Conventions

Conventions Of Music Videos

For part of my research into making a music video I looked at the different conventions that are expected to be seen in music videos, to get some sort of an idea of what the audience would expect to see in a music video and what makes it effective.

Mise-en-scene:  this includes the location of the music video for example in a hip hop music video you would expect the location to be somewhere abroad, by a pool with loads of girls in bikini's. The location depends on the genre of the music video.

Costume: costume used in music videos are quite important as they are used to reflect the mood and emotion of the song. The costumes depends on the genre of the music video. Costume is an important feature in a music video because its audience will copy and conform to what the artist is wearing and will be seen as a role model.

Make up and hair styles: the make up and hair styles used in a music video also depends entirely on the genre of the music video. For example, in a heavy metal music video the artist is likely to have dark black make up and coloured spiked up hair.

Lighting: the intensity, direction, and quality of lighting can influence the audience’s understanding of the themes and mood of the music video.

Props: props play vital role in aiding the scene in music video, they can be used to create significance on a particular object or people. However, not all music videos will include props. For example in a indie/folk music video an acoustic guitar might be a prop that they use.

Camera Shots: music videos include a variety of different shots. These may include long shots, close ups and mid shots. These shots are used to emphasis the artist, the location of the video or the emotion that the song it portraying. For example, in a rock music video a close up shot is most likely to be used to show the artist playing his guitar.

Camera movement: the movement of the camera is used to follow the trace the artist or the band. Camera movements include mostly panning and tracking camera movements.

Editing: jump cuts is the predominant editing technique used in a music video. This is because it shows a sudden change from one scene to another. Two other transitions used in music videos are dissolve and fade as they create a variety of different effect to cuts. For example in a hip hop video it could include a jump cut to show a change in scenes from a pool party to the night time when they are in a night club.