Conventions

"Closure" Video Analysis

Conventions

The song "Closure" by Asking Alexandria, from the album "Reckless and Relentless" is a live video with the band performing on stage at a festival with snippets of interviews the band did while at the festival, shots of the crowds reaction to the band and backstage footage of the band's highlights of the festival and them interacting with the other bands and crowd. The band and the crowd portray the modern metal scene, through the use of clothing. Skinny/drainpipe jeans, band t-shirts, stretched ears, long hair and tattoos are very common in the video amongst the band and fans. There are many close ups of the 2 most popular members of the band (Danny Worsnop - Vocals and Ben Bruce - Lead Guitar) because these were seen as the most eye catching. The band themselves have the looks of a typical metal band, and also use the same style of stage moves as modern metal bands do these days. The video uses many camera effects; half of the video is bright and colourful, mainly the backstage shots and the other half of the band performing on stage and the audience is bright and colourful. This could be used to signify the upbeat atmosphere you get when you see the band live.




Representation

The whole band are represented as the 'next best thing' in the video. There are many shots of the crowd going crazy for them, shots of the band signing band merchandise portray the bands popularity. They appear have a somewhat 'on top of the world' attitude, the majority of the video is them having fun drinking alcohol, smoking and just generally having a good time. This is shown as the penultimate reason the band is around, so people can have a good time listening to them. Danny is portrayed as an icon a lot of the time, because of the fans reaction to him, and the fact that he is the main person on screen throughout the whole video.




Audience

The target audience for the video will be mixed gender teenagers aged 13-20. Asking Alexandria lead the lifestyle that most people this age would love to have given to opportunity. People will watch the video and look up to them and think that they want to live the same lifestyle. Andy Biersack, from the band "Black Veil Brides" also cameos in the video having a picture taken with Ben Bruce and he is seen as a role model to people of the same age so people who like both bands can see them both together. People also will watch the video to seek new trends, so if they see something they will like, they will latch onto it because music is very inspirational.




Institution

The song Closure is a single released after "Reckless and Relentless"hit the shops from the record label Sumerian Records. Fans can be seen giving copies of the album to the band to sign, but Sumerian Records themselves do not play a big part in the video.Product placement of beer cans can be seen throughout the video.

Conventions for different genres

Music Genre	Clothing	Behaviours	Video settings
Hip Hop	Jewelry, baggy clothes,  chains, bandanas,	Dancing	Bright, colourful, upbeat
Metal/Rock	Dark clothes, long hair	Headbanging, moshing, aggressive moves	Dark, club venues, flashing lights, fog
Punk	Piercings, tight jeans, mohawks	moshing	Small venues, low budget

Conventions of a music video

The conventions of a music video are important because they help to classify the video into the correct genre. For example, your typical R&B/Hip Hop music video will contain perhaps a club with attractive girls and be bright, upbeat and colourful, whereas a music video for a metal video will be dark and dull, with perhaps a somewhat depressing atmosphere to it. The music style and lyrics must also relate in some way to the music video.

The types of video in which music videos can be done are:
Performance - When the band or artist is seen throughout the music video performing the song being played
Narrative - The song will involve a narrative storyline, so actors will be put in the video to act out the story
Mixture - A mixture of the first 2
Cameo - Where the musician features in the narrative as a cameo, but does not act out the song in any way
Animation - An animated story or other video to go along with the music

Camera Shots/Movement
The camera can be used to portray the story and also the band that are performing. A music video involving the band performing live on stage will also contain the various shots of the band and also will focus on the fans and audience, particularly to view the crowds reaction to the band. An example of this would be moshpits in metal videos. When showing a story, it uses the same conventions as a film; close ups to show facial expressions, match on action to show actions etc. It is more important that shots like these are put into the video, since the video will have no dialogue because of the music and it will therefore be harder to understand. There will also be close ups of the band's instruments to show what they are playing, and also shots of logos for product placement.

Editing
Again, this is the same as film. Special effects will be added to show what cannot be done in real life, such as flying or magic effects etc.

