The codes and conventions of a music video are elements that are regularly used to build meaning of music videos by using certain techniques and symbols especially within a genre. These codes and conventions can fade over time and new ones can emerge.
Here are some that I have noticed:
In the 'Delicate' music video, Taylor Swift can no longer be seen by the people around her. She seems at times saddened by the fact and at times liberated. This element of the music video can hold many meanings such as her not being seen literally, her not being seen for who she is and just a star persona, her not being able to show herself even if she tries or wanted to because of her reputation and also her finally being able to do whatever she wants now because people will only see what they want to see anyway.
In 'Miss Jackson' by Panic! At the Disco Brendon Urie transforms a song about a cheating lover driving him up his own mind's walls, into an elaborate story in which he must slay this otherworldly woman who seems to be sucking the souls of all the people who have ever loved her. The smoke, however can be perceived as love or mental stability too. Following this is when the music video gets even more interpretative. Urie slaying the woman can have multiple meanings such as literally slaying an entity which is harming other people, taking his life back by finally cutting ties with his cheating lover or even simply confronting said lover.
The music video for Exo's 'Ko Ko Bop' portrays a more colourful version of the world mixed in with flashes of a bad world. By using oddities such as the electrically wired burgers in the air and a rain cloud filling a glass with water, the music video manages to relay the escapism people look for in something or another
In between the music video for 'Chi Ase Namida' (Japanese version of 'Blood, Sweat and Tears') by BTS the music stops for split second between Jin and Taehyung's fight, when Jin has the decisive upper hand at the moment, in which Jin says "Mianhe" which is Korean for "sorry". This plays an important part in the narrative.
In My Chemical Romance's 'I'm Not Okay (I Promise)' music video this technique is used to create humour when the music stops so Mikey Way can tell the girl she has something in her eye, which she misinterprets as an excuse for close proximity- but really she has something in her eye.
Here are some that I have noticed:
Styles:
Interpretative
These music videos often have a loosely structured narrative making them polysemic. Music videos like these are likely to have an open ended ending and lots of symbolic codes which could have multiple meanings within the same context of the music video
In the 'Delicate' music video, Taylor Swift can no longer be seen by the people around her. She seems at times saddened by the fact and at times liberated. This element of the music video can hold many meanings such as her not being seen literally, her not being seen for who she is and just a star persona, her not being able to show herself even if she tries or wanted to because of her reputation and also her finally being able to do whatever she wants now because people will only see what they want to see anyway.
Impressionist
Impressionist music videos go a great length to convey meaning and a message by the use of certain imagery, to capture the feelings and thoughts that the artist wants to convey rather than a literal depiction.
Hyuna's music video for 'Lip and Hip' uses a lot of imagery like squashing two tomatoes and holding two meatballs on a fork to further the image of sexuality and to show how comfortable one of the persona she plays is with it, For her other 'innocent' persona quick shots of things like her braces are shown. This creates an interesting imagery especially due to the transition of some of these contrasting images furthering the meaning behind the video, the conflict between her desired fantasy persona and her real persona.
Janelle Monae in 'PYNK' uses different symbolic images like a finger passing through a doughnut, a pink lipstick being rolled out and a strawberry shake being blown into to create bubbles to convey her message of sexual freedom and acceptance of wlw. The aspect ratio of the video whenever these images are on screen changes so these images are naturally focused on by the audience.
Hyuna's music video for 'Lip and Hip' uses a lot of imagery like squashing two tomatoes and holding two meatballs on a fork to further the image of sexuality and to show how comfortable one of the persona she plays is with it, For her other 'innocent' persona quick shots of things like her braces are shown. This creates an interesting imagery especially due to the transition of some of these contrasting images furthering the meaning behind the video, the conflict between her desired fantasy persona and her real persona.
Janelle Monae in 'PYNK' uses different symbolic images like a finger passing through a doughnut, a pink lipstick being rolled out and a strawberry shake being blown into to create bubbles to convey her message of sexual freedom and acceptance of wlw. The aspect ratio of the video whenever these images are on screen changes so these images are naturally focused on by the audience.
Surrealist
The best way to describe these music videos would be, "dreamlike". The viewers are taken away from reality, to another dimension where they're watching everything happen through a transparent curtain
'The Less I Know The Better' music video is perhaps one of the most prominent surreal music videos around. It takes the age old narrative of a love triangle and transforms it into a series of bizarre dream like events especially by instead of using another boy to represent the her new lover who is the school mascot, the video shows a gorilla (the mascot) itself.
The music video for Exo's 'Ko Ko Bop' portrays a more colourful version of the world mixed in with flashes of a bad world. By using oddities such as the electrically wired burgers in the air and a rain cloud filling a glass with water, the music video manages to relay the escapism people look for in something or another
Allusionist
These music videos are often if not always narrative based, where the viewer is under the allusion that something will happen but a twist is introduced that the end is not what the audience expects it to be.
