Conventions Of Form

Overall music video's are based between abstract or they have a narrative in them but every music video includes the four key elements and these are; cinematography which is the camera angles, camera movement and framing that can be used, mise en scene what certain props are seen regularly, sound and editing.

Cinematography - Camera shots which are normally used in romantic films is close ups, in a close up we expect to see the couple of something that can represent love and see some people's reaction. The close up can see every emotion which a person is feeling but it can also be used when a singer is singing directly into the camera for the music video. Another shot which is used a lot is an establishing shot, this is so we can see where the narrative of the video might be taking place or it is to show the audience the place and what the surroundings might be. Thirdly, a medium shot is used frequently as it can show both the characters and the surroundings, it also gives the opportunity for the audience to spot if anything else might be in a shot. For example: If there was an argument and the person who they were arguing over was in between them in the shot, it would represent that he is getting in the middle of them. Other camera shots can add atmosphere to the video. A hand held camera would add the effect of running or being scared. The cinematography is very important when they are wanting to track of follow the singer or somebody in the video, but it is just important as you can add tilts, pans etc. Which will make it obvious if they are wanting to focus on objects or people. The cinematography used in Taylor Swift - White Horse because they have flash backs of the couple when they were together, i also liked the fact that they have close up of them two when they were together, this is what i will be using in my music video quite a bit.

Mise-En-Scene - The conventions of mise en scenes is vital with in any music video, as it can help people understand what is going on in the music video whether it it abstract or narrative. But also it reinforces everything that you might want to promote. As an example; If you were shooting a music video about a family and a family home, you would expect to see pictures of the whole family in the back ground, maybe see toys from the little children or other objects which you would link to a common family home. Secondly you would need the mise en scene would include the costume, if there was a antagonist and a protagonist, you would need to see the antagonist in coloured clothing which suggests evil (for the antagonist) so they would have red and black clothing, but other colours could mean that there is something more to hide about the person. For the protagonist you would see them in white clothing as that means they are pure and most probably in the right. I like the narrative in this music video - Taylor Swift - Mine. The Mise en scene are similar what i would like in mine, it has a love story which seems pretty normal but that is what i am going for.

Sound & Editing- With in the music video the one thing that is noticeable is the song what will be played over the footage. This song will refer to the music video alot if it is a narrative. The lyrics which are played will be acted out on the video. The editing will be linked in with the sound too as they work well together. If the song was slower then you would expect to see slower edits and the shot maybe lasting for longer, where as if the song was more upbeat you would have faster edits and they would be on for a shorter amount of time. Editing can add an effect on the music video itself because you can add affects too. As an example you could make the scene's in black and white which would maybe suggest that it is old fashioned or wanting to make it look scary. Going back to the sound, in my music i want it to be Diegetic music because it is a narrative video therefore it will match what is happening. My plan with the sound is to have the sound of the amusements, so the penny machines and other people in the background etc.

Conventions of a indi music video -
The conventions of an Indi genre is that you expect to see narrative music video rather then a abstract. The cinematography tends to be a medium shot within shots, but again there will be close up shot as there will be a lot of meaning in the video. I think the edits tend to be slower and the scene will be longer too to go well with the song. Lastly i would expect the mise en scene to be similar. Meaning clothing, i want the two main characters to have the same dress sense, therefore they are a similar couple.