Mise en Scene
The mise en scene of a music video needs to be convey the genre of the music through the use of the location/setting, the lighting and the props used (if it is a narrative music video)
For example, the typical mise en scene used for a rock/metal music video, it will be set somewhere dingy and dull, there will be very little lighting and the band/people acting in the video will have long hair, piercings, dark clothing and chains etc.

The purpose of a music video

The intention of a music video is to entertain the watcher by creating a visual image through the use of a song or piece of art, or other piece of music. This can be used to show a story that the song may tell, or an artistic piece. An example of an artistic piece would be "Somebody I used to know" by Gotye, there is no specific story behind the video, merely just the singers taking on a form of art. An example of a msuic video that tells a story, or part of one is "All Signs point to Lauderdale" by A Day to Remember, which tells the story of a boy bullied at school. It can also be used for advertising products that will be featured in the music video, such as t-shirts, an energy drink or maybe even an upcoming tour that the band will be doing. Popular videos, especially amongst the rock/metal genre show tour diaries, such as highlights of on stage footage of the bands and backstage footage. An example of this is the music video to "Closure" by Asking Alexandria. Music videos in which the songs has featured in a film may have parts of the film in the music video to help advertise the film to fans of the band. An example of this is "Her Portrait in Black" by Atreyu which had a music video done for the film Underworld: Evolution.

"Follow the Signs" video analysis

Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
The visual image of Born of Osiris are that of a typical modern death metal/deathcore band, with long hair or shaven heads, stretched/pierced ears and other facial piercings. There are a lot of close ups of the double bass pedals and guitars playing the technical parts of the song which could be used to show off the skill of the band members. There is also a lot of simultaneous headbanging and other aggressive stage moves that are typical of various bands of the same or similar genre. There is very little lighting and the band members are wearing dark or bland clothes, to fit in with the stereotypical view of darkness within the genre of music. It matches Goodwin's theory of genre characteristics within music videos.

Relationships between visuals and lyrics
Between shots of the band, the video itself is of illuminati style people being brought down to earth by monks. This matches the lines in the song "I will show you more, a discovery beyond what you perceive" and "But in the end, disbelief cannot be denied, cannot be refused." This could be suggesting the existance of a greater being beyond earth and it will eventually inevitably be upon us. This, again meets Goodwin's theory because the lyrics and on screen visuals match.

Relationships between music and visuals
Aside from the genre (technical death metal) the band use a lot of choir and keyboard aspects in the song to add a mysterious feel to the video, which fits in very well with the theme of the music video.

The demand for the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work
The music video includes various shots of the band, both with whole band shots and individual shots of each member, showing the instruments and movements that the band do. This could be the recognisable feature or trademark of the band which would make them easy to distinguish by their fans.

There is frequently reference to notion of looking
The majority of the visual effects in the video are done using CGI and actors. The band also are performing in the same backdrop in which parts of the video are set. It helps to pirtray the story behind the music video. Aside from this, there is nobody else in the music video. The main focus is on the band and the story, which the CGI and various bright colours used helps to portray.

There is often intertextual reference

There is no intertextual reference in the music video, other than the record label, Sumerian Records presenting themselves at the start. There is no product placement at all other than accidental close-ups of the band's equipment used in the video and also the band are also wearing very plain clothes with no bright logos or patterns. This helps the main focus to be on the band themselves and the visuals, but doesn't meet Goodwin's theory.

The tasks

Music Video - A video that portrays a story or art through the use of a song, taking into account it's lyrics and musical style. below is the music video for the song "Unbreakable" by Veil of Maya

Band Website - A page on the internet which shows the band's details, such as tour dates, merchandise and a profile or background of the band. Below is Veil of Maya's profile on their record label's website Sumerian Records.

Digipak - A collection of a CD and DVD with other features in a CD pack. Below is the album cover from "The Common Man's Collapse" by technical death metal band Veil of Maya

Brief

A promotional video for the release of an album, to include a music video, together with two of the following  options

-A website homepage for the band
-A cover for it's release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package)

How long should music videos be?
The length of the track is the usual convention, but if it is a particularly long track, it dcould fade early. Three minutes is the classic pop song.