Media voice over type up

Hi, I am Bobby Duffin from class 12DMV. I have produced a documentary on the conventions of Music videos to discuss how these conventions help to bring a music video together and the reason why they may be used.

The first common convention found in many music videos is that the Artist will often appear in the music video. With the Artist featuring in the video it to identify who the artist is and is a promotional way of advertising themselves as an artist to their fans. It is also a way to gain more fans as people who my not no the artist, but like the song can then identify who the artist is.

Another convention that is familiar with music videos is that the song will be the soundtrack to the entire length of the video. This is because it makes the song unique to the video. Also it is to entertain the audience as a package of a great song to an interesting video to ‘wow’ the audience. Without the soundtrack the music video would seem much duller.

The next convention which we see a lot is the artist lip syncing to the lyrics. This happens to give the effect that he/she is singing along to the song whilst they perform in the video. This also makes the video seem much more interesting as it is though they are singing the song in the locations they perform in and whilst everything going on the video is around them.

Another convention which we can recognise a lot is that the artist will perform throughout the whole video. This makes it clear who the star is and give them the highest status in the clip by showing them many of times in the video. It is also a lot more appealing for the audience to see the celebrity performing compared to other performers such as the dancers.

Music videos will often include a convention that involves the music video containing 3 or more locations. This adds visual variety to the video as the video cuts between different locations. Also the locations can add meaning to song and help to explain the songs personality such as lonely, remote locations for sad songs and lively, bright locations for happy songs.

The costumes that are featured within the video will often change throughout the song. Sometimes the costumes will match the locations of the video. With the costumes matching the locations this helps to make sense of the song, as well as the costumes changing to make it seem less mundane by common change in clothes. It is also a good opportunity to show off the Artist personality through different costumes presenting their fashion.

There will usually be sections of the video that are filmed in a studio. This is done to create an ideal location for the video that can only be created by filming in a studio. This can often be achieved by using techniques such as the green screen to create all different types of backdrops. As well as designing sets for the video to be filmed in.

Sometimes a music video will contain a narrative telling a story throughout the video. They do this as the lyrics of the song may be telling this story so they use the video to act out the narrative in the performance. This helps widen the understanding of the song and to entertain the audience.

In a music video, it will usually contain a range of camera movements. They do this to create a dynamic look. With a range of camera movements it helps create continuous flow to the video. Also the camera movements make the flowing video look much more impressive and professional through the way it moves around the performance at all angles.

There are common shot types used for parts of the music videos. Shots that are common include close ups for the view of the artist lip synching, mid/long shots for the view of the performances and lastly extreme close ups for cutaways. The close ups of the lip synching is common to show that the artist is singing to this song. The mid/long shots of the performances allow the performance to be seen in full aspect and show full body movement of things such as dances. Extreme close ups allow cutaways to look successful as they block all of the background to allow it to cutaway to another scene or performance etc.

The video may often use high angles and low angles. High angles can be used to create a vulnerable or sexy look as the camera looks down on to them show them. Low angles are used to create a dominant or powerful look which is often used by hip hop artists and rappers. The low angles show the artist to be larger than the view of the camera making them look very powerful.

There will be a wide range of different shot types/angles in each location this is to allow a dynamic and non repetitive look as this looks visually pleasing to the audience. Also it allows long shots to show the surroundings and close ups to film props used in the video to add meaning. Also the range of shot types/angles makes the video look a lot more professional.

Usually in a music video the editing will cut to the beat of the song and will involve montage editing. It will often change shot type and cut to a new shot depending on the tune of the beat. Often this can go unnoticed but if it was not cut to the beat it would be very obvious and would look out of time and sloppy as it would not flow along with the song. Montage editing allows the change in locations to be normal and make the artist seem popular due to constant change of locations and the people around them.

Quite often we see slow motion used in music videos. Using slow motion adds a dreamy effect and can create a positive mood/atmosphere as the emotions and actions can be exaggerated through the use of the slow motion as it is presented in real depth.

Sometimes the video is based around a concept rather than a story. Often music videos would have a certain theme such as gambling in Las Vegas. If a concept is used it makes the video much more interesting and can be easier to follow compared to videos which use a narrative in the video. Also the artist can use the concept to present their persona by using concept which is very familiar to them.

Artists will often make eye contact with the camera to make it seem as though they are having eye contact with the audience which creates a stronger connection with the viewers watching the video as it makes it seem more personal to them.