Codes and Conventions of a Pop/ Hip Hop Music Video

1. Voyeurism

1.1. Females are often objectified in music videos and portrayed as a sexual object throughout the music industry in most genres. This is due to the culture of Pop and Hip Hop often focusing on fashion and being free. This is clear when looking at artists such as Niki Minaj in videos such as "Anaconda" where little clothing is worn and a sexual theme is presented throughout. This is done by many artists in order to gain a male audience as their type of music would not usually appeal to majority of males so must use different techniques. Male artists are rarely presented in this way but instead support it by featuring the same stereotype of females in their video.

2. Editing

2.1. The editing of pop music and Hip Hop videos is very flexible. This is due to the diversity of the Genres. For example the editing in an artists music such as Adele would be a lot slower compared to that of Katy Perry. This is evident through the fast past editing in Katy Perrys new song " Hey Hey Hey" which is done as the editing needs to be symmetrical with the beat of the music. An example of slow editing would be in Sam Smiths "one last song" where through out the video there is almost only one shot. our style of editing will be more similar to Katy Perrys due the fast beat of our song. And the editing of 2pac music such as " Hail Mary" will be a lot slower compared to other Hip Hop artists music such as Eminem in "Rap God".

3. Narrative and Audience

3.1. Pop Music and Hip Hop music both generally focuses on a younger audience typically in the teen bracket. This is due to the culture of Pop and Hip Hop being about having fun, being rebellious, partying, wealth and sex. This furthermore attracts a younger audience. Many younger audience members idolise the artists and their lifestyles which leads to them buying merchandise and tickets which is now the main source of income for artists.

4. Setting

4.1. Once again the setting of music videos is often in places that would be interesting to a teenage audience. The location needs t reflect the connotations of Pop music such as lifestyle, fashion and sex. Furthermore places such as mansions, California, New York, beaches are all often used in music videos. One prim example o how location is used to attract an audience is in videos such as "blank space" which have all the locations to suggest a rich life style. Pop may often seen these luxury youthful locations whereas Hip Hop looks at more poor youth locations as the issue or race and poverty is often focused on in Hip Hop.

5. Cinematography

5.1. The Cinematography in Pop and Hip hop music videos is often quickly pasted in order to try and match the paste of it which is also usually fast. One example of the types of shots that are used is in Ed Sheeran's new song "Perfect" where he uses multiple close ups throughout so the audience can recognise the artists emotions. This is important to do effectively as his music is focused on romance and emotion so it is crucial he portrays that. It also helps the audience recognise the link between the lyrics and the video as in part of his video he sings about how he will "not give you up" which is reinforced by the cinematography. This is because the close ups allow you to see his eyes constantly focusing on the girl. A hip hop artist which has good camera work is Rock star by Post Malone using wide shots to allow the audience to view the entire setting which is interesting in the video.

6. Mise En Scene

6.1. Mise en scene plays a very important role in the Pop music genre with props being very important in portraying the theme of a video. One example of how props are very important in a Pop music Video are in Pinks "Beautiful Trauