MUSIC VIDEO CONVENTIONS.

Harriet Bibby.

INTRODUCTION - Music video conventions generally tend to differ depending on the genre of that video. However, within most music videos we can see generic conventions across all genres. Within this presentation I will study and analyse the different conventions within music videos and their variation within different genres.

PERFORMANCE/NARRATIVE/CONCEPT - Every music video generally contains on of the above.

Performance - Music videos will often involve a performance (through choreography, acting etc.) throughout or during the song – this adds to the entertainment value and can be found in most music videos. For example, Elvis Presley’s ‘Jailhouse Rock’ includes performance value within setting (mise en scene in general), acting and dance/choreography.

Narrative – Not all music videos contain a narrative, however, they are very common within most videos. Having a narrative generally makes a music video much more enjoyable to watch as they create an obvious meaning, often using an illustrative or amplification method. Using a narrative doesn’t typically apply to specific genres, meaning that no music video can challenge the stereotypical conventions of their genre by including or excluding a narrative in their piece. However, music videos can challenge the stereotype of a narrative itself, by using a disjunctive non linear method. For example, ‘Lean on’ by Major Laser has a disjunctive music video with no real narrative. This can be seen to meet the stereotype of dance pop music as this genre tends to try and be more eccentric with both their sound and visual techniques.

Concept – Songs tend to be much more memorable if they include an individual and unique concept within their music video. Again, this isn’t typical of any particular genres. However, some tend to be more adventurous that others as they try to match the unique sound of the music to their visuals. For example ‘Fancy’ by Iggy Azalea has an unique concept as they recreate the film ‘Clueless’. This gives the video an even larger potential audience as they initially target fans of the film, before anything else. This concept also makes the music video more memorable as it is a brand new idea.

INTRO AND OUTRO -

Some music videos tend to create an introduction to their video and finish with an outro. These aren’t specific to any particular genres, however, they are more often found in music videos that hold a linear narrative. An example of this would be Taylor Swift’s ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’. Within the music video this song has a long introduction which is emotional and holds a lot of the key elements of the song’s narrative. These prolonged, emotional introductions can often be found within songs in the pop/indie genre along with an outro (which can also be seen in this Taylor Swift video) as they introduce and round off the storyline of the video.

However, within Bruno Mars’ ‘Grenade’ the video challenges the stereotypical convention of having an intro or outro in the pop genre. This video jumps straight into the action as the song begins however, still maintains a functional narrative that makes sense to the audience.

PROMOTING THE ARTIST -

Within almost every music video, the artist will be featured at some point within the video – often promoting them in a positive light in order to ‘sell’ their sound, not only for one particular song, but in all future work they produce. For example in Olly Murs’ ‘Wrapped Up’, he is centrally framed throughout the majority of the video. This, as well as the choreography and mise en scene, promotes Olly as a well rounded, idolised, respected artist.

Conversely, within ‘Lit’ by Wiz Khalifa, the artist is presented in a negative light, meaning that although he is included in the majority of the video (often being centrally framed), he is not promoting himself well for the future due to drug abuse, gambling and alcoholism. However, the negative connotations created due to the use of drugs can be seen to be

suited to the stereotype of the rap genre.

CHOREOGRAPHY - Choreography will tend to be used in all music videos as even if the people involved aren’t actually dancing, they will still be choreographed within their movements and positions on set. This is a key element and a common convention in any music video as the choreography can set the pace and can often fit to the lyrics and rhythm of the song. One music video that uses dancing as a key element of their choreography is S club 7’s ‘Don’t Stop Moving’. This fits the stereotype for the party pop genre by including lots of in sync dancing as a large group.

Other music videos can have no dancing involved, however, still use clearly choreographed movement. For example Coldplay’s ‘The Scientist’ uses no dance moves, however, it is clear that the movements used within the video were thought through, planned and choreographed. This is typical of the indie genre as they stereotypically don’t contain specific dance moves, but have clearly choreographed movements in order to accentuate the narrative and lyrics.

