Introduction to Music Videos

The only 2 types of questions we will receive for music videos are

• representations
• media language

A music video is a visual representation of a song and its lyrics. A music video is also an advert for a song.

A music video is a combination between film and music, which takes two previously separate industries and combines them, allowing producers to target new audiences.

• shot types
• extreme close up
• close up
• mid shot
• long shot
• extreme long shot
• costumes
• MES
  
• colour
• camera angles
• high angle
• low angle
• sound
• performance
• cinematography
• lighting
• high-key lighting
• low-key lighting
• narrative
• intertextuality
• editing
• continuity editing
• fast paced
• slow paced
• montage
• codes and genre conventions
• camera movements
• dynamic camera
• tracking shot
• over-the-shoulder shot
• POV shot

Shot-counter-shot can be used to show a montage of clips creating a conversation

Kendrick Lamar - Count Me Out

• use of black and white mise-en-scene constructs a gentle, laid back mode of address. This well considered and low contrast black and white creates a mild and calming experience for the audience, and constructs a highly unconventional video
• the video uses a highly unconventional technique where the image is split into three which constructs a definite binary opposition between Lamar and his psychiatrist. Additionally, a more complex narrative is displayed in the centre, which emphasises the importance of the events in his life
• the use of fast paced montage editing for the centre image demonstrates the life events of the performer, and the highs and lows that he has expensed. This positions the audience in a voyeuristic mode of address that allows them to experience his own personal hardship
• the red of Lamar's costume contracts a binary opposition of the white of those carrying him, drawing the audiences attention to him, and emphasising his status as a figure of importance. The mise-en-scene of his outstretched arms is symbolic of Jesus, and presents a challenging and somewhat religious ideology to the target audience. This is further anchored through the mise-en-scene of the costumes of his followers. Presented in a birds eye view shot, the composition of this image presents the performer in a state of almost religious status