Conventions Of Music Videos

In Sum 41's 'In To Deep' the band members go to a diving competition at their local diving centre. The characters encounter rival divers and the competition begins. The music video seems to cut from performance to narrative on occasions. The rival divers get high scores for their dives and Sum 41 get lower scores. On the final dives a fan of Sum 41 distracts the rival diver. Meaning he gets a low score. Sum 41 then beat the rival divers. A lot of the shots in this music video are long or medium, so that the audience can understand the setting and see the amount of fans that feature in the video. Some shots of the characters in the air after attempting to dive are close ups on their faces to add more comedy to the video.

I believe the music video is targeted at teens and maybe older. There are not many transitions in this video they are just simple cuts. I believe that this video is narrative based but also features some performance. The mise-en-scene of the video is people having a good time in the summer, at a pool, even though they are 'In To Deep' The bright, clear blue skies reflect the weather and the atmosphere of the video.

The director of the music video has used comedy to make the audience enjoy the video more. Without the comedy values of this film, the content would just be people diving. The meaning of this song and music video is that when you're in 'deep' trouble you need to look on the brighter side of things.

''Cause I'm in too deep, and I'm trying to keep, Up above in my head, instead of going under'', these lyrics are metaphorically show when the characters dive in to the deep water in an amusing way and then swim to the top of the water. These lyrics mean that if their is a problem you should let it go other your head.

In Blink-182's Concept/ Performance based music video of 'All The Small Things' the band does parodies of other artists. They parody artists from Britney Spears to Westlife. The band wanted to make a music video that made fun of pop music and boy bands. This music video has reached up to 41,746,000 and counting views on youtube. The transitions in this music video are different from the ones in the 'In To Dee' video. In this music video there are a lot of jump cuts and fade tansitions. This reflects the pase of the song. Comedy music videos seem to be very common with Blink-182 and they are well known for them.

This music video is aimed at teens and older. This is because it has content that may be inappropriate for a younger audience. Almost all the shots are very similar to the shots of the music videos that they parodying. There are plenty of long shots to show them performing also. There is no real narrative to this music video, it is mainly just a concept. The settings of the music video is at a beach and an airport. These types of settings have been used in regular boy band video.




In Timbaland and OneRepublic's music video for their song 'Apologize' they perform in a studio. The majority of the music video is performance based, with small narrative scenes that fade in every so often. The short narrative reflects the lyrics. The setting of the narrative is a new years party and the character ends up getting kissed by a girl infront of the girl he who I presume he likes. The other girl then disapears from the party, leaving him with no one to kiss at mid-night. The moral of the song and video is, that somethings you can't apologize for.

The shots of the performers in the studio show the audience how well they perform in that environment. There are various close ups, mid-shots and long shots which shows the their performance. Fades in and out give off the effect that the singer is telling a story about what has happened to him. I believe the song and music video is aimed at all ages but the narrative content could apply to young adults and older. The clock counting down and the calenders help the audience understand what the setting is. At the end of the video the singer looks away from the camera and the shot fades to black, this may be to show that it is something he regrets.

Mise-en-Scene

Mise-en scene is a metaphor within film, television and music videos that reflect the meaning of the song. The characters, the setting, the type of shot all tell the story themselves, with or without narrative. Music videos are different from film as the story is not told by speech but by song, so the mise-en-scene is very important.

Shots, Transitions and Editing

The different shots and transitions depend on the tempo of the song and content. Short shots and quick transitions are used in upbeat music videos whereas lengthy shots and slow transitions are used in quite slow music videos. Transitions in music videos as well as films and programs are used to show the setting/character from a different angle with a cut or even show something that happening later on in the narrative with a fade or jump cut. Cuts are also used in performance/narrative based music videos to show both the performance and story simultaneously.

Music Video Techniques

When making a music video the director and producer have to figure out how they can make a video that will appeal to the target audience. Some music videos contain aspects of comedy whereas in some other cases they try to shock audiences to make it more memorable for the audience. Some artists use the music videos to show off their beauty, making them style icons.

Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin is a Musical Theorist from Australia who has created a theory about music videos. This theory contains six aspects.

The Six Aspects of a music Video:

• A music video often has a relationship with the lyrics; either illustrating or contradicting it.
• A music video content also has a relationship with the music; either illustrating or contradicting it
• Different genres of music have their own styles of music videos.
• Music videos with females in them attract more of an audience
• There is usually an intertextual reference
• There is a demand by large record labels to use a lot of close ups

Genre

The genre of the music video usually reflects the genre of the song. Rock and metal music often have performance based videos, sometimes in surreal environments. Sometimes these music videos are live and give the audience more of an idea of what the performer(s) are like live. Pop and RnB music videos usually contain dancers and the narratives often related to the song. Upbeat songs have quicker cuts whereas slower songs have lengthy shots with fade transitions. Most people believe that rap music videos contain drugs, sex and violence. This is a stereotypical view on Rap music videos as some videos contain family problems and love.

Intertextual reference

An intertextual reference within music videos is where the content refers to another media text. Some music videos parody others which are intertextual references. Other music videos contain themes similar to well known movies or television programs. Sometimes the videos touch on current issues that are effected people around the world.




In Anti-Flag's The Press Corpse performance based music video they show clips of events happening across the USA and they sing about how the government don't do anything about it and cover it up. This type of music video is very common with Punk Bands. They are very rebellious and sometimes outrageous to get their point across.




Michael Jackson's Thriller was brought out in 1983 and became very popular due his famous music video. The video starts off very similar to a film and as Michael Jackson changes into a monster the song begins and he begins to dance along with backing dancers who are dressed as 'zombies'. The zombie and monster style of movie has become very popular within the last 40 years. It was especially popular in the 80's as plenty of feature length films were released. Even today this genre of film is very popular and so is this music video.

Voyeurism

Voyeurism has become very popular within the music video industry. In most music videos today women are portrayed as stronger than men and control them. In many of these videos there are women that are either half naked or are showing a lot of skin, this adds sex appeal which largely appeals to males. Some people believe this is degrading for women but some believe it shows how powerful women are. Sometimes these videos are inappropriate for younger audiences.

History

In 1902 a man called Leon Gaumont from France took a chronophone sound recording and synchronised it with a chronograph of man lip singing the song. This was called a 'Phonoscene', the first music video. Many years later in 1926 'talkies' were introduced. This was very similar to the music videos you see today. It was simply a band or singer performing. Four years later in 1930 'Shorts' were introduced. These videos were six minutes and showed a performer performing along with some simple animation. Sometimes the video would have the lyrics bellow. These lyric animations are used in traditional karaoke and sing along films.

                                                  

Disney's 'Fantasia' was the first long music based film and can be considered to be a music video. This film contained classical music and had various cartoon stories to go with it. This may have been done to appeal to a young audience. A few years later 'Soundies' were introduced. These short music videos were put in intervals between films. They were just simply jazz musicians performing on the screen in which the film was on while there was an interval. In the 1960's, music companies across the world were using similar techniques to Leon Gaumont by recording the singers sing in a recording studio and then filmed them lip singing in different location to make the video somewhat interesting. 

In the 1967 promotional music videos grew in popularity. This meant the video would contain clips from the programme or film they were trying to promote.Then in the late 1970's music video based television channels were introduced. This helped advertise singers and bands. Twenty years later and the music video industry had grown so popular that producers had to introduce new ways to beat the competition. The tried to get high quality equipment to make their video the best. In my opinion this makes it seem like the music video is just as important as the actual song. Millions of pounds/dollars would be spent on making the music video to a high standard. 

In 2005 YouTube was launched which made it easier for audiences to find their favourite music videos. At the present time social networks help fan share music videos with friends, meaning the song becomes more advertised. Music videos can also be sold along side music on some handheld devices.    

