MUSIC VIDEO

CONVENTIONS
Sophie Boston G324
INTRODUCTION
What is the definition of a convention?
A way in which something is usually done: e.g. to attract the best patrons the movie
houses had to ape the conventions and the standards of theatres
Once a certain trend has been set, others of the same category will most likely
follow the trend, causing conventions, which works well for most businesses and
industries, whereas some find success when they break out of the typical
conventions.
Music videos, books and films in particularly vary on their conventions and this is
due to what genre they fall into e.g. a romantic comedy film will most likely have a
geeky boy who tries to get with the popular pretty girl, and disaster usually follows,
or a horror book may include a creepy abandoned house, torture, blood etc.
In music videos, artists can do pretty much what they want, and either follow or
break out of conventions of their genre. Theorists like Andrew Goodwin have
suggested some conventions of music videos.

ANDREW GOODWINS MUSIC
VIDEO CONVENTIONS
1. Matching the lyrics to the visuals i.e. is what we are hearing appearing on
the screen
2. Following the previous statement, do the visuals contradict the lyrics or vice
versa?
3. All music videos will have their own style and iconography, depending on
the artist. E.g. they will have something about that makes them stand out.
4. With female artists especially, there is likely to be sexualisation voyeurism
sex sells.
5. Most music videos will have close ups of the artist.
6. There is likely to be inter-textual references to another artist, song, film, etc
e.g. Black Widow by Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora is entirely based on Quentin
Taratinos Kill Bill
3 MAIN TYPES OF MUSIC
VIDEOS
Music videos typically consist of falling into one of the three following styles:

1. the video is entirely made up of a choreographed dance routine, or the video is
mainly the band performing on their instruments.
Examples: Single Ladies Beyonce, Chandelier Sia, and Nicki Minajs songs tend to also be
performance based.
2. Narrative- the music video makes up a story. Many of these narrative videos will have a prologue or
epilogue at the end, either to build tension or conclude the story. Many narrative videos will not tell the
viewers exactly what is happening to keep them in the dark and let them use their own imagination to think
what is happening.
Examples: You Belong With Me Taylor Swift, California Girls Katy Perry ft Snoop Dogg, Give Me
Love Ed Sheeran
3. Mixture a mixture of the two above combined. The majority may be a narrative based video but
certain scenes will cut back to a performance. Probably the most common style of music video.
Examples: Girlfriend Avril Lavigne, Bad Romance & Telephone Lady Gaga
PERFORMANCE
Bom Bom Sam and the Womp
Very bright,
colourful
backgrounds and
costumes
Unusual lighting
Bit mad, not a lot of
sense can be
made out of it
Lots of characters
and props
Repetition
Instruments
Editing e.g. two
frames in one shot,
hearts, lightning
bolts etc
NARRATIVE
Black Widow Iggy Azalea ft Rita Ora
Based on Tarantinos Kill
Bill intertextuality
Brand placement e.g.
Wicker and the HP tablet
Sexualisation of women
Prologue and epilogue
Action scenes
Themes of power, love,
revenge, gender roles
reversed
Oriental tints
Unrealistic editing e.g.
motorbikes, slash of the
sword


MIXTURE
Paparazzi Lady Gaga
Bright, bizarre costumes
Fluidity of movements
Editing jump cuts from
narrative to performance
Lots of characters
Themes of love, power,
revenge
Great choreography
Close ups
Exquisite settings
Colour/black and white
Brand placement e.g Mickey
Mouse
CONVENTIONS OF POP
MUSIC VIDEOS
Usually a performance based
style video
Bright lighting colours, usually
gender colours e.g. pink and
blue
Women are subtly sexualised
a lot, but men are more so in
pop.
Party props such as balloons,
streamers etc
Flawless artists auto tune
and Photoshop. Women seem
to be leading the pop music
industry.
Repetitive scenes
Close ups
Continuity editing but
sometimes jump cuts
Unrealistic settings
Lots of dancing
choreography
Link between visuals and
lyrics are often included
Themes revolve a lot around
love
Lots of makeup involved
Tints and filters to improve
colours
Sometimes there are quite
simple and repetitive lyrics



CONVENTIONS OF
INDIE/ALTERNATIVE MUSIC
VIDEOS
Usually either a narrative music video
or a mixture
Typically a band rather than a solo
artists
Filming locations include big cities at
night
Quite dark lighting and sometimes a
dark story plot
Will typically have a dramatic pause
halfway through the video
Editing will include continuity editing,
but also cuts from place to place as
well as filming some parts in black
and white
Less close ups and artists tend not to
look directly into camera
More casual clothing than superficial
pop clothing
Will typically have a prologue and
epilogue
Final scene will usually finish with a
fade out into black transition
Instruments will be filmed more than a
pop video, usually guitars
Whereas pops love theme is more
happy, indie/alternatives love theme
may be more sinister and serious
The lyrics arent always about love,
and not always about love between a
man and a woman
Travelling is usually involved
Sometimes the scene or plot might
not make sense, until the end or at all

CONVENTIONS OF HIP
HOP/RAP VIDEOS
Rapping is often the majority of
the song
Lyrics are often about money,
fame, sex, drugs
Usually a flash car is involved
Girls are very sexualised in these
videos
Often controversy about the
amount of black/white people
involved in the video
The rappers will typically have a
gold tooth or tattoos, baseball
jacket or cap
More performance based than
narrative
Close ups, panning movements,
establishing shots are common
Settings are usually an
expensive house or club location