Conventions of our music video style

Conventions

After choosing a genre for our music video and finding a song to use, we have researched the different conventions that are used in music videos within the rock genre. After looking at different videos such as Nirvanas ‘Smells like teen spirit’ and Foo Fighters ‘Ever-long’. We looked at each of these videos as they are good examples of a narrative and a performance. They show the typical conventions of each music video style.

The main convention we spotted was the typical shots that were used throughout each music video. In ‘smells like teen spirit’ there is a large number of close ups used to show the instruments in the video. These are used to clearly represent the rock genre and the equipment it includes. We will use this in a similar way. During the shots of performance in our video, we will have a number of close ups and mid-shots showing the actors with the instruments. This will represent clearly that it is a band performance during our music video. 

The image on the right is an example of the kind of shot we will use during the performance in our music video. This image was taken from Nirvana’s music video of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. This shot is an effective shot as it makes it clear to the audience that it is the band performing the song.

Most of the music videos we watched included some kind of narrative within them as well as performance. However, the story of the narrative was not performed by the band themselves; instead they had one or several actors. We will challenge this idea when filming our music video. Throughout our music video, we will use the same actors in the narrative and the performance side of the video. However this can still be common in existing band videos. For example. In Red Hot chilli Peppers ‘By the way’ the main singer of the band is acting in the narrative. We have used the same idea for our music video. 

This is the kind of narrative we will be using throughout our music video. This is the lead singer from Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ acting in the narrative for their song ‘By the Way’. We will have each member of our performance band performing in our narrative.

Mise-en-scene

Another common convention used in music videos is the use of  lighting throughout. The bands/performers use the lighting to highlight certain aspects of the music video and can makes certain  stand out to the audience. We will be using this idea in the same way. During the performance in our music video, we will use lighting to highlight each member of the band and their instruments. This will help to raise awareness towards the fact that it is a band performance. To create this kind of effect, we will need to film in a environment that has access to lights and can be used in a way that benefits us, The ideal location will be some kind of music or drama studio with a large lighting rig. If so, we will be able to manipulate the lights into highlighting whatever we want.

Some existing bands have previously challenged this idea with the lighting. The band Arctic Monkey’s’ have used their lighting in a different way in the music video for their song ‘Brainstorm'. In this particular video, each member of the band is in darkness with their surrounding in light. The audience are unable to see or recognise the faces of any band members. This may be the bands way of distancing themselves from the audience and allows the viewers to concentrate on just the music that is performed. We will not use this idea in our music video. We will make sure that throughout the video, the audience will see the faces of the people in the narrative and the performance. We have chosen to do this as it makes it clear that once again it is a band performance as well as the narrative of the music video.