Low Budget Ideas

The Fix - Just Got Paid

A Ha! - Imogen Heap

Conventions of a music video

Generic conventions of music videos include:

Analysis of a rock music video - Bif Naked "I Love Myself Today"

Analysis of a rock music video - Guns N' Roses "Welcome to the Jungle"

- The group performing in a concert; typical of that genre due to the fans preferring to see rock singers perform live on stage than in a bright, vibrant location. This is because the message and values of rock music differ greatly than that of pop. Rock music prides itself on rebelling away from the 'norm' (this being pop music), hence why rock singers perform in a different location to pop singers.

- Although narrative does not play as big a role in rock music compared to other genres of music (specifically pop), a narrative is somewhat present in this music video. This narrative seems to suggest the singer suffering from psychosis, due to the straightjacket he is wearing, shaking abnormally and eventually unleashing a loud scream. This type of narrative enforces the idea of rock music serving the opposite purpose to pop music, as the narrative to 'Welcome to the Jungle' is completely different to a narrative (most likely involving romance) of a pop music video.

- The choice of costume in this music video has the band members of Guns N' Roses wearing mostly monochrome colours (either black or white). One member, however, wears khaki coloured trousers, standing out from the other members of the group. This could continue to enforce the idea that rock music and pop music are different, as pop music has a specific set of conventions that must be followed to appeal to its target audience, whilst fans of rock music have more of a preference towards the actual music itself, rather than seeing rock music videos following a certain set of conventions.

To conclude, 'Welcome to the Jungle' seems to mostly prioritise on separating itself (and perhaps also other rock music videos) from pop musics, in order to appeal to a different fan base. However, this video also features typical conventions that are present in a majority of other music videos (including pop music videos), with an example of this being a narrative.

Analysis of a pop music video - Michael Jackson "Thriller"

Analysis of a pop music video - Britney Spears "Oops!...I did it Again!"

   - The artist performing. This is to show the audience the artist who is responsible for performing the song. There is also a range of shots that go from medium close-up to a close-up, which allows the audience to see what the face of the artist looks like. In these GIFs, the artist is also looking at the camera. This gives off the illusion that the artist is looking directly at the viewer, which is intended to make the viewer feel more involved in the song.

          - The artist changing outfits and location. This is to keep the music video edgy and interesting, so it doesn't bore the audience by showing the artist in one costume and one location throughout the same video.

 - As the artist is performing in the music video, we can see back-up dancers are present. This is so the audience can remember the moves that are being shown in the video, in case they feel enticed enough to perform those moves. The back-up dancers are also in very similar silver costumes, while Britney is in a red costume. This is to show that she is different from the back-up dancers, and to put more focus on her.

 - A narrative. As is the case with this music video, other pop music videos usually tend to feature a narrative. Narratives are intended to make the audience feel more attached to the song, in case the lyrics and the performance isn't catchy enough to get into. This GIF also shows what could be a potential romance, which is also typical of pop music videos, because of who their target audience is (girls from the age of 10-17, who are very big on the aspect of romance).

Brief

Media Studies A2 Brief Post

The brief for A2 is to produce a promotion package for the release of an album and an music promo video together. I will need to include a cover for its release as part of a digipak (Cardboard CD Cover).  I will also need to include a magazine advertisement for the digipak.

For my coursework, I will be working with Libby Hennessy and Amie Brady.