Conventions of chosen medium

There are several conventions of a music video, these being; Camera shots, camera movement, the mise-en-scene, editing and obviously sound.

Almost all music videos use long shots, mid shots and close ups. Varying these throughout the video means that it stays interesting, emphasis is created on the artist, location and emotions, therefore conveying meaning. Camera movement is very important in the process of making a music video, using things such as tracking and pans reassures the end product wont lack interest.

The mise-en-scene basically refers to the arrangement of things, and what things are used to create the video such as specific lighting, props, costume and the colours. Using specific lighting to make a music video means you can emphasise things a lot more and 'set the mood' this also links to editing. Especially if the music video has a dominating narrative then props are essential to use as they can help explain things further. This is the same for costume, the clothes a person wears in the music video help with the representation for them, the video and the song.

Editing is a huge part of a music video, after all of the filming has taken place editing is essential to help the video fit together and be representable. During editing many things take place, for example inserting transitions between shots. Apart from the song itself sound is important in a music video, particularly if the video is set out like a short film. For example Michael Jackson's thriller. All of these things are needed in the process of making a music video in order for it to be successful, and also to be successful in representing the artist.

Song Choices

After thinking about what song I’d like to do for my music video i am currently in between 'Miley Cyrus-Giving You Up' or 'Miley Cyrus-Take Me Along'.

Before I decided between these two songs i had been listening to several other songs by other artists such as Taylor Swift and the band Paramore. However the reason I optioned for a Miley Cyrus song is due to the fact that obviously the actor I’m using is female, but also because to make the music video seem realistic you have to make sure the actor and the song 'go together', for example, if you used a 15 year old actor but then used an Aretha Franklin song it wouldn’t look realistic. In conclusion, I feel like the actor I’m using would go well together with using Miley Cyrus' voice. Both songs which I’m undecided about are also songs which I enjoy and know therefore meaning I am already coming with a lot of idea's for the video.

History Of Music Video's

History of Music Video’s

The first ever music video filmed is considered to be ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by Queen which was released in 1974. However, a lot happened before this date in the music industry to lead up to this.

The first real step to music videos was in 1894 when performers, to promote sales of the song, would project still images onto a screen during live performances. This became known as ‘The Illustrated Song’. Then in the early 1930’s ‘Screen Song’s’ were introduced, which was an animation with lyrics so audiences could sing-a-long. Also, during this period and up until the 60’s Musicals were still very popular such as ‘Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend’ featuring Marylyn Monroe.

During this time, music was genuinely hard to get a hold of. Only two channels were broadcast on television and both stopped at certain times. This is why things such ‘Pirate Music Radio Stations’ were introduced. However, anything rebellious was warned away and these radio stations didn’t last long. This time period was also the time of Elvis, but because early Rock and Roll was seen as a threat he was refused to be allowed to travel and tour. Resulting in the making of short films which had the same structure as musicals.

In 1964 The Beatles starred in their first feature film called ‘A Hard Day’s Night’. It was shot in black and white and featured film segments of the band acting as well as a performance from them too. The whole purpose of the short film was to create an image for the band.

 In 1967 The Beatles then released 'I Am The Walrus' it was the first music video of theirs to interpret their song lyrics visually, since then video's up until this day have used this feature.

 Following from this, in 1972, David Bowie released 'Space Oddity' a music video using specific conventions of 'space', it includes 'futuristic' things and due to the images being constantly focused then unfocused and the setting being very dark, it's supposed to come across as surreal.

When Bohemian Rhapsody was released in 1974 it stayed at number one for 9 weeks. This was mainly due to the fact that shortly before it was realised it was the beginning of music television, specifically Top of the Pops. This resulted in Bohemian Rhapsody being at number one for so long because of the fact that it was considered the first ever real music video, meaning that every time the song was requested it was to see the video.

 In the mid 80's the video for 'Sledgehammer' by Peter Gabriel was released, it was one of the first and biggest animation music video's made at that particular time. It was created by Peter Gabriel laying under a sheet of glass for 16 hours as it was filmed one frame at a time, it is then said that it took just under two months to finalize the video with all of the animations.

It was after this time (the 90's) when the majority of music video's had some sort or more narrative in them, it was also when music video's started to become more abstract. An example of this type of music video is 'Losing My Religion' by REM, it included a narrative, performance as well as aspects of parts of the video being abstract.

 Consequently, because more music video's started to have more narrative, it meant that the narrative of the video's also started to be more truthful about the artist, an example of this is 'Outside' by George Michael, due to what had happened in his personal life he used this certain song and made a video directing his views and opinions on this certain incident.

Since the progressions of music videos, Thriller by Michael Jackson has been for a long time and is still considered the greatest music video of all time. It was released in 1984 and lasts for a full 14 minutes. It has used the conventions of older music videos, featuring a short film too, however Thriller differs from all of these, particularly because Michael Jackson's talent for dancing. He was also very much involved with the making of the video deciding on all of the most important decisions such as locations and outfits. This is the norm for most musical video's these days, artists tend to want them to be more personal.  

Brief Specification

The task I have been given is to create a promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package) and a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).