Codes and Conventions of a Music Video by Pete Fraser

Camerawork


The camera movement in a music video should accompany the performers movement or actions. For example a steadicam following a performer dancing or acting. Pete Fraser confidently said music videos are similar to TV commercials convention wise. In a sense that TV commercials involve lots of close ups, signifying the performers presents and importance. It creates a direct intimacy link between the video and the viewer.

Editing 

The conventions connected to editing is fast paced montage stylistic videos. This gives the viewer an impossible chance grasp the images on the first viewing. This entices the viewer to view the video multipul times, which enhances the popularity value of the video. But other videos consist of longer takes and more gentle transitions. This is a contrast to fast pace videos, but this creates intimacy and a certain desire to watch the video. It also establishes a certain mood, which also enhances popularity through visual editing. 

Also often digital effects are added to the video to add a kind of pleasure to the viewer, which attracts them as distorted imagery fasinates viewers.

Star Image

Star image is created by multipul materials. The materials consits of the songs lyric themes and the music genres. Also a star image is constructed by media coverage, through the internet, magazines, tv and interviews. Another part of this is the image created through live performances and most significantly the music videos.

Music Videos develop the star image and maintains the reputation of the artist. Music videos have the power to take the image onto further, perhaps new directions for the artists.


Voyeurism

Voyeurism refers to the idea of looking in order to gain sexual pleasure, which attracts audiences to gain visual pleasure, therefor increasing the popularity of the video. People say the male viewers gaze at the visual side of the music videos in the result of voyeurism. This is why directors seem to objectify the female body in their videos through framework and camerawork. They create an idea of the female body dancing around the star, to therefor flatter and compliment the male star ego.

Such motifs such as a screen within a screen, for example the video containing CCTV footage within the narrative has become popular. Also what has raised questions in recent music videos is the concentration on the male body, producers are not sure of the female responce of popularity, but is creeping into the industry. 

Intertextuality

Not all audiences will spot the difference between 'intertextuality' and 'postmodernism' in music videos. It is often argued that the greatest pleasure will be derived by those who knew the reference and are often flattered by it.

John Stewart see's music videos through visual references, often through cinema, art, fashion and photography. The most memorable example of reference to fashion photography is Robert Palmer's 'Addicted to Love'.

His description of the music video- incorporating, raising and reconstructing is essentially the essence of intertextuality, using something with which the audience may be familiar to generate both potentially nostalgic associations with new meanings.  

Narrative and Performance 

In music videos narrative is rarely ever completed. Commonly compared to poetry. This will leave the viewer with the desire to watch it again to discover the meaning of the video and what it is trying to portray. The narrative will have a non-linear idea to it, having the story in a different sequence to normal reality to add shape and character, which creates an atmosphere where the viewer will be intreged in the video.

Often music videos cut between narrative and performance. Cutting to the performance creates that 'repeatibility' factor in the music video, but the actor/performer will be involved in a story aswell which gives more of a charactor to the video.

Performance wise, the close ups of the performer will create intimacy between the artist and viewer. It gives a live performance atmoshphere, but with the close ups, allows the viewer to experience a more intimate experience than they would if they were seeing the artist live.

Narrative and Performance creates the artist to create a theme, or match a theme of the song, shaping around a drama or sets a mood. This creates shape and character to the song and video which would entice popularity.