Narrative video conventions

When September Ends – Green Day

• Opening dialogue
• Intimate camera angles
• Soundbridge
• Extreme close ups
• In & out of focus
• Contrapuntal – contrast of visual & audio in theme/emotion
• Narrative interlude
• Images tell the story alone mostly
• Band performing ‘live’
• Chronological, temporal continuity
• Field – code for romance,  love, happiness, summer
• Realistic, normal setting juxtaposed with war scene

Michael Jackson – Thriller

• Genre – horror
• Realistic mise en scene – dusk, insect sounds
• Iconic costuming for Michael Jackson– white socks, jack-ups
• Non-diegetic which is not the song itself during narrative
• Full moon connotes a werewolf
• Series of close-ups, relatively fast
• Mise en scene – misty, dark forest, typical horror setting
• Film within a film
• Introductory narrative
• Narrative and artist linked into one
• Establishing shots of a house

What Hurts The Most – Rascal Flatts

• Narrative intro
• Soundbridge over narrative
• Performer shown in large field – running through, connotes freedom
• Camera never stops moving to keep in flow with the constant music – very important, else the video looks stale and static
• Overhead shots show no movement during performance
• Narrative interlude
• Band performing in their own world
• Quick cuts of the band
• Fade cuts to soften
• Narrative outro

Telephone – Lady Gaga

• Establishing shot – barbed wire, low angle, code for prison
• Cartoonish 1970’s style & colours for credits, yet hard tough font with girl colours to show tough femininity
• CCTV high angle progressing the narrative
• Iconic costume linked with the narrative – titillation
• POV dolly shot
• Broken 30 degree rule – reminds the viewer that it is a music video deliberately
• Juxtaposing stylised costumes with the realistic mise en scene
• Phallic symbolism
• 180 degree rule broken – again, reminds the viewer they are watching a music video
• Product placement, as intertextuality mocking the 1970’s style films and TV shows
• Deliberately awkward shots – cutting characters in awkward areas
• Close-ups used to show importance
• Intimate erotic shots
• Series of stills
• Narrative included within the song

Ghetto Gospel – 2Pac

• Narrative intro
• Stereotypical costumes
• Defocusing to connote dying
• Handheld camera to help realism
• Realistic mise en scene of a ghetto area
• Never see the artist performing the song during the song – importance on the lyrics and message rather than the artist himself
• Temporal leaps – begins at the end, shown by a time stamp on the video
• Graphic match – head to the sun
• Religious icons, code for a good person