Conventions of indie music videos, rap music videos and r&b music videos.

1. Genre of music videos

2. Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock that originated
from the UK in the mid 1980s with roots from the
Scottish post-punk bands.

3. Location
 Indie pop music videos are usually low budget.
 They usually set in fields, parks, cities or a studio.
 For example, ‘Pompeii’ by Bastille was filmed in a city.
 Indie pop music videos usually try to focus mostly on
the artist[s] performing rather than the location.

4. Performance
 Indie pop videos tend to focus on the artist[s] performance.
 The artist[s] are usually playing an instrument.
 For example, in Ellie Goulding’s music video ‘How long will I
love you’, the music video has two different locations but
focuses on her playing the guitar and singing.
 It’s typical for indie pop music videos to focus on the artist[s]
and their talents as the video is promoting the artist[s].

5. Narrative
A narrative is included in a music video because it helps to tell
the story, which makes the audience may/could relate to. Indie
music videos sometimes link the lyrics with the narrative
which makes the audience think and relate it to themselves.
This is what makes the video stand out. For example, in Ellie
Gouldings music video for ‘Burn’ a lot of the lyrics match up
with the narrative, for instance when the song says “we can
light it up, up, up” people in the music video are setting off
flares and lighting up sparklers. There is a wider range of shots
in a music video that has a narrative compared to a
performance music video. This makes it more interesting for
the audience and keeps their attention.

6. Camera
Indie music videos tend to have a lot of close-ups, this is
because it is focusing on advertising the artist and the artists
performance. Close-up shots show the emotion of the artist
and they also show the artists talent. These shots are used in a
performance indie music video. Whereas, in a narrative indie
music video long and wide shots are used to set the scene of
the narrative. Close-ups are also used in narrative indie music
videos to show the passion and emotion of the artist[s].

7. Editing
Special effects are sometimes used in indie music videos, this
may make the audience feel like they are in the music video.
The shots are either fast or slow depending on the beat of the
music. For example, in Ellie Gouldings video ‘I need your love,’
the shots are quite long and change quite slowly until it gets to
the chorus then the shots are short and quick as the chorus is
more up beat and quick. Effects are used to make the video
more interesting and keep the viewers attention. For example,
in Ellie Gouldings music video for ‘I need your love’ the camera
is held by the artists/ people in the video (e.g. Calvin Harris)
this makes the video seem more personal to the artist and also
makes the viewer want to know what will happen next.

8. Mise-en-scene
 Outfits:
 A stereotypical outfit that an artist would wear in an indie
music video would be a lot of bracelets, dull colours e.g. Cream,
brown, grey, hats, boots, floral headbands, etc.
 Make-up
 Simple, e.g. Eyeliner and mascara, maybe light skin tone shades
of eye shadow.
 Props
 Usually musical instruments, for example a drum kit, guitars,
etc.

9. Rapping is “spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics.”
Rapping is distinct from spoken word poetry in that it
is performed to a beat. Rapping is often associated
with a primary ingredient of hip-hop music.

10. Location
 The location of a rap music video can vary, this is because it is
usually based on what the song is about. For example, the
song ‘Cali love’ by Tyga is shot in California as he is singing
about California.
 I think a stereotypical location of a rap video may be a rough
area in a city and it may be filmed in the street, down an
alley, in a abandoned warehouse etc. For example,
‘Snapbacks back’ by Tyga ft. Chris Brown it is filmed down a
dark alley which has graffiti
on the walls.

11. Performance
 In rap music videos the artist usually performs to the camera
for most of the music video.
 This may make the audience feel more like they understand
what the rapper is rapping about. This is because raps are
usually about money or girls which the audience, which is
mostly male, can relate to it.
 For example, in the music video for ‘Snapbacks back’ by Tyga
ft. Chris brown, Tyga performs to the camera for about 90%
of the music video, the rest is
Chris Brown rapping and
dancing/ jumping around.

