A music promo is a visual interpretation and it accompanies the songs narrative and meaning, promoting that artists song and image. It could be energetic, have an element of repeatability so that the audience watches it again and again and it could also make use of famous well-known people to also interest people from that celebrities fan-base and increase the target audience.
Why do bands/record companies make them:
The purpose is to advertise the band/artist as well as profit them if they include advertisement from other companies. It also adds in an extra entertainment factor visually as well as audibly, appealing to the audience. A promo increases profit and sales as well as establishing a genre/band image, also creating a closeness and access to the band. Promos are often unique so that they get noticed and recognised easily, this has led to more controversial and strange themes within music videos, these themes create discussion over he topic of the music video and therefore getting it more recognition whether it be positive or negative.
How are promo videos exhibited:
In the past 'Top of the Pops' was used to show music promo's, it showed the top 40 UK singles. MTV and music channels, devoted to exhibiting music videos, alike became more and more popular and people can use it as background music and watch the videos when desired, it is easily accessible as it is mostly found on television channels which is a common household object giving a wide target audience. YouTube and online music platforms creates an ease of access approach to viewing music promos, bands and artists use convergence with the internet to present their work worldwide as the internet is available nationally. These can be easily shared and have a high profile appearance as these websites are used frequently by many. Apps such as iTunes can be used to download the music videos at a cost with limited and collectors editions available.
Some conventions exhibited in the Blur videos:
Camera:
Many close ups are used in music videos to give a sense of closeness to band members and to draw attention to specific qualities that the music video wants to point out like costume detail, facial expressions and props. It can also be used to present people in the music videos who are famed for a particular thing to add a little star quality in the video. Mid shots can be used to view the rest of the band so that the motion of them playing an instrument or action can be seen whilst still making them fill a large area of the shot however they aren't shown as important as the lead singer. A strong aesthetic quality is shown throughout the music video, drawing in the attention of viewers who are fascinated by the promo. Graphic matches are often used to lead one shot on from another which is popular in music videos as it creates an easy transition that doesn't distract from the actual song but still has a good effect on the viewer.
Editing:
Inverted shots may be used to make the music video more interesting and intriguing, changing it up a bit to make it seem more hectic, this is often used in more up-beat videos. The video is cut to the beat of the music to make the music fit more naturally with the video, it links to the structure of the song and the style of it with slower cuts fitting to slower songs and vice versa. There are lots of cuts to different shots to keep the viewer interested and always providing something new to look at, because of the many shots there maybe parts that the viewer may miss, increasing the repeatability of the video as the viewer may want to find out what they haven't seen. Repeated motifs and images are effective as they create an image for the viewer to recognise and associate with that particular artist or song and will possibly recognise it within everyday objects. Another effect that is commonly used is slow motion, it captures the bigger picture in fewer frames and can also create quite a calming effect, slowing down a fast paced video or even make something more dramatic focusing on a tricky skill that is performed.
MES:
A common setting for music videos is on an urban street this is due to it being relatable to everyday life and the message relayed by the video can come across as more normal and achievable to the viewer. The costume is usually set in the same time period or style as the surrounding set to create continuity in the mise-en-scene, most are set in the modern day era to make it more relatable to the viewer. Relevant props are used that possibly link to themes or the title of the song creating a connection between them and the video, for example umbrellas are used in Rihanna's 'Umbrella'.
Narrative:
The narrative has a performance style to it with the singer/band creating a story from a theme or the title or sometimes even an unrelated subject. It can be interwoven with different shots of the singer/band singing or performing as though they are performing at a concert so that there is still a focus on their talents. Lip syncing can be done with well-known celebrities to get that star-quality within the video or add some humour to a video if there is cross-gender singing such as Carly-Rae Jepsen's 'I Really Like You' where Tom Hanks lip syncs to the lyrics as he goes about everyday life. Intertextuality is used to reference other forms of text from various different media, it allows the viewers to enjoy the feeling of recognising a reference and may make them listen out for more and if the viewer doesn't get the reference it doesn't detract from the video or audio.
Technical Conventions:
* Band shots, CUs of vocalist/lead instrumentalists
* High/low angle shots
* Special lighting effect
* Close ups and extreme close ups
* Shadows
* Mise-en-scene reflecting the atmosphere
* Equal division of shots of the band or focus on key members
* Camera movement – tracking shots, pans, hand held camera, zoom
* Editing – cuts reflect tempo of song
* Animation and special effects e.g. CGI, Green Screen
* Colour effects – often monochrome/black and white
* Montage – series of images with symbolic meanings
* Mise-en-scene reflects musical genre
* High key lighting
* Narrative/story line
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