Ryan Mottram

Codes and Conventions Task

Codes and Conventions:
Codes and conventions are the themes and ideals that run through a music video, they allow the audience
to become familiar with the video and it draws them into the video, they allow the audience to immerse
themselves into the video, for example if the video was set to be a horror or dark genre, there would
probably be a lot of close-ups and fast paced camera shots, Codes and conventions include the style, the
camera, the shots and the mise en scene. Codes and conventions also ensure that the video and song fit
well with the music video for example so that the music video doesnt looks out of place or stupid and
draws the viewers attention and are broken down into two different types, the two different types are
Technical and Symbolic; the Technical side of Codes and Conventions are the different camera and angles
and shots which change between the different music videos for example the music videos with different
genres will have different camera angles which allow for a different viewing experience to the music video.
In the technical side of Codes and Conventions there is also Diagetic and non-Diagetic sound which
basically means that Diagetic is the noise that is naturally there while non-Diagetic is something that is
placed in the background to add effect or tell a different side to the story. The symbolic type is what you can
see in the music video, for example facial expressions, gestures, poses and mise en scene; this is used
due to the fact that it plays a massive part in creating emphasis and meaning, for example in Ed Sheerans
A Team you can see that the woman in it has a close up on her face with makeup running down her face,
this adds emphasis on the fact that it is a very sad music video and that she is leaning over onto her arm
(image 1) which makes it seem that she has a very depressed and stressful life and also that just from
looking at the actions she is doing you can infer that she is thinking very deeply without even needing
words.
Types of Music Videos:
The different types of music videos are as follows: Performance, Narrative, Mixture and Cameo;
Performance videos are mainly when the artists are performing in the video, an example of this would be
Queens Dont Stop Me Now (image 2) this is because the music video for this song is simply Freddie
Mercury singing to the song on stage and not telling a story; these types of videos are not as popular due to
the fact that it doesnt tell a story, this means that the audience has a harder time to get immersed into the
video. To make up for the fact that the video doesnt really have a storyline behind it lots of different
choreography, props, makeup and costumes are used which is iconic for Freddie Mercury and the band
Queen (Image 3.)
The narrative type of music video follow a storyline through the music video and is normally one of the
more popular music videos due to the fact that the audience can get immersed into the video as it tells a
story, there are two types of narrative videos which are mainly used; these are Linear and Fragmented,
linear music videos are videos that tell a story from the beginning to the end and set out a full story building
up emphasis to the end of the video an example of this would be Ed Sheerans A Team (Image 4). A
fragmented video on the other hand shows fragments of a story which is given by its name and can include
things like flashbacks and scenes from a story, this can add emphasis to a story due to the fact that it
allows viewer to get immersed into the story which puts the audience into a state of intrigue as these kinds
of stories will normally tell the end of the story and then flashback to what has happened in the past, an
example of this would be Katy Perrys Last Friday Night (Image 5) as it starts with her waking up after the
party in a mess and then flashes back to her remembering getting ready and how the party happened all
the way through it.
The third type of music video is called a Mixture this is due to the fact that it intertwines both Performance
and Narrative videos into one, this is one of the more common videos that are seen due to the fact that it is
hard to completely create either a Performance or a Narrative video all the way through; with a mixture this
allows it to be able to show parts of a performance and the singing that comes with some music videos but
then they can show clips of a narrative which tells part of a story and a mixture would normally mix between
the two, this makes the video more interesting and welcoming, a good example of a mixture would be