Some music videos use both naturalistic choreography and dance in an aim to create a realistic video with a performance value added to it. An example of this would be ‘Bad’ by Michael Jackson as they create neatly choreographed movement that matches/explains the narrative of the piece, but also includes the group dancing in sync to one another – adding to the entertainment of the video and also upholding Michael Jackson’s iconic dancing reputation.

EDITING How this illustrates the genre.

SLOW MOTION -

Slow motion is commonly used in many music videos, whether it be a long take or in short, snappy cross cuts. However, this editing technique is more commonly found in slow ballads or emotional songs as it generally connotes sadness and misery.

For example, within ‘Gone’ by Nsync, the slow motion technique has been used to differ from past to present. Within the present, he is wearing black clothes (creating negative connotations), using a minimalistic set (signifying that his life is empty) and is in normal paced time. On the other hand, when the protagonist of the video looks to the past with the girl, he is wearing white (connoting purity and hope), with a big smile on his face, the set is filled with things (implying that his life was then full) and appears very homely and a slow motion edit has been used. This mixture of mise en scene and editing enforces the lyrics and accentuates his unhappiness without the woman from his past.

However, not all music videos use slow motion to represent something that has been lost. For example during the cross cuts in the introductory section of ‘Uptown Funk’ by Mark Ronson, slow motion is used in an attempt to make the visuals of the video more interesting to watch. This technique is suited to the hybrid genre of funk, disco and pop in this song as it adds another editing technique on top of the range of technical elements and camera angles within the video.

CUTS AND FADES -

Cuts and fades are not specific to any particular genre and are commonly used within most music videos.

For example ‘All of the Lights’ by Kanye West featuring Rhianna uses many fast paced cross cuts and rarely focuses on one shot for more than five seconds. This is typical of the rap/pop genre and therefore meets the stereotype for this particular artist and song.

However, in a different rap song, ‘Goin’ Crazy’ by dizzy rascal, featuring Robbie Williams, they have challenged the stereotypical music video conventions for their (rap) genre. They decided to film the entirety of this video in one take, one shot instead of using many fast paced cuts. This challenging of the typical conventions for this genre gives the video a unique selling point and individuality.

PACE, TRANSITIONS AND LYRICS -

The conventional pace of a song does widely rely on what genre the song is. For example, ballads are generally slower (e.g. Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’) , raps are generally faster (e.g. Nicki Minaj’s ‘Superbass’) and pop music can range but often has a steady beat (e.g. Megan Trainer’s ‘All About That Bass’).

Therefore, the genre of songs can also effect the transitions due to the pace of the song itself and the editing. ‘Rolling in the Deep’ generally uses slow paced cross cuts and fading transitions. This is typical of a ballad as music videos within this genre do tend to have a slower pace and therefore fading, slow paced transitions. However, this song also challenges the conventions of the ballad genre as they tend to use an illustrative method, whereas in this video, amplification is used as they have developed the video from the lyrics.

‘Superbass’ contrasts greatly to this as they have used many fast paced edits and transitions due to the pace and lyrics of the song, meeting the conventions in the rap genre.

‘All About That Bass’ meets the conventions of its pop genre in many ways. The costumes are loud and bright, there is neatly choreographed dancing and it features the artist (often being centrally framed) all the way through. This meeting of conventions doesn’t change with the pace of edits and transitions as they are often fast paced, however, the transitions and cross cuts are not constant but there are an appropriate amount – this is typical of the pop genre.

MISE EN SCENE How this illustrates the genre.

COSTUME -

Different genres tend to have specific types of clothing. For example in the Rock genre, artists tend to wear dark colours, leather bands and tend to have long hair. This is s stereotypical convention within the rock genre as the artists try to present themselves as grungy, scary Goths.

However, ACDC’s costumes tend to challenge this stereotypical convention of the Rock genre as they generally wear brighter clothing and the lead singer’s iconic costume was similar to a schoolboy suit.

Other genres also have stereotypical costuming that the artists wear in their music videos. For example:

In pop videos, people generally wear bright, loud clothing – this accentuates the fun sound that pop artists tend to create. For example, Katy Perry’s ‘TGIF’.

