Click on image to view full document

I have been reflecting on what a music video is and I have learnt about the conventions of a music video and how a narrative can effect the meaning of the music video. In addition to this I have learnt about the technical skills that are needed to produce a music video such as lip syncing and editing to the beat.

Below are the ways in which you can determine what the relationship between the song and the narrative is:

• Illustrative – the narrative in the video very closely echoes the lyrics and music
• Amplification – the narrative whilst inspired by the song adds a new element to complement the song
• Disjuncture – the narrative seems to hold a very little relationship to the song and seems quite random

In addition to this, the video can also be split between narrative video, performance video, or a mixture of both:

• Narrative – having little to no performance, may often tell a socially important story – giving a voice to the voiceless
• Performance – exclusively performance, the performance in these music videos are given special treatment – can be done by lip syncing
• Both – the performance and narrative are completely separate, the performer has an active role in the narrative

Camera angles and video effects are used very wisely in a music video to portray certain meanings and narratives. Here are some over-arching technical conventions that are used in music videos:

• camera angles, shots and edits can be cut to reflect the mood and pace of the song – a fast edit and cut could reflect excitement or tension
• the narrative can portray a message or address an issue in society, impacting the audience
• the mise-en-scene helps to define the character or singer and helps to add meaning or a narrative to the song
• the style is crucial to the song – if the performance style and genre completely contradict each other, the audience will have a mixed message and it would be confusing – this reinforces that the style of performance and genre must run alongside each other (performance, concept, narrative)
• sound effects – diegetic and non-diegetic – can be crucial to add an extra meaning to the video

Below are the four videos that I analysed: