Conventions of genres

Music Genre	Clothing	Behaviours	Video settings
Hip-hop	Baggy clothes, gold chains and jewellery.	Lots of women, loose	Colourful, upbeat
Metal/Rock	Dark/black clothes	Head banging	Life performances
Punk	Tight, jeans	Skate boarders	Small venues?

Conventions of a music videos

Music video's are presented in a number of ways. Here are the most common ones below;
Performance-where the band or the music artist is playing the song throughout the video.
Narrative-where the song involves a narrative and so, the words and meaning of the song is acted out in some way.
Mixture-Where there is the musician playing as well as a narrative storyline occurring and the camera cross cuts to each scene.
Cameo-where the musician features in the narrative but is not actually part of the storyline and does not perform in it.
Animation-Some music videos have a mixture involving animation that is edited in, this creates creativity and entertainment to the video. 

While looking into the codes and conventions of music video's i will be using examples for rock and metal music as i believe that might end up as the genre of music that i will be doing for my main project.

Camera Shots and Movement
Music video includes many long shots, medium shots and close ups. This is to emphasis the artist, location and emotions. The main camera angles used in quite a lot of music videos are close ups, especially in performance based music videos. These are usually of people's expressions, guitars being strummed or drums being played. Another shot that's used a lot is a low shot, these are used on performance based music videos as well so that you're able to see people from every possible angle.

The movement of the camera in music videos is quite a vital thing to take into consideration. This has to be done carefully so you don't go too far off set, so that you don't pan round too far and see another camera. Another reason that they use camera movement is also, for the same reason they use certain shots. This is so it makes you think that you're actually watching them live from part of an audience when the camera pans down and in front of them.

The different camera shots used in Rock and Metal videos: Close ups on the lead singer and the rest of the band, mid shots of the band playing their instruments and the lead singer singing, quick shot changes, pans around the stage and on the audience, long shots of the band playing their instruments, side shots left and right as well as close up's of the crowd.

Editing

Editing is the key stage to any music video, as you need to select the shots needed and match the music to the shots. Footage used is edited to match what is said in the lyrics of the music, as part as parallel editing. CGI effects-many music videos use effects to show impossible outcomes such as superhero moves, for example Eminem's  Not Afraid, in which he flies like a superhero.

Mise-en-scene

The mise-en-scene needs to be accurate as it needs to convey the style/genre of the music, and it is very good at conveying the style of the music video in most circumstances. Mise-en-scene involves location/set, clothing and costume, props and lighting.
The mise-en-scene codes and conventions for Rock and Metal music videos are : Black clothes, skinny jeans, guitar solos, piercings, performance based, crowds, big hair, dark lighting and colours, dancing and jumping around the stage as well as black and white make up.

The purpose of a music video

The main purpose's of a band or music artist releasing a music video are:

- To increase the sales of the song, and produce a reaction which makes you remember the song.
- To give the listener a better understanding of the songs lyrics or meaning behind them. (If the video is narrative)
- Entertain the audience so the video becomes popular and more well know.
- To show off the other abilities and talents the band,group or artist may may have, for example dancing or acting.
- Marketing for the purposes of exposure and to increase the profile and reputation the artist.
- Promotion. The music video is a promotional tool for the artist. It sometimes serves as a conduit draw attention to a label, but more often it is a catalyst for CD sales or artist song downloads.
- Market the product to the public.

Skindred's musical style mixes alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and reggae.

Due to Skindred's music style and the mix or genre's and styles that are mixed into their music the video is a fusion of these. In this particular music video the main music style is metal. The metal is matched in the video where the whole band is seen playing the song. Their clothing is black and dark colours, with a matching background which is a dark urban scene. The way the band behaves during these playing scenes is in a very traditional and generic way for the bands their genre to behave. A little head banging and some aggressive movements while playing the song helps with the tempo of the video to keep up with the audio speed.
Throughout the video the main singer and figure head of  the band is present as the main focus of the video.  This is somewhat branding as one of Skindred's features and thing's they are know for is having a black Jamaican singer, by promoting this they improve their brand and strengthen the image of the band. It may have been their record label which called for this to help brand and sell the band.

The relationship between lyrics and visuals is small but clear and effective. The verse following clearly matches the visuals of the lead singer standing on the podium, it gives an inspiring feel and projection of the lyrics within the song. This carries through the song.

The Visuals and music match. The music is strong with inspirational lyrics and the visuals and video's go to convey this, a plane falling from the sky to come back up and survive, the leaders standing up on podiums and speaking to the people, fighting through speech for the freedom and what they want.

Defining my tasks

Music Video- "A filmed or videotaped rendition of a recorded song, often portraying musicians performing the song or including visual images interpreting the lyrics." http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Promotional+video

An example of a music video by the Foo Fighters.

Promo Music Video-"A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes.  Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings." http://www.answers.com/topic/music-video


Digipak- "A cardboard sleeve which opens up like a book to reveal a plastic tray glued inside which holds the CD. All the CD artwork is printed on the cardboard packaging. May include a booklet which will slot inside the digipak." www.squidoo.com/ebay-guide-cd-packaging

The image above is and exampe of a Digipak/CD pack cover, for the band Foo Fighters

Band Homepage- "The entry or gateway to the contents of a website; which normally includes the website's title, mission, credits, and menu, with links to supporting webpages." www.englishcn.com/zh/vocations/media/20070818/10075.html

The image above is http://www.foofighters.com/uk 's homepage for the foo fighters band

Branding is a large factor in bands products, for example i can clearly see that on the Foo Fighters homepage and digipak that the name "Foo Fighters" is clearly stamped on both and in the video the Foo Fighters "F" appears, the video is also clearly branded with their name, in the Title, description and tags.

Brief

A promotional package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the folowing three options.
-A website homepage for the band;
-A cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);