Codes and Conventions

Codes and conventions used within a Pop/Punk music video:
After watching through various different pop punk music videos, codes that are used in the videos would be that the camera always uses a mid shot of the main artist, whilst performing, to show the audience who the main singer is, and who is providing the most powerful lyrics. Mostly the video is about the narrative/concept trying to be portrayed, usually this has a serious meaning, for example fall out boy’s – sugar were going down shows the hypocrisy of society by trying to show this though a light hearted way. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhG-vLZrb-g

Usually if the speed of the song is sped up the editing and scenes of the video become faster to fit the pace of the video to fit in with the songs pace. Usually a punk pop video starts with a medium/slow-paced mood, with the chorus becoming faster as the lyrics talk about the main message of the song. For example, in Kelly Clarksons video ‘my life would suck without you’ within this video, the edits/scenes start off slow, with a bit of background knowledge, then as the song becomes more fast paced, the cuts become faster and faster.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJedoEM7G5U

General observations from all punk pop videos show that the main costume/dress worn by the bands are usually darker colours for example; black, grey, red, blue. The usual clothing types are a casual t-shirt, with jeans and trainers, which suit the genre; in this case you could say the brands vans or converse. However the main singer of the band usually wears a lighter colour, this is used to make him/her stand out to the audience, again to represent that he/she is the most powerful. The use of clothing in the music video also reflect the mood of the song, so for example, if the song was about a relationship break up, the colours would be darker to represent the melochany tone within the lyrics that is trying to be portrayed. Clothing would then be shown as for example; a hoody and darker coloured jeans, again trying to portray the depression within the song. When the band is playing their name is usually seen somewhere on the screen on that time also, usually either on the drum or behind the band, this is used to make the viewer subconsciously remember who the band is, and entice them into buying into the bands brand image. This can be seen in Fall Out Boy’s ‘thnks fr th mmrs’. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onzL0EM1pKY

Lighting within the video highly depends on what the video is trying to portray, again for example a break up, then the lighting would be darker, to represent the depressing tone within the video, as the narrative develops, the lighting would change, varying on what was happening within the frame, if the band was performing the lighting will be focused on the band, with the lead vocalist being in the spot light, with the rest of the band positioned behind the lead, also being in light, but not spot lights. The props obviously if the band is performing will be their instruments, and then also anything else, for example the background – depending on what the background and foreground is it would vary. For example an arena, the background would possibly show some wiring that connect to the lights etc, where as the foreground would just be the microphones and stands and possibly any stands they may be on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8OOWcsFj0U
For example, in Muse’s ‘undisclosed desires’ the foreground does not vary greatly, and where as the background does, this contradicts the usual codes and conventions of a music video.

From the research we have gathered from this, we will be able to use these codes and conventions to our advantage in our music video. For example, when the song speeds up we will be able to make much quicker paced edits, to relate to the ‘craziness’ of the song.