Style And Conventions Of Music Videos

Styles of music videos

There are many different styles of music videos within media, they contain certain conventions and are made in different styles, below are a range of examples of different types of styles within music videos. 

Narrative

Certain music videos have narrative within the music video, a narrative within in a music video is when the music video has a story line to it, the lyrics and video conveys a story to the audience and is played in order from start to finish. The single "Turn Back" by K Koke has a clear story or narrative within the music video which is clear for the audience to see and understand. The institution uses this type of style or convention because it keeps the audiences interest to the song and music video,  there is a story line for the audience  to watch and follow as the music video goes on. The audience is interested to see what will happen to the person in the video and how the story line will end. For example in the music video below in the beginning  at 0.15 seconds into the video we can see the girl  walking into a rough block of flats it shows her to be in a rough area, this makes the audience interested as they want to know what will happen to the girl within the video it creates an interesting narrative for the audience to be able to follow.  

Animation

This technique is used in many music videos; this technique is used to make the video more appealing to the audience as it is animated it is bright and colorful which makes it more appealing.It also allows the artist to have freedom with their music video as the animation allows them to create things for the video that they wouldn't be able to do in real life due to how hard the shots would be to achieve, this makes the video look more creative and more visually appealing for the audience. As well as this the animation help to tell the story connoted through the lyrics for example within the video I have chosen “payphone” by maroon 5 the lyrics tell a story about the artists life and the animation helps to tell it because the animation is what is being said in the lyrics which creates a clear narrative or story line for the audience to identify and understand this music video uses this technique within the music video well.

styles of music videos 

Music videos performed as live concerts are when the artist is being filmed performing to the audience with the intention of directing their music to the  audience The effect this is intended to create is to make the video seem more real for the audience, if the music video is filmed while it is live it makes the audience feel as if they are watching a live performance which makes it more exciting and appealing to them they feel as if they are watching a live concert rather than watching a regular music video where everything is filmed individually rather than live.As live is when the artist or band makes seem as if they are performing to a audience when they are not actually performing live it is set up and they play towards the cameras with full intention of becoming a music video. The final effect is performance where the artist is filmed without having a audience with them it is only performed for the cameras for example Green Day american idiot in this music video the band is seen performing in a hall without an audience it is performed for the cameras with no audience.  

surrealism 

this effect is where the music video has something we wouldn't expect to see within a music video visually, like something we wouldn't expect to find in an ordinary music video, for example katy perry's music video wide awake we can see that she has used surrealism. we see things we wouldn't really expect to see in a normal pop song music video for example we can see she is in a weird setting within the video at 1.03 of into the we can see large bugs within the music video behind katy perry we wouldn't expect to these sorts of scenes within a normal pop genre styled music video this is a lot more abstract and original as compared to many other pop songs music videos. this gives the audience something new and original which they found weird but enjoyable because its something new and creative which the audience has not seen before this keeps the audiences attention as it keeps them interested with the music video throughout. 

pastiche

This technique is when one media source refers back to another recognizable media source, it could have similar scenes or identical scenes from one media. for example micheal jacksons music video thriller pays homage to the styles of 1950's horror films the music video is in itself like a mini horror film which tries to recreate scenes and pay homage to horror films within that specific area for example within that era of horror films they had a lot of montage clips and people running through fog Michael jacksons thriller has many of these scenes recreated such as the scene where he is running through the fog at 3.11 of the video as well as this it has many cheesy stereotypical but also iconic scenes from horror films such as when he turns into a wear wolf at 2.26.This technique allows the music video to be able to pay homage to a specific time and era of horror films throughout the music video. 

  

Pastiche as parody

this technique is when a media source makes fun or mimic  another media source, this technique is used within music videos to make the audience think  about how crazy the original music video is, it mocks the original media source for the way the video is created what happens within the video or they way in which the lyrics are created for example what the lyrics say, for example "bart Baker" has made a video which makes fun of the music video "blurred lines" by robin thicke the parody makes fun of the concept of the music video. this makes the audience think about the original video and how badly created and weird the original music video is, the video also mimics the lyrics it makes the audience think about the original lyrics and song it makes the original song seem weird and crazy towards the audience.   

