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At the start of my Advanced Portfolio before any planning for my music video began, I researched into existing music videos to explore the main conventions that seemed to appear regularly in this form using YouTube, Vevo and Music Channels on Sky TV such has channel 365, 371 and 385. I then moved on to deciding on a chosen genre and limited my search of music videos to my chosen genre areas of Hip/Hop - Rap. I did this to give myself a better understanding of the formal conventions that would be expected to be seen in my music video that would be illustrating a song from this particular genre of music. The existing media texts that I looked at for this, to name just a few was: Rihanna - Stay, Beyonce - Broken Hearted Girl. I looked at these in depth, analysing the full videos and highlighting the connotations of the denotations used throughout including cinematography, editing, mise en scene and sound.
From these videos and other videos of male artists such as Kid Cudi and Kanye West that I watched to form my research, I put together an overall idea of the formal conventions of a music video as seen below.
This was a starting point for me to learn and understand the conventions that I needed to know to recreate my own music video. After getting a clear understanding of the formal conventions I then began to expand on my research and learnt that music videos follow codes and conventions to make them recognizable to their target audience in terms of form. Depending on the genre, different conventions are highlighted more than others as their targets may be different as to what they want to achieve and gain from the video. For example demographics such as age and social status will effect how explicit the content of a video can be as well as different psycho-graphic such as fashion, aiming at whats popular at that time. The conventions of form relates well with the stereotypes of specific genres as it creates a type of structure that makes it understandable to the audience of what they should expect to see in different types of music videos.
I discovered the convention styles of a music video, those being Performance, Narrative and Abstract which help to vary music videos as well as the genre. Performance is used predominantly as a promotional purpose for the artist as it clearly shows the artist doing their 'main' job in music. This style is seen commonly with indie artists as it shows them alongside their instruments that they perform with but can be seen included in other genres alternated with other styles. It gives the video a more personal touch with the audience as they're not hidden away behind major editing and production. My music video shows incorporation of performance in terms of dancing and singing as this was a convention found in my research that was seen over and over again in videos belonging to my chosen genre.
In relation to the theory of 'The Male Gaze' - Laura Mulvey, female artists use this style to their advantage by dancing, sometimes provocatively to gain males attention even if their lyrics aim more towards a female audience. This element is hugely seen within my genre, seeing woman presented as nothing but objects for the males. To show this convention I purposely included a mannequin doll into my music video and used a tilt shot to show the full silhouette of a female body. The reason I didn't use an actual female for this shot was to reinforce the idea of woman being objects used for their female aspects and not their personalities, this being exactly what the mannequin shows.
I looked at an example of a performance based video to help see how existing products based on this style presented their expected conventions as well as to show links between the videos found based on one style compared to videos belonging to artists of different genres that incorporate aspects of other styles just like Hip - Hop/Rap. The video I looked at was 'Passenger - Let Her Go' which I felt was a very good example as it highlights the artist singing and playing his instrument thoroughly throughout. I then compared it to elements of performance in the music video to the song I was recreating to see how the conventions relate.
I next looked closely at the Narrative style of music videos to again understand how music videos can be presented in different ways based on genre and artists ideology. I discovered that Narrative is more for promotion of song as well as the artist as it keeps the audience entertained through the use of a story or situation that they can relate too whilst making the song memorable. Emotion felt by the viewer is increasingly higher in narrative style videos as they can not only relate through lyrics but see it first hand in the video too. In the genre I have chosen there is not commonly a visual story to be seen, it is the lyrics that tell a story of the certain actions being presented by the artist at different points of the video. This challenges the conventions for this individual style but is commonly expected from my genre. To show this in my video the lyrics play a big role in illustrating the shots I have captured. Examples of this include: Lyrics sung "I Can't stand the times I'm alone at night" this is illustrated with an image of my artist wearing a watch to represent the time.
Another example is when the lyrics "I'm too busy texting you on my phone" is sang which is then illustrated with two shots with a fade transition of a mobile phone being used.