Within rap videos, the stereotypical costuming tends to apply to the artists gender. If the artist is female, she will generally wear tight fitted, limited clothing. (for example Iggy Azalea in ‘Work’). However, men in rap videos stereotypically wear hoodies, hats/snapbacks and jewellery such as gold chains and rings. For example

LIGHTING -

Lighting variation is also heavily dependant on the genre the song is in. pop music generally uses high key lighting in an attempt to make the video seem ‘happier’ and therefore more enjoyable to watch. We can see this in Katy Perry’s ‘This Is How We Do’.

However, some music videos use a range of different lighting techniques. For example Miley Cyrus’ ‘We Can’t Stop’, meets the stereotype of inventive lighting/mise en scene of the genre pop: dance as they have used high key lighting, low key lighting, spotlighting and projection lighting. These fit the conventions of this genre as pop/dance artists tend to try and be original and eccentric.

Music videos that often uses low key lighting are often in the punk rock genre, for example, ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ by Greenday. The lighting used matched the slow paced, dismal narrative.

ACTORS -

Music videos which create narratives often choose to include particular actors. For example, within ‘Lego House’ and ‘I Really Like You’ the artists have chosen to include big name actors. These make the music videos more realistic as audiences are used to suspending their disbelief in these actors (as they also tend to be very realistic and believable – much like in ‘I Really Like You’, Tom Hanks is a very believable actor, especially in this genre, creating a comical character who most audiences enjoy watching). This technique is not used in every music video, generally in pop. Using big name actors also gives the music video more of a unique concept and begins to sell the music video to not only fans of the artists, but fans of the actors too. For example, in ‘Lego House’ fans of Rupert Grint may be more likely to watch the music video and/or listen to the song.

MAKE – UP -

Make up is fairly non-conventional, meaning that there is never a specific type of make up worn in any specific video. However, there tends to be some variation between different genres, meaning that some artists stereotypically use certain make up to uphold personas in their music genres. A good example of this would be the band ‘Kiss’. In many of their rock music videos, including ‘Detroit Rock City’, they wear heavy make up in order to accentuate their ‘Rock’ identities. This is stereotypical within the rock genre as many artists attempt to pull off a mysterious, harsh look.

This differs from lighter make up, conventionally used in the pop genre. For example, in Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’, she is wearing a brighter, more colourful selection of make up which fits with the lively sound of the song.

SETTING - There is no stereotypical, conventional setting for every music video. Although this is the case, you can find similarities in setting within genres.

Within the genre ‘Reggae’, videos tend to be shot within the street, at a party or in a social area. For example, in UB40’s ‘Red Red Wine’, the setting is stereotypical of a reggae song as lots of the video is shot at a party, with many people socialising.

This contrasts to pop songs, many of which are set in rural areas. For example, Rhianna’s ‘Only girl (In the World)’, it is mainly set in a field, so the full focus is on the main artist.

Within the ‘Rock’ genre, music videos are generally set in more hidden, dark places that connote danger, however, can also be set on stage – when artists use live performances with edits to create a music video. For example within ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ by Guns N’ Roses we see them on stage performing, however the video has been edited into a promotional music video.

CAMERA How this illustrates the genre.

RANGING ANGLES - Almost every music video will contain a selection of camera angles. These make the videos much more visually interesting and more enjoyable to watch. The genres that tend to hold more camera angles are generally raps or other fast paced music such as ‘The Night Is Still Young’ by Nicki Minaj. On the other hand, slower paced, balled styled music tend to contain more constant camera angles. An example of this would be Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ – as the artist is often centrally famed in a close up/mid shot.

CLOSE UPS, MID SHOTS AND LONG SHOTS - The majority of music videos will involve these three camera angles as they are key to creating variation in what the audience can see. These shots often focus on either the main actor in the video or the artist (who tends to be centrally famed). These techniques can be seen across many genres. For example, in Pharell Williams’ ‘Happy’ (a pop/funk song made in 2014) the main artist is often centrally framed, as well as in Duke Elligton’s ‘Take the A Train’ (a jazz song, released in 1930) featuring some of the main artists in a centre, mid long shot, adhering to the conventions of many music videos.

THANK YOU! Harriet Bibby.