Intertextuality

Intertextuality is when one media text references another media text, this can be reflected with the style of the music video. for example the single "love story" by taylor swift references romeo and juliet the music video is made to mirror the story of romeo and juliet throughout the song and music video they make references to romeo and juliet with the lyrics and video. the music video has been made look like a more modernised version of the love story romeo and juliet. for example 26 seconds into the music video we can see a scene where the guy meets the girl in a masked party, the way they are dressed and meet each other is very similar to romeo and juliet. the lyrics also reference romeo and juliet it mentions that he is like romeo and she is juliet, this music video references romeo and julet many times throughout the music video and the lyrics.

 

Impressionist

this is an example of a music video with impressionism within it, the music video made by the red hot chili peppers "dani California" this music video has impressionism throughout the music video each of the characters have dressed up as different genres and different artists over the years, they dress as artist such as prince and many other famous artists and bands over the years. this shows to the audience the evolution of rock and rock bands throughout the years they dress up as these important figures within rock to show the evolution and movements within the rock genre and rock history it shows many different bands from different historical times throughout rock for the audience to see. 

Music video techniques

Videos which have large number of cuts. 

Music video name: Fall Out Boy The Phoenix

This music video uses a large range of cuts within the music video, during the duration of the song we can see that there is a lot more than 100 different and original cuts which they have used within the video. The intended use of this technique is that it makes the song  quite fast paced, the shots and cuts within the video are very quick and fast which matches the tempo and genre of the song, the genre in this case is rock which is usually very fast paced. This makes it more visually appealing as it is fast paced which makes the audience feel uplifted and energetic when they listen to the song. This ensures that their interest is kept with the music video as compared to if the cuts were slow paced and dull, this would not match the tempo and genre of the song.This technique has been very successful as the shots work well with the fast paced tempo of the song the shots work well to convey a story to the lyrics, all of the shots are fast paced original and appealing to the audience it grabs the audience's attention and works to sustain their interest with the song as well as the music video. This techniques works to engage the audience and to keep them entertained. However some music videos do not use this technique very well. Some music videos do not have a large range of cuts this video has less than 100 shots which is not enough. For example the music video created by Liam Lynch "United States of whatever" this song has a lack of shots as it has less than 100 different shots this makes the video lack variety as the shots are mostly repeated throughout which makes the music video look uninteresting and dull for the audience, this will make them lose interest as it does not engage the audience as well as the song created by 
Fall out boy which had a large range of varied cuts.

Special Effects 

Music video name: Kanye West Good life

This music video created by kanye west  "Good life" uses the technique of using special effects within the music video, throughout the video we can see brightly coloured writing in the back as kanye west writes they say the lyrics which are being said by the artist for example 0.02-0.05 seconds of the beginning of the video we can see these special effect. This technique is a good technique as it makes the music video more eye-catching and appealing towards the audience as it looks bright bold and colorful like 0.13 seconds we can see the writing makes the music video colorful, it offers the audience more options to the narrative, the special effects can sometimes help to replace shots that cannot be naturally filmed due to the difficulty of getting the shots. This music video has used special effects well because it is well edited it looks very smooth and flows well with the music video. Also sometimes these special effects can help to create a story about the artists life for example in this video the lyrics as well as the special effects tell the story of the artists background, where he grew up and how he became a success, it engages the audience as it more visually appealing  and fun  the writing is fun and bright rather than being dull for them which ensures that their interest will be sustained throughout the music video. An example of a music video with bad special effects 

Cutting to the beat 
This technique is used within music videos a lot, cutting to the beat is when the music videos matches or cuts with a specific element of the songs beat, this makes it more visually appealing as mostly dubstep use this effect, within this genre of music there are a lot of flashing lights and images which are fast paced which gets the audience excited it helps to build the tension of the music drop in the beat as well as the song. The effect of this technique is to make the video look more appealing and exciting the cuts are fast paced and brightly lit for the audience to see this keeps their attention to the music videos also the cutting to the beat helps to build suspense for the beats drop within a song which keeps the audiences attention to the music video

Varied camera language

Music videos use this technique; this technique is where they use a large range of different varied shots, the effect of this technique is to give the music video more variety with shots such as the shots from 0.05 seconds, 0.07 seconds  and 0.09 seconds they have a variety of creative shots. It would be more appealing and interesting as there is a large choice of shots with variation rather than ranges of shots which repeated themselves throughout the music video which is seen as dull boring and lacking imagination which makes the audience lose attention. This technique also helps to make the video look more professional videos lacking varied camera shots look very shaky and unprofessional as they lack ranges of shots which make the video lack variety for the audience to see.  The song “in for the kill” by la roux has many different camera shots and angles the shots look visually appealing for the audience as it has a range of varied shots rather than repeating the same shots over again which makes it looks repetitive and dull. Certain music videos don’t use this well which make them look unprofessional, music videos such as 