Although it isn't a narrative in terms of what would be expected from a film there is still a story being told and this way of presenting the style is incorporated regularly into videos from my genre.This feature of a story being told also excites the viewer and makes them want to watch the video right until the end to find out what happens just 'like' in a film. This allows the song to be fully listened too as well which could possibly change peoples opinion on it if they have only heard snippets of it through other forms of media such as the radio or a TV advert. Artists have also began adding spoken speech to their music videos to help tell the story and make it clear to the viewer what the video is about. This relates even more to styles of films such as musicals, for example 'Singing In The Rain', although artists are incorporating new ideas to music videos in this day and age some are also reinforcing old aspects that highlights the very start of music videos as a whole. A good example that I found for Narrative was 'Katy Perry - The One That Got Away', as it shows a clear story being told which is full of emotion containing a beginning, middle and end.
Finally I explored abstract, the last style for a music video and the style of mine overall. Abstract is a style of music video found commonly in less mainstream videos. It is a style used to evoke feelings or the mood to give more of an impression about what the songs about rather than a clear understandable story. Sometimes in an abstract music video it is hard to make a link between what is happening and what the lyrics are saying but it is the use of edits working with the beat of the song that brings the two together. This is known as Rhythmic editing, a convention seen in almost every music video not just those in my genre. This convention is seen in my music video as each shot changes on beat to the music to link the forms of media together and make the continuity a lot smoother in transition. The abstract style makes your emotions and thoughts about both the lyrics and the song constantly change throughout and is more creative that of the other two styles of videos. Watching music videos, 'Dan Black ft Kid Cudi - Sympohnies', in particular created lots of ideas to how I wanted to present my video now knowing and understanding the expected conventions of all the Styles used in this form of media and how they are combined for my genre in particular.
My music video is presented in an abstract style with incorporation of performance and some use of narration features. It is appears very simply put together but with numerous amounts of edits, cuts and different types of shots it brings confusion and travel without even moving out of one main location. As abstract is the main style in my music video the many shots each have their own meaning for the overall piece that may not be straight away clear to the audience. The main focus was to present the confusion and sadness being felt in my artists emotion from missing his girlfriend using galaxy themed images and various flashing light overlays which also indicate the distance and reinforces the song title, in particular the word 'Teleport'. A black and white effect has been used when showing shots of the female, their to indicate his girlfriend and represent not only them being apart but also how the memories my artist has of spending time with his girlfriend seem to be fading because of how hard it is not be with her.
When researching my genre I focused a lot on the Cinematography, editing, mise en scene and sound to allow me to really focus on all the little details of everything that is put in to the making of this form. Cinematography along with editing is very important in bringing variation to music videos not only in different genres but the same video ideology too. An idea for a music video could be created and each moment could run in the exact same order and have the exact same mise en scene and sound but the way it is captured in terms of shots, angles and camera movement can differentiate it all as a whole. Establishing shots are used for when a new location is being introduced, giving the viewer an idea of the genre they are watching. In my video I have done this by presenting a shot as far out as I could get to fit in as much of the new location as possible and then a zoom is used to focus on the action. Some of my shots are repeated so an establishing shot doesn't need to be shown again as the audience already know were the action is taking place as it was previously zoomed in on before it began.
The artists face is presented through medium close ups, close ups and extreme close ups and is a good way of expressing emotion bringing the correct mood and feelings to the audience. My artists face expresses sadness to match with the lyrics being sang expressing how he feels about being separated from his girlfriend. There is also a shot captured at the same angle as a facial shot but this time based as an over the shoulder shot which shows my artist hitting the wall expressing his anger.
The camera shots are very calm and focused on the artist during the verses working slowly and parallel to each other, but then becomes much more creative and fast editing when the chorus singing the phrase 'Teleport 2 Me' is introduced. Rotations, fades and overlays bring speed to the clip expressing the movement that Kid Cudi wants to achieve as well as continuity for the video as a whole. From extreme close ups to extreme long shots they quickly alternate between different distances to show emotion and create character in sync with the music and beat of the song. Eye level angles in music videos show the audience the view they are used to seeing things. This is good as it helps to connect the audience with the artist but too much of this style can be boring so high and low angles are also used to bring excitement to the piece. In my video I have used eye level shots during the chorus which lasts almost 20 seconds, to avoid the shots being boring for my audience I have captured them from different angles and made them cut fast from one shot to another which also expresses the feelings being felt by my artist. In terms of rule of thirds my artist is positioned to the left challenging conventions of main artists being place central in the frame. As my artist is the only character in the shot, this is not such a big deal and as the shots change so quick and have been captured from different angles the positioning of my artist does vary making it an interesting sequence, much more effective than him being central throughout.
