Codes and conventions of music videos

What is it?

Codes and conventions is a way of constructing meaning through media text and it can be divided into two separate categories; technical and symbolic:

Technical:

• How equipment and technology is used to construct meaning 
• Camera angles and different types of shots 
• Editing - pace of the footage, style and effects 
• Sound - diegetic and non-diegetic, genre of the music

Symbolic:

• Meaning of the media text that is created beyond what is obvious. For  example, specific  facial expressions 
• Mise en scene - costumes, locations, props 

Reason for conventions

Codes and conventions are a firm set of rules that are set to what media texts should contain. It allows the audience to become familiar with certain genres as the audience will become accustomed to seeing particular things, such as the use of drums and guitars in rock and indie genre music videos. This also ensures that certain media text works well into its music genre.

Codes and conventions specific to the different styles of music videos

Music videos can be categorised depending on the style of the music video such as the showing the performance of the band/artist playing on stage at a gig or in their practising basement within their music video. Music videos often have a narrative to go along with the song, this will be done to show the audience different connotations which are beyond the meaning of the lyrics of the song. This also puts pressure on music directors to ensure that their narrative is interesting for the audience to watch and it is in line with the beat of the song, also to make sure that it flows and corresponds with the song. Some music genres have a mixture of both performance and narrative based work in the music video. Below is a list of a few things that are important for music videos:

• Camera movement - A variety of shots depending of the genre of the music video. For example in rock music videos there would mainly be extreme close up shots of the instruments played by members of the band which are used in the song.
  
  - Mixture of camera shot to show lip synchronization of the artist/band singing their song along with close up shots of instruments being played, camera shots of the band performing on stage.
  
  - Crane shots sometimes used to hover over the band/artist performing on stage, or in a dance or pop music video to hover over the people who are dancing in the music video.
  
  - Low angle and high angle shots to show the band/artist
  
  - Pan and camera tilts are mainly used when there are dance performers to switching to different dancers
  
  - Tracking shot to follow the movement of the artist, band or dancers that are in the music video
  
  -There may also be medium or close up shots of the band/artists showing their facial expression.
• Editing and sound - Usually in music videos, they feature jump cutting, which is a transition between two shots and it appears as a "jump" due to the way the camera shots are framed in relation to each other.
  
  - The footage is normally edited to match the beat/rhythm of the music
  
  - Split screen and CGI is sometimes used to make the music video more interesting for the viewer to watch.
  
  - Some producers may choose to use diegetic sound in the music video in some scenes.
  
  - Form the start of the music video there is usually a change in the level of sound; the music would fade in at the start and then fade out towards the end of the music video.
• Mise en scene
  - This can vary depending on the genre of the music and the type of music video
  
  - Props are sometimes used if there is a narrative behind the song
  
  - Performance equipment such as guitar, microphone stand, drums kit, are used in the music video to give realism to the viewer that they are a band.
  
  - Band merchandise can also be shown in the music video to promote their band identity but to also make their fans want to buy their merchandise
  
  - Costume - for different types of genre of music there are certain dress codes to give realism to their audience that they are of a certain genre. For example, indie bands would wear something that is quirky and start a new trend; they would wear chinos and proberly an Aztec design rolled up sleeved shirt.
  
  - Locations for music videos are usually based around the lyrics of the song and the genre of music. Typical locations for most music videos that feature a band are usually shown at venues where they perform in front of a crowd or they could be shown walking through streets.