Green screen

Music videos tend to use green screens within some of their shots to incorporate some scenes which in real life would be difficult to shoot for example a shot the artist going into space it allows the artist to be imaginative and creative with their music videos. Green screens are good methods when editing music videos because they help to save money because they can incorporate shots and locations without having to go there, for example if the artist wants to be put in a location instead of having to actually go to the location they are able to green screen it in which is easier. Green screening also allows the artist to film shots which he couldn't do in real life which makes the music video more creative and visually appealing for the audience it gives endless possibilities for the music video as well as for the artist. The song “all falls down” by kanye west uses a good example of green screening in the shot of him standing looking into the bathroom mirror at 1.51 seconds the mirror is not a real mirror but instead a green screen of the mirror this music video uses green screening well as it looks smooth and undetectable for the audience the green screen looks very realistic as it is done to a good standard. Other music videos use green screening however they do not use is well it is very shaky unclear and very obvious for the audience to see. An example would be the song “united states of whatever” by Liam lynch during his music video he uses green screens however they are not as well used as Kanye west’s green screens they are blurry unclear and highly noticeable for the audience for example at 0.06 seconds into the video he has shadows around his body which makes it clear that he has used green screen it is not as professional as Kanye west’s music video

Lip Syncing

Lip syncing is when the artist moves his lips in order with the lyrics without having to actually singing the lyrics. There are many music videos which use this effect if they are done they look smooth and undetectable the music video “when I’m gone” by Eminem they use the effect of lip syncing it is does well throughout the scenes the music video shows Eminem and his daughter lip syncing it is does well as there are no slip ups which makes it look as if he is singing live and not just lip syncing. Lip syncing gives a story to the video; by lip syncing the artist is able to place the lyrics over a part of the video to create a story it creates a narrative or story for the audience to follow for example in this music video the lyric all relate to what is happening within the music videos whatever the lyric says happens within the music video which creates a narrative for the audience which is easy to follow. It has been successful within this music video as it done to a good effect which makes it look believable as compared to videos which use this effect but use it badly where it is obvious and detectable for the audience to see an example of a music video which does this affect badly would be anna kendrick "cups" in this song and music video she lip syncs however it does not look as smooth as eminem she does not move her mouth as fluently to the lyrics as compared to eminem, the lyrics sound a lot louder and sound like they have more emotion she does not move her mouth and has a very monotone lip sync so it looks out of sync as compared with eminem where he puts more emotion with he moves his mouth more to create more emotion which makes it look more believable for the audience Anna kendrick has used this technique badly.

Music Video Outlets

Music Outlets 

Music Downloads 

Music downloads are a very good way of listening and gaining all of the latest music videos as well as music, the advantages of downloading music is that it easily accessible for example itunes is easy for the audience to use as is it available right at their fingertips on the internet this is an easier way for the audience to gain music rather than having to go to the shops and buying a CD, stores may not have the specific CD that people want where as in downloads websites such as itunes there is no need for a physical CD the audience can just download it straight. As well as this its easy to transfer on to mobile devices, this is good for the audience as they can gain free music fast and freely. Downloading music gives you a  range of qualities to choose from, music downloads  come on in high quality making it better for the audience to listen to this is good for the audience as they can choose a range of qualities giving them wider choices. However downloading music comes with many drawbacks, downloaded music which is free may have cutouts of advertisements during the song which could disrupt the song for the listener as the advertisements pop up during the song.  Also downloadable music restricts some of the listeners if they have bad internet speed because it takes  longer to download, so the listener would have to resort to download the lower quality version in order to get it faster. Music downloads are good for the artist as they would be that they are gaining exposure and advertisements when people download their songs, they get more noticed and gain more views and build on their reputation through the downloads this is a good way for the artist to gain a larger audience and gain popularity, this way his/her name will become bigger and he will gain more success which will make it easier for him/her to sell their new single or album.  

