Conventions and Iconography

Conventions and Iconography

Conventions are a list of rules or ingredients that you expect from a media text. A convention doesn’t always have to be followed or accepted as a norm, however, when followed production is made easier.

Some of the main music categories in the mainstream music industry area are:

·       Pop 

·       Dance

·       R&B

·       Hip-Hop/Rap

·       Rock

·       Country & Western

·       Gospel

·       Reggae 

·       New Age

·       Drum & Bass 

Codes within music videos vary depending on the genre of music and the pace of the music. However, there are basic norms that are followed throughout the process, these include:

 Style of the music video

 Camerawork 

 Editing techniques used 

 Sound effects used 

 Mise-en-scene 

 Stereotypes and countertypes

Camerawork:

A key aspect of any music video is the camerawork as they can emphasise points of people’s bodies or they can amplify the genre of music by using specifically suited camerawork that correlates with the genre. Extreme close ups focus on an artist’s emotion and always focuses on a specific facial feature such as the mouth, nose, ears or eyes. Close ups are seen in every genre of music video as they show parts of a persons face, mid section, lower half and full body with great detail. Close ups are very important to a music video because they highlight the emotion of the artist or actor better than most other camera angle. Another example of a camera shot is a mid shot, which is usually used to accentuate a full body shot. Mid shots are usually always seen in a performance-based music video because when singing or performing the song, the emotions, facial expressions and body movement are more obvious and noticeable. To show the location of the music video such as LA, London, New York, the camerawork shot is usually wide because it presents location but still keep that artist at the centre of attention. This type of shot is used across all types of music video.

Camera movements add effects to music videos and allow for the viewers to gain an insight to a different side of a video. Pans and dolly shots are probably the most common camera movements seen in modern music videos. Pan shots allow for the viewer to see different parts of the stage in a performance-based music video or showing for an example a very impressive skyline. Dolly shots do relatively the same thing however; dolly shots have a different effect by following an item such as a car or following the artist/actor. They allow the audience member to see what the artist/actor or item is doing and can gaining a better viewpoint that just a standard still shot. It also brings the audience closer to the music video as the viewers can almost follow and be closer to the artist/actor. However, as music videos are being more technological advanced, dolly shots can now be replaced with shots from a drone, arguably better due to the mobility, speed and overall capability of the drone.

QUEEN AND A DOUBLE BY JOE WELLER AND ELLIOT CRAWFORD - MUSIC VIDEO

Sound:

The two different types of sound in media are diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Diegetic sound is the sound that hasn’t been added into the music video in post whereas non-diegetic sound that has been edited in in post. As the majority of music videos are not performed live, non-diegetic is used to add the song to the music video during editing as it is a lot easier to add the song in post. Usually diegetic sound is used in narrative-based music videos as there are usually brief breaks in the song during the music video to interact with different characters for example. Another type of sound when the sound matches the mood of the music video is called sound parallel. For example, Happy by Pharrell Williams

HAPPY BY PHARRELL WILLIAMS – MUSIC VIDEO

Mise-En-Scene:

This aspect of a music video is always very flexible and always differs depending of the genre of the music video. It is also a large factor in identifying the genre, relying on makeup, costume, setting and props; the audience are able to identify the genre of the music video. Mise-en-scene allows the emotions of artists or characters in music videos to be shown clearly through the correlation of genre. For example, heavy metal band Avenge Sevenfold with the song ‘Nightmare’ has a direct association with the song and mise-en-scene.

NIGHTMARE BY A7X – MUSIC VIDEO

Editing:

This is a characteristic of music videos that is very important because this can alter, fix and add the music video in production. This could be adding unique transitions, increasing or decreasing the speed of the footage; altering the colour using colour grading and all of this can create a better music video. An example of a music video with not complicated but smooth editing is HUMBLE. by Kendrick Lamar as the transitions between each scene are smooth and on beat.

HUMBLE. BY KENDRICK LAMAR – MUSIC VIDEO

Iconography:

Iconography is the visual images and symbols used in a music video, for example, the costumes, props, colours, costumes and stars. They are commonly known as genre indicators as one can usually infer from the props, colours and costumes what genre the music is. For example, Loyal by Chris Brown uses specific clothing, jewellery, dance movements and colours to show that it is a hip-hop/rap anthem.

LOYAL BY CHRIS BROWN – MUSIC VIDEO