Forms and conventions of a music video
- 1. Forms and Conventions of a Music Video Greenday 21 Guns
- 2. Camerawork In the video for 21 Guns there are a large variety of camera angles that are used. Many of these are close up shots however they are all different in the way in which they are shot and framed. This is a close up of the lead singer and this shot is set up differently to the others due to it being more predominantly to the left side of the screen. This means that we get to see more of the background on one side of the screen. This shot is different to the other because it is shot from a low angle looking up at the lead singer. Also it is filmed from the left hand side of the shot. This is the most common close up shot used in the video. This is because the subject is in the middle of the shot and it is just most of the face that is visible. This close up shot is different to the others because of the fact that it is filmed form one side of the singers face. This gives a different perspective.
- 3. Camerawork There are also many other shots that are used in the video other than close ups. These are varying and show the audience different things in the video. This camera angle is a medium shot. This one is shot from behind the lead singer and is a very dark shot. This is a shot of the whole band at one time. It is a wide angles shot and this is because there is a lot of things that have to fit into it. This is a medium shot as over half of the lead singer is visible. It is also from a side angle and because of this the audience gets a good view of the guitar that is being played. This is a close up shot but it is of the instrument and not the band members. This is because there is an emphasis in the video of the band members playing the instruments. This is another shot that shows the band playing the instruments that can be heard when listening to the song. This one has the subject in the centre of the shot and also the camera head on. This is of the lead singer and is a mid shot of the body. He is in the centre of the frame and the camera is slightly off set to the right. This one again has a focus on the instrument that can be heard playing in the song.
- 4. Mise-En-Scene Mise-En-Scene is the arrangement of how the music video is set up and the way that it looks. This can include things such as Lighting, location and hair and makeup. Lighting is important in a music video and can help to show the mood of the music. In 21 Guns there are many scenes where it is very dark and this is because of the sad tone of the music and also as the narrative in the video comes towards the end. There are also many scenes where the shots are very well lit and this is due to the tempo change in the song and also the pace of the song which increases. This gives the audience a different feeling to the song. Hair and makeup are also very important factors in the video of 21 Guns. This is because the band want to be represented in a certain way and want to have an image/style that defines them. Many of the clothes worn by the band members are dark coloured, mostly black. Also the clothes are also made so that the members can also show off things like the tattoos on their bodies.
- 5. Mise-En-Scene All of the to 21 Guns is shot on a set and not out on location. The main reason for this is due to the fact that the scenery in the video gets destroyed and this is easier to set up with a constructed set. These pictures show some of the destruction and explosions that happen during the music video. There are fish tanks that are shot, electrical explosions and also bullet holes being shot in the wall. This is all done on the set and this is because it would be very difficult to do in a real life filming location. The destruction is very common of the music genre as there are many other examples of rock videos where things get destroyed or blow up.
- 6. Editing Editing can consist of things such as Transitions between different shots, the effects that are used and also how quickly the camera shots stay on the same thing. The transitions that are in 21 Guns are simple ones that just cut from one to another. Due to this they can appear to change very quickly, and this can be effected by the pace of the music. When the pace of the music increases so does the speed of the transitions between shots. At the beginning of the song, when it is a slow tempo the camera changes are very slow but as the song advances the music becomes quicker as does the speed of the transitions too. In the video for 21 Guns there are no effects that are used to make the video look different on screen to what it did when being filmed. Also there are no on-screen titles or lyrics however this is normal for a rock song as lyrics would appear more in a genre such as pop music.
- 7. Conventions The video of 21 Guns by Greenday follows many of the conventions that have been set by other videos in the same genre. One of the conventions that stand out in the video of 21 guns is that relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. This is most evident when the words ‘21 Guns’ are used as in the video there are multiple bullet holes that are shot through the wall in the background of the video. The iconography of the rock genre is also very predominant in this music video. There is lots of destruction the occurs and also there is a focus on the instruments that are being played, mainly the guitar and the drums. The lighting also follows the rock genre with there being the use of silhouettes and also black being one of the main colours used. The close up shots also play a big part in this music video. Most of these close ups are of the main singer, however there are also close ups of the other band members too. The reason there are many close ups of the singer is so that the audience can see the words that the singer is saying. There are also some conventions that are not present in this music video. These include voyeurism and also intertextuality. Another convention that is not in the video for 21 Guns is the use of star iconography. There is nothing about the video that defines it as Greenday as many of the videos are different to each other.