Styles, Conventions & Techniques

 In-concert and "as live" footage

In-concert/as live footage is when their is footage of a artist or band performing live or gives an idea of what their performance would like live. This is to give the audience an insight to a concert by the artist for free.  Examples of this is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENrj5u_lrWw

This is a good example as at Gary Barlow is performing live with a piano and backing band, even though it is on a set. Other than the location his performance mimics what it would be like if he was tour.

Narrative and interpretive

Most music videos conform to the idea of following a narrative for a music video. These narratives can either contradict, support or completely ignore the lyrics of the songs. The visuals could also be a literal representation of the lyrics, be more interpretive or a bit of both

(SENSITIVITY WARNING 2:25 - 2:56)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocDlOD1Hw9k


This is a good video to show the conventions of narrative. We follow the story of a young girl and her journey to adulthood, we know this because the first character we see if a young woman and we then see a child who resembles her. The narrative of the music video represents the meaning behind the lyrics even if it isn't always exactly what the lyrics are saying. For example when we see the young girl at 0:35 the lyric is "welcome to my silly life". When she goes on to get revenge on a boy for bullying her the teacher tells her off and the lyrics are "mistreated, misplaced misunderstood". P!nk is like the inner thoughts/feelings for the girl looking back on her life or a friend who was trying to watch over her. Because of the narrative style it makes the video and the song itself extremely powerful and emotional, especially if you are someone who can relate to the lyrics or visuals.

Surrealist/absurdist

Surreal videos often contain the unexpected and are unconventional. They tend to be bizarre and have things that are "off" about the video, such as objects of the wrong scale or used wrong. Because of the strange nature of the surreal video they can easily grab the attention of the viewer, even if the music genre isn't something that the person listens to. It can be difficult to look away from a surreal video but the focus can be taken away from the lyrics because of how gripping the visuals are. This can lead to the video being replayed multiple times as people try to listen to the lyrics, resulting in more money for the artist. Surreal videos are also often talked about and can go viral resulting in an increase in popularity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBG7P-K-r1Y

This is a good example for a surreal video as it takes place in a dream world where anything is possible. This is shown by things such as the real world linking with the dream world and having objects abnormally large (the hand, weapons and phone).

Lip sync

A music video may require the artist to mime the lyrics when filming so they appear to be synced with the track. Sometimes videos may be sped up or slowed down for narrative purposes which is also when an artist would have to mime slower or faster, so it syncs up for the audio. The artist may also not always be the one miming if it fits for the narrative to have multiple "characters" singing the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watcj?v=ZSOWvzRVByg

This is a good example for a lip sync video as there is the artist singing the song plus Ian Mckellen but the voice stays the same as it switches between the two.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUOVQ4KsX9U

This style of lip syncing however requires the artist to sing so that when the footage is sped up or slowed down his lip movements still match the lyrics.

Impressionist

Impressionist music videos purpose is to capture the emotional tone of the music rather than the literal translation of the lyrics. This style of video is described more as artistic than others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G3_kG5FFfQ

Intertextual: Synergy, Allusion, Pastiche, Parody and Homage

Music videos can reference other subjects. If a music video is a soundtrack of a film they may often reference the film or insert clips of the film itself. Some artists may also use a music video as their way of pay respect to another artist or someone, whether they influence them or have passed away. This is a homage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8ir8rVl2Z4

Billy Boyd's: The Last Goodbye is a great example of both synergy and a homage. It shows clips of The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and behind the scenes as well as being sung/written by an actor from Lord of the Rings. The way it is a homage is it is, I think, a way of all those involved thanking each other and thanking the fans for being their every step of the way.

They can also hint at another media text; an event, person or cultural reference. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM

Pharrell Williams-Happy references other media texts as at certain points (0:55) there are minions dancing.

A pastiche is an imitation of another artists style, but is considered light hearted as it does not mock that artist.

