Codes and Conventions of a Music Video

Kanye West
Diamonds from Serra Leone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgqd80026xU

Mise En Scene

Kanye West uses the sample from the classic song "Diamonds are Forever" by John Barry which was a worldwide hit that was released by Shirley Bassey to create his own music video, the song was so popular that it was the theme song for James Bond.

Before the music video even begins the video has a pre-music sequence such as the quote by Kanye West which only really happens in films, the quote suggest how important Kanye West must seem in the video as quotes are normally taken from very significant people. Already the music video has film like aspects such as the voice over which talks about the blood diamonds which links to the video having a storyline that is voicing their morals. We can now come to the conclusion that the music video is narrative and performance based as there is a strong storyline about children dying from conflict diamonds, this is the theme that runs through out the video. Not only is it a theme but through the music video Kanye West is trying to use his fame to expose the reality of conflict diamonds.

The video is set in Prague and in the mines which both contrast with each other of good against evil as Prague has the connotations of being religious as the camera shows many shots of churches, statues and of Jesus Christ, while the mines reinforce the idea of evil as the children are slaves who risk there life for diamonds. The video might also be set in Prague, which is in Europe as the conflict diamonds are transported to Europe to be sold on. The whole video is in black and white which represents the past but still is on-going.

Editing

Superimpose is used with the overlapping of several images of the children working to compose the life of the children. We can tell that the children are slaves from what they are wearing and how they look. Their eyes are completely black from never seeing daylight and from being underground all day. Fades are also used right at the start of the video when the writing fades in and out before the music starts this again creates film like video.

Camera Angles and Movement

The camera uses forward tracking so that it seems like the audience is entering the mines right at the start of the music video. The camera then uses many tilts and pans to show the conditions of the mines and the diamonds, the effect of this is to show the audience the slavery that happens. As they are slaves the camera uses a low-angle so that the audience is looking up at the slave owner which gives the impression of the audience being submissive and the slave owner having the power and dominance.

Many close ups are used such as the close up of a man inspecting a diamond, the camera frames the man so that the audience see that he isn't a slave because he is a white middle aged man who trades the diamonds. A crane shot is used which gives a sweeping action to show the mountains and where the children mine. Many of the low angles are used when the cameras are focusing on the statues, this gives the statues more significant importance such as the statue of Jesus Christ which shows the more religious aspects. Kanye West leaves the message that by purchasing blood diamonds you are creating the slave trade and having blood on your hands Kanye does this by making the audience feel guilty.

Codes and Conventions Of a Music Video

Kasabian
Empire



Kasabian - Empire (Official Music Video) - Watch today’s top amazing videos here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSKxXu05aOE

Mise en scene

The music video is narrative based with a storyline and has partial performance aspects, the video is based like a film narrative that is set like a period drama. We can tell this from the props such as the costumes and weaponry which are dated and suggest that the video is set back in the 1800s-1900s. The costumes imply that the video is set in a war the British Empire against France/Spain as all the characters are wearing uniforms and dressed up as soldiers.

The war symbolises the youth, the children and soldiers dieing for their cause, The camera cuts to the generals eating which represents the aristocracy/politians who don't take notice or don't care about the people dying for the war, the video has a theme which all ties into the storyline aspect.

Editing

slow motion is used when the child dies, the slow motion is used to show the sudden dramatic impact and to emphasise of his death. The child is wearing a bag containing milk which has the connotations of babies and children this represents the innocence being ripped away. The milk which has connotations of being white, pure and angelic is the complete opposite of war, which symbolises evil and death.

Seamless editing is used which shows that the cuts between the shots are very smooth and barley noticeable.

Superimpose is used when the lady blows out the flower and the boys from the band get blown away from the cannon fire, they do this by merging both the images together to create a layered effect, which shows the contrast of the images. A dissolve is also used at the end of this clip which implies a passage of time and place.

Camera Angles and Movement

A pans is used when the young boy is running through the fields, the camera becomes shaky and wobbly to demonstrate the frame of mind the boys is in and to show how realistic is it that the boy is running across the field. The camera also tilts up to show a woman who reaches down to pick up a flower, the camera cuts to a close up of the flower so that she is not the main focus of the \shot, she then walks away leaving the camera focusing upon the grass. This leaves the audience to figure out what is happening.

A medium close up is used showing an elderly man giving a letter to someone else, the man seems quite happy for himself which seems quite odd as there in a middle of a war, this could indicate that he is one of the aristocracy and is in charge of what is happening. The view of the camera shows only the back half of the man who has received the letter, this could indicated that the medium close up is used to show how important and significant the man is in the video. After this shot, an establishing shot is used while the boy is running through the field, the audience can now see the background which has a dead soldier lying on the ground and a group of people.

The video show a close up of blood running into a pool of water this is then followed by a series of other close ups from the band showing their emotions as the boy has been killed. The camera cuts to a close-up of the blood with the connotations of evil, death we then see the raw emotions of the characters face. Other close ups are used of the main man performing the song which reinforce the fact that this has conventions of a music video which has partial performance and is narrative based.

Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash
Hurt
In class we analysed the lyrics of "Hurt" by Johnny Cash, this was to get a insight into the meaning of the song and video.

Johnny Cash wrote the song in 2002 when he was in his 80s before his death, the song is very personal and has very deep lyrics. The song is personal because Johnny cash is singing about his life, by looking at the first few lines "I hurt myself today to see if I still feel, I focus on the pain the only thing that's real" the song all ready shows that Johnny Cash meant that the world that he had created seemed glamorous wasn't the world that he thought it was but instead just full of pain.

His lyrics depict what his life was like even with his fame and glamorous lifestyle, that he felt alone and that fame wasn't what every one thought it was.

His lyrics are very emotional which he shows by the connotations, similes etc

Not only through his lyrics the video indicates and represents the lyrics as the video is a montage of archive footage and images of his life when he was younger showing him with his family, and on stage footage