Conventions Of FormA comparison of conventions which occur in

most music videos.

-Narrative -Performance e.g. Dancing/Acting -Lip-syncing -Change of costumes and make-up -Change in locations -Change in lighting -Range of Cinematography (Movements and

Angles) -Characters (Other People and/or The Artist)

Contents

NarrativeMartina McBride – Concrete Angel

Both videos follow a clear narrative. They follow

Todorov’s theory of narrative in which the structure of the

story line follows 6 stages of narrative structure.

My video shows a transformation in a young girl and McBride’s video

shows a story of child abuse. It is important to have a

strong plot as this helps to create the narrative and

story lines. I took inspiration from this video as this is also a POP music video so it has

similar conventions.

PerformanceKaty Perry – Part Of Me

In Perry’s music video the girl cuts all her hair off to try in fit in. This is through

anger and determination to be a better person by joining the marines. This

performance comes from the artist acting for the purpose of the video. I wanted to recreate this scene in my video but with

a change in make up. In my music video the young girl goes

through a transformation by removing all of her make-up from her face. This scene

requires very good acting in order to portray very emotive feelings. I think my

actress did a very good job of this.

Lip - Syncing

One of the most common features of a music video which have a narrative structure is lip-syncing. For example in

Glynne’s music video there is lots of lip-syncing towards the camera. In my music video I wanted to include elements of this. However I didn’t have many clips of this in my music video because I felt that it wasn’t relevant to the narrative

structure of my video.

Jess Glynne - Take Me Home

Change of Costume and Make-Up

Most Pop videos tend to have a variety of costume and make – up changes. For

example Swift’s music video feature herself at different locations wearing different

items of clothing. Her make-up also changes to suit what she is wearing. I wanted to re create this and allow for these

changes to fit in with the narrative of my music video. I also wanted a strong theme of changing the make-up my

artist was wearing as this was a key element to the

narrative.

Taylor Swift – 22

Change of Locations

Jamie Lawson - Wasn't Expecting ThatA common feature of music videos is a change in locations. In my

music video there are a range of different locations in which the artist appears in. I think this is key to making an effective product as if I

filmed my whole video in one place the narrative wouldn’t have been as effective in portraying a strong message. In Lawson’s video it is evident that a change in location can help in making the narrative

structure more clear for the audience to see.

Change of LightingLighting is a key part to any

type of music video as it helps to create a change in

narrative. In my music video I chose to have a elements

of dark lighting at the beginning then bright

lighting towards the end of my music video to show a

clear change in the narrative and structure. In Shine the

lighting fluctuates throughout of show the

confusing and expression the lyrics. Without a range in lighting a music video would

be very simple and uninteresting to watch.

Years & Years - Shine

Range of CinematographyIt is important for all

music videos to have a range of

cinematography in order to make it interesting for the audience to

watch. In my music I used a variety of

camera framing and movements which helps

to keep my audience engaged within the

narrative. Sia’s music video uses many pans to show the young girls performance and close

ups to show the expression on the young

girls face.

Sia- Chandelier

CharactersSia – Big Girls CryI wanted to feature one girl within my music as this would make the narrative easier to follow. Also it allows the audience to create a connection with the artist. In Sia’s video the young girl’s performance keeps the audience engaged throughout the video therefore I wanted to achieve something like this. I knew that I would need a performer who can captivate an audience so people would want to consume my music video.