In the 'Bad Liar' music video, Selena is seen sneakily trying to look at the flirtatious interactions between a male teacher and a female gym teacher (both played by her). A little into the music video its revealed that the male teacher is actually her mother's boyfriend (also played by her). At this point the audience expects Selena's crush to be the male teacher due to what looks like keeping track of him and being upset when she sees him with her mother. However, at the end she's seen lovingly caress a Polaroid picture of not him but the female gym teacher.
The music video is fun and we can all predict where this mess of dates is going to; him finding a girl he likes, is like him and also happens to be sick of speed dating. What the viewers don't predict, however, is the comeback of one of the girls he speed dated who pops his heart shaped balloon and is about to quite literally stab him.
Elements:
Intertexuality:
Intertextuality in music videos are when another media text, related or otherwise is referenced. The media form that is referenced doesn't strictly have to be from the same media type but can be borrowed from any.
'Havana', everyone's summer anthem, was rich in intertexuality. Her entrance in the beginning of the video was heavily reminiscent of the entrance of Soraya Montenegro in the popular telenovela, Maria la del Barrio. The music video also seems to reference 1990's movie, Havana.
Fall-Out Boy manages to perfectly parody their on music video (Thnks fr th Mmrs) in their latest music video for 'Bishop's Knife Trick' which shows Patrick Stump playing the role of the monkey director. The video has several references to the Thnks fr th Mmrs video like the director typing in "Yo this band is wack" and one of the band mates getting their make up touched up and the director playing chess with one of the members.
The music video for 'Side to Side' uses voyeurism in two ways. The girls in the music video are all dressed in revealing clothes with shots designed to capture their curves to appeal to male audiences. However, when Nicki Minaj's rap comes, the men in the music video are quite literally objects, painted to make them look like they have fake joints like ken dolls. They're also in nothing but their boxers, there to be viewed.
'Till The World Ends' music video consists of shots focusing on certain parts of the male and female body rather than them entirely. The women have their legs and cleavage exposed while the men flaunt their abs, all appropriately wet by the end of the video due to sprinklers.
The music video for '159 cm' by Tenny uses subtitles to convey important dialogue in the narrative without disrupting the song in the background. The subtitles also introduce humorous yet important elements such as the mother having an affair with the Pastor to convey the full hypocrisy of her later actions.
R.E.M's music video for 'Everybody Hurts' utilises subtitles to bring alive the thoughts of everyone stuck in a traffic jam to show that everyone hurts but people shouldn't give up- they aren't alone.
Jimin's hair in the music video for BTS' 'Spring day' is a muted pastel pink much like the cherry blossoms that are mentioned in the song and strongly associated with Spring.
Nicki Minaj sports bright green hair to match the image she's portraying, that of an alien new to earth. Green has been heavily associated with aliens in the past.
The 'Get Some' by Ghosted music video uses the POV shot to show her looking at her crush with his girlfriend.
'Hallucinating' music video video by Elohim shows a little girl living the life of a luxuriant adult. POV shots are used from time to time to show how she is seeing things e.g the empty chair opposite her at dinner time.
Retro-ism
Retro-ism can be considered a sub type of intertexuality but it limits itself to media texts incorporating references from broad trends and events from the past.
The 'Death of a Bachelor' music video, filmed in black and white is a throwback to the late 50s, a hearty tribute to Frank Sinatra complete with sipping whiskey and flicking a lighter.
'Blue' by Marina and the Diamonds gives us strong 70 vibes from the outfits to the cars to the dance moves.
Voyeurism
Voyeurism falls under the notion of looking. However, the looking is done to achieve sexual pleasure. Historically the male gaze was catered to with women being heavily objectified. That still remains true but there has been a steady rise in the objectification of men.Typography
Subtitles for Dialouges
Most music videos don't want to interrupt the flow of music and therefore opt for using subtitles to convey what the people in music videos are saying or thinking.
R.E.M's music video for 'Everybody Hurts' utilises subtitles to bring alive the thoughts of everyone stuck in a traffic jam to show that everyone hurts but people shouldn't give up- they aren't alone.
Subtitles To Match Themes
These subtitles usually show up in limited parts of the music video to emphasis a theme or aspect of the music video. They are likely to appear when the title of the song is being echoed in the music video.
In the music video for 'Oh No' by Marina and the diamonds we see repeated use of text similar to those from comics. They go hand and hand with the theme of the video and shots which transform Marina to look like a comic book character.
In Katy Perry's 'This Is How We Do' music video the occasional subtitles match the events she is portraying. For example whenever continuation shots of her doing karaoke shows up, the typography of the subtitle is that typically seen in on karaoke machines.
