Codes and Conventions of a Music Videos Jamie Allen

Mise en scene• Mise-en-scene: This refers to the arrangement of

performers and props on stage or in a scene for a production of a music video or any other media text. Mise-en- scene puts importance on the representation of something.

• An example is, Walk by Foo Fighters. The mise-en scene involves him walking down a road alone, being in a car stuck in traffic. This reflects the parody that the narrative follows.

• Also, the props include guitars lots of traffic. Similarly, the lighting is kept light as it is set outside. 

Camera shots

•Camera Shots: Music videos tend to include many long shots, close ups and mid shots. This is to create emphasis on the artist, location and emotions. Also, close ups are used not only to show emotions but to reflect the words of the song with the movement of the lips of the artist.

Camera Movement

•The movement of the camera is used to follow and trace the artist or band. Camera movements include tilts, pans, tracking and crane shots.

•Tracking is mainly used in ‘Walk’ as it follows him walking down the road.

•Also zooms and are used to focus on the artist singing.

Editing

•Cuts or jump cuts are the predominant editing technique used in music videos.

•This is because this allows a sudden change from one scene to another. Similarly, transitions such as fade and dissolve are very common in music videos as they create a different effect to cuts.