12. Camera
 Rap music videos usually have a lot of close-ups of key props,
this puts emphasis on the genre and also the lyrics of the
song.
 For example, in Chris Browns music video ‘Loyal’ there is a
close-up of a stereo before the music starts, this is a clue to
what the genre is of the song.
 There are also long shots that focus on the location that they
are in. Also there are aerial shots which represent their
power and also show their surroundings. For example, in
‘Loyal’ by Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne
and Tyga, there is a high angle of all
three of the rappers which represents
their power.

13. Editing
Rap music videos have quick, short shots. These shots usually
consist of the artist performing, the location and the props
e.g. Cars, drugs, clothes, jewellery, cigarettes, etc. These
quick, short shots are emphasising the genre, as raps are
usually short sentences that are said quickly, which make up
the whole song.
In some rap music videos there are long takes/ shots which
show the location that the artist is in.

14. Mise-en-scene  Outfits
 Usually for male rappers they wear baggy trousers/ track suit
bottoms, snapbacks, gold chains, sunglasses. For female
rappers they wear tight outfits, hot pants/ short shorts, heels,
chains, etc.
 Tattoos are usually associated with rap, as rappers
stereotypically have a ‘bad boy image’.
 Make-up
 For female rappers there make-up is usually quite bold and eye
catching, for example, Nicki Minaj’s make-up in the ‘Super
bass’ music video is bright, but she has big eyelashes and quite
thick eye liner which stands out.

15. Mise-en-scene continued
 Props
 The props that are usually used in rap music videos is money,
cars, drugs, cigarettes, gold chains, hats, big stereos, etc.
 Props can help distinguish what genre a music video is, for
example, if someone did not know that Chris Brown was a
rapper, if they watched his music video ‘Loyal’ it starts off with
a big stereo which gives a hint on what the genre is.

16. R&B is a genre that combines elements of rhythm and
blues, soul, funk, pop, hip hop and dance.

17. Location
A stereotypical location for a R&B music video I think would be
in a warehouse, some music videos for example Rhianna’s
music video ‘We found love’ and ‘Stay’ they are located in a
house and she is in the bath. I think that R&B music videos
have simple locations, this is because the focus is kept on the
artist, the song and what the lyrics say and mean.

18. Performance
R&B artists usually perform to the camera for a lot of the music
video. This keeps the audiences attention as they may feel
like the artist is singing to them. For example, in Justin
Bieber’s music video ‘Confident’ it looks and feels like he is
singing to the viewer, this makes the audience connect with
the song and make them want to watch the music video
again. Also the audience can pay more attention to the words
in the song and what they mean, this means that the
audience feel like they can relate to the artist[s].
In some R&B videos the artist[s] also
dance as well as sing to the camera.
This helps keep the attention of the
audience.

19. Camera
In R&B music videos there are longer shots than rap videos as
the songs are usually slightly slower than rap/hip-hop songs.
There are a lot of close-ups of the artist singing and also wide
shots to establish the location surrounding the artist. Long
shots are also included usually to show the artist[s] dancing.

20. Mise-en-scene  Outfits
 In a lot R&B music videos the male artist is topless this is to attract
the female audience. For example, in Jason Derulo’s music video ‘Talk
dirty’ he doesn’t have a top on for most of the music video. He also
has his muscles on show in the parts when he does have a top on this
attracts the female audience as well.
 Female R&B artists tend to wear
tight outfits and/or short outfits.
This attracts the male audience.
For example, in Beyonce’s music
video ‘Love on top’ she has a
leotard on, this appeals to the male
audience.

21. Mise-en-scene continued
 R&B artists sometimes wear similar clothes to rappers, for
example gold chains, hot pants/short shorts, etc.
 Props
 In R&B music videos have instruments (e.g. Guitars),
microphones, etc.
 There aren’t many props that can be specifically related/linked
to R&B music.

22. A hybrid genre is a combination of more than one
genre.

23. An example
 MKTOs ‘Classic’ is an example of hybrid genre. The song is a
pop song, however there is a rap in the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ba_qTPA4Ds