use lyrics that contradict what actually happens in the music video.

Music and visuals are related:

Cutting to the beat [You Make Me-Aviici http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GADx4Hy-Gg]

Chorus & repetition [Green Day – American Idiot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee_uujKuJMI]

Vocals with close-ups of singer [Kings of Leon – Sex on Fire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF0HhrwIwp0]

Instrumental with close-ups of performance [Fall out Boy – Dance Dance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6MOKXm8x50]

These are four examples of music and visuals relating in a music video.

The record label needs to sell the artist close-ups of the artist [Lady Gaga - Applause] Close Ups of Lady Gaga show she’s weird and unique immediately interesting people because of her uniqueness.

The artist may have a distinctive visual style [Lady Gaga – The visual style of Lady Gaga is so unique people are interested in her immediately. Although, this visual style isn’t necessarily followed by fans, she continues to show her ‘wackiness’ in videos as that’s what’s attracting people.

Labels use artwork & video imagery to connect video to album [The Gorillaz]

The artwork of the Gorillaz Album – Demon Days gives you an insight as to what you will expect in the music video with two samples above. The sample on the right is the album cover and on the left a printscreen of a music video from this album showing a familiar character in both.

Goodwin identifies ‘notions of looking’Screens within screens, cameras, telescopes [Thank You – MKTO- shows two young teens watching the TV looking into their own future.]

Voyeuristic treatment of the female body [Rihanna – te Amo ] Shows Rihanna in a very sexual

way leaning against a car with not much on.

Camerawork, costume, dance, framing imply sexualized display – Beyonce – Run the World – Beyonce is dancing with a lot of other people but always is in the middle and is wearing next to nothing to sexualise the video.