Conventions of a Music Video
Mise-en-scene
The mise-en-scene in a music video focuses on the lighting,
the props, the artists and other peoples costumes, hair and make-up as well as
the location that the video is set in. These different factors help to create
the feel of a certain genre depending on the song and artist. The mise-en-scene
is also used to show the importance of certain people in the video.
In most music videos there will be props that are used to
communicate a message to the audience without having to say anything. The props
will likely be linked to the lyrics and songs that use props well are:
An artist who uses costumes to show of her music is Lady Gaga
who wears bizarre outfits which links with the persona that she has created for
herself as a pop artist. This can be seen in these music videos:
The location of a music video can help to decide on a genre,
for a pop song the location will often be areas that the audience would visit,
for example a school or beach.
In rap music the location will often be in areas that are
poorer, such as abandoned buildings, or in areas that show their loneliness.
Some examples are:
The lighting of a music video can be used to show the
audience the genre of the music video based on the style of the video. A brightly
coloured music video can help to draw the audience’s attention, and the
lighting can be from a natural source as well.
Another example of lighting that represents the video is:
The lights in the video are flashing in sync with the beat of
the music video. The lights are mainly computed generated, but due to their
colours they stand out. Apart from the lights the rest of the music videos
setting is darker clouds, which is used to showcase the genre of hip hop/rap.
The camerawork is usually important in the production of a
music video. The camera can create different effects through the use of camera
angles and camera movement. Most music videos will use a variety of different
camera angles, shots and movements in order to make the music video as unique
and memorable as possible.
Camera
Shots:
Establishing Shot – This shows where the artist is based on the location.
(Logic - Super Mario World)
Mid Shot – This shows the artist from his/her waist to head,
the purpose of this shot is to focus on the subject but still including the
location.
(Childish Gambino - 3005)
Close Up – This shot shows the artists face and can also be
used to showcase an object that the artist is holding. The camera will focus on
the subject.
(Adele - Hello)
Extreme Close Up – This shows the artists face extremely
close, the eyes or mouth for example and this can have the affect of showing
the artists feelings and emotions through the close up. The extreme close up can
also be used to show the artist lip syncing with the music.
(Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe)
Over the Shoulder Shot – This is a shot that is used mainly
in a narrative based music video. It is used when the artist is acting in the music
video and is talking to another character. The over the shoulder shots used not
only in music videos, but also in the film and TV industries in order to show
conversation between characters.
(Bastille - Oblivion)
These are the shots that are expected in most music videos.
Camera
Angles:
High Angle – This is where the camera shows the main object
of the shot from above, with the camera angled down. This makes the object of the
shot appear powerless and submissive.
Low Angle – The is where the camera looks up towards the
object of the shot making them seem more powerful or dominant.
(Logic - All I Do)
Birds Eye – This is an angle from directly above and is often
used to have a dramatic effect or to show a different perspective over the
scene. It can enable the audience to see things that the other characters in
the video cannot.
Eye-Level – This is an angle that makes the scene look the
most realistic as it shows the scene as the audience would if they were
present.
(Ariana Grande - Break Free)
Camera angles have a huge part to play in the music video as
they can be used to show the emotion and expressions of the artist involved.
When an artist is singing along to the music there will often be close ups and
the camera will never stay on one type of shot or angle for longer than 3-5
seconds.
Camera
Movement:
The camera will often follow the artist during the video to
see their performance. Many music videos will have a director and the director
will often decide on the camera movements, angles and shots. If the music video
is story based then a more experienced director would take control and use
angles, movement and shots that are common on TV shows and films.
Pans – The camera scans the scene horizontally.
Dolly Shots – The camera is mounted on a track.
Editing:
This happens at the end of the creation of a music video. Many music videos
will add CGI and if the video is filmed on a green screen then the background
would be added in post production. They can also change the filter that the video is filmed on, for example black and white
(Hozier - Take Me To Church)
(Eminem - Rap God)
Sound:
There are two main
forms of sound:
|
Diegetic
|
Non-Diegetic
|
|
Sound that
is present during the filming process
|
Sound that
is edited in during the post-production.
|
The main sound that the audience will hear during a music
video will be the actual song, which is non-diegetic as they artist is
lip-syncing during the filming. An example of diegetic sound is any dialogue
during the video, if the music video has a story element to it.
Conventions of Rap Music
Conventions
of rap videos:
In most rap videos the artist will be featured rapping the
song. They will often do similar gestures with their hands, as seen in many of
Logic’s music videos. It will not only be the artist that will be included in the
music video as they will often have other people dancing along, or in some
cases having other artists to have verses within the song. In ‘Black Spiderman’
by Logic there are around 30 other people in the video excluded the main
artist, the amount of people in the video is usually very high in Logic videos
with his song ‘Super Mario World’ there are over 20 people featuring in the
video. This is because these videos had a higher budget then his previous
songs. For example his song ‘Nasty’ has only him in the entire video which
makes him the main item in the video. This means that the audience will be able
to see the artist throughout the video. Eminem often had Dr Dre feature in his videos due to their partnership. Rap music is based around the artist so they will always have the most screen time.
(Logic - Black Spiderman)
(Eminem - Without Me)
Many other rap artists have similar traits in their videos as
well. For example Childish Gambino has an entire video where it is just him and
a teddy bear on a Ferris wheel and this lets the audience see the artist as a
normal person.
(Childish Gambino - 3005)
The costumes that the artists wear vary in design and colours
however they will often be wearing comfortable clothes that appear to be cheap
in price, which goes with the stereotype that artists are from poorer
backgrounds.
However Eminem often used over the top visuals and costumes in his videos in order for him to stand out.
(Eminem - We Made You)
The editing process in Rap videos is very simplistic and this is to make them seem more personal to the audience and make them seem like normal, everyday people. For example there are no extreme cuts or transitions in his videos.
Rap music will often not have a story line so the only sound coming from the video will be the actual music, however 'Stan' by Eminem had a storyline about a crazy fan who kills himself and his girlfriend, so there was dialogue between the characters.
(Eminem - Stan)