Ryan Mottram
Eminems Not Afraid (Image 6) this would be because it shows him singing, but also through the video it
swaps to him flying through the city which catches the audiences eye and this draws them in to watch the
whole entire music video. A mixture is a good idea due to the fact that it allows the music video to tell you a
story while still drawing the attention in through the use of the performance, you can get emotional videos
that still have action or drama in them through the performance and narrative mix, for example Eminems
Not Afraid again is a very random music video about him flying around a city, but the lyrics tell a story of
his life picking himself up.
The last type of music video would be a Cameo, this is a music video which incorporates different artists in
the music video but doesnt show them performing, basically getting the artists to take part in the narrative
and not anything to do with the performance, this can make certain music videos very big quite quickly due
to the fact that even if the music isnt the actual thing that pulls the audience in to watching the video, the
co-stars in the video can have enough fame to pull a large amount of their fan base to view the video. An
example of a Cameo would be Taylor Swifts Bad Blood (Image 7) which incorporates some of the big stars
listed here: Selena Gomez, Kendrick Lamar, Ellie Goulding, Haley Williams and Cara Delavigne. With the
amount of massively popular stars in this music video, it is no wonder that it got so popular due to the fact
that even if people didnt find the music to be the best, the amount of gigantic stars that took place in the
music video would make it popular due to the amount of views from the fans wanting to see this
collaboration taking place. Another great use of a cameo is that if a newer artist can get other more famous
artists involved this can boost their reputation and popularity incredibly due to the fact that the farns of the
other artists will be lot more likely to watch this video because it is a collab of a singer they like. It is quite
hard though to get a collab with a bigger artist if you have just started because the chance that the video
will get very popular is quite low.
How common is each style?
Out of all of the different types of videos the one I am basing my music video on and the most popular
would probably be a Mixture as it allows the audience to get two different types of videos in one. This
allows the audience to not get bored and stops them changing the music half way through the video. I
would say that Narrative and Performance both come close together because you see a lot of both types of
videos, they both have their own qualities when it comes to which one is better due to the fact that one
shows the actual singer performing which attracts a large fan base while the narrative on the other hand
makes it so that a story is being told and this attracts a lot of people due to the fact that a story is told while
the music plays in the background and depending on how strange or good the music video is, is what
attracts the audience, an example of this would be Bruno Mars Grenade (Image 8.)
Why is the Camera important in Music Videos?
The camera is an essential tool when it comes to making music videos due to the fact that it is the thing
that is used to create the video, when it comes to making the best music video or making your music stand
out over the rest of the music videos you have to have a good quality camera for the fact that the better
quality your camera is the better chances you have to top the other music videos out there, people would
be a lot more impressed with a clearer and more crisp music video over someone elses, most music
videos in the current era are being recorded in 1080p HD while on the other hand the quality of the past
eras cameras would mainly be something along the lines of around 360-480p which arent exactly bad for
the time period but cant compare to the cameras now. There are lots of different types of music videos just
due to the fact how they are shot, different angles used in different videos give an alternative perspective
for example if a pan is used around a band, it would give a completely different view to a close-up video of
a song.
Why Certain Shots are used:
Different shots are used to create emphasis, for example Fall Out Boys Thanks for the Memories shows a
selection of different angles used by the camera, this is because it allows the video to become more
popular with the different types of shots. An example of a very wide shot in this video would be when they
see the crowd and are singing on stage (Image 9.) this is because it shows in more detail what is going on.
We also see a wide shot when the band is on stage and it shows the entire band and the different events

Ryan Mottram
that are happening in the one scene, for example what the drummer is doing differently to the singer, which
draws the audience in as it gives them a bigger area to put pulled into.
Mid shots are used in this video for the sake that it adds emphasis and adds drama to the video due to the
fact that a mid-shot shows the waist upwards so which means that you can see the different facial
expression that the singer is making and at the same time you can see the different emotions and also the
actions that they are doing; with a mid-shot you can normally see what is behind the singer and this allows
for better viewing as it adds emphasis to what is happening in the music video, for example in Thanks for
the Memories we see that the background is just a stage with big lit up letters spelling out the bands name
(Image 10), but just from seeing this mid-shot it draws the audience watching the video to be closer to the
stage and look like they are literally on stage with the band members, this allows the audience to immerse
themselves in the video.
A shot that is similar to the mid-shot but hold more emotion and power would be the Medium Close Up
shot, this shot is not as zoomed in as the close up shot but normally allow you to see the shoulders and
above on an actor, we see this in Thanks for the Memories when the lead singer is singing (Image 11), the
shot shows him from shoulders and above and from this we can see the emotion that is on his face, which
in the video shows him singing his lungs out for the fact that the director who is played by a monkey which
may be a type of symbolic image for their director, the emotion in this shot may be used to portray the
anger or other emotions he has to the audience watching the video on what he thinks about what some
directors could be like.
One shot that is very important and holds lots of power out of all the shots would be the Close Up shot and
this would be because it usually zooms in on someones face to show the emotion that they are feeling in
that point in time or scene. Most close up shots are used in either sad music videos or if the music in the
video is meant to get a point across to show that it is serious. Thanks for the Memories on the other hand
challenges these codes and conventions due to the fact that in the video there is nothing to be really sad
about as the story is about a girl the guitarist is trying to get with and gets stolen away by a monkey (Image
12); this has the story line that would normally be used for a type of shot like a close up, but is comical due
to the fact that they used a monkey instead of anything else in place of it and the close up just shows the
anger on his face due to a monkey stealing his girl. Linking onto this shot would be the Extreme Close Up
shot which is used for the maximum emotion that can be shown from someones face and this is usually a
shot of someones eyes which allows the singer or actor to portray a massive amount of emotions such as
fear or sadness through looking at someones eyes, we can see this also in Thanks for the Memories
when the camera zooms in to show the anger on one of the band members eyes.
The Over the Shoulder shot is also a very important shot when making or viewing certain music videos
due to the fact that it shows the camera over one of the shoulders between two people normally having a
conversation, normally in one of these shots the person with the camera over their shoulder would take up
about 1/3 of the screen, and the rest should be the view of the other person, if the two people are around
the same height, this can be perfect to show a power balance between the two and allows the audience to
be pulled into the video as it can imitate as if they are in the conversation as it makes it seem like the
person opposite the camera is talking to you, the norm for this is that the camera will usually flicker in
between the two different people, this is not the case though in Thanks for the Memories due to the fact
that the over the shoulder shot in this video is the lead singer singing into a camera, this could even give
the audience of recording the song with the band for the sake that the camera is recording the singer and
you are over the shoulder of him without changing to another person.
The last shot that I will talk about that is seen in Thanks for the Memories is the Cut in which is where the
camera is focused on a certain point of the body and then suddenly cuts to another point, this adds
emphasis as it happens so quick and can be seen as very dramatic, a cut in is seen in Thanks for the
Memories when the camera snaps from a close up on the face to the guitar being constantly strummed,
from this you can infer that the song is going to speed up because you can see the speed of the strumming
on your screen. This doesnt have to be to do with the guitar, this could change to another part of the body if
needed and is used to focus on different parts, for example if in a video someone was going to pull out a
weapon it may snap to their body and show that they are going to pull something out of their coat.

