Storyboard!

Storyboard is being ajusted

the song is in 4/4 time
2 seconds = 4 beats = 1 bar
1 second = 2 beats = Half of a bar
500milliseconds = 1 beat = Quarter of a bar

Genre Conventions

Conventions are elements that people expect to see in specific media texts. This makes it obvious to group it into a certain type of media or genre. For example; on a newspaper you would expect to see headlines, in a horror movie you would expect certain characters like a murderer and victims etc. There are general conventions and specific conventions to a music video. Cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing and sound are general conventions, it is something all music videos share and are present in all music videos no matter on the genre or any other differences. Specific conventions are the ones relevant to the genre of the music.

The four general conventions in a music video; cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing and sound, are genetic for all music videos of all genres. However, how they are done is specific to the genre of the music. Each music genre has its separate codes and conventions that make the genre very obvious. This pleases the genre audiences, as they see what they expect and want from the artists they follow.

Cinematography. This is the ways in which the camera is used throughout a music video, camera shots and angles. It’s used to make music videos exciting and convey certain moods. Close ups are popular in many music genres. They show the artist close up and personal, showing us their facial expression and mood, this means the fans get to feel closer to the artist and it sells the artist more. Panning and tracking shots are often present too, they’re used to follow the artists’ movement and they give a sense that the camera is you.

Mise-en-scene is a general convention, it is used in about the same way in all music videos. However, it is the conventions of the genre that makes the mise-en-scene specific. The mise-en-scene is things such as; lighting, props, clothing, location and setting. These are all used with relevance to the genre of the music and the song and are used to create a certain image for the musicians and set a certain mood to the video.
Lighting is an effective way to express a certain mood that relates to the music. If there was barely any lighting on the set, making the video dark and gloomy it would connote a sad and negative mood. If it was the other way round and there was a lot of lighting it would connote the opposite, a positive mood.
The mise-en-scene not only creates an image for the video, it creates an image for the band, making the mise-en-scene of a music video a huge source of ideology and marketing.


The editing of a music video is the pre-production, it’s what is done with the footage after it has been filmed and how it is pieced together. The shots are usually carefully edited to fit the timing of the song, using the tempo, instruments and the lyrics in some cases. This makes the video very aesthetically pleasing for viewers to watch, whilst also making sure the song is an important aspect as well as the images on screen. Another good reason of doing this, is that it makes the genre of the song known and gives the video a specific atmosphere by relating to the song. For example, a lively and upbeat song would conventionally have a lot of shots and be quiet exciting, where as a sad song would have little shots and would have a very gentle flow to it.

Sound in music videos is a key element as the music is the main feature of the video. The song itself is non-diegetic sound as it is the recording from the studio. There is also videos that include diegetic sound on top, this is part of the narrative in the video. A good example of this would be ‘Weezer’ and the video for ‘Keep Fishing’.


Tegan & Sara are an indie rock act from Canada. Their genre has a large and varied handful of typical conventions. They consist of a mix of narrative and performance, showing all the members of the band or just the lead vocalist who usually holds the image of the band, with a story line weaving through it. However, some indie rock music videos do not include the band, for example; ‘The Foals’ video for ‘Blue Blood’. The narrative in them is often arty, very meaningful and symbolic, showing a deeper side to the song than just the lyrics.
Costumes in indie rock music videos tend to uphold current high-street trends. Having said this, the videos always have a very vintage feel, which is mainly seen through set, lighting, clothing. A lot of indie rock music videos include a large amount of shots that cut from one another quickly, this making the video very exciting, engaging the viewer’s attention.