Music Videos over the years have become more outrageous and sometimes contain themes of sexual nature. This means that the music video would have to be censored and sometimes be aloud to be shown at a later time. In my opinion I believe that it is a bad idea to add content that can be considered offencive as it limits the audience and can look badly on the singer(s) or band. 

Music Video Styles

Performance

A performance based music video is simply a video that shows the band or singer(s) performing. Some performances are set on stage and may be in front of a live audience. In other cases the it is set in a surreal location.





In Linkin Park's 'Bleed It Out' music video, the band performs live in front of a audience. In some music videos the audio is not live and is edited to make it sound better. Linkin Park also have a a performance/concept based music video for this song, which is not live. When you compare the two, the audio is uncanny. The live performance encourages the audience  to buy tickets to see them, as it shows how much the audience is enjoying the concert. Performance based music videos keep the audience concentrated on the music rather than the content, but at the same time makes the viewers want to watch.


Narrative




A narrative music video is where the video tells a story along with the song. Sometimes the narrative is nothing to do with the song. In the music video bellow the song is called learn to fly. The narrative is about a plain journey, relating to the song 'Learn To Fly'.




In Tenacious D's 'Tribute' music video, the narrative is actually telling the story of the song. In some narrative music videos they add comedy to their content to make it more memorable. This video is also performance based.



The story in this music video is about a girl who has a problem with drugs. As the narrative goes on we find out about her and her problems. In narrative based videos, it seems common that the band or singer(s) preforms. In this music video there are cuts from performance to narrative. This is quite common in music videos. It makes the music video more interesting and some what relateable.

Concept

Concept music videos contain content that could be loosely related to the song or not related at all.



In this well known music video the band members are dancing on treadmills. This was never done before and inspired many others to do the same. The video is nothing to do with the song but the dancing goes along to the song. OK Go are known for their 'new style' music videos.



In 'This Too Shall Pass' they have created a domino effect using loads of different items. Domino video have become very popular throughout the years.



In Weezer's 'Pork and Beans' it features various people form YouTube. As YouTube has become so big, bringing people from the website on to the video will appeal to a bigger audience. This music video also promotes the YouTuber.

Purposes Of Music Videos

Music videos are a good way to promote an artist(s) song and also can promote a film when the music video features clips from a film. A music video is also used as an extension of income. The music Video can be put on a music channel meaning the audience is more likely to hear it and then buy the actual song. In some cases people are able to buy the music video for a portable device. A music video can also be watched on social networking and You tube.
Big labels are able to create high budget videos, meaning the song would be more likely to get sales than songs that don't have music videos. Smaller labels are not able to make high budget music videos but this doesn't mean the video doesn't become as popular. Some bands or singers use the videos to promote not only there songs but over issues such as world crisis and bullying. New artists try to produce unique music videos to go with their music to advertise themselves.



In the music video of Rise Against 'Give It All' (above) it shows activists vandalising parts of a town to express how they feel about issues around the world. This brings up issues of war, obesity and animal cruelty. This music video is both narrative and performance based.





In 30 Seconds To Mars 'Closer To The Edge' it features video from their live tours. This obviously, not only promotes there music but it also encourages people to buy tickets to go and see them. This video also lets the bands fans express their opinions and share their problems.





In this performance based video clips from the film Spiderman are shown. This music video not only promotes the song but it promotes the film also. This song was played in the credits at the end of the film.

Due to MTV in the 1980's music videos became very popular and made the the music video industry expand. Today more television channels, dedicated to music video have cropped up such as Kerrang and 4 Music. Music videos on You tube have become very popular also, gaining some of the most views and 'likes'.


In this music video they make a character that would make the video more memorable, then in turn making the song more memorable. In some music videos they use outrageous content to attract more attention. This could come off in either a good or bad way.

Introduction

A music video is a short story or a video of a musician(s) performing. Music videos are used to promote the music and make the song more memorable. In some cases the video is a part of a film, the music then promotes the film. A music video can come under three different categories performance, narrative and concept. Record labels spend millions of pound or dollars on making a music video for just one song, believing that it will contribute towards the song's profit.