Codes and Conventions- Film/music video

When talking about codes and conventions, what we mean are what are typically seen within a music video? More so what do we expect? One thing we would expect to see in a music video is a combination of film and music. It may sound obvious but in a music video, we would expect to see film and music together to create a music video.

Another convention is that it enhances the image of an artiste. A music video is a visual representation of the artiste. The videos help us to know what the artistes are like and to help gauge their style of music. This is similar to the lyrics in the since that that it is a representation of the artiste telling a story. Ambiguous music videos however are harder to generate a representation of the artiste as the film and the lyrics don't always have the same meaning. Generally speaking for most music videos help us to enhance the image of the artiste.

Again this is another obvious factor as you would expect it in music videos. Edits that match the music is important because it creates verisimilitude and makes the footage feel more real as it seems as though they are actually singing. The genre of the video and the style of the music video will depend on the type of edits you use. Rock will use fast cuts to build high energy whereas a slow ballad would use fewer cuts as it isn't meant to be high energy as it is trying to immerse you in the story and focus on the characters.

In music videos you normally expect it to reflect the ideology of the genre, depending on the genre will depend on how the ideology is presented, ambiguous music videos ideology isn't always clear and is down to each individuals perception. Most music videos including mainstream pop music often make the ideology quite clear and use the music videos as a visual representation of the lyrics

When creating the video, five points should be planned and considered. They are: Mise-en-scene, Cinematography, Editing, Narrative structure, and sound. These five areas must be planned during the planning stage of the music video as there are certain stereotypical conventions that are used in different genres.