Pop Video Forms and Conventions

Form - Narrative

There is a very strong narrative throughout our video. This is very typical of most music videos to have a strong narrative, for example, Sunlight by Modestep or Time by Chase & Status. This is shown mostly during a particular shot where our main youth is being talked about by the suits, whilst they hold a wanted poster. This symbolises the rebellion of the character and reflects the star image. Despite having a main character who was not part of the band, we wanted this character to somewhat reflect the same image and personality of the lead singer.

Form - Performance

Our performance element ties in nicely with our narrative, as the characters become part of the performance along with the artists. This helped us to show off our performers by having the lead singer center stage. Our ECU (Extreme Close Ups) help to emphasize and link the lyrics and music together. Also as it is the first single of SMAK we wanted to portray a star image instantly and make the performers recognizable to our audiences. Unlike other media texts the performer looks straight into the camera and this gives a sense that they are communicating directly with the audience. This is very typical of most pop videos for example in Promises by Nero where the lead singer links with the narrative.

Form - Thematic

Some of our shots really helped portray the rebellious, urban and gritty star image. This was explored mostly through the use of costume, set, location and lighting. For example, when our leading youth jumps over the barb wired fence. The actors costume helps represent the same type of class and image of our lead singer, coming from a working class background. This links with the genre of the music being Drum and Bass/ Dance, where this image is typical of the type of the target audience. This is a very typical method used in videos such as Jungle by Professor Green

Convention Visually Stylish

Despite wishing to portray a grubby and gritty image for our band, some of our shots were very artistic. For example through the use of pulling in and out of focus and depth of field, we were able to create something beautiful which is normally seen as very ugly. This is again typical as we wanted to create an aesthetic video. This will build more viewers and get our audience to watch the video repeatedly. This convention is used often for example in videos such as Midnight Run by Example with the water shots.

Convention Rules of Continuity

It is known that continuity isnt as much of an issue in pop videos compared to on television or in documentaries. Therefore it is much easier to break this rule, as we did in our final sequence where the youths ran from the town into the cage with the band. Previously the band were inside the cage, however are now above looking down at the suits into it. However this is very typical in most music videos for example, Diva by Beyonce with the constant outfit changes.

Convention Fast Paced Editing

Another convention we used was fast paced editing and shots. This was to help highlight the rhythmic editing and to build an atmosphere for our audience. We portrayed this through our short and fast cuts and busy shots, which create high energy and sense of frenetic movement, especially during the chase scenes. It is very typical to have a visual equivalent to a track. Where the audience can relate a specific song with an image or symbolism.

Digipak Cover 1

This is the front panel of our Digipak for SMAK our band. We wanted to portray an image of urban, violent, criminal and gritty culture. Therefore we deciced to use a boxer with hand wraps to show the power and strength of our band and their music. The colour of the font is a bright warning color, also used on crime scene tape or warning signs. Therefore we thought this would be most appropriate as if to warn off the audience that you too can only listen to it if you too are of the same image.

Digipak Cover 2