Unit 29 - AS1 - Task 2

Understanding the styles and conventions of music videos

Every music video has different style and conventions to them.
Different forms of music video such as digital or stop-motion animation; in-concert; "as live" footage; studio based; cinematic

Stop-Motion Animation
Stop-motion is the process of making a static object looking like its moving all by itself. This is done by taking a picture and moving it slightly in between each picture. When you put all of the pictures together and play them fast, it will look like they are moving by themselves.

In-Concert
This is a music video that uses footage from a live performance from the artist instead filming all new footage of the artist miming the song. In this music video they could either use the pre-recorded song over the live footage or just play the live song with the live footage.

Studio Based
These are videos that are based in the music studio. It shows the artist miming the song in the studio.

Different styles of music video such as a narrative based; impressionist; surrealist; pastiche; parody; homage; intertextual.

• Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics 
• There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals.
• There is a relationship between music and visuals.
• The demand of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist.
• There is frequent reference to the notion of 'looking' (screens within screens, filming, cameras) and particularly voyeuristic (pleasure through looking) treatment of the female body.
• There are often intertextual references - mostly to film, television and popular culture. 

Convention 1

Andrew Goodwin clearly states that different genres of music use different key conventions in the videos:
For example Rage Against the Machine's music video would look completely different to Miley Cyrus's. 

Convention 2
Illustrate - Music videos can use a set of images to illustrate the meaning of lyrics & genre, this is the most common.

Amplify - This is similar to repeatability. Meanings and effects are manipulated and constantly shown through the video and drummed into our vision. A good example of this is The Script - 'Hall Of Fame' which is about people who can achieve anything they want to. The video shows a boxer and a ballerina becoming really good even when all of the odds are against them.

Contradict - This is where the meaning of the song is completely ignored by the music video. A good example of this is Eric Prydz - 'Call On Me'. The video shows women stretching and working out which has nothing to do with the lyrics, or the meaning of the song.

The different forms of which music videos can give each individual one a different feel to it. Some forms of music videos can include; digital, stop-motion animation, in-concert, studio based and cinematic. A good example of stop-motion animation music video is Fleet foxes's 'Mykonos';
The animation of the shapes can create a relaxed-mellow mood which goes hand in hand with the feel of the song.
Coldplay's song 'Fix You' is a good example of a music video that is presented as an in-concert video. The beginning is not in-concert just Chris Martin traveling to the concert.


Convention 3
Andrew Goodwin's third convention is that the visuals in a music video will almost always have a connection to the pace of the music/song.
A again the video can be edited so that it either illustrates, amplifies or contradicts the beat of the song.
E.G: Arctic Monkeys - 'Do I Wanna Know?'
In this video, it just shows a sound wave fluctuating depending on the music. This video does not try and convey any meaning of the song whatsoever.


Convention 4
Andrew Goodwin's fourth convention is that across all music videos the demands of the record label will attempt to develop a motif (a reoccurring style) that regularly is portrayed across their work.
They often demand that lots of close-ups of the artist are used to help create a clear visual style/image.
E.G: Lady Gaga
Like all of her other videos, the video shows


Convention 5
Andrew Goodwin states in his fifth convention that in music videos there are frequent references to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
E.G: Rihanna - 'What's My Name?'
In this video we see Rihanna wears really short shorts and we see the camera focusing on her bum and we also Drake looking at her bum. It clearly focuses around Rihanna's image the whole music video focusing her.


Convention 6
For his final convention Andrew Goodwin states that music videos often are filled with intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos, etc)
E.G: Jennifer Lopez - 'I'm Glad'
This video is based on a film called 'Flash Dance'.