Sophie Stock's A2 Media Coursework Blog

Most products within the music industry follow similar codes and conventions. A music video generally features the star, and will either be based on the song’s narrative, or the star or band’s performance.
Looking further into these we see that each musical genre also has their own codes that they follow. Typically, a rock band will have a music video that demonstrates mostly performance aspects; this helps the audience feel as though they are there watching the band live in concert – something that is typically recognisable as a rock and roll thing to be doing.
In my music video I create realism by matching these codes and conventions that the audience recognise.

It begins at the end of the performance and we assume the audience recognises they are watching a gig because the mise en scene at this point plays to the codes that are typically recognisable by the target audience of the video.

To signify a change in time and location we change the on screen colour to black and white. This is a feature that can be seen in Guns N Roses video paradise City. To further support the change in time and location I have added subtitles. These help the events within the video to progress smoothly and clearly, though we assume that the audience is recognising what is happening – the set-up of the music gear signifies the progress of the day and the gig – we’re playing on codes that the targeted audience should understand.

I filmed the video at two locations: The first was trackside Studio’s, the space where the band stored their gear. The realism in the footage filmed here was found in the fact nothing was staged. Again in the style of Gun’s N Rose’s video Paradise city, I followed the band around with a camera while they gathered their gear in preparation for the shoot. This natural feeling, documentary style footage is a recognisable style amongst the targeted audience.

The second location I filmed at was Cabin 5150, a music venue in Macclesfield designed for the live performances of bands. I chose this venue as the initial décor already represented the genre of funk rock before I’d even set up the shoot. During the editing process I increased the brightness and contrast the further bring out the vibrancy of the colours in the room. This just emphasised the connotations of funk displayed in the video.

The Genre of rock is represented through the brands shown in the video. In the video for Standby we used all the same equipment the band would’ve used to a typical gig, supporting the idea of realism within the video. Recognisable brand names such as Marshall were regularly displayed in the video to reinforce the elements of the rock genre. The genuine gig set up meant having all instruments and microphones plugged in, making it as realistic as possible. However none of the amps were actually turned on. The track was played through the onstage speakers and the band mimed along. This made my job of lip syncing a lot easier as the band were playing deadly in time with the track. Lip syncing is a universal code of music videos, recognised by the audiences of all genres – so it was important that I got it spot on. For example, the footage of the band playing verse 2 was only used in verse 2. I also made sure that all hand claps and audience movements were in time to the song to help the video flow smoothly.
The sharp cut edits and transitions are all on the beats of the music too. Together, these make the video feel more rhythmic, it becomes more enjoyable for the audience to watch, they feel a part of the video as it draws them in. It also creates a stronger link between the music and the video.
A final note on editing – the fast paced editing reflects the fast paced music, and the idea of using sped up footage in the video also helps to portray the upbeat feel of the song.

To further emphasise the idea of realism within the music video, I invited a group of between 20 and 30 to stand in as an audience at the set of the shoot. The people I asked were all infact real fans of the band. This meant that they were naturally getting into the music and singing a long – a natural feel that I wanted to, and did capture in my video.
I told both the audience and the band to treat it like any other gig in order to capture to the full the realistic atmosphere of their live performances.
We set up a lighting rig and added coloured filters so that the room was lit in a way that created the desired ambience; the coloured lights brought out the faces, instruments and movements of the band, that of which lights are often used for at real gigs. They contributed to the atmospheric side, and helped to create character and genre of the performance. I also had it synced to the music to create pulses of light on various beats.
Combined with the smoke machine which was also being used, I think we managed to accurately capture the atmosphere of a live performance enough so that the target audience recognised the codes and conventions on the screen and hence understood the situation presented in the video.

I used multiple points of view within my video.

The introductory shot establishes the band’s name, and image from no particular point of view.
Que roadie POV as the music begins. Filmed on a handheld camera to create realism of the point of view, this shot allows the audience to feel like a part of the set up. The band communicate regularly with the camera, creating a relationship between them and the audience – the audience feel as though they are a close friend helping out.

As the verse 1 vocals begin, the singer begins singing into the camera. We feel as though the words are his thoughts and we are reading his mind and emotions.
As we approach the bridge we come back to the Roadie POV shot as the band continue to prepare for the gig.
During the rest of the video we alternate between different views. After the chorus we introduce the Audience POV shot, allowing the audience to feel as though they are in the venue, experiencing the gig from the crowd’s perspective, as well as the band’s.
A shot from the stage looking to the crowd make the audience feel as though they are backstage- this creates a relationship and makes the video more inclusive of the audience. Shots of the crowd dancing and singing also contribute to the inclusive feel of the video.

We filmed the video chronologically on the day of the shoot as the time of day played a particular part in the realism of the video. Typically a gig is performed in the evening, so we filmed the performance in the evening, after recording the run up in the day. Combined with the use of the coloured lighting rig and the smoke machine, I feel we really managed to capture the realism of a genuine live performance.
To finish the video, I merged the sound of the crowd cheering from the footage taken at the shoot with the actual mp3 track I was syncing the video to. This further created the illusion of being there in the venue. The audience would feel like they have just finished watching a live performance and would feel inclined to join in the clapping.

The use of mise en scene combined with the sharp, rhythmic editing, inclusive shots of the audience, handheld camerawork, and diegetic sound of the crowd helps to create meaning and genre that the audience understand and relate to. We assume that the audience watching the video understands the conventions of a music video, and so we play to these typical conventions and codes.