media

1. CODES AND
CONVENTIONS OF A
MUSIC VIDEO

2. The purpose of a Music Video
◦ To promote-
Normally a single, album
To promote an artists or band
◦ Creates and adapts into the star image
◦ Entertains the audience
◦ Gives more of a meaning to the song itself

3. Structure of a Music Video
◦ A music video is usually 3-4 minutes long and combines a mix of narrative, performance and
other visual imagery including graphics and animation.
◦ Narrative is exemplified in Adele's ‘Hello’ where we see her singing but also the back story
behind it we see this throughout the video, which not only gives us more of an understanding
about the video but it makes it more enjoyable and interesting for the audience to watch, we
have something to follow and we feel part of the song because it most likely is a relatable story
line.

4. Performance
◦ A performance video would be Candy Man by Christina Aguliera, throughout the video we see
pretty much the same thing- Christina dancing or singing along to the song. The fact that she
dances a lot instead of giving the video a narrative makes more sense a) to the song and lyrics
and b) to the style of music, it’s an easy style to dance to and the video makes much more sense
because it isn’t a video we as an audience and used to seeing on a day to day basis, which gives
it a repeatable feel.

5. Star Image
◦ 50 Cent- Just a Little Bit is a good example of star image because as a rapper we associate their
video with lots of girls around the rapper, cars, sun, beaches etc. and in this video it pretty much
lives up to the expectations that an audience has of a rap video.

6. Camera Shots
Very Wide shot – This is
were the artist is shown
visible (barley) but the
emphasis is still on placing
the artist in the
location/setting.
Wide shot – This is were
the artist is shown taking
up most of the shot but
the location/setting is
still focused on.
Mid shot – this shows the
artist from his/her waist to
head, and focuses mainly on
the subject but still giving an
impression of the
location/setting.
Medium close up- this shot is half
way between a mid shot and a
close up, showing the artist from
chest to head.
Close up – this shot shows the artists
face or can show an object that the
artist is holding, or something were
the camera focuses closely on.
Extreme close-up – this shows
the artists face extremely close ,
for example eyes, or mouth to
identify something it can have
the effect of showing the
audience the artists thoughts
and feelings or even showing a
lip sync commonly used in
music videos.

7. Over the shoulder shot – this is a good shot used ,
specifically in narrative based music videos usually when
the artist is acting and speaking to another person you
tend to see an over the shoulder shot to display the
conversation , or to show something the character is
looking at.
Cut in – this shot can be used in music videos to show
something that the lyrics might be saying for example I
will shoot you with my gun ‘ and a gun comes in’ It
shows the object in detail, similar to a n extreme close
up, but used very quickly, or and object that relates to
the subject or narrative.
Eye-Level – this is a very common view being the real world
angle that we are all use to seeing, it shows subjects as we
would expect to see them in real life.
High Angle – This is were the camera shows the
subject from above, and the camera is angled down
towards the subject, which has the effect of making
them appear less powerful, less significant and or
even submissive.
Low Angle – This is were the
subject is shown from below,
giving the impression of being
more powerful o r dominant.
Bird's Eye – this angle is showing the subject/ scene
from directly above, and its is completely different
and can be from an unnatural point of view which
can be used to add a dramatic effect or showing a
different spatial perspective. It can also show the
positions and motions of different characters and
objects, enabling the viewer to see things the
character might not see.
Slanted – this is when the camera is slanted also known as a Dutch
angle were the camera is purposely tilted to one side so the
horizon is on an angle, this is creative in making interesting
dramatic effects. Dutch tilts are also popular in MTV-style video
production, where unusual angles and lots of camera movement
play a big part.

8. Mise En Scene
◦ The mise en scene can vary from music video to music video and from genre to genre. The mise
en scene includes outfits, props, lighting, location, body language, makeup etc.
◦ In a music video these things can enhance a stars image and also the genre. In a rap video we
normally would expect to see the rapper in baggy jeans and a baggy t-shrit, with lots of girls
cars, outside most likely somewhere sunny with chilled body language.
◦ Whereas a girl group with a young target audience would wear outfits that are much more
relatable and believable to their audience- you wouldn’t see them in skimpy outfits dancing
‘sexily’ it wouldn’t be believable for their target audience.