Eminem is seen garbed in black clothes to show the themes of darkness in his mind and to match the mood of the music video. Accessories like a chain and a cap can be seen. These are typical in rap videos. However, nothing he wears is flashy.
Sum 41 make rock music videos and they dress like it too, clad in dark coloured jeans, tees and an assortment of accessories like wrist bands.
In the music video for 'Oh No' by Marina and the diamonds we see repeated use of text similar to those from comics. They go hand and hand with the theme of the video and shots which transform Marina to look like a comic book character.
In Katy Perry's 'This Is How We Do' music video the occasional subtitles match the events she is portraying. For example whenever continuation shots of her doing karaoke shows up, the typography of the subtitle is that typically seen in on karaoke machines.
Symbolic Codes
Dress Code
The dress code always matches the genre and mood of the music video. It can also be dictated by themes of the music video.
Sum 41 make rock music videos and they dress like it too, clad in dark coloured jeans, tees and an assortment of accessories like wrist bands.
Hair Colour and Style
Hair colour and style has been increasingly used to add meaning to music videos. Artists can also dye their hair to match the aesthetics of the set which is being used for the shoot of the music video.
Nicki Minaj sports bright green hair to match the image she's portraying, that of an alien new to earth. Green has been heavily associated with aliens in the past.
Camera Work
All sorts of camera shots and angles are used in music videos. However there has been a recent increase in a few shots.
POV Shots
These shots are from the point of view of certain characters/artists in the music video.
'Hallucinating' music video video by Elohim shows a little girl living the life of a luxuriant adult. POV shots are used from time to time to show how she is seeing things e.g the empty chair opposite her at dinner time.
Close Ups
In the last decade or so there has been a steady uptrend of close up shots incorporated in music videos to better show the expression of human subjects in the videos or to aid the narrative.
Lady Gaga's music video for 'Poker face' utilises lots of close ups of her and her poker face (literally) to push forward her narrative and what her lyrics are echoing.
The close ups in 'It Ends Tonight' by The All-American Rejects showcase the lead's acceptance of his relationship coming to an end.
Sound
Ambient Sound:
This is sound originating from the environment, building the ambiance for the music video. Ambient sound can be both diegetic and non-diegetic.
'Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?' has a variety of ambient noises such as cars braking, police sirens, people's chattering and even that of people playing pool in the pub he's in before he decides to depart on his quest to see 'Stephanie'. Most if not all ambient sounds in this music video are non-diegetic.
The new Miles Kane music video 'Cry On My Guitar' features WWE wrestler, Finn Balor. Throughout the video both are seen beating each other up. Ambient sounds like glass shattering, wood cracking and later a fire alarm can be heard. Most if not all ambient sounds in this music video are diegetic.
The new Miles Kane music video 'Cry On My Guitar' features WWE wrestler, Finn Balor. Throughout the video both are seen beating each other up. Ambient sounds like glass shattering, wood cracking and later a fire alarm can be heard. Most if not all ambient sounds in this music video are diegetic.
Interruption of Song by Dialouge
As the title quite simplistically states, this is when the song in the music video is paused for any duration to incorporate dialogue in the narrative. This can be both diegetic and non-diegetic but is mostly diegetic.In between the music video for 'Chi Ase Namida' (Japanese version of 'Blood, Sweat and Tears') by BTS the music stops for split second between Jin and Taehyung's fight, when Jin has the decisive upper hand at the moment, in which Jin says "Mianhe" which is Korean for "sorry". This plays an important part in the narrative.
Editing
According to Tempo and Choreography
Editing is often done according to what the music sounds like. Fast paced music is likely to have a fast paced music video and the same is true for the songs with a slow tempo. This also takes into account dance performances as they too are based on the tempo and beats of the music.
Tessa Violet's music video for 'Crush' is edited based on the beats of the song. Every time there is a cluster of repeated beats and lyrics, the video creates appropriately paced boomerang effect.
GOT7's 'Girls Girls Girls' music video exceptionally highlights their dance performance by editing the video to shake a little and amplify the sound of their feet against the floor when particularly strong looking dance moves are executed especially all assortment of flips by Mark.
Letterbox Colour
There is recent trend in changing the colour of what would be deemed the letterbox in editing to aid the mood and themes of music videos. Sometimes these colours also act as symbols for the narrative being displayed.
NCT 127's 'Cherry Bomb' uses purple instead of the average black to match the concept of their music video since cherries are purple.
Pentagon's 'Shine' music video gets especially innovative with the letterbox by not only alternating between six different colours (red, blue, yellow, green, black, peach) but also switching between the letterbox being horizontal and vertical. This help further the concept of youth by making it more colourful and capturing the audience's attention respectively.
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