Planning : Forms and Conventions ( Post 22 )

I drew a spider diagram ( above ) to show the forms and conventions of music videos. The main ones I found were the following :

• Lots of short shots
• Dynamic camera movement ( pans etc)
• Artificial lighting - studios
• Dancing
• Costume - sexual outfits, urban clothing
• Short stories within the video
• Performance element - lip syncing, incorporated into the video
• Props - cars, instruments

How am I planning to conform to forms and conventions?

I am planning to conform by including the typical performance elements that you see in lots of videos. Many bands do this to show them singing/playing the song and it gives them a sense of identity. Its usually set in a studio, which is where I'm planning to film my performance element, as shown in the picture of the 1975 below. This allows the audience to really focus on the band performing as there is no distractions from a different setting, and also they can be creative with what they do within that space to add their own touch to this. For example the 1975, in their music video 'Girls', have it set in a studio but they have women replace them playing the instruments for certain shots, making it a more interesting video than just the band. I think this will make my coursework look more professional.

I also am incorporating a short story element into my video, starring the band members. This is conforming to forms and conventions as a lot of bands choose to do this within their own music videos. They have a short narrative within the music video, but choose to act it out themselves. By doing this, the band are constantly promoted as it involves them more, and one of the main purposes of a music video is to promote the bands image as well as their music. This is why I am planning on incorporating this into my coursework as it is used widely by many bands and I think its also better for production purposes as it means you already have the main cast for you video within the band. One of the most iconic examples of this is the video for 'I Want To Break Free, By Queen'.

I will also include some of the classic props, such as instruments as this is crucial for the performance element and adding to the bands image, as well as having the band lip sync the song.

Where am I planning on developing on existing forms and conventions?

I am planning on developing the existing forms on conventions as want to include lip syncing within my video, but I am planning on doing it as a mixture of both studio shots and within the narrative of the video. The narrative side of my video is going to be in the style of silent film, so this develops the existing forms and conventions as it is taking the aspect of lip syncing and putting into a style that would not usually have sound or dialogue in it. Also, generally people choose to do either just studio lip syncing or include it in the narrative, so by doing both I am developing on the convention of performance in music videos.

I am also developing the typical lighting used in music videos as I am having sections that are black and white combined with shots of colour. This mixture takes the normal artificial lighting used in music videos in studios and added a creative side to make the video more dynamic and interesting to watch. It will also make the video clearer as to which bit is silent film based compared to the rest of the video as the lighting will be an indication.

Have I made a conscious decision to challenge any existing forms and conventions?

I have decided to challenge existing forms and conventions for both silent films and music videos. By including a silent film style aspect to the video it is adding an original narrative that challenges the conventions of silent film, as usually silent film has classical music playing over the top so just by putting modern music over the top is challenging the typical style.
 Here is an example of typical silent film music:

And this is the song that I am planning on using:

So just by listening you can see the massive contrast and how much of a difference it will make just by changing the style of music put over the footage, completely challenging the existing forms and conventions.

This also challenges the conventions of music videos as well because it is putting footage that isn't usually used into a music video, and contrasting it with the studio shots within the video. This creates a completely different video, as it challenges itself just within the two different styles included in the video creating a creative outcome.

What has inspired me to make my music video?
My inspiration was originally the song, as I listened to it and thought it would make a really good track for my coursework as I could think of lots of different ideas that would fit it. It made me think creatively and the lyrics about cops and robbers just reminded me of the silent film chases and made me think of trying to incorporate it into the video, and how it could create a really original video contrasted with some performance element in the studio. This idea kind of grew and I came across the French movie movement, 'the new wave' which depicted the exact style I had been thinking of for my video, and inspired me to actually try and create the idea. I am planning on incorporating my inspiration into my music video by using the original song that began my thought process for the video and trying to replicate the french movie movement within some of the shots of my music video, so depict the original styles that I had been imagining.