Chosen Media and Genre and their Common Conventions

Codes and Conventions of music videos are the different techniques used to construct meaning in them. These types of techniques can be divided into two types; technical and symbolics.

Technical techniques are how meaning is conveyed using technical equipment. For example:

•  the way camera angles are used
• different types of shots
• sound (diegetic and non-diegetic)
•  the pace and style of editing
•  the genre. 

Symbolic techniques are ways of showing meanings beyond what is denoted. For example:

• facial expressions
• gestures
• poses
• mise-en-scene

The conventions of a music video vary depending on genre of music. However, the general conventions include:

• Style
• Camera
• Editing Techniques
• Sound (diegetic and non-diegetic)
• Mise-en-scene - props, lighting, costume, hair and makeup, location/setting and colours
• Notions of looking

Performance is when the music video consistes of the artists performing in the video. A good example of this is Beyonce's Love on Top where the video shows the artist continuously performing the song and there is no narrative or any other scenes in the video. This style of music video isn't as common as they aren't as particularly popular as they aren't as engaging for target audiences. 

Narrative music videos follow a storyline. There are two types of narrative, Linear and Fragmented. A linear narrative starts a story at the beggining, goes on through the middle and ends at the end. A fragmented narrative is one that doesn't. An example of a linear narrative is Katy Perry 'thinking of you'. 

Mixture is a combination of performance and narrative which is very common in music videos as it is more interesting and enjoyable to watch. For example Kelly Clarkson 'since youve been gone'. 

Cameo is where a band or artist features in the narrative but does not perform. A good example of this is 'whats my name' by drank and rihanna, where bother artists in this case play a part in the narrative but do not perform. 

The camera is a crucial part of producing a music video. It can create an array of different effects through multiple angles and movements. In general, most music videos use a variety of camera shots, angles and movements to create different techniques. Music videos feature a wide range of shots for a variety of reasons, relating to the audience by expressing thoughts and feelings but also to show the viewer whats happening. Shots that are most common in a music videos are:

• Very wide shot - emphasis is given to the location or setting
• Wide shot - the artist is taking up the shot but focus is on location or setting
• Mid shot - shows the artist from waist to head and makes them the subject
• medium close up - shot is half way between a mid shot and close up showing the artist chest to head
• close up - shows the artists face or an object in sole focus
• exteme close up - shows the artist extremely close, for example just the eyes or moth.
• over the shoulder shot - used specifically in narrative based music videos when the character is acting or speaking to another person or to see what the character is looking at
• Cut in - this is effective as it shows something that is said in the lyrics it will shows what is mentioned in detail briefly

Camera angles are used in music videos to convey different images. They play a huge part in emphasising the artist or showing emotions and expressions. Examples commonly used in music videos are:

• Eye-level - shows the subject as we would expect to see them in real life
• high angle - where the subject is shown from above which has an effect of making them seem less powerful, less significant or submissive.
• low angle - subject is shown from below giving the impression that they are more powerful or dominant
• birds eye - this is showing the subject from directly above which can be seen as an unnatural point of view creating a dramatic effect and shows the audience things that the character might not see.
• dutch angle - where the camera is slanted or tilted to one side so the horizon is on an angle creating a dramatic effect.  

It is common for music videos to contain sound parallel. Sound parallel is when the music matches the mood of the video. An example of this would be if the song was slow then the music video would also be slow or if the song was sad then the music video would also be sad. 

Mise-en-scene in music videos focuses on:

• lighting - how the scene is lit/artificial lights/side lights
• props - performance equipment/band merch
• costume - outfits
• hair and makeup - style of the artist/character
• location - the setting of the music video
• colour - specific colours used to represent the mood

These elements are important to contributing towards the chosen genre and conveying the importance of the people in the music videos.