Depth of field is used to create focus on a different object in some shots, one being when my artist is holding the lights in front of the camera. His face is blurred so you know that it is him but the movement of his hands and the fact they are the objects in focus indicates that what he is singing about and what he wants is not in his control. Instruments and a musician can be seen alongside Kid Cudi too linking it back to the reason as why he is away from his girlfriend and the performance aspect. He is on tour producing his music and the simple appearance of one of his musicians reinforces to the audience that this is the reason why he wants his girlfriend to teleport to him because he can not be in both places at once.
In music videos different angles also show the different balances in power which helps persuade the audience into whose side they should be on in a narrative style video where there is a protagonist and an antagonist. Dutch angles are commonly used in music videos, especially abstract as it adds creativeness and makes it a bit unusual. It could also be used to show the way someone is feeling in the effect of an illness or drug use which is seen in a more explicit video for older viewers. This shot is seen to express my artists unsteady emotion, he is out doing the job he loves putting him on an emotional high but the separation from the one he loves unbalances him and drags him down making it a constant battle with his emotions.
To make the artists look attractive for more promotional purposes a birds eye view is used as it is much more flattering than a horizontal angle. Since we live in a world where 'appearance is key' it is important that artist portrays themselves in the most attractive way possible not just for male attention but female views too. You could say I challenge this aspect by using the shot for a different purpose when presenting the time on my artists watch..
Journeys both emotionally and physically are seen in music videos and camera movements such as tracking and pans help to give this sense of the audience being a part of it all. It helps to bring continuity as well as reflecting the mood and tone that the artist wants to put out to their fans. Edits to the beat of the song is the most common convention of form as no matter what the genre it is still an effect that can be noticed. Transitions of fades are a very common convention for music videos as well as straight cuts when the music is up beat. As my song is based on emotion I chose to go with fades for the transition effects which was a choice seen in the music videos I looked at in depth at the start by Rihanna and Beyonce as they were based on emotion too. Other effects such as black and white, sepia or various different colours help to express not only the era but the mood too as different colours connote different meanings that could link to the feelings of the artist. This can help make an artist stand out, making them appear unique and different which will work to helping gain popularity for the song.I have used colour effects in my song which link to many various reasons. As mentioned in discussion about the last angle that I have incorporated into my music video, the bright colored lighting in my video presents Kid Cudis lifestyle of performing in large concerts and the high emotion Cudi feels when doing his job on the other hand the black and white effect seen when presenting his girlfriend shows the low he feels as they are together. It also presents the distance and the faded memories as they have been apart for so long.
Sound is a big importance of a music video, without it there would be no music so it will lose its whole meaning. The sound can be either non-diegetic, diegetic or a combination of both. It works parallel with the editing, meaning if the video is fast so will be the song, if the songs slow then so will be the video. Props are most often used in videos to connect the artist with the mise en scene of location making it more realistic to the viewers. The video is made more enjoyable to watch by this convention as is it can help to tell the story, spread a message or add a comical value.For the speed aspect of the song in my video, I have changed not only the speed of certain shots making some slower and some faster but I have also changed how fast the shots change too. I have done this as throughout the song the speed of the music changes so to keep the rhythmic editing conventional I have changed the shots to match the beat in particular for the chorus as everything gets much faster conventionally in all music videos. It also helps to express emotion too sometimes anger can be sped up to show how the character is feeling inside but it can also be slowed down to show the emotion in more detail to the audience which can be seen at certain points of my video.
The key iconic features of this video that makes it work so well is the editing and cinematography. Various coloured lights have been incorporated throughout along with graphics of stars and space to reinforce teleportation. Rotations, overlays, multiple imagery, long shots to close ups all help to build excitement continuously throughout and edited explosions shown through establishing shots and extreme long shots makes it forever entertaining for the audience. It contains the most simple mise en scene, that being an empty room and a bed, but its along with the edits that makes it so unusual and intriguing to the viewer making you not want to stop watching.
In relation to the theory of 'The Male Gaze' - Laura Mulvey, female artists use this style to their advantage by dancing, sometimes provocatively to gain males attention even if their lyrics aim more towards a female audience. This element is hugely seen within my genre, seeing woman presented as nothing but objects for the males. To show this convention I purposely included a mannequin doll into my music video and used a tilt shot to show the full silhouette of a female body. The reason I didn't use an actual female for this shot was to reinforce the idea of woman being objects used for their female aspects and not their personalities, this being exactly what the mannequin shows.
I looked at an example of a performance based video to help see how existing products based on this style presented their expected conventions as well as to show links between the videos found based on one style compared to videos belonging to artists of different genres that incorporate aspects of other styles just like Hip - Hop/Rap. The video I looked at was 'Passenger - Let Her Go' which I felt was a very good example as it highlights the artist singing and playing his instrument thoroughly throughout. I then compared it to elements of performance in the music video to the song I was recreating to see how the conventions relate.
Although different styled videos, the points of performance in the original 'Kid Cudi - Teleport to me' shows almost identical aspects to that of 'Passengers - Let Her Go' as you are shown the artists singing and playing the guitar as well as their band playing other instruments too. The way you can identify the difference in the overall main styles of the video is based on the mise en scene. Passenger, a performance based video is very stripped back and the shots are based on real time performances were as Kid Cudi's video is overall abstract so you still have that set up feel in the mise en scene in a set filled with a fairy lights set out in a particular way. This combination of styles challenge the conventions of the overall Performance aspect of a video which is just what I have done in my music video in order to match my genre. My song is not mainstream and wouldn't be heard regularly on the radio which instantly relates to the abstract styling that I will go on to discuss later. Sometimes with an abstract style it is hard to relate the song lyrics to what is happening in the music video and the performance aspect incorporated in my video of my artist singing and dancing confirms this convention as its not a part that is mentioned in the lyrics. As well as this it also challenges the conventions of Performance as its been set up purposely for the video rather than from an actual gig or concert performed by my artist but it matches the expected conventions for videos belonging to my genre who purposely go against the expectations to make them individual and stand out.
I next looked closely at the Narrative style of music videos to again understand how music videos can be presented in different ways based on genre and artists ideology. I discovered that Narrative is more for promotion of song as well as the artist as it keeps the audience entertained through the use of a story or situation that they can relate too whilst making the song memorable. Emotion felt by the viewer is increasingly higher in narrative style videos as they can not only relate through lyrics but see it first hand in the video too. In the genre I have chosen there is not commonly a visual story to be seen, it is the lyrics that tell a story of the certain actions being presented by the artist at different points of the video. This challenges the conventions for this individual style but is commonly expected from my genre. To show this in my video the lyrics play a big role in illustrating the shots I have captured. Examples of this include: Lyrics sung "I Can't stand the times I'm alone at night" this is illustrated with an image of my artist wearing a watch to represent the time.
Another example is when the lyrics "I'm too busy texting you on my phone" is sang which is then illustrated with two shots with a fade transition of a mobile phone being used.
Although it isn't a narrative in terms of what would be expected from a film there is still a story being told and this way of presenting the style is incorporated regularly into videos from my genre.This feature of a story being told also excites the viewer and makes them want to watch the video right until the end to find out what happens just 'like' in a film. This allows the song to be fully listened too as well which could possibly change peoples opinion on it if they have only heard snippets of it through other forms of media such as the radio or a TV advert. Artists have also began adding spoken speech to their music videos to help tell the story and make it clear to the viewer what the video is about. This relates even more to styles of films such as musicals, for example 'Singing In The Rain', although artists are incorporating new ideas to music videos in this day and age some are also reinforcing old aspects that highlights the very start of music videos as a whole. A good example that I found for Narrative was 'Katy Perry - The One That Got Away', as it shows a clear story being told which is full of emotion containing a beginning, middle and end.
