One of the purposes of making a music video would be to create a visual for the song, this will increase its chances of sales. For example, the song Gangnam Style by PSY isn't much of a good song on it's own without the video. The video for the music video increased the song popularity because the video was so bizarre it got everyone talking about it. This lead to the song getting over 1 billion views on YouTube which got itself a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. If the song didn't get a music video added to it, it wouldn't be as popular as it is now.
Today, music videos have became very common in the music industry. This meaning that every song that makes it into the charts will have a music video because that's mainly what people look for now when it comes to music. The purpose of a music video would be to sell the song and to get a reaction in order for the viewers to remember the song. Another purpose would be to give the audience a better understanding of the song, this way it will give the audience a better idea of what the song is really about and will hopefully make them like the song more.
Also, a purpose would be to sell the an image of the artist. Artists will set a certain mood in their music videos and this will give the audience an idea of what the artist is like.
Music videos can also help to promote the band/artist. Some artists today are still remembered from years ago due to their music videos. For example, Thriller by Michael Jackson. That music video is still one of the most popular music videos today. Thriller was the first music video that was a short film which had a beginning, middle and end and was released in 1982.
The video made such an impact on the audience because it was the first of its existence. The video lasted 13 minutes and during that time there was a story told, a song and also a dance.
Codes & conventions are the different techniques used to construct the meaning in music videos. The reasons for codes & conventions is so the audience can become familiar with a particular genre as they get used to noticing the different conventions within a genre. This provides the structure that will help the audience understand. These techniques can be divided up into 2 sections; technical & symbolic.
Technical is how the meaning is conveyed by using different technical equipment. For example, the way the camera angles are used, sounds either non-diegetic or diegetic, style of editing, different types of shots, the pace and the genre. Which can easily change the mood of the video.
Symbolic techniques are the ways of showing meanings beyond what you can see. For example, facial expressions, poses, mise en scene and gestures. They will also analyse the colours used and the meaning behind them.
The conventions of a music video vary depending on the genre of the video. One of these include the style of music videos:
Narrative - A narrative music video is when it follows a story throughout the video. There are 2 different types of a narrative music video. There is Fragmented which is when the music video doesn't have a beginning, middle and end. There is also a Linear narrative which starts the story at the beginning and goes on to a middle and the ends at the end. An example of a linear narrative would be Sam Smith - I'm Not the Only One. This is a good example because it has a story that starts at the beginning and continues through out the music video until right at the end.
Cameo - A cameo style of a music video is when the band or artist features in the narrative but does not perform. An example of this would be Rihanna Feat. Drake - What's My Name? this is a good example because this is an example where both artists are featured in the narrative of the music video but they do not perform during the video.
Mixture - A mixture music video is a combination of the band/artist performing and also a narrative. This is very common in many music videos as it is hard to have a pure performance throughout the entire music video and it is also the same with narrative. By using both of these styles, the video can be made more interesting and enjoyable to watch. A good example for this would be Andy Jordan - Geography. In the music video you are able to see both performance and narrative.
Performance - Performance is when the music video mainly consists of the band or artist performing in the video. I found an example for this type of music video and it is Coldplay - Sky Full of Stars. I thought this was a good example because the video shows the artists continuously performing the song and there are no other scenes but the band performing. The style of this music video isn't as common as it used to be, this is because music videos that are mainly dedicated to performance are not that popular because the target audience would not be able to engage with the song/video.
Other conventions include: the camera, the editing techniques, the sound and mise en scene.
Camera - The way the camera is used is very important when producing a music video. It can create different effects by different angles and movements. In general, mostly every music video uses a different variety of camera shots, movements and angles to create different techniques and to make the video different to other music videos which will make it unique in its own way towards other music videos.
Music videos feature a varied number of shots for many different reasons. Perhaps to relate with the audience by expressiong thoughts and feelings but to also show the viewer what is happening during the music video.
The main shots you would normallysee in a music video inclue:
Very Wide Shot - This is when the artist is shown visible but the emphasis is still placing on the artists location/setting.
Music videos feature a varied number of shots for many different reasons. Perhaps to relate with the audience by expressiong thoughts and feelings but to also show the viewer what is happening during the music video.
The main shots you would normallysee in a music video inclue:
Very Wide Shot - This is when the artist is shown visible but the emphasis is still placing on the artists location/setting.
Wide Shot - This is when the artist is shown taking up most of the shot, however, the location or setting is still very much focused on.
Mid Shot - A Mid Shot is when it shows the artist from their waist to their head and it focuses mainly on the artist but it is still giving an impression of the location/setting.
Medium Close Up - This is when the shot it halfway between a mid shot and a close up. It is when it's showing the artist from the chest to the head.
Close up - A close up is when the shot shows the artist's face close up. These a very popular because it helps you see the artists emotion or facial expressions and this type of shot is helpful towards the audience because it helps them understand more on how the artist is feeling.
Extreme Close Up - An Extreme Close Up is used yo show the artists face extremely close. For example, an extreme close up on the eyes like the picture above to identify something which can have the effct of showing the audience the artists thoughts, feelings or emotions. A popular extreme close up in music videos would be showing a lip sync which is very common in music videos.
Editing Techniques - Editing is the process that ends the making of the music video. When you are editing, you cut the scenes down to make them fit in with the music, you also add special effects that are needed and obviously you add the track to the music video.
Sound - Sound consists of two forms of diegetic sound. Non - Diegetic which can be edited in and diegetic which is already presented in the film. Sound is essential to any music video because it is the main reason why people listen and watch them.
Mise en scene - For music videos, the mise en scene mainly focuses on the props, make up, hair, costume, lighting and location. These elements usual depend on what genre of the music video it is and also the style. These are important elements because they contribute to the chosen genre and they are used to bring the importance of the people in the music videos.
No comments:
Post a Comment