Ryan Mottram
Overall these different types of shots which can all be seen in Fall Out Boys Thanks for the Memories all
contribute to the fact of making a music video seem either more serious or the opposite which is what is
portrayed in Thanks for the Memories due to the fact that it seems to have a serious issue and the title is
very serious, the shots add emphasis on to the fact that the story is about the band trying to become big
and even about girls, but the concept is flipped around on its head like with most Fall Out Boy videos by
adding strange things like monkeys as the producers, this could have been added to the codes and
conventions as the mise en scene for the fact that it could be a dual meaning for the fact that they are trying
to set an image that it isnt their music that is wrong and is something to do with their directors who are
portrayed as animals.
The Different Angels in Music Videos:
In music videos a choice of different angles can appear and these different angles add emphasis on
different videos, the first angle that I will talk about will be the Eye-level a good example of this angle
would be Katy Perrys Do it like a dude (Image 13) the eye-level angle normally shows two different people
talking to each other, eye-level normally means that both people are looking into the other persons eyes,
the effect of this usually means that both of the characters have equal power.
The second angle that I will be talking about will be the Low Angle when this angle is used on a person the
camera tilts upwards to a slant, this gives the view that you are looking down upon someone, this can also
be seen in Do It Like a Dude (Image 14) and gives power to the person the angle is raised to, this is
because it gives us the opinion that you are looking down upon someone.
The next angle is opposite to the Low Angle and is called a High Angle this is a very simple angle and
does the same as the low angle but in reverse, it makes the angle look up at someone and is usually seen
in scenarios when someone holds less power and this is a way to visually see the power difference, this
can also be seen in Do It Like a Dude (Image 15.)
A Birds-eye angle is a shot that is up in the air and gives a large view on most of the surroundings, this
shot is especially good if you want to give the audience a scale of either how big something is or to
emphasise a place, a Birdseye shot can plan into a lot of other shots; for example a pan shot which gives a
large spread view of the area. A birds eye angle can also just be above an actor, which adds emphasis as
you can see everything that actor is doing as if it's a performance or narrative it will go well with this angle.
The last angle that I shall be talking about is the Slant or Dutch angle; this angle purposely tilts to the side
to create drama, this goes well with music videos due to the fact that it adds a new sense in how to look at
the videos. A lot of music videos have this angle due to the sheer fact that it is a very unusual angle that is
not commonly seen, this makes it popular in music videos as you need to grab the attention of your
audience(Image 16.)
There are multiple types of movements that are used in music videos as well, that is because it adds
emphasis onto the video and allows the camera to move/track the artists or whatever is going on in the
video. The first movement is the Pan this is where the camera moves horizontally across the floor and
then slowly ,moves around to create emphasis, it goes around the people in the music video to make it look
like they are being circled, this is a very good way to get different angles in music videos and is very
common among them (Image 17.)
The second movement shot is the Tracking shot, this is where a camera is placed upon a dolly mount,
which allows the camera to be stationary but move across a track, this means that it's stability is amazing
and that it can follow different things happening in the video on the dolly mount, this can be seen a lot if
there is a car chase or something fast paced in a music video (Image 18.)
Diagetic sound is found in music videos all around the world, it is the main key in a music video, it is the
sound that comes from the music video and the voices of the singers, this is what the audience listens to
when they watch the music video. On the other hand non-Diagetic sound is sound that can be edited in
later in such as effects and auto tune which help with the popularity of the video but aren't necessarily
needed. Non-Diagetic sound can be found a lot in old music videos such as the Black Eyed Peas (Image
20.)

