Musc Videos: Codes and Conventions

1920s  Music videos were surprisingly around in the 1920s with artists such as the jazz musician Bessie Smith making short films to accompany popular songs at the time


1965  Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues





The video has some of the lyrics written on the cards the man is dropping but only some like the ends of the song line and this shows there are subtle word meanings like some words are purposely misspelt like 'man wholes' and 'suckcess'.
These are to show a deeper meaning within the music video and to ensure multiple viewings.






1970    The record industry discovers discovers TV shows as a great oppourtunity to promote their artists.






1975    Bohmemian Rhapsody a ground breaking music video





For the time and era that this music video was produced it was becoming more popular to promote songs with a music video and it used quite a few technical factors like the cross-fading so this video has clearly been edited but it was a very good music video for when it had been brought out.


1990 Fast-cut montage became common for music videos as it guaranteed multiple viewings.


OKGO This too shall pass





This music video is a prime example of a video that has no cutting in it so it is shot all on one take. I really like this music video as I like the idea that everything has to be so precise and in the video you can actually see that it has taken many times to shoot the music video by the smashed  tvs and extra objects in the background that have been used. Also, I think it is really clever how it is literally a domino effect but it is a very good technique as the viewer is drawn to watching more as they want to see what the outcome is and you can see that each object gets bigger and the effect gets more dramatic e.g the hammer smashing the television and the car rolling backwards. This technique also ensures more views of the video promoting the song each time.




Codes and conventions:


Camera work       The camera work has quite a big impact upon the meaning of what it being shot, the way it moves and how the moving text is sequenced has an effect on how it is perceived.


Closeups       Close ups predominate partly because of the size of the screen and partly because of the desire to create a sense of intimacy for the viewer.


Editing     The most common form of editing associated with music promo is fast cut montage, rendering many of the images impossible to grasp on the first viewing which then ensures multiple viewing and promotes the song being shown.


Enhanced editing  Enchancing the editing is using digital effects such as split screens, colourisation etc.






You can see that in the music video 'Viva la vida' by Coldplay there has been enhanced editing as the colour has clearly been adjusted but the people in the band in the video don't look very realistic which entices the viewer as to how it has been made and the intricate details on everything makes it look more interesting. I personally think this video is quite interesting as it has had a lot of editing done to it to make it look more interesting.