Conventions of Music Videos

There are numerous conventions that take place in music videos of all genre. One universal example of this, is when a song 'kicks in' (Bass drop, or Breakdown etc.), the pace of the video will change. One example of this is Linkin Park's One Step Closer. In this video, during the main verses, the video has slow cuts in correlation to the pace of the music. Even the heavier choruses are only slightly faster than the verses. All of the slow pacing is used in anticipation for the breakdown of the song. In which 'shaky cam' is used to a great extent to emphasise the chaos which is associated with the breakdown of a song, in reference to mosh pits at live concerts. I intend to utilise this by linking the speed and rhythm of the song, with the speed of the cuts. Although there is no clear 'breakdown' in Engel, I will try, at some point in my Music Video to emulate a breakdown, through the use of editing, and camera work, i.e, shaky cam. Mise En Scene is also used to represent the pace of the song. The first image shows a calmer use of body language from the band, during the main body of the song. Whereas, the second image shows a more aggressive tone from the band during the breakdown of the song. This is demonstrated by the headbanging from the band.

An example of this from a different genre (EDM) is Knife Party - Centipede. The pace of this video is similar to that of One Step Closer, in the sense that the pace is slower during the verses of the song, as opposed to the 'manic' pace of the video during the 'Bass Drop'. As well as an increase in pace for the video, there is also a significant use of special effects to correlate with the special effects used in the song itself and within the EDM genre, therefore, making the use of special effects conventional for the genre.

This image shows the use of special effects to correlate with the bass drop, which is the equivalent to a 'breakdown'. The effects used here help to support the hyperbolic nature of the video.




There are lots of conventions for the Metal genre. One significant convention is the use of the band itself playing. One example of this is a video I have previously analysed, KoRn - Love and Meth. This video makes great use of the band performing the song, along with the cinematic-esque twist of the narrative in the video. Modern Metal Music Videos often have some form of twist upon their videos, to coincide with 'modern times' in which more technological methods of recording, and making music itself is 'taking over' older, more 'conventional', acoustic methods. An example of a 'unique' Metal Music Video is Slipknot - Killpop (2015). This video plays with the idea of 'duality' through Mise en Scene, the actresses face paint which shows a black and white side. As well as the clever use of mirrors and overlaying, using transparency.  This is unique as it used to be rare for Metal videos to follow any form of narrative, as they typically just contained the performance element of videos. I will heavily use my band for the majority of my music video, to stick to the conventions of Metal whilst simultaneously using a brief narrative, to break away from some of the conventions to make my Music Video stand alone from all the others; make it unconventional.

The use of the band in KoRn's video for Love and Meth.

The use of editing, and mise en scene within Killpop by Slipknot to create the idea and theme of duality within the narrative of the Music Video.