Codes and Conventions of pop music videos

Conventions. 

-Artists are clothed in fashionable, stylish and mainstream outfits .

- Artist are portrayed as happy, enjoying and content with life.

- The lyrics are normally based around love or relationships.

- Often bands express the unity associated with teens, which is the main target audience for this genre.

- Music genre is normally conveyed through the video dressing and setting.

- Pop magazines are often themed with bright and bold colors which are normally associated with positive vibe .

- Pop songs is usually between 3-5 minutes long with a set structure and a consistent beat.

Reasons for Codes and Conventions. 

- The audience can become familiar with a particular genre, as they would get used to recognising the different conventions within a genre. 

- It provides a structure that the audience can understand.

- To ensure the lyrics of the song fit with the visuals of the music video.

Performance. 

Performance within music videos, is when the artist is mainly performing the song throughout the music video. An example would be Beyonce's 'Love On Top' music video. Throughout the whole song, she is continuously performing the song and there are no other scenes, locations or even a narrative. A music video that mostly has the artist performing isn't exactly common, as it could get the viewer rather bored to keep on watching. However, what makes Beyonce's music video interesting to watch is that, Beyonce changes the costumes, and lighting of the music video whilst performing, this makes the performance within the music video more creative and captivating to watch.

Narrative.

A narrative music video, is one that follows a storyline. It can either be a linear storyline or one that is quite  fragmented  which can keep the audience intrigued. Linear storyline's are most common, as it goes through a beginning, middle and an end. The fragmented one is a little bit more complex. An example of a narrative within a music video is Andra Day's music video "Rise Up" which is a story about a couple, the man has lost his ability to walk whilst his wife helps take care of him everyday despite how hard it is to 'Rise up' and stay strong.

Lighting

Lighting can make a video rather intruging, as some music videos may use natural lighting e.g. the sunlight the performance shots of a music video. Whereas, some music videos would use bright neon lighting to make the video be rather surreal. It adds more energy and vibrancy to a music video. An example would be Troye Sivan's music video "Youth".

Costume/ Outfits.

Some music videos use a range of costumes/ outfits within a music video. This could be either to help assist the narrative, or it could be to show that particular artist is fashionable and trendy. Which would then influence their fans to wear particular clothing. Some artists use exggerating outfits and costumes to display their type of 'Star Image' such as Lady Gaga. Whereas some artist use outfits to create trends that their target audience can follow, such as Rihanna.

Lady Gaga music video "Born This Way"

Rihanna music video "Wild Thoughts"

Close-ups.

Close-ups are commonly used within music videos, as it helps the audience to identify who is the artist. It can also show the innocence of the artist, or their feelings when they are lip syncing lyrics of their song. An example of close-ups within music videos is Ariana Grande's music video "Break Free".

Fast-paced editing.

Fast paced editing is also key within pop music videos, as it adds excitement and energy within a music video. Also, it changes the pace of the music video and adds dynamic to it, which keeps the audience watching and intrigued. An example of a music video with fast paced editing is, Calvin Harris & Disciples "How Deep Is Your Love".