Codes and Conventions of a Music Video

A History of Music Video:


A music video is a short film which accompanies a piece of music, which is produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Music videos have been around for many years with the first being made by the Beatles for their song: Strawberry fields (1967), this was originally described as a ‘promo’. However, the music video became more prominent during in the 1980s, when MTV based their format around the medium. With the massive success of the ‘thriller’ music video; Michael Jackson (1982) broadcasted on MTV, music videos became very popular in modern culture. In the UK the first major music video to made and shown on TV (on the very popular show ‘Top Of The Pops’) was Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen (1975), this was a massive landmark in music video consumerism. 


Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract films. Some music videos blend different styles. Many music videos do not interpret images from the song's lyrics.


Codes and Convention of a Music Video:


There are 3 main types of music videos, these are:

• Narrative - This is when a story is told throughout the music video. Often depicting a story in relation to the song lyrics, but not always.
• Performance - This is when the artist is shown actually performing the song e.g: showing the artist playing a gig or at a concert hall. Other forms of performance would be dancing. 
• Abstract - This is when the music video is totally random and has no relation to anything. 

Music Videos may be a mixture of all the main types.

I decided to watch a selection of music videos and categorise them depending on the content of the video:

Narrative	Performance	Abstract
Eminem – Love the way you lie	Madonna - Vogue	Blink 182 – I miss you
Britney Spears - Everytime	Rihanna – Umbrella	Red Hot Chili Peppers – Can’t Stop
Green Day – September Ends	Green Day – American Idiot	Metallica – All Nightmare Long
Katy Perry – Thinking of You	Beyonce – Single Ladies	No doubt – Hella Good
Ed Sheeran – A Team	Robbie Williams – Let Me Entertain You	MGMT –Time To Pretend
Aloe Blacc – I need a dollar	Take That – Rule the World	Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun
All American Rejects – Gives You Hell	Florence + the Machine – Dog Days are Over	The Naked and Famous – The Sun

Codes and conventions for music videos are very varied due to there not being specific ones for all music videos but more specific ones depending on the genre. However, the codes and conventions of music videos can be divided into two separate categories of: technical and symbolic. 

• Technical:

How equipment and technology are used to construct meaning eg:
- Camera: different angles and shots
- Editing: pace, style
- Sound - Diegetic/non diegetic, genre

• Symbolic

The meaning created beyond what is obvious to see e.g through the use of mise en scene