Finally I explored abstract, the last style for a music video and the style of mine overall. Abstract is a style of music video found commonly in less mainstream videos. It is a style used to evoke feelings or the mood to give more of an impression about what the songs about rather than a clear understandable story. Sometimes in an abstract music video it is hard to make a link between what is happening and what the lyrics are saying but it is the use of edits working with the beat of the song that brings the two together. This is known as Rhythmic editing, a convention seen in almost every music video not just those in my genre. This convention is seen in my music video as each shot changes on beat to the music to link the forms of media together and make the continuity a lot smoother in transition. The abstract style makes your emotions and thoughts about both the lyrics and the song constantly change throughout and is more creative that of the other two styles of videos. Watching music videos, 'Dan Black ft Kid Cudi - Sympohnies', in particular created lots of ideas to how I wanted to present my video now knowing and understanding the expected conventions of all the Styles used in this form of media and how they are combined for my genre in particular.
My music video is presented in an abstract style with incorporation of performance and some use of narration features. It is appears very simply put together but with numerous amounts of edits, cuts and different types of shots it brings confusion and travel without even moving out of one main location. As abstract is the main style in my music video the many shots each have their own meaning for the overall piece that may not be straight away clear to the audience. The main focus was to present the confusion and sadness being felt in my artists emotion from missing his girlfriend using galaxy themed images and various flashing light overlays which also indicate the distance and reinforces the song title, in particular the word 'Teleport'. A black and white effect has been used when showing shots of the female, their to indicate his girlfriend and represent not only them being apart but also how the memories my artist has of spending time with his girlfriend seem to be fading because of how hard it is not be with her.
The artists face is presented through medium close ups, close ups and extreme close ups and is a good way of expressing emotion bringing the correct mood and feelings to the audience. My artists face expresses sadness to match with the lyrics being sang expressing how he feels about being separated from his girlfriend. There is also a shot captured at the same angle as a facial shot but this time based as an over the shoulder shot which shows my artist hitting the wall expressing his anger.
The camera shots are very calm and focused on the artist during the verses working slowly and parallel to each other, but then becomes much more creative and fast editing when the chorus singing the phrase 'Teleport 2 Me' is introduced. Rotations, fades and overlays bring speed to the clip expressing the movement that Kid Cudi wants to achieve as well as continuity for the video as a whole. From extreme close ups to extreme long shots they quickly alternate between different distances to show emotion and create character in sync with the music and beat of the song. Eye level angles in music videos show the audience the view they are used to seeing things. This is good as it helps to connect the audience with the artist but too much of this style can be boring so high and low angles are also used to bring excitement to the piece. In my video I have used eye level shots during the chorus which lasts almost 20 seconds, to avoid the shots being boring for my audience I have captured them from different angles and made them cut fast from one shot to another which also expresses the feelings being felt by my artist. In terms of rule of thirds my artist is positioned to the left challenging conventions of main artists being place central in the frame. As my artist is the only character in the shot, this is not such a big deal and as the shots change so quick and have been captured from different angles the positioning of my artist does vary making it an interesting sequence, much more effective than him being central throughout.
In music videos different angles also show the different balances in power which helps persuade the audience into whose side they should be on in a narrative style video where there is a protagonist and an antagonist. Dutch angles are commonly used in music videos, especially abstract as it adds creativeness and makes it a bit unusual. It could also be used to show the way someone is feeling in the effect of an illness or drug use which is seen in a more explicit video for older viewers. This shot is seen to express my artists unsteady emotion, he is out doing the job he loves putting him on an emotional high but the separation from the one he loves unbalances him and drags him down making it a constant battle with his emotions.
To make the artists look attractive for more promotional purposes a birds eye view is used as it is much more flattering than a horizontal angle. Since we live in a world where 'appearance is key' it is important that artist portrays themselves in the most attractive way possible not just for male attention but female views too. You could say I challenge this aspect by using the shot for a different purpose when presenting the time on my artists watch..
