Conventions of Music Videos

Conventions:
the way things are done within the video, and this also describes the genre of the music video. The conventions of a music video vary depending on genre of music. However, some general conventions are:
- the lyrics of the song influence what is shown in the video
- the pace of editing fits the pace of the music and mood
- and the codes of dress reflect the mood of the song

Also, specific catorgories can be made for the conventions:

Narrative – a series of actions that has a cause and effect chain occuring in time and space. When this relates to music videos, it can mean the stroy and running theme throughout the video. The linear sequence of A.B.C.D is followed usually, and could even include many other stories which is called a Multistrand.
Narratives have a high degree of narrative closure, as everyone finds out everything in the end, which makes the video more interesting as you do want to find out what's going to happen.

O' Sullivian et al (1198) suggested a theory about narratives for any type of text. He claimed that narratives have a certain structure:

- starts off with an establishment of the plot and theme
- this is then followed by the development of the problem to increase tension
- then the resolution of the plot

These narratives can become ambiguious and linear, making them boring and uneasy to watch, but others can become more compelling and interesting. An example of a music video that has this sort of narrative is 'Drake- Find Your love' He begins telling a man about how he would love to see this one girl again, but we know by the dialogue the man says back to Drake, that there is some danger in doing this. He then meets the girl, which is stage 2, as this creates tension, and then by stage 3 the plot is concluded, and Drake dies.

Performance – where the band or artist is playing

Mixture – a mix of both narrative and performance qualities

Cameo – the band or the artist is featured in the narrative but doesn’t perform

Animation – the video contains digital features such as flash and stop frame.

Editing- The editing in a video is important as it creates suspense, excitement, and expectations from the video. It also sometimes goes along with the beat, which makes it more excitable (like the Neyo video I analysed)