Ryan Mottram
Except from the two sounds above there is another that draws in a mass amount of people, this is parallel
sound, this means when the music matches the video that it is playing with, one of the best example of this
would be Ed Sheerans A Team as the video to this is extremely upsetting and is about a prostitute that is
addicted to drugs, and the music reflects this with a sense of empathy, which draws the audience in and
attracts a lot more views, which is seen in A Team (Image 19.)
Mise En Scene is commonly used in music videos and is one of the key elements that are inputted into
music videos, the lighting in music videos reflects what kind of mood the video is meant to be, for example
a low, dark lit room is either meant to be sad or to add dramatic effect, while a brigher room may be seen as
jolly or happy, the use of different lighting effects creates a completely different feel to the video, for
example you wouldnt have a very dark a dingy video that is meant to make people empathise be very lit up
and happy unless you are trying to go against the codes and conventions.
Props are a key feature in the music videos, props allow videos to be wacky and strange, an example of a
wacky video would be Katy Perrys Last Friday Night as it is talking about parites and has flamingos and
other different props which reflect the music video really well, by using these different features and props, it
creates different effects and can portray a certain mood across to the audience, for example Katy Perrys
party video, things like flamingos are popular due to the fact its the stereotypical way to have a party in
America and is a visual representation of a party, while if another video had prop guns and wanted to show
war then the story would be completely different.
Costumes a one the main key things that you see in a music video, that is why it's so important, an
example or this would be one of Queens Bohemian Rhapsody this is because Freddie wears very unique
items of clothing, for example a lacy white blazer, these iconic and famous types of clothing become iconic
and become famous over time, just a certain piece of clothing can make something or some videos
extremely important, another example would be Michael Jacksons famous white glove, the glove on its own
became a very famous object and sold for $350,000 on its own just from the fame from the music video he
wore it in (Image 20.)
Hair and makeup links in to costumes to a certain extent, a great example of a weird or wacky hairstyle
would be Lady Gagas Telephone this video includes her with Coca Cola cans in her hair(Image 23), just
the fact that she has cans in her hair will a draw a massive audience from her fan base and other fans.
Makeup and hair can either be wacky or become an icon that people will want to either imitate or will stick
in their heads, on the other hand this also advertises for a company such as Coca Cola and by doing this
Lady Gaga will get funding from the sponsor which allows the music video to have even better effects in so
both people in the end gain things. Makeup effects different situations due to the fact that it can add
emphasis or do the opposite, makeup could either mean making someone look good or make it look like
theyve been injured. Makeup holds a lot of different possibilitites that allow the creators of the music video
to express their imagination.
For location a certain set can change the entire feel of a music video, for example Coolios Gangsters
Paradise is set in a dark and isolated warehouse like building which is where you would stereotypically find
the people that are labelled as gangsters or thugs, if this location was not the setting and was set in a bright
or happy place, it would kill the mood of the video and the video would not make much sense (Image 24.)
Colour is a key point which links in with the location in mise en scene due to the fact that dark and dingy
colours are key feature in videos like Gangsters Paradise if a music video is meant to have a happy tune,
then the video will normally show lots of colours, a very unique of music which incorporates colour would be
House music as the videos are mainly of festivals and include light shows and allow the audience to get in
a good party mood, colour can effect the audience and the mood massively, especially music videos that
include monotone which makes the music video black and white because this adds either a sense of
depression or darkness to the video.
Different stereotypes in music videos are included in things like Gangsters Paradise as we see gangsters
locked up in a dark room, this is a stereotype to where you would find gangsters, the gangsters in the video
are mainly black, this is one of the biggest stereotypes that are in music videos, stereotypes in music
videos are not a big as they would have been 10 years ago due to the fact that there are certain limitation

Ryan Mottram
on what you can actually have on the music video, but at the same time music videos are taking a wacky
and weird turn by having CGI and other different ways to tell stories in their videos.
Overall out off all of the things listed above, I have learned that camera and angles can effect a music video
massively. Depending on the different shots and angles; the different emotions and scenes created can
change, the use of birds eye shots or pans can make a completely different view in the video; I also
learned about the different types of music videos that there are, with the knowledge of what all the different
music videos did or were best at, I decided to create a mixture due to the fact that it would be the best for
the song choice I had made, I believe that it will allow me to make the best between a performance and
narrative allow a balance between the two. I also realised how important the mise en scene in a music
video is, the different props and costumes can make a massive difference as they tell their own story on
their own, for example having ripped or scraggy clothes could mean that you may be poor or even have
gotten into a fight. There are a lot of things that I shouldnt overlook, a great example of this would be to do
with makeup; I have decided to use makeup to make it look like my protagonist has been in lots of fights
and is struggling and then alter this through the music video, while before doing any research I would of just
used costumes and hardly touched any makeup at all.

Ryan Mottram

Image 1

Image 3

Image 2

Image 4

Image 5

Image 6

Image 7

Image 9

Image 8

Image 10

Ryan Mottram

Image 11

Image 12