The conventions I learnt about real music video conventions

and how I applied it to my Music video

In order to assess whether my media product uses, develops or challenges forms
and convention of real music videos, I had to do some research on music videos.
Through my analysis of real music videos I was able to create my music video as
I knew the conventions of music videos.
Real music videos tend to use a variety of Camera shots. Many of them include
close up shots to draw attention on the artist and their emotions as well as long
shots and mid shots to capture the setting. Shots that are close up really give the
audience a sense of emotion and create the atmosphere of the narrative the
music video is trying to present. Close ups are also used to get the lip-syncing of
the artists. My music video conforms to this convention as I used long shots to
establish the locations that I used. For example there was a long shot to establish
the setting of the kitchen during the flashback. Additionally, there is a mid-shot
of the couple at Alexandra palace looking at the view. I used close ups shots of
the artist to show her jubilant emotions during the sense where she is
reminiscing on the past which contrasts with the longer shots in the performance
scene which demonstrates her body language as emotional and passionate. The
camera movement within music videos usual include a tracking or panning shot
of the artist. I incorporated this convention within my music video as there is a
panning shot of the couple watching the view as well as a tracking shot of them
ice skating. To create the home video effect for the flash back scenes, I used a
hand held camera but for the rest a steady camera made the images clear and
real like.

The arrangement of the mise-en-scene is also an important convention of real

music video. The mise-en-scene refers to the arrangement of props, performers,
lighting and setting within the frame. This is important for the production of
music videos as the mise-en-scene, as well as the songs narrative, conveys
meaning. Important props in the scene could change the way the audience view
the activities that occur within the frame. I made effective use of props in my
music video as it made the narrative look real. For example by using kitchen
utensils and actual food in my music video I was able to create a sense of realism
within the music video. If the audience feel a sense of realism, they will feel like
they can relate to it more and perhaps they might aims to be like the artist. If
they believe the scenes are real they would aim for the lifestyle of the artist. This

will attract them into purchasing products such as merchandise or albums.

Furthermore, the arrangement of performers is important within music videos.
Performers must practise or be brief on what they have to do. By having
performers organised, it make the music video flow and look natural and makes
the narrative clear. In some music video it involves dance numbers which
requires everyone to know where they are so it does not disturb the equilibrium
of the mise-en-scene as a whole. It also makes the whole production look clean
and organised. If performers do not know where they are they will make the shot
look odd or unreal. In my music video, I made sure performers were briefed of
the narrative, the song, and the set up of location and props before the date.
Unfortunately, I could not have several rehearsals before the day of the shot,
however we did have several run thoughts before we started shooting and took
several takes in order to make sure the performers where doing the right thing.
As well as this, in the scenes such as the performance scene because of the
complexity of the lighting, it was important that the placement t of the artist,
Diana, was rehearsed and done well or the whole scene would look off. However,
at some points of the music video I had no control of the performers for example
the ice skating scene as it was a public place and therefore people could walk in
and out of the shot if they please. Lighting is also a key convention in music
videos, bright lighting creates an idyllic atmosphere where as darker colours
makes the music seem more sinister or melancholy . The lighting usually
matches the tone of the music video and the lyrics. In the performance scenes I
manipulated the lighting a lot in order to put the artist in an enhanced look. Also
my using artificial lighting, I was able to focus the attention on the artist. This is
something record labels do to single out artists from the rest of the performers or
actors. Moreover, the contrast between the darkness and the light demonstrated
the sadness and emotion of her performance. In the flash back scenes I used
natural ambient lighting to give a natural look and create an idyllic atmosphere.
The sounds in music videos are very clear. There is a track over playing the
visuals in most cases as it would sound off and unprofessional if the sound used
during the shooting was the music played during the whole music video. At times
there are both non digetic and digetic sounds especially if the video has a
narrative which includes dialog. In my music video, there is no dialog or sounds
other than the backing track. This is usual in most music videos.
From my research, I discovered that most music videos follow three main
categories. The narrative based, performance based or concept based music
videos. I incorporated two of the three categories within my music video by
having my music video both narrative and performance. My music conformed to
the conventions of narrative based music videos as the visuals conveyed a story.
Like real music videos, I shooting scenes that insinuate a story of love through
the use of flash backs. I made it evident that the sense where flash backs of a
couple through using sepia filter which suggested that the footage was shot a
long time ago. This use of a sepia filter to suggest nostalgia and a look into the
past is evident in the music video of Hello by Adele. Through looking as music
video such as hello which reflects on the past, I noticed that this filter as well as
a black and white filter is commonly used in scenes like this. The natural lighting

is used to create a dreamy flash back atmosphere which I incorporated within my

music video.

