Music videos are short films, usually no longer than 4 minutes, integrating music/songs and imagery.
They promote music or are sometimes just for artistic purposes, like the one I'm making.
These days they are usually used as a marketing and distributing device.
They use a wide range of styles including animation, live action, documentaries and non-narrative approaches.
Some music videos blend several styles and combining these has become popular, either interpreting images from the song's lyrics or more thematic approaches.
Music videos have certain codes and conventions, which are the techniques that are used to construct meaning in the videos.
- Different styles of music videos-
1. Performance- when the video mainly consists of the artists performing. An example is Beyonce's "Love on top".
This style isn't too common because not every artist is as talented at performing as Beyonce, for example, is.
This video used the lighting and costumes in a very creative way so it is fun to watch and matches the song very well.
2. Narrative- a video following a storyline. A linear narrative goes through a story in logical chronological order and a fragmented narrative doesn't have a logical order. An example of linear narrative is Taylor Swift's "White Horse"
3. Intertextual - a mix of both performance and narrative, usually used in music videos because it's quite difficult to stick to pure narrative or performance.
An example of a music video with mixed styles is Chris Brown's "With you".
4. Cameo- this is when an artist, band or duo feature in a narrative video but do not perform. An example is Drake + Rihanna- "What's my name".
5. Animated- these videos use fast movement showing a series of pictures and frames, done digitally or using props, for example Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel.
6. Surreal- these videos are made of weird and unexpected images, making them memorable and fun, sometimes unbelievable. An example is everlong by the foofighters.
- Camera-
The way the camera is used is crucial to the whole production.
It can create varying effects.
The combination of shots, angles and movements makes each video unique.
Shots-
Music videos commonly feature these shots shown below.
1. Very wide shot- The artist is either not present or barely present, the shot is mostly location/setting to set the scene.
2. Mid shot- shows artist from waist to head, mainly focuses on them but still shows setting and location.
3. Medium close up- the artist is taking up most of the shot but you can still see the location in the background.
4. Close up- shows artist's face
5. Extreme close up- shows artist's face extremely close up, for example their eyes or mouth to show the audience the artist's feelings or to use a lip sync.
6. Over the shoulder shot- this is commonly used in narrative style videos, when the artist is speaking to another person.
- Camera angles-
The way a camera is positioned determines the angle of the shot.
These are some common examples.
1. Eye level- shows subjects as we would see them in real life.
2. High angle- shows subject from above them, angled down, which makes them seem weaker and submissive.
3. Low angle- subject is shown from below, making them look powerful and dominant.
4. Bird's eye- showing the scene or subject from directly above, causing a dramatic effect or showing a unique spatial perspective.
- Camera movements- the camera moves to follow an artist and these movements include panning and tracking.
1. Panning- the camera scans horizontally on a tripod and follows a moving object which is kept in centre frame.
2. Tracking- the camera is mounted on a cart and travels on tracks (hence tracking) for a smooth movement.
- Editing-
Final cut pro is the most popular video editing software used.
Editing is the last step of the music video process.
You cut scenes down, add effects and sync the track to the video.
The process usually consists of jump cutting, CGI effects, parallel editing and adding non-digetic sound.
- Sound-
The sound consists of digetic (present in the film) and non-digetic (edited in).
Sound is essential as the music is the main reason why the video is being watched.
"Sound parallel" is when the music matches the mood in the video, e.g. if the song is slow the video would also be slowly edited, with not so many jump cuts or fast movements.
- Mise en Scene- (literally=putting on stage)
Mise en scene focuses on lighting, props, costume, hair+makeup, location.
These elements depend on the genre and style of the video.
- Lighting-
The mise en scene helps to project the thoughts associated with a specific social group e.g. the lighting in a video can create different moods and allows the audience to recognise the genre and style of the video,
A bright natural light from the sun or artificial lights, strobe lights and coloured lights are more commonly used in hip hop and pop videos, but are rarely used in country videos for example.
Here is a contrast between lighting in different genres of music videos, country and hip hop.
- Props-
Props are used to illustrate the narrative and to link the visuals with the lyrics, for example if a gun is mentioned, often a gun will be shown. A video that uses plenty of fun props is Nicki Minaj's 'Anaconda"
- Costume-
Costumes are used to represent characters and their roles in the video.
For example, in 'Love story" Taylor swift is shown as a princess character and she wears a fitting costume for her role, while her prince is also dressed accordingly.
- Hair and makeup-
The way an artist's hair is done can show their personality and advertise their 'image'. Makeup is often used to show women artists as more glamorous or on punk rock bands to show their personalities.
Location-
Location and scene of a music video not only shows the audience the setting but also show the genre.
For example in a hip hop video you would usually see a beach, street or modern house and in a pop video, a beach, car or party.
Here is the contrast of a hip hop and pop setting as an en example.
No comments
Post a Comment