There are many aspects that need to be thought about
when looking at a music video, everything that you can see needs to be planned precisely! When thinking about designing
my own music video I am going to have to think about the conventions that make
up a typical music video and all the aspects that make it successful. I will have to think about the camera
shots, camera movement, editing, post-production digital effects, lighting and mise-en-scene.
Camera Shots
In majority of music videos they will use dramatic close ups
of the artists, instruments, crowd members and/ or body parts such as their
lips to show singing. These closeups help to convey certain emotions within the song and establish who the main artist is. Often low angle shots are used to portray a
sense of power, strength and dominance of the artist, establishing shots are
used to show a new location or show an aspirational location which can also link
to the artists status, money and power. If an artist is on stage then aerial/
crane shots can be used to show a full view of them playing to and audience,
also helping the viewer to get a feel for the atmosphere, as if they are also there and being performed to. Direct address is commonly used; this breaks the
4th wall, allowing the audience to feel more personal with the
artists which connects the bond between them.
Camera Movement
When an artist is moving, whether it’s
running, walking or dancing, nearly always a pan, tilt or tracking shot is used.
This helps the audience to feel more involved in the action because they are
moving along with the artist. Crane shots are commonly used in a performance scene
because that way you are able to get a full overview of everything that’s
happening from the lead singer, other band members to the fans jumping around
enjoying their music. Quite often a handheld camera is used to create a more
personal effect for the video as if it’s a diary; the artist is letting you into
their personal life in a sort of video documentary style.
Editing
If the video is narrative, cross-cutting is used to switch between the
story line and the artist, this makes the
audience more involved and constantly wanting to know the next part of the
story line. It is not usual to have
continuity editing, it is often fast and structured, jumping back and forwards
in time using jump cuts, often involving some sort of montage or slow motion to
highlight key aspects of the video. Common for love songs are eye line matches,
showing the lovers looking into each other’s eye, conjuring emotion. The editing needs to be in time with the beat or rhythm of the music, to each
section of the song which helps the overall music video flow and work properly together. Graphic matches are also used in creative and quick editing to
portray the message of the song.
Post-production
Digital Effects
Lyrics will sometimes appear in a music video which can highlight key words or phrases that are an important part of the song's
message. CGI or green screens can be used to create an aspirational location
without the artist or band actually travelling, this can minimise cost and also increases options, creating new unique
videos. Colourisation can be used to create different scenes, to make the day
look sunnier, or mysterious and dark depending on the message the video wants
to portray. Lastly split screen can sometimes be used to display two different
scenes running alongside each other, often to show action, or a story being
told with the artist doing the story telling on one side and the actual story
being acted out on the other.
Lighting
High Key lighting is the most common among music videos to
enable the audience to see everything in the scene, nothing is hidden to help
them become more involved with the video and knowing their surroundings which
strengthens bond between artist and fan. Isolating spotlights can be used to
highlight a key band member or a key message to the story being told on screen,
whether it’s an object or an actor, it can highlight what the director wants
the audience to be focusing on. The lighting is always controlled and designed
around the song, so if it’s a happy, upbeat song the lighting will be bright
and sunny looking, whereas if it’s a slower, sad song the lighting could be
dark, moody and mysterious.
Mise-en-scene
The Mise-en-scene is used to express an artist’s glamorous
lifestyle, setting the video in aspirational locations which is always
influenced by the genre of the music. Elaborate costumes and dance routines are
created helping the video become more memorable and interesting, which can
build more of a hype to generate larger revenue. Music videos are often very theatrical to exaggerate the lifestyle of a music
artist, to also boost their profiles so that fans will want to aspire to be
like them.
Sexualisation of women
is often used; this is shown by the costumes and dance movements. The males
in the scene are usually dressed in casual attire themselves, whereas the women
may be wearing more elaborate clothing, or in some cases more body on display - they are very much designed as sex objects within a scene. However, recently
there has been a video that has gone against these conventions of sexualising
women. In this video it’s not representing the female generation as size 0, sex
objects, but an average working woman. Avicii ft. Nicki Romero- 'I Could Be The
One', tells a story of a larger women being down about her weight and
the drag of her typical 9-5 job, and in her dreams experiencing being happy
with the way she is in her dreams and ending with her quitting her job. It is
an empowering video going against the conventions, proving that normal people
can have fun and enjoy life, and it’s not all partying, bikinis, beaches and champagne
parties!
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