Generic Conventions of a Music Video- Camera Movement

Camera Movement

Whip pans, fast dolly tracks and overhead crane shots are used to follow the running, walking or dancing of performers. 

This can be very effective in videos that do not have many cuts or no cuts at all for example in the video 1234 by Feist  there are no cuts and the video only relies on the camera movement which makes the video so effective.

Generic Conventions of a Music Video- Make-up

Make-up

Female artists normally use make-up to seem more glamorous, this is to the sell the artist and again attract a wider range of audience. 

Although make-up is generally used by female artists, it can be used by punk or metal male artists to show that their act stands out and that they are individuals.

Generic Conventions of a Music Video- Lighting

Lighting

The lighting plays a huge role in a music video in the fact that it can change the entire effect it has on the audience and the director will make the lighting match the genre and desired feel of the song.

Moreover, lighting is used to enhance the band/artist to make them  and their song better:

• Extreme artificial light to crate the 'bleaching effect' on pop stars faces to make them look ageless.
• Use of switching from colour to black-and-white or another colour to portray the shift in chorus to verse, or the mood of the song or scene.
• Strobe lights or flashing effects are used to indicate a concert or a nightclub. This is so the audience can relate and also represent that the song is a club song.

Generic Conventions of a Music Video- Eye Contact

Eye Contact

Eye contact is used in many genre's of music videos to feature the artist. This is used to make a connection between the artist and the audience, a technique that can be universally used. For example Selena Gomez's song Naturally  in 2009 contains many close-ups of her looking directly at the camera and its from a pop music genre, whereas The Prodigy's song Fire-starter in 1996 is drum and bass and yet also contains eye contact from the artist.

Generic Conventions of a Music Video- Editing

Editing

The pace of editing a music video will normally correlate to the song. For example Ain't No Other Man by Christina Aguilera in 2006 is a song that is fast beat and has a shorter time between the cuts and more cuts whereas The Voice Within by Christina Aquilera in 2002 is a slow song and has no cuts at all!

A general rule is that the cutting is fast, a song with a fast pace will never go more than 5 or 10 seconds without a cut. Fast cuts are used so the audience can view the music video repeatedly, this is because the audience may not see all of the cuts and veiw it back to see what they missed.

Generic Conventions of a Music Video- Costume

Costume

The costume in music videos is normally used to represent the style of the artist and genre of the song, it can also be used to reflect the artists mood or the narrative of the scene.

Pop musicians tend to dress in very flashy clothes, usually made by expensive brands. This is to draw attention to their image and commonly for female artists to make them look more attractive this is so they can attract a wider range of the target audience.

Hip-hop artists also tend to wear clothes with big brands, they wear large fur coats and lots of jewellery, the general intention is to show that they were poor from the bronx and now become wealthy as rappers.

Rock musicians generally dress in plain clothes, this is so the audience can focus mainly on the music instead of their image.

Generic Conventions of a Music Video- Camera Shots

Camera Shots

In any music video, camera sizes are used to adhere to the genre of the song:

• Close-up shots are used to promote the image of the artist and are typically used in pop music videos.
• Also in pop music videos, wide shot is used if they have backing dancers.
• Extreme close-ups are usually of the lead singer lip syncing.
• Mid-shots are used in rock and alternative performance videos to show the band playing instruments and singing.
• Long shots can be also used to show the crowd in a concert type atmosphere.

Introduction

Welcome to my A2 Media Studies music video blog. I will be posting daily log entries detailing my progress and discussing my decision making, brainstorming and the creative processes of my music video.

Throughout my blog I will be researching into products that will be similar to my work, such things as famous music videos, music videos hat have influenced me, music videos of my chosen genre, directors of music videos, the generic convention os music videos and any other product which has influenced my video.

Moreover, I will show research into my chosen group/artist behind my chosen song and show the comparison to my video and the original. I will post a copy of the lyrics, pictures of the artist, interviews from youtube, and link to the artists own website.

Furthermore, I will be creating a digipack which will relate to my music video. I will do some research into digipacks and find other CD covers and booklets that i could use as a comparison. I will also look at posters that advertise the release of other albums and website for other artists/groups.