Wednesday, 3 September 2014

Music Video Conventions

There are many different music video conventions which are;

1) Lip Synching- this is extremely important in all music videos because without it, it would mean that no body could understand the music and it would be confusing for the viewer. Perfect lip synching means the artists lips are moving exactly in time with the music. The correct way to produce this is by editing it exactly right. When someone watches a music video they want to be able to read their lips and connect with the words they are singing so therefore this has to be correct. Below are some images displaying different artists lip synching correctly.

 
2) Change of location and setting- Throughout the music video there should be a mixture of locations. The reason for this is because it makes it more interesting for the viewer to watch and it also adds to the narrative/concept. One example of this is One Directions music video, story of my life. This highlights the boys in a room looking at photos and then they move into a bigger place. Therefore the viewer is seeing different locations at different perspectives.

 
3) Performance- In order for a music video to be entertaining there needs to be good performance. This means the artist has to put emotion into the performance as well as make a connection with the viewer. Some artists tend to use dance routines whereas as others like to use arm gestures and facial expressions to perform to their song. This is an example from Miley Cyrus's video which displays them performing a dance.
 
 
4) Narrative/Concept- The music videos usually contain a story behind them which means them more interesting and the song more meaningful, however some just have a concept behind them but are slightly confusing to understand. In the Clean Bandit Rather Be video it is quite unusual however it still highlighting how she is watching something and would rather travel there so it displays her journey and makes the video that bit more entertaining.
 
 
5) Artist- the artist must also appear in the video. This is because the viewer wants to see who is singing and want to see what they look like. This also allows an artist to increase their fan base because people often are attracted to singers and enjoy going to see them in concerts etc so become more popular. This also allows the viewer to understand what they are listening to and enjoy watching the video. For example this is Sam Smith appearing in his video so people can feel that connection with the music.
 
 
 
They are the main conventions that have to be followed however they are also some more that help to make the music video better.
One of which is using a variety of shots of the artists to add to the story and also by changing costume if necessary. This is because it displays how the artist has thought about what the video is going to display and the change in costume highlights the different sections of the story.
Editing is also very important and everybody does this different however editing to the beats of the music is very effective. The reason for this is because you get to understand more of the tempo and rhythm of the video and are able to connect with the music more when watching.
Lighting is also very important as it can reflect the atmosphere of the video and make something seem happier or more sad and depressing.

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