An article by Criag Davis' about Video Conventions

During my research i discovered this article by Crag Davis who establishes music video conventions, after reading through i discovered that these statements mirrored the conventions I established after my analysis. This was reassuring as I can now state music video conventions with confidence. The conventions I found are posted on my blog here.

Lighting - We could use the idea of switching from colour to black or white, desaturated to determine a flask back or memory, also a change of colour lighting will be useful in differentiating setting, chorus and verse change etc. We will endevour to think of clever ways to use artificial lighting in our video as we believe this is a key focus for making our video seem professional. This idea was also highlighted a lot during my research, from which we gained some inspiring ideas.

Mise en scene - We will interpret the genre of the track in our mise en scene, choosing gritty locations that reflect the urban music. We have thought about how we could stage the garage scene and thought about using old tattered furniture surrounded by clutter. - an intentional 'parodic' setting to exaggerate star image.

In post production we will think of innovative ways to use Final cuts many video filters and effects to the premium.
Even though our video is not planned to be a performance due to the genre of the track, these points were interesting and insighting especially the comments on a hybrid form video, cutting between performance and narrative as in Greenday's 21 Guns which I analysised. Also we could use the idea that the 'artist...often becomes part of that narrative story', as we are keen to switch between him singing/ performing alone in a desolate room and a subtle narrative.
This was reassuring, as the plan to our music videos narrative is not very strong, it hints at why he is in despair through use of flashbacks but we did worry that this would not be adequate for the audience. Craig Davis' claims that 'narrative code must be 'loose' or simply 'suggestive' which is reassuring.
Amplification - this is a convention we will endeavour to finish to a high quality, we have already began to interpret and amplify the lyrics from using a bleeding nose for the opening 'When the blood dries in my veins', here a 'connotative' link has been used. We are constantly thinking of ways to creatively interpret the lyrics and the mood of the video.

This is a idea i picked up on a lot after analysing already established music videos. Care full planning of camera positioning and movement will be needed - especially close ups! And the idea of lip syncing we will definitely use. During our editing we will then utilise these shots to edit to the fast drum n bass pace of our track. 'Jumping from location to person...without any normal narrative continuity', this means that we will have to be less aware of continuity editing as this will appear too much like a short piece of film, rather than following conventions of a music video.

The article found is hosted here.