What is a music video?

What are the conventions of a music video?

Conventions of music videos are usually genre specific which allows the audience to recognise the genre of the song and results in them making an immediate decision on whether they like the song or not. Mise-en-scene and costume can be seen as the most important components and conventions as they are what show the viewers the personality and characteristics of the artist. Costume in particular has the most influence as it can establish a widespread fashion craze or just influence how their own fans dress. The arrangement of performers is key because during the video, you can see where everyone is positioned and this can usually lead to some sort of group dance which relates more to pop and hip hop videos.

Simple things such as colours can determine what genre of song the music video is. Dark colours, for instance, black and blue, signify rock music. This can be shown through a band, The Dead Weather, who always wears black when promoting the band, on stage and working. The colour is bold and can represent ideas such as power, sexuality, mystery, fear, depth, remorse, emptiness and anger. A more popular artist, Katy Perry, is a pop singer who uses a lot of bright colours when promoting her music. The most common colour used by her is pink which signifies the genre, as well as helping to create the fun and happy mood that the colour usually generates and what she stands for.

The setting of the video is another convention. Simplistic videos of the artist in a recording studio is becoming quite popular as the fans viewing it get a better insight of the personality of the artist and allow them to see them in their comfort zone and acting natural without the hassle of creating a performance. This is commonly used for pop artists and was most recently done by One Direction in their song, Little Things. This video was also shot in black and white which gives it a soft feel and captures the essence of the ballad. The personal quality to it gives the video the feeling as if the artist is singing to you.

Music videos tend to include a variety of camera shots and movements to give the viewer a 360 degree feel of the scene as if they were there. These help to create a video that is visually memorable. The shot types are used to put an emphasis on the artist and emotions of the song in order for the viewer to be able to connect to it. Close ups and extreme close ups can be used to create the sense of mystery and reflect the mood of the song -when showing parts of the artist such as the movement of their lips as they sing the lyrics. Tracking is also a commonly used camera movement as you can follow the artist through the video as if you are standing there beside them. Coldplays The Scientist is a good example of this.

The editing part of the process also acts as a music video convention as the pace of the editing determines the pace of the song. Jump cuts are the predominant technique used because this allows a sudden change from one scene to the next. The cuts can mimic the beat of a song to create the mood the song is trying to establish. Softer edits such as fades can convey other lighter emotions as well as signifying when the video is starting, if there is an extra part of the video telling a story, or ending as they can fade in or out to black. This is shown in the video for Michael Jacksons Thriller as they fade into a short film which is another way of presenting the story before starting the actual song.

What is the purpose of a music video?

Videos are usually grouped into three categories: - Illustrate - Amplify - Disjunctive

Illustrate they serve to illustrate the meaning of a song. These videos are usually some sort of story that the song is trying to tell which allows the artist to be quite creative when producing it. In most cases, the video wont even feature the artist themselves but another version of them played but an actor to act out the story.
(Reference to music video 1) In the music video Ready, Able by Grizzly Bear, the band had created a small creature from various bits of plasticine and shot the video with the stop motion technique of a story showing the journey this creature took. This can show a deeper meaning of the song which in turn, invokes a reaction. It may even give the listener a better understanding; however, some songs are more difficult than others. By using such an original idea for this video, it then makes the song memorable and could result in promoting the artist as people would talk about what they have seen.

Amplify emphasise the meaning of the song. In these videos, the meaning of the song is clear and concise and the use of the chorus or song title allows the meaning to continuously be repeated and made clear to the viewer.
(Reference to music video 2) The White Stripes Fell in Love With a Girl is a song that amplifies the meaning as it is about a boy falling in love with a girl. The song constantly repeats the title of the song to continue reminding the audience what they are singing about and the story they are trying to tell. The video itself uses Lego which is an innovative way of showing the story of the song, as Lego is associated with children which could then allow you to think that it is about a young boy who likes a girl. This then promotes the artist as the video could be a talking point as it is quite different from any other video and makes it memorable.

Disjunctive ignores the meaning of the song and shows something completely unrelated. This allows the artist to be creative and produce whatever they want their fans and other viewers to see. This can be in the form of a dream that they had or even producing some sort of short story that they wanted to have the opportunity to show.
(Reference to music video 3) In the video Cant Stop by Red Hot Chilli Peppers, the band watched a variety of videos on YouTube and recreated them as their visuals for the song. They used intertextuality in this video as they took ideas from other videos and films that they have seen and put them all together. The purpose of this was to promote the band and entertain as the video is quite artistic in a way as it ignores the message of the song and allowed them to have fun and create something new which shows their fans another side of them that they wouldnt normally get to see.

