Codes and Conventions of Music Videos

by Joseph Reeves

What are codes and conventions?

• Codes and conventions of music videos are the different techniques used to construct meaning in them.

• Codes and conventions can be split into two different categories: symbolic and technical

Symbolic Techniques

• Means of showing meanings beyond what you can see. An example is mise-en-scene or facial expressions.

Technical Techniques

• Technical techniques refers to the technical elements that are used to convey a meaning e.g. camera angles, sound, shot types etc.

Reasons for Codes and Conventions

• The audience can become familiar with a certain genre if there are certain codes and conventions.

• To ensure the lyrics fit with the video.

• Provides a structure for the audience.

The Codes and Conventions for music videos

• Obviously different genres have different codes and conventions but these are the generic ones;

• Style

• Editing techniques

• Camera shots

• Mise-en-scene

Style

Performance• A performance style video is one that consists mainly of the artist or band performing in the

video. A good example is The Strokes - ‘Reptilia’ which contains mainly shots of the band playing their instruments. Often these shots are squared off close ups. The band were often about image and this video fetishises their clothes and instruments. Performance videos are often less common than other styles as often target audiences lose focus and do not engage. However, this example uses different lighting and close ups to really engage the target audience and hone down on the bands identity.

Narrative• A narrative music video is one that follows a story line. There are two types of narrative;

linear and fragmented. Linear is quite simply a story that starts at the beginning and finishes at the end. A fragmented is one that does not. An example of a linear narrative music video is The Coronas - ‘Just Like That’.

Mixture• A mixture is as simple as it sounds. It includes both performance and narrative aspects in

the video. A good example is Wolf Alice - ‘Freazy’ as the video has a narrative and a performance in it.

Editing Techniques• Editing for professional music videos is often

done on Final Cut Pro, however I am using iMovie.

• Editing is crucial in terms of music videos as it is the final coming together of the video. The editing includes things such as special effects, cutaways, jump shots etc. Editing helps put the narrative in the right order and adds different backgrounds if green screening has been used.

Camera Shots• Camera shots are vital in terms of codes and conventions of music videos.

• Shot Types - Different shot types help portray different emotions felt in the video. They also give the audience a sense of what is going on.

• Camera Angles - Different camera angles again help portray different emotions and also representations of people in the video, for example a high angle shot can make the audience feel superior over the artist or subject in the video.

• Camera Movements- These help the audience follow a performance or a subject in a music video. Vampire Weekend used this in their video ‘Cousins’. This helped the audience follow what is happening in the video. The whole video is shot on a ‘dolly’ and this is included in the video suggesting that the audience are involved in the making of the video.

Mise-en-scene• The mise-en-scene in music videos focusses on different elements such as

costumes, location, colour pallet and lighting. These elements often differ based on what genre the music video is.

• Costumes - help show what time period the video is set in. Costumes often help represent a certain genre of people too as they are usually stereotypical.

• Lighting - How the scene is lit. This often involves artificial lighting rigs or side lights.

• Colour Pallet - This helps to show what codes and conventions certain genres should follow as pop music videos will usually involve much brighter colours such as pink and blue whereas indie music videos often involve black and white shots with monochrome colours. Meghan Trainor - ‘All about that Bass’ vs Oasis - ‘Wonderwall’.

• Location - Different genres of music will be set in different locations. The different locations help establish the setting and the narrative of a music video.