                     

Mainstream TV

Mainstream TV are channels such as BBC 1 and BBC 3 which play programmes  which play music such as top of the pops , these shows gain large audiences viewing them at once so the artists who perform on these shows will gain large audiences viewing them, also within in the viewers there would be new viewers who haven't heard of the artist this gives the artist high amounts of audience and exposure to a new and wider range of people. This helps the artist as it gives them a larger audience range, so when they release a new single or album it makes it easier for them to sell as they are already well known. Mainstream TV also allow music to be played before certain watersheds as they censor the songs which in all gains more viewers watching it such as kids and teenagers, however this can be seen as negative as it ruins the viewers viewing pleasure as they don't get to hear the song without it being censored. Another drawback would be these programmes don't always come on, for example top of the pops does not come on as often this is due to streaming websites being more popular as they are simpler, also the audience don't need to wait for their song to come on with streaming sites. Top of the pops used to be a very popular show which aired live performances of songs from different artists, this was a very successful way of listening to music back when technology was less advanced. Now technology has been increased and has become a lot better to the point where we no longer need shows such as top of the pops in order to watch music videos or songs from artists.  

artist website

 The artist’s website is a useful source of gaining all of the latest songs from a particular artist of choice the website also contains full playlists of all of the artist’s latest songs. The artist’s website can also sometimes contain download links within them.  The websites allow the audience to search for and listen to the songs of their choice from the artist of their choice. This is an advantage as it allows the audience to only listen to the songs from the artist of their choice also having the feature of the playlist allows them to access all of the latest songs from their favourite songs, as well as being able to listen to all of their favourite songs from the artist they are able to quickly and easily download all of the songs they listen to. The artist website can be easily advertised on TV and radio the website contains details of upcoming events which gives the artist more exposure on himself as well as the event they will be performing on which will increase the quantity of audience and will get more ticket sales for the artist it will also make more well-known and will increase their popularity. However the artist website has drawbacks some websites require you to sign up which takes time which disrupts the audiences pleasure also some accounts require you to put your credit card details in , also these websites require people to have internet access people may not have internet or may have bad internet which means some people will not be able to gain access which leaves some people out.  

















Music channels

Music channels are a type of programming which focuses on playing music videos from different popular bands and artists, these programmes are a good way for the audience to listen to music from their favorite artist or band. Music channels are good for the audience as they are easily available to a large range of people as a large majority of them are free for the audience to watch with no subscriptions needed. Music channels are good for the artist as well because theses music channels have large viewing figures which allow the artist to be seen by more people gaining them larger exposure which helps him to sell his new albums and singles and make more money for both the artist as well as their label the label creates the video which creates more awareness as the video is sometimes seen as more memorable and popular than the actual lyrics themselves which makes it easier for them to sell new albums as they will already have been established and recognized. However music channels have some negatives to them they have many advertisement breaks between them which disrupt the viewing pleasure for the audience who just want to watch and listen to music. Although many of them are free to view some may require the viewer to subscribe and pay for the, such as MTV they require the audience to have a subscription to the channel in order for them to be able to view the video. This means that some of the audience miss out on watching and listening to the music.  

streaming 

Streaming allows the audience to watch and listen to any music anywhere and anytime, its free and available on many devices which makes it easier for the audience to find, streaming sites such as YouTube have videos which come in high quality this ensures that the audience can listen to their favourite songs in high quality which enhances their viewing pleasure. These streaming sites are very popular, sites such as YouTube have millions of users signing in, and this gives the artist a larger audience to appeal to and to expose their music to this is good for the artist as it gains them more people to branch their music out to. However streaming sites have negative aspects some require the audience to sign up or sign in just to watch a music video disrupts the viewing pleasure because if they don’t have an account they cannot watch the video. Also not all streaming sites are available in high quality which gives the audience bad quality songs which disrupt their viewing pleasure. 

Direct CD/special edition CD/DVD releases.

CD’s are a good way for the audience to gain music, the album or single ensures that the songs are in good quality for the audience to listen to, the CD’s also come with bonuses or added tracks which give the audience more information about the artist this gives the audience more for their money. CD’s are available in many shops which make it easier for the person to get hold. It is quick for the audience to listen to and play wherever and whenever. However CD’s are not always good, the CD’s could get scratched so the CD would not be able to play no more this wastes the audiences money, also CD’s cost money for them to buy people may not want to pay so CD’s maybe unsuccessful in the number of sales they get. CD’s are good for the artist as they are getting bought rather than illegally downloaded which makes them more money and makes the more successful they can be sold worldwide so the artist is able to gain more audiences from around the world and is able to become bigger and more successful within the music industry.

the purpose of music videos

Why are music videos created?