How can you analyse music video?

Theories John Stewart music videos have many similar aspects and techniques as a film or TV advert with the use of various camera shots, angles and movements. Many close ups are used which gives the viewer more access to the performer than any other performance can. This allows the video to feel more personal. Each aspect such as the lighting and mise-en-scene can be used to focus on the artist; their particular lifestyle and personality which can make the viewer feel hopeful and want to have a similar life. Intertextuality is a big part of this theory as the use of something familiar to the audience can bring them closer to the song and artist as they can relate to them and many others. A sense of nostalgia is the most common emotion from this.

(Reference to music video 4) Blink 182 All the Small Things uses intertextuality to mock various boy bands which distances them from that look and style. This allows them to create a different league of bands and music so that they can be as different as possible. The mocking also allows the audience to relate to the band as they may have the same views and opinions which makes it more personal. Editing techniques such as fade have been used which gives it a movie feel and makes it less like a music video. The use of camera zooms and close ups bring the viewer more into the video and allows them to have more access to the performance than they usually would.

Laura Mulvey The Male Gaze, 1975 This is based around how the audience view the people presented which can be split into three ideas: how men look at women, how women look at themselves and how women look at other women. Mulvey believes that the audience has to view women through the eyes of a heterosexual male. The camera lingers for a while on her curves, usually starting from one end of the body and slowly moving across to the other end to get a full view of each feature of her figure. This results in the status of a woman to be just an object rather than an actual human.

(Reference to music video 5) In Shes so lovely by Scouting for Girls the lyrics in the song read I love the way she fills her clothes. She looks just like them girls in vogue. This uses intertextuality by referencing the fashion magazine, Vogue, which is famous for bringing up arguments about the human figure, face and beauty. This video is mainly based on how men view women as the camera focuses on the womans revealing outfit by first looking at her legs and high healed red shoes. Other men in the video get distracted because her beauty is so overwhelming and the camera then uses a mid shot to allow the audience to focus on her makeupd face and salon style hair. The lyrics then read: I dont know how Ill make it through this which tells the viewer that the artist thinks that this woman is extremely beautiful and because of her looks, he has to have her. This objectifies the woman and gives the man power which allows him to think that her can have her and do whatever he wants to. This theory can also link in with Jonathan Schroeder theory.

Jonathan Schroeder, 1998, commented on this theory and added that a gaze can mean more than just to look at a woman, but to signify power over her as the gazer is superior compared to the woman. Voyeurism can be linked in with Muvleys theory as the Dictionary.com definition of voyeurism is: the practice of obtaining sexual gratification by looking at sexual objects or acts, especially secretively. Erotic pleasure is created from watching either a male or female as a sexual object that is unaware that they are being looked at. In terms of music videos, it is usually a males dominating gaze towards a woman who is in a vulnerable place or situation such as in a bedroom or bathroom. This can be filmed in a way that mimics surveillance, such as through a camera, a window or a keyhole.

(Reference to music video 6) Lady Gagas latest video for her song, Applause features scenes in which voyeurism is established. The concept of this video is the idea of voyeurism and the male gaze as she is almost mocking it because she is putting herself and others in these scenes to show the effect of the theories. One of these scenes contains a woman lying on a mattress in the middle of a stage which can portray her as a sexual object as she is in her underwear and in a vulnerable place and state. Even though she is on a stage, she is still unaware that she is being looked at. Lady Gaga herself at one point is trapped in a cage for others to gaze at her as if she were an animal or object. The way the performers move and dance replicates the way a male would look at women which still makes this video male dominated, however, as the artist is initially doing this on purpose, then it could then also be classed as exhibitionism.

Exhibitionism allows the person to be sexually provocative while still being in control of it. Artists such as Brittney Spears are a classic example of someone inviting the gaze while still holding the upper hand. This can create the image of strong woman who is confident and has power over her gazer.
(Reference to music video 7) Christina Aguileras song, Dirrty, is extremely provocative as it features the artist wearing a small amount of clothing and being quite revealing. At the start of the video, the extreme close up focuses on her lips and piercings which brings Mulveys male gaze into the video. This allows the artist to be in control of her image and body as she is only letting the viewer see what she wants them to see. Her status in the video is that of a the top of the hierarchy that she has created, therefore, giving her power and complete control. During the video, she is in a boxing ring which makes her the centre of attention because everyone came to see her and the ropes around the ring separate her from the crowd which is made up of only males.