Research: Genre - Conventions of Music Video

There are multiple conventions in music videos. Firstly, editing is usually fast-paced - there is never more than five seconds of footage between cuts. Members of the band (mainly the lead singer) are usually shown. There are very few occasions in which at least one member is not involved. For particular genres of videos, there are extras, such as dancers. Most videos tend to be shot in a studio location - although occasionally it will be shot on location as well. This is done due to the low cost.

We analysed the following videos:

Adele - Rolling In The Deep
In this video, we noticed that everything was shot in a studio location. This is done due to the low cost. The artist was featured singing, which connotes a performance-based video. There are also shots of drumming, which link in with Adele's performance. Whilst there is dancing shown in the video, it is only one man doing so as opposed to numerous women - which may not be expected in pop videos such as these. The video is shot with natural lighting, which fits in to Adele's image of being an 'ordinary woman' who just wants to be a singer.



Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
The video is filmed in different locations: in a studio and on location (cost effective). The artist wears different outfits in the video whenever the location changes. There are also numerous females dancing (hyper-feminism). It is very performance based - Astley is seen lip syncing to the song on numerous occasions. There seems to be no narrative to the story - the only different elements to the video other than Astley are the numerous dancers shown.



Katy Perry - Last Friday Night
This video is exclusively studio-based, which fits with the narrative of a house party. Plenty of dancers are in the video and the artist is also heavily involved. It also includes guest celebrity appearances (Darren Criss and Kevin McHale from Glee, and Rebecca Black who is well known for 'Friday', among others). There is a clear narrative - it is the aftermath of a party held at Katy Perry's house. The video is not very performance-based - Perry is hardly shown singing the song, and the focus is generally on the previous night's events.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U5HpeA_WSo
The Smiths - How Soon Is Now?
This video is very performance based, which links to The Smiths' image as a working-class, authentic band that aren't tied in with the glamour of the music industry. It's suggested The Smiths are making a social commentary within the narrative as it includes many factories in black and white, which connotes negativity. Hyper-feminism is used. Different shades of colour are used during close-ups of women, suggesting jealousy and romance on different occasions and different women. On the rare occasions that any footage other than amateur band performances are used, there are shots of women filmed in a studio.

---Chris and Meg