From my research and audience feedback, I concluded that narrative based

music videos are engaging for the audience as it gives them a wider
understanding of the lyrics. Visuals to songs help aid the audience understanding
of what genre the music will be about. In real music videos, the narrative aspect
of music videos usually interlink with the lyrics. My music video conformed to this
convention of having the visuals of the narrative interlink with the lyrics. The
song what is love talks about a fleeting love that is unclear and deteriorating. I
tried to emulate the lyrics of the song through setting. Like most music videos
about love, the couple were in romantic settings. I got the idea of going to
alexander palace ice ring from a love song called Romantic by Tiwa savage and
Korede Bello. The couple in the visuals of the song go to romantic setting to
emulate the songs meaning of love.

As well as this, the lyrics suggested that the male partner within the relationship
caused the break up and I made the message of the lyrics apparent by including
a scene where they argue. To portray this, I made the visuals in the music video
link directly to the lyrics and certain points of the music video. For instance when
the song says what goes around will come right back around you wont know till
it hit you the artist actually hits her male companion.

The second category of music video I used is performance. From my research, I

realised that it is important to have performance from the artist within the music
video is as it gives a clear indication of who the artist is and presents the artists
persona a bit better. I wanted my performance to be emotional as the song is an
emotional song. i did this by having a contrast in the lighting so that the focus
would be on the artist. This idea of contrasting lighting to make the emotions of
the artist more evident is used in the music video of Beyoncs listen. Like in
my music video, she uses the contrast of darkness and a spotlight to highlight
emotion in her performance.

The performance scenes worked really well as the artist was able to show
emotions and was great at lip-syncing to the music which made it feel real.
However, I feel that I could have made the message of romance and love much
clearer by perhaps using more narrative scenes than performance. The
performance scenes over took the narrative I was trying to explore and perhaps
it may not have been clear that the couple are no longer together. However, like
other performance based music videos, sometimes the performance carries a
deeper message than the narrative scenes itself. Having performance within the
music video helped me show the emotions of the artist. For example in the
actual music video for what is love~, the whole music video is a performance
from V.boseman. It works well because we as the audience are able to
understand the narrative well through the emotions she conveys.

As well as this, by having the performance of the artist, I was able to explore the
star persona of the artist. Andrew Goodwins theory suggest that record labels
use close ups of shots of the artist alone to show the artists character and
consistent motifs within a music video. I believe I was able to do this through the

performance scenes of the music video as we could see that the artist is a very
emotional character. There is a clear motif of this emotion, love and passion
throughout the music video as there are several shots that express her emotions
such as the mid shot of her and the male actor arguing.
In terms of the genre convention of my music video, I feel I explored it well. In
most R&B music videos, the women are presented as quite provocative and show
a lot of skin when it comes to dress codes. I conformed to this convention by
having the artist in a very shot night gown that showed a lot of skin and made
her loo sexual. This presentation of women conforms to what Laura mulvey says
is male gaze. The artists appearance is done to attract the target audience as
men will view her a s an object of desire and women will want to be like her and
dress like her because the way she is presented in a males view. As well as this,
males are usually very possessive of women within the music video I demon
stared this through the male actor touching the artist while she was in her night
gown as well as mid shots that focus on her body rather than her face. The males
costume also conforms to the genre of R&B as in the kitchen scene he is in a net
vest commonly associated to afro Caribbean or African American attire. As well
as this, the designer tracksuit he wears set which is common in R&B music
videos because the song is a hybrid of R&B and soul, I incorporated the dress
codes of soul music into the performance aspects of the music video also
through her dress code. The artist was in a long black dress that covered her
fully with statement jewellery. This emulated that of the dream girls who are R&B
soul singers who usually wear long modest dresses and have state men
hairstyles.

The editing within my music video also conforms to typical R&B music videos as
the editing was fast cut and went with the music. I cut the scenes to the beat so
it flowed and looked like a real R&B soul music video. Because the song was not
that fast and had a melancholy tone, the editing was slow.
I made several intertextal references to other music videos and artists. The
performance scenes emulated that of Beyones music video listen as well as
this, in her music video it also includes flash backs. I took this idea orm her as
she is also an R&B soul artist. Her music video halo was also a big influence in
my music video as it also uses ambient lighting in slash backs and shows the
couple in a natural home environment. I had some intertextual references to the
song romantic by Tiwa savage and Korede Bello. I really liked the setting used

in the using video and tried to incorporate it in mine. The sepia filter in the flash
back sense was inspired by the music video of Adeles hello.