Conventions

In music videos every camera shot has a big impact on the meaning. Close ups and cut up body shots are used to show the artist singing, emotions and face expressions. Close up will also be used to show the band members playing their instruments, for example  ‘Never too later’ by Three days grace stars with  a close up to show the guitar player with his hi’s guitar. In music videos the main form is fast editing, that makes it hard to grasp on the first viewing of the images to offer the audience different pleasure. Mise en scene is what the audience see on the screen such as props, characters, setting, costume, make-up, lighting and sounds.

Intertextuality is when a music video takes reference from a film, for example ‘the kill’ by 30 seconds to mars takes reference from the film ‘The shining’  Cutting to beat is when the camera shots are edited to match the music beat or the bass line. Green screen is where the artist is stood on front of a green back drop, then a background is added behind the artist for example ‘Show me the way to Amarillo.’ Miming/ lip singing, this is where the artist fakes the singing in the video and then it’s recorded afterwards in a studio and then added in the video at the post-production stage. Extended song meanings are when the audience can add a meaning to the song’s lyrics. Allusion is when an artist uses someone as a reference in their songs  or example Shania  Twain ‘that don’t impress me much’ when she talks about Brad Pit and she says “okay, so you’re Brad Pit? That don’t impress me much” and then she makes a reference to him for ‘good looks’.