To promote a new music release 

Music videos help the artist to raise awareness of their new music album or single that they have coming out, the video helps to promote the new single or album to their audience, the more the song and video is played the more noticed it gets this grabs a wider range of audience which will help to increase sales of the new album or single as it has already been noticed and has become recognizable. The video also helps to promote an event, usually the music video is shown before an event such as live tours or concerts which helps to promote the event to the audience its gets the artist more well known around the country or worldwide which would overall boost sales of tickets for the artist. It can also create awareness through the internet within social networks such as Facebook and twitter as well as YouTube adverts before the starting of a video. If someone comments on a single or album there is a large amount of people on these social networks so the comment will be seen by a large range of people which increases the popularity of the artist the album and video.  This is known as word of mouth promotion. word of mouth promotion is better than reading a magazine written by a professional critic because more people can view the comment as their is a large number of people on these social networking sites which also gives a wider range of opinions. This intern gives the viewer more of an opportunity to make the decision for themselves. All of these methods will help to altogether increase the artist’s sales as well as the labels sales as the video to the song helps to gain more views which increases sales of the music album as well as the single, as well as their popularity with their audience. Many artist have become popular because of social networking sites such as Lily Allen and MySpace she started off small on MySpace and grew and became more successful 





 https://myspace.com/lilymusic



    

https://twitter.com/justinbieber





To create a visual representation of an artist 

Music videos allow the artist to create an image of themselves they can express what they are like through their music video, their video genre helps to express themselves and their identity. for example the music artist  Rihanna and her  music video "diamond" connotes to her audience that she is an emotional and expressive artist; she expresses this through her video. It also communicates the style of the artist to the audience the video allows the audience to understand the style and energy values of the artist. It also allows the artist to be seen without having to actually be there which is easier for the artist as they don't need to be there live. as well as this they are able to create an image for themselves as an artist and a brand this increase the brand image as well as the label image. 

To create synergy with other media sectors 

Music videos can include synergy which can help to increase awareness for both institutions at the same time, for example music videos may have products within the music video of another company, when people watch the video they are see the product. The song influences them to buy the product or when they buy the product they associate it with the song so they feel inclined to buy the song or album as well. An example of synergy would be within the Robin Thicke music video “blurred lines” in the video he placed the beats speaker within the video, now when people watch the video they feel inclined to buy the speakers or the other way around if they buy the speaker they associate it with the song and feel the need to buy the song or album from that artist, this promotes both of the companies or institutions at simultaneously which increases sales for both companies. The picture below is a a shot from the music video with the beats speaker this is an example of synergy. The picture below shows an example of synergy from the music video blurred lines from by robin Thicke it advertises two industries in one music video. Another example would be the artist William  during his songs he is seen a number of times to be wearing beats over ear headphones. This allows both companies to come together to advertise both industries at once Williams music company and albums as well as Dr Dre's headphone company. 

To be art in their own right

Certain music videos are created and seen as art, the videos within the music video is seen as more important than the lyrics themselves the video can be more memorable than the song itself at times. The artist creates a music video which is so creative and original. This makes the song memorable for the audience as it is easily remembered for its creativity and originality, theses music videos also create a sense of enigma or mystery for the artist so the audience are interested in the artist so they watch the whole music video as it grabs their attention. The music video “gangnam style” is creative because the video is so original and weird, this makes it very memorable and gains lots of views though people don’t understand the lyrics he is saying the music video makes it memorable cause its something creative and something original that nobody else has seen.

To allow the artist to  reinvent themselves  

Artist create music videos in order to reinvent themselves, new music videos can show that the artist has changed from one person to another, for example “Justin Bieber” he has changed his image of being a pop singer to an RNB artist, his new videos allow him to show that he has changed his image of what he used to be and what he is now. This allows the artist to reach a new audience and gain a larger audience if they are expanding their genre base from just one genre to a range of genres, this would help the artist as it would greatly increase their audience range which would mean there would be more people buying their new album or single when they release it as they are not just aiming it at one group of audience they are aiming it at a large quantity of people. This increases sales of albums for the artist which gives them larger profits for sales of their albums.