Conventions of Music Videos

Pop

The main conventions of pop music videos is that they are very upbeat, rather eccentric and tend to revolve around the singer themselves, usually with a sexualised objectification of the women, fitting the 'ideal' body image of women we often see within the media. Although after saying that I would say the same is often done with men in the videos - a lot seems to be just about being sexy.  Everyone is made up and naked/nearly naked. The videos tend to place on exotic, brightly coloured, staged location, usually very obviously a high budget production with expensive costume and locations. Often rather superficial.

 

This video cuts between shots of Ariana Grande singing into the camera, some dancing in the shower and shots of her with a group of girls on gym equipment and sitting on steps. The lighting is an intense blue and orange through out, linking the shots together and creating a strong sense of atmosphere which actually works really well. There is a strong feel of movement through out the video with the shot transitions and the dancing fitting with the beat of the song, the shots slow down and become less busy on quieter parts of the video and sort explode on the chorus, which works well and should be considered for our video. There is little to no narrative.

 

Indie/Rock

 

In the indie rock genre the music video will almost definitely be featuring the band or singer performing/ playing instruments. Often there will be narrative, sometimes the artist will be the actor, for example, Kodaline often features as an actor in his music videos whilst cutting back to live performance. Generally the locations and costume are more low-key and low-budget, often just everyday places and clothes.

 

 

 

This video consists of extreme close-ups and close-ups of the band playing instruments and head shots of Julian singing into the mic. The simplicity of the video is really effective, putting the focus on the music itself more than the band; unlike within a conventional pop video where the video revolves around the singer being all glamorous. The mise en scene and costume are very neutral and simple with low key lighting. Again there is no narrative what so ever for the video.

 

UK Underground Hip Hop

 

Music videos for UK rappers tend to be very varied but generally still follow some of the same conventions, which is why I chose to discuss it. The majority of videos will be centred around the rapper, lip syncing while in different locations. The camera work is often quite creative, with pans, tilts and short shot lengths to match the pace of the song and keep the video interesting. The locations are usually everyday places, often out on the streets, and with mates, a low-key realistic Mise en scene, often in places full of graffiti. Often the videos can be deliberately quite comical, amusing or wacky or they are very simple and atmospheric, generally not with narrative, for example the video below consisting of only a few continuous tracking shots of a guy skate boarding, fitting the chilled out vibes of the song.

 

 

I chose to add this example in as I think that the simplicity and monotonous vibe is really effective and fits really well with the song. The video consists of a few tracking shots following him skateboarding, I think this could be used to symbolise a journey.