Journeys both emotionally and physically are seen in music videos and camera movements such as tracking and pans help to give this sense of the audience being a part of it all. It helps to bring continuity as well as reflecting the mood and tone that the artist wants to put out to their fans. Edits to the beat of the song is the most common convention of form as no matter what the genre it is still an effect that can be noticed. Transitions of fades are a very common convention for music videos as well as straight cuts when the music is up beat. As my song is based on emotion I chose to go with fades for the transition effects which was a choice seen in the music videos I looked at in depth at the start by Rihanna and Beyonce as they were based on emotion too. Other effects such as black and white, sepia or various different colours help to express not only the era but the mood too as different colours connote different meanings that could link to the feelings of the artist. This can help make an artist stand out, making them appear unique and different which will work to helping gain popularity for the song.I have used colour effects in my song which link to many various reasons. As mentioned in discussion about the last angle that I have incorporated into my music video, the bright colored lighting in my video presents Kid Cudis lifestyle of performing in large concerts and the high emotion Cudi feels when doing his job on the other hand the black and white effect seen when presenting his girlfriend shows the low he feels as they are together. It also presents the distance and the faded memories as they have been apart for so long.
Sound is a big importance of a music video, without it there would be no music so it will lose its whole meaning. The sound can be either non-diegetic, diegetic or a combination of both. It works parallel with the editing, meaning if the video is fast so will be the song, if the songs slow then so will be the video. Props are most often used in videos to connect the artist with the mise en scene of location making it more realistic to the viewers. The video is made more enjoyable to watch by this convention as is it can help to tell the story, spread a message or add a comical value.For the speed aspect of the song in my video, I have changed not only the speed of certain shots making some slower and some faster but I have also changed how fast the shots change too. I have done this as throughout the song the speed of the music changes so to keep the rhythmic editing conventional I have changed the shots to match the beat in particular for the chorus as everything gets much faster conventionally in all music videos. It also helps to express emotion too sometimes anger can be sped up to show how the character is feeling inside but it can also be slowed down to show the emotion in more detail to the audience which can be seen at certain points of my video.
Kid Cudi incorporates some basic dance moves in the video that matches the beat of the song interacting them both together as one. Not only this, you can see a story being told flashing lights and a smoke effect are shown as a reference to him telelporting to his girlfriend. This shows a link between the styles of both narrative and performance which is a key feature of helping make the artist stand out to the audience.
Finally Mise En Scene in relation to costume is important for self promotion of an artist in relation to their genres stereotype. It can help to explain a narrative or reflect the character or role they are trying to represent. The more outrageous an outfit the more it will be talked about gaining popularity for the song, Lady Gaga being a good example. The more realistic an outfit the more stylized the artist will become as it will make them a style icon for audiences who want to match the style and be just like them.This works particularly well for females in terms of hair styles and makeup which will undoubtedly be mentioned in the next issue of popular fashion magazines, gaining popularity for an artist once again. Kid Cudi is known to be effortlessly stylish, wearing items from high end labels but they look very affordable to his audience at the same time as he wants his ideology to be effectively stylised by his fans in relation to them being able to wear similar outfits. This can be seen in my artists costume as he wears basic casual clothing but with accessories such as a gold watch to still present the wealth. The song at the start discusses how my artist has just got in from the airport so you wouldn't expect to see him wearing a suit or anything fancy. My costume was chosen carefully to match my artists ideology alongside the lyrics in my video so that there is continuity for my artist as a whole. This alone will gain Kid Cudi popularity and iconography as he will not only be stylized through his music but his appearance too. This will move him from digital media to physical too, appearing regularly in magazines to show the latest purchases of clothes and accessories he has been buying to allow his audience to keep up to date.
It is clear to see straight from the start that the mise en scene in times of the location, links directly in with the song lyrics. The song title being Teleport 2 Me, shows travel through time without the form of transport, something that is not realistically possible in the day and age. The lights and graphics incorporated into the various locations for the video highlights the travel giving a space sense of feel. Different flashing lights throughout the video acts as a constant reinforcement of the song title as it is something that is thought of in relation to this unrealistic way of travel.
The key iconic features of this video that makes it work so well is the editing and cinematography. Various coloured lights have been incorporated throughout along with graphics of stars and space to reinforce teleportation. Rotations, overlays, multiple imagery, long shots to close ups all help to build excitement continuously throughout and edited explosions shown through establishing shots and extreme long shots makes it forever entertaining for the audience. It contains the most simple mise en scene, that being an empty room and a bed, but its along with the edits that makes it so unusual and intriguing to the viewer making you not want to stop watching.
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