General Conventions of a Music Video

Lyrics Establish a general feeling/mood/sense of subject rather than a meaning

Music Tempo often drives the editing. Variation in voice (higher/lower), the incorporation of new sounds and new beats drives the editing. ASAP ROCKY…Notice how the ‘beat’ picks-up, resulting in the increased speed of editing. Here’s a question, however, how is continuity not lost?

Genre The genre is often reflected in types of mise-en-scene, themes, performance, camera and editing styles. Tribe vs. Whitney…what differences can you notice in… -mise en scene -performance -editing -camera work -themes

Camerawork Has an impact on meaning. Movement, angle and shot distance all play a part in the representation of the artist/band (close-ups dominate) ‘Put Your Hands up For Detroit’…describe the camera movement; why is it used to create representation?

Editing The most common form is fast-cut montage, rendering many of the images impossible to grasp on first viewing, so ensuring multiple viewing. Often enhancing the editing are digital effects, which play with the original images to offer different kinds of pleasure for the audience. The Horrors, ‘She is the New thing’…What can you say about the editing and special effects? How do you think it was done?

Intertextuality Not all audiences will spot a reference, which would not significantly detract from their pleasure in the text itself, but greater pleasure might be derived by those who recognise the reference and feel flattered by this. It also increases the audience’s engagement with, and attentiveness to the product. How many times do we see the Prodigy logo in this video; what ideas are connected to it?

Movies Many music videos draw upon cinema. Madonna’s Material Girl drew on the song sequence Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend in Howard Hawk’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Why would a music video artist do this?

Exhibitionism The apparently more powerful independent female artists of recent years have added to the complexity of the politics of looking and gender/cultural debates, by being at once sexually provocative and apparently in control of, and inviting, a sexualised gaze. 50 Cent’s ‘Candy Shop’, like many hip hop videos, contains a lot of exhibitionism. Why do you think this is so?

Task Make a PowerPoint (like this one) that identifies, discusses and analyses the general music video conventions. You select the videos Due on June 25…Post on AS Blog via Slideshare or as a link.

Marking Criteria Area AssessedLevel Conventions are recognised and analysed; paying particular attention to representation Minimal Basic Proficient Excellent Micro examples regarding mise en scene, editing, sound and camerawork are used to support analytical points Minimal Basic Proficient Excellent The presentation is visually appealing; images, fonts and colours are used to reinforce examples Minimal Basic Proficient Excellent The use of media terminology is used with accuracy. Minimal Basic Proficient Excellent