The Codes And Conventions Of A Music Video

Lydia McCarthy

Narrative

The majority of successful music videos include some sort of narrative throughout the video, this is most likely used as a way to engage the audience as they will seem the progression or digression of a character or situation and therefore the audience will be more likely to continue watching the video. This is essential for all artists to maintain or create a brand in order to sell videos, in short this means that artists are judged by their videos as opposed to their actual music. This is particularly predominant within the modern music industry as artists use their videos and singles to advertise their concerts. For example, it can be said that in the Taylor Swift music video for her single ‘you belong with me’ as we see a story progressing throughout the video as we see a relationship progress and her character change and develop. This video has gained her over 400,000,000 views. The narrative does not always literally follow the lyrics of the video but a general theme or tone, its also usually fragmented or it may pose a question

‘You Belong With Me’ Video Narrative

Editing

It is essential that the editing of a music video is seamless but it does not have to be natural or continuous, it usually fits the pace/beat of the music but sometimes artists purposely go against the conventions as to fit their brand or create a shocking videos. This skill usually occurs in techno or heavily produced tracks to fit that futuristic feel and therefore seem modern and appealing to a teenage target audience. The editing can alter how realistic or unrealistic a video is, it therefore has a big part in the overall finality of the video and is essential it fits the correct genre or tone of the video. For example, the video for the song ‘Earthquake’ by Labyrinth used fast paced and quirky editing to fit the genre and videos general appeal

‘Earthquake’ Music Video Editing

Camera Movements And Framing

Stereotypically there are a number of shots that are regally used in music videos: >Extreme Close Ups: as it ensures that the main star/artist is

shown regally and reminds the audience of the artists trademark. Wide shots: these are usually used as a way for the producers to

show unusual or vast landscapes, theses are all aspects that occur regally within a video to give it a high quality and edgy feel.

Titled angles: to fit the movement of the performer or dancers as the video will appear to be disorientated and therefore fit the style of normal and modern music videos (*especially if someone is depicted to be drunk or on drugs)

Point of view shot: the idea that the artists is viewing something and the audience is getting their opinion is often used as music videos are often flash and over the top, therefore this makes the audience feel distance and inferior to the artists and therefore makes the artist more prestigious and popular.

Low angle shots: to reinforce the artists superiority Tracking shot: to fit with the movement and dance routines often

incorporated in dance videos.

Cinematography; ‘cant feel my face’ music video

1. Close Up 2. Point Of View Shot

3. Low Angle Shot

4. Tracking Shot

Mise En Scene

Usually all artists have a branding that means that Mise En Scene becomes one of the most important factors of a music video. For example, the outfits of the artists, especially female artists, become popular or infamous and therefore carry their perceived image throughout the rest of their career. Also factors such as props or lighting can make a huge difference in the tone or significance of the video. For example, the popular female artist ‘Miley Cyrus’ used the notorious skimpy white outfit in her music video as a way for showing her transition from subtle Disney star to modern risky artist