Using, Developing and Challenging Conventions

of Real Media ProductsJake Williams

Lip Syncing Lip syncing is a very important music

video convention as it is a way of linking the images on the screen to the sound. As shown in the images below we certainly included the lip syncing convention in our video.

Lip syncing shot from The Foo Fighters – The Pretender , compared to a lip syncing shot from my music video

Visualizing Lyrics Visualizing the lyrics was took a huge

importance in our music video. This convention was heavily used in our video as the song describes lots of scenario’s which we felt would be FUN and INTERESTING to try and represent.

Visualizing Lyrics Examples of this convention in practice

would be the wide angle shot of the boys sitting on the bed wearing wigs and appearing to be watching the t.v. This links to the lyrics at that moment which say how the boys are watching the film ‘Legally Blonde’

Visualizing Lyrics In addition to this we had a shot of the boys on

the bed with one combing another guys hair and while the other does the same guys nails. This shot was on the screen while the lyrics say ‘There's nothing gay 'bout doing nails and doing hair’

Band Scene The majority of groups seem to release videos which include

a ‘band scene’ which consists of the groups lip syncing to the song while playing instruments. This convention was necessary in our video as it not only ticked the box for this convention, but it was also used to represent the bands music talent as the members in The Midnight Beast can play real musical instrument, hence the use of guitars.

Editing To the Beat Editing the images to the pace of the

song is a vital convention which we had to incorporate into our video. By editing to the pace of the song it makes the images flow correctly and it helps the song and images go together better. To do this we had to have series of short shots and place them together.

Challenging The Conventions Our music video does also challenge one of the conventions of

music videos. In most music video’s, the boys in the video often chase the girls. This is evident in the music video ‘Glad I Crashed The Wedding’ by Busted.

Here the boy has crashed thewedding and trying to steal the girl, clearly the boy wants the girl

However, in our music video it is the girls who are chasing after the boys by ringing them up all the time, trying to ruin their night for what the guys call a ‘booty call’.

Here the girls are calling the boys because they want the boys , whereas normally it is the boys who want the girls

The artist performing As identified in my previous

slideshow, the artist performing in the music video is a key convention of Music Video’s. However we challenge this convention as instead of having the actually artist, they are played by 3 other individuals, one being myself, which is unlike traditional band video’s

The artist performing This screen shot from the foo fighters

is an example of the convention in action, the band are performing in person in there video

The artist performing However with our video, the three

real members of The Midnight Beasts are being played by actors

The artist performing This links to Coldplay’s Video for

‘paradise’. Their band scene instead of having themselves visible, they are dressed as elephants. In our video, the artists of The Midnight Beast are not in the video, they are being performed by