Music Video: Technical Conventions & Intertextuality

Bohemian Rhapsody - The Groundbreaking Video

It was the first of its kind and really pushed peoples initial ideas of what music looked visually on screen and how it can be consumed in the 70s.

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Technical Codes:

• Camerawork

• movement, angle and shot distance from a subject
• it can create a dynamic feel and accompany the performers movement, e.g. circling the performers
• one of the most popular is a close up shot - it creates intimacy for the viewer and can change the focus to the artist look.

• Editing

• fast cut montages - causing the viewer to have to watch again so they can absorb all the information from the video.
• slow pace & gentle transitions - creates a calmer mood 
• the editing can change the mood of the song drastically so it needs to be well considered.

• 1990s Common Technical Codes

• fast cut montage
• multiple viewing
• split screen, colourisation effects
• non-representational - where the musician is not seen
• lack of editing/long takes/steadicam

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Intertextuality and Cinema

Music videos often draw on cinema for inspiration.

An example of intertextuality:

     Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)            Material Girl (1985)

What is it?

    Taking reference from cinema, fashion and art photography to        visually represent music in videos.

    Using something that the audience knows or feels nostalgic about     will give the music more meaning.