Research into What is a music video?-Miss Miller (Updated)

What is a music video?
27/06/2014
Vazl

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2AC41dglnM

A music video is a short filming sequence that is used to accompany a song. Music videos are primarily used to promote and market the sale of the artist`s merchandise and recorded work. However, some bands/artists may choose to create one for purely artistic purposes. It is argued that the origin of music videos date far back before the 1980`s, however, the music video became very popular during the 1980's, when MTV became a global power in the promotion of new artists and popular songs. It was also the first channel to base their format around music videos. In this post I will be analysing the music video for 'Thunderstruck' by the Rock band "AC/DC".

The style of a music video is usually either a narrative, or a performance or a concept music video. When it is a performance music video, the audience would be able to see how the band is performing or whether the audience/artist is dancing. This way, the audience could copy the dance or performance in order to look cool when they show off that move to their peers. A narrative music video contains a story with which the artist would use to create an emotional bond with his/her target audience. Finally, there is the concept video which is used by the artist to give the audience a certain idea. The music video used by AC/DC is a performance music video which is created to attract a wide audience. The music video helps to promote the band, which can be seen in the music video. This makes them further recognisable towards the public which helps build a relationship between the audience and the band.
The target audience of this music video consists of both males and females of whom like the rock music genre, follows the codes and conventions of the music genre therefore making it appealing to the targeted audience. These codes and conventions include the mise-en-scene of costume which is seen to be the stereotypical dress code of a rock group member. This way the artist is further promoted to the target audience as it gives them an easy way to look like their idol.


Music videos use a wide range of styles of contemporary video making techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation, music, and live action. Many music videos interpret images and scenes from the song's lyrics, while others take a more thematic approach. Other music videos may be without a set concept, being merely a filmed version of the song's live performance.

In my case, the song "Thunderstruck" by the famous AC/DC, portrays the conventions for a classical rock music video. The conventions of such genre are categorised under 4 categories (Mes; Cinematography; Editing and Sound) under which the factors of the convections fall. They are:
-Close ups (For the performer)
-Similar costumes
-POV
-Low Key Lighting
-Close up on the instrument (Usually a guitar or drum)
-Big and Crazy audience
-An energetic environment
-Camera shots of the audience's reactions
-Dance routine for the audience to learn

In AC/DC`s case the purpose of the music video is to build a relationship with their target audience of classical-rock fans as many of their fans are slightly older and prefer just to see the band , than see a story behind the song. The following examples will contain imagery and a detailed explanation of each picture.

In the first minute of the video, the audience becomes a witness to the convection that the song`s style being mainly performance based. This is used to promote the band for audiences that like to go to gigs as the editing (Which is mainly of jump cuts) constantly moves from the audience to the performers. This is made in order to make the audience feel like they are a part of the concert and that they are looking from the standard screens supplied on such gigs to see the artists perform. The reason for the song being completely performance based is that it is conventional for a classical rock group (Such as AC/DC) to show only how they are performing or their instruments, as many of their fans go to their gigs (Just like I did).

In this picture, the audience sees similarly to the one above a close-up of the instrument used by Angus. This is used to show more about the artist in order to intrigue the audience into the life of the artist. The "Gibson" guitar used here by Angus is a very rare and in it's time inexpensive guitar. This is trying to imply that he cherishes his first guitar and is snot a picker on what equipment he is using. Thus the audience or the next rock wannabees could build a relationship with him as they too can not afford expensive equipment. The picture also portrays the energy produced

In the picture on the left, we see Angus Young (One of the more known members of the group) playing on his guitar and preparing to start to dance. The Cinematography used is quite simple (A Close-up) but quite effective as the audience would like to be able to identify the group easily. Angus wearing a school uniform is his trademark as they are the only band in which everyone else wears casual clothing. Thus this eases the audience with remembering the way in which the group is dressed.

These two pictures are used to portrays the group's style as being energetic and interesting as we can see that throughout the song, the use of reaction shots which fall under editing are used to display how the audience becomes ecstatic from the vibes that they listen to. Thus this suggests that the purpose of the video in our case is to build a relationship that the audience from the video have.

Unconventionally, the group wears mainly casual clothing (a part from Angus) which goes against the convention that the band would wear costumes as in the period when they performed, many similar rock groups wore