A parody does "mock" the original subject matter that it is imitating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANS9sSJA9Yc

Animation

A video can either be digitally animated or stop motion animation. They also don't have to be animated the whole way through, only containing elements of animation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-D_4erfsVQ
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTH71AAxXmM


These two music videos are good examples of the different ways animation could be used. The first one is completely animated, telling a narrative that doesn't fit the lyrics of the song. Because of the beautiful and intriguing art style I think the majority of people find themselves watching the video and reading the subtitles rather than listening to the song, meaning they play the song again to actually pay attention to it. This helps gain more viewers as this is the kind of music video people want to share with others and talk about, because there is such a strong message behind it. The second video is in the style of stop-motion animation, giving it a very retro feel. The song "Fell In Love With A Girl" is also fairly older than "Victory Line" which might be the reason behind the choice of stop-motion. The animation is very creative and still draws people into the music video, however I think it is because it feels strange so you can't look away.

Cutting to beat

Cutting to the beat is when the visuals changes/cuts to the beat of the audio. For example the beat 1,2,3,4, the visual would cut on the 4th beat. This can help enhance the rhythm of the song and any action that is taking place visually. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCDIYvFmgW8

This is a good example for cutting to the beat as the song and choreography is all about the beat of of music. There is a constant base which allows the video to be cut in time with the audio.

Post-production effects

Visual and sound effects can both be used in music videos, but don't have to be. Some of the reasons they are used could be because the artist wants to "show off" to their target audience in the sense of "look what I can do". This could be because their are explosions, magic or flying (for example) occurring in the music video; if done correctly these things look very impressive. It can also attract a new audience, as the music video may resemble an action sequence from a well known movie even if the song wouldn't fit that stereotypical audience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRaWnd3LJfs

This is a good example of a video containing post-production effects as at 1:35 there is a gun shot and sparks from a computer monitor. There is also a large explosion at 4:20. The sound of the gunshots would be added post as well as the flash from the barrel of the gun. With the narrative of the story it also makes the artist, Adam Levine, look very "cool" and heroic which is enhanced by the visual effects. It creates a wow factor about him. The song is also a love song, which the generic audience of action sequences wouldn't watch.

Split screen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi_XLOBDo_Y

Michael Jackson's Billie Jean music video shows a very clear use of the split screen technique, as seen below.

In this music video the split screen effect is used to make the dancing in the video more interesting, pausing after a dance move and moving to a new section. Later on in the video this becomes more dynamic as there are more splits in the screen.

Chroma key

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsFb661EXsI

The majority of this music video is chroma keyed. A time lapse of busy streets and roads have been filmed with James Blunt layered over the top. This is also another good example of lip syncing as despite James Blunt's actions being sped up/time lapsed his lips are still in sync with the lyrics. 

Camera movements/ Camera Angles and Shot Types

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKSRyLdjsPA

This song is a great example for camera movements as there is rarely a cut in this music video. The majority of it is one fluid camera movement, where the camera follows the main dancer. It sometimes "passes through walls" and is never 100% static. If it appears to be you can see when looking closely that it is handheld as there is slight movement. Zooms, cranes, pans and tracking shots are all used in this music video. 2:30-3:10 is a good example of the one fluid camera movement without cuts.

With the aid of these camera movements this music video constantly transitions from close ups to wide shots (2:45-2:50). Low angle shots (at 0:50 for example) are used when showing the main dancer (the one who empowers the others around her), which helps show that she is the strong character in the music video. In contrast to this high angle shots are used when filming the other dancers who are "weaker" than the protagonist (for example at 1:00).

Mise-en-scene

For this music video it was very important to create a believable environment, and this was achieved through mise-en-scene. From the blackboard, cigar and the fight ring itself everything together conveys what people would expect a fight club to look like. The clothes also fit the setting, the man smoking the cigar is clearly identifiable as the gang leader. The lighting is dark and dingy in the "dungeon" and around the ring, the colours are mostly dull and muted showing that this isn't a pleasant place. The only thing that seems out of place are the teddy bears fighting, as it is a large juxtaposition but then that is the point of the video.