Glossary
Styles
Genre- Specific- consists in the different genres of music videos out there, the main genres nowadays is Pop, RnB and Hip Hop music due to the huge audience they have. The music video depends a lot on the music as it as to correlate in a certain way with the music video however nowadays there are specific features that music video should have for the audience relate to the genre a good example would be rap music videos which have expensive cars, money and plenty of sex appeal to the audience.
In- concert and ‘as live’ footage
This style of music videos is when the music video is based on footage of the artist performing on stage/concert and using the original song, this is cheap and a different way to produce a music video as it is not usual and a good way to attract the target audience attention. Below is a good example of what an in-concert music video would be like.
As live
It’s similar to the in-convert music videos but the music video is done using both footage from the concert and the audio from it too giving the audience a better experience of a live performance in a music video making it more interesting and cheap to do. A good example would be the music video from Adele someone like you which basically Adele singing on stage with some playing the piano in the BRIT Awards 2011.
Animation it is when the artist don’t want to used real footage they can use animations instead this is a good way of saving money because there no need to go through all the different stages to make a music video. This can be done in a studio and only need editors to do that however some music videos uses animation and real life footage this sometimes can be creative and interesting like for example Rhianna-Rude boy music video with quite a lot of animation/special effects on it. In some cases the use of animations is important as a way to reduce cost and to introducer unrealistic things in the music video like for example explosion and fires.
Interpretative
It’s when the music video doesn’t have a specific meaning basically the music video is set out to make the audience think and to interpret the music video in their own manner . it doesn’t necessarily have to relate directly to the music, like for example the music video Rhianna-only girl in the world doesn’t relate to the lyrics of the music and consist in visual effects to attract the audience attention not necessarily having a specific meaning, so the audience can have their own interpretation about the music video.
Narrative
This is when the music video follows a storyline like for example “Katy Perry - The One That Got Away” which the music videos is based in a love story that had a tragic ending, because a small thing Katy Perry through ink to the picture her boyfriend was painting he gets really angry and gets on his car minutes after having a car accident and dying. A narrative music video is very similar to a short film.
Pastiche/Parody
It is when the artist opts to make a music video with a lot of random comic scenes in order to entertain and amuse the audience. Eminem is an artist which often uses the parody style within his music videos and a good example would be the music video WE MADE YOU which parodies a lot of celebrities like for example Britney Spears, Amy Winehouse, Elvis Presley, Star Trek, Guitar Hero, Jessica Simpson, Transformers and Lindsay Lohan this style of music video can have an interesting affect in the audience as it is comical but also controversial.
Referencing/Homage
As the name this type of music videos normally homage something or someone in the music video like for example an artist dressing like someone s/he wants to homage or referencing in their music video. In contrast to the parody style it does make fun of the people the artist homage it is more like a tribute.Again the Eminem-we made you would be a good example as on this music video the artist is referencing and homogenizing some celebrities and also the star wars movie in a comic way.
Conventions include
Lyrical Interpretation
This is when the artist relates the music lyrics with music video and this is the case of most music videos.
Every person as a different way of interpreting the music lyrics this kind of individuality could be introduced in the video. The lyrics can be individually interpreted but the way people interprets is kind of similar when the lyrics are deep it makes it easier to the audience to relate to it.
Extending/Consolidating
This is when the music video extends the interpretation of the audience in relation to the lyrics like for example scenes which adds meaning to the lyrics of the music. Normally when this happen the music video lasts more than the music itself as a way to show the audience the exact meaning of the lyrics however it doesn’t always happens. Extended music videos normally show the audience what couldn’t be clearly understood in the lyrics. Katty Perry the one that got away extended version
Allusion is when the artist opts to allude the audience in some line of the music videos making a music video which does not completely relate to the actual meaning of the lyrics as sometimes it is to explicitly it is also when an artist refers to other artist or media work pieace in their music or other piece of work like for example “Pink- don’t let me get me” she shows her admiration to Britney
Spears.
Link to other Artists
This is when artist links to other artist in their music lyrics and in the music videos like for example Lil Wayne always mention the name of his label and the artist which participated on his music the same happens with the other artist from the label like Drake and Nicki Minaj. By linking their work (music) to other artist the artist could gain more fans this can also happen when the music features other artists or celebrities like for example Eminem ft Rihanna love the way you are could make them both get more people following them and also Megan fox fans following them and vice versa.
A specific example would be “Lil Wayne- love me” he mentions the name of Karrine Steffans.
Techniques include;
Effects
“Nicki Minaj- Starships” uses different affects like in the beginning the ship flying around the montains and see and ther is also visual effects in the background images to changing the colour, the music video also has slow motion scenes and a lot of different effects in the background while Nicki’s sings.
Miming and Lip-synch
The music videos normally uses miming or lip-synch as it is really useful because in some music video that the artist dances they cannot dance and sing at the same time, it also would take quite a lot of time to film a music video making it more expensive. Most music video is filmed with the artists lip-synching the lyrics this allows them to do things they couldn’t if they had to perform because it is extremely difficult to the artist to do both things at the same time
Camera
There are two things which the cameraman needs to take in consideration which are the camera angles and the camera movements.
Camera movements must professional and smooth in the music videos, when zooming it must have the same speed during the zooming. The cameraman is the responsible for the camera movements, should be concentrating in order to avoid mistakes like, the camera slip or sink away from what is being filmed. The movements of the camera must also relate to the mood in the music video like for example if the music video is slow/ sad the movement must correspond to the music being slow.
The angles are also important technique keeping the subject I focus in different angles can facilitate the music video production, deciding the correct angle can be crucial for the production of a professional music videos and when the angle is not correct the music video looks unprofessional and amateur.
