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

Non narrative video conventions and analysis

Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes

• Focuses on musical ability
• Camera shows the instruments mainly - often done by artists who want to be taken seriously
• Iconic colourings - used on their album covers and logo
• Lighting & pace synced with tempo of the music
• Video simply demonstrating the bands music

Fade Out - Radiohead

• Series of striking images
• Lack of continuity
• Black & white, linked with their serious lyrics of death
• Band performed in the video world rather than a separate setting
• Subtle/subliminal messages
• Cuts in sync with the music, relatively fast to keep the video interesting

Toxicity - System of a Down

• Star boulevard shown, high awkward camera angle to look down upon celebrity culture and society
• Focus on the instruments, code for talented musicians and musicality
• Contrasted backgrounds to show the musicians importance - stand out from the background
• Bands live performance
• Breaks the 180 degree rule
• Close-ups
• Cuts in sync with the tempo
• Lighting and colour change in sync with the tempo
• Low angle shots from the crowd - POV
• Bisects the body awkwardly
• Camera always moving to keep the video flowing
• Iconic clothing/facial hair
• Video related to the lyrics

Music video genre analysis – East London ska/reggae

• Sonic Boom Six
• Jaya The Cat
• Random Hand
• Dirty Revolution
• Mouthwash
These are examples of bands linked with The Skints., our chosen band. Analysing videos from these bands will help me to understand the conventions of this genre of music in their music videos. These bands are all closely related, in that they are often touring with each other, thus videos will share similar ideas and conventions.

Sonic Boom Six – Sound of the Revolution analysis
• Establishing shot of a typical London area
• Narrative shot cut in-between the live performance in a small venue, with personal camera angles
• Narrative linked with lyrics
• Focus on the musicality of the band by close ups of the instruments, and the experience of the gig from the audience perspective
• Jump cuts during narrative to the beat multiple times – breaks conventions during the narrative section.
• Narrative mise en scene is realistic
• Band consistently the main focus of the video



Mouthwash – Dark Was The Night analysis
• Grainy, familiar area establishing shot
• Narrative short cut in-between the live performance in a small venue
• POV of the audience – shaky camera work
• Constant camera movement, whether or not anything is happening within the narrative
• Band consistently the main focus of the video



Jaya The Cat – Closing Time analysis
• Familiar bar setting with the band in the background
• Relatively dark lighting to go with the feel of the song
• Barman taps the bar – matched with the snare audio
• Focus on the instruments and the band themselves
• Shot of the band playing cards and gambling – familiar action in a familiar area
• Slow camera movement to relate to the mellow feel of the song
• Blurring of the camera to keep up aware of the video, and also to relate to the alcohol theme
• Jump cuts in narrative in time to the drum beat
• Band included in the ‘narrative’ singing
• Song fades out with the band leaving the bar into darkness
• Band consistently the main focus of the video



Random Hand - Anger Management analysis
• Establishing shot of an empty hill area – lead singer walking through
• Instant juxtaposition – singer walks into a room with the band playing
• Colours reflect the upbeat motion of the music
• Only the band shown – focus on them for the first half of the video
• Close-ups on the band members and their instruments
• Constant camera movements, even if subtle
• Camera movement and lightning becomes extremely fast once the music becomes heavier
• Band consistently the main focus of the video




Focus on the instruments seems key in this genre. Having a familiar setting keeps the music close to home and down to earth – establishing shots also seem to appear frequently. The key to the videos seem to be keeping it down to earth and about real things that it is not rare to experience in everyday life. To keep the video interesting and upbeat, fast paced jump cuts that break the 30 degree rule appear to be used. All three videos include live performances by the band.

Serj Tankian – Saving Us music video analysis

• Series of establishing shots in black and white, including sign to signify the man is homeless
• We are instantly made to feel sorry for the character as the music kicks in, with him being kicked by the police officer for simply sleeping, as if he is doing something wrong
• We then find out that the police officer is a gambler, in the same fashion we find out the main character is homeless. This is meant to anger us, that the police is higher authority despite his gambling addiction.
• The signs show things that people are willing to pay for rather than helping out the homeless character.
• All the characters we see who show signs to the main character give him a very disapproving look, yet all have different things that they would pay for rather than creating a better life for him. However, these signs can also be interpreted as things that people rely on, and in the end the only thing he can rely on is faith and hope to help him.
• We see the difference in the real world and the signs world by the change in colour grades.
• By using realistic misé en scene we get a real feel of reality for this character; especially as in this age we see this type of person very often. This helps to enforce the reality of the video.
• The shot at 2:26 shows his travel across the city, yet also shows that he is not just alone in his situation – many people face his same troubles everyday.
• The video features mainly POV shots, to emphasize its realistic sense, and to put the viewer in the shoes of both the main character and those who look down on him.
• The lasting shot at 2:49 juxtaposes the poor homeless man against the rich skyscrapers in (presumably) New York. The American flag then fades in, which connotes the American Dream, which is yet another juxtaposition against the male. The next fade is to a shot of industry, then to the Cross. It is showing a link between all of these, then juxtaposes them against the homeless man.
• The fast paced montage is a convention of the music genre. The fast pace kicks in with the fast paced music.