Rock Conventions

 Mise En Scene

 Typically members of a rock band will wear black or dark coloured clothing with piercings and heavy eye makeup. Additionally rock music videos tend to have very low key lighting to create a dark atmosphere as this reflects the mood in the song. However in contrast to this high key lighting is used on occasion to add emphasis. Location wise rock music videos are either set outdoors maybe in an urban area or city. The setting is normally very simplistic as the band want to keep the attention towards the music and performance. Rock musicians facial expressions in videos tend to be very angry to express the feeling of the song and to show how passionate they are. Furthermore rock artists will use their bodies to reinforce a particular lyric, for example if they are saying no they might shake their head as a way to express themselves. The stereotypical rock hand gesture is associated with the rock genre and is sometimes incorporated in some musicians music videos to reinforce the genre.

Narrative

Some rock music videos have story lines and are produced in the style of a ‘narrative’ and therefore might have some dialogue throughout. It can also be introduced at the beginning of the video before the music to set the tone for the rest of the music video. Other than this typically it will just be the music from the musicians in the video.

Editing

 Depending on the tempo and mood of the song depends on how it is edited. For example fast rock songs with have quicker paced editing rather than a rock ballad music video. Lively rock song will have lots of cuts and jump cuts between different scenes creating  an energetic atmosphere. Whereas in a slow song the editing will have less cuts and maybe a cross dissolve between clips as this is softer. Another common editing feature found in rock music videos is montages.

Camera Shots

 Usually the video will consist of mainly close up or extreme close ups on their faces to show emotion or on the instruments. This will influence how the video impacts the audience. As well wide shots and ariel shots are used to establish the location or maybe the size of the crowds if the music video is of a performance. These shots will either be shown at the beginning to introduce the setting or during the chorus to demonstrate the impact their music has of the audience. Furthermore varies angles are used to keep it interesting and also to emphasise their authority. Lastly sometimes point of view shots are incorporated to give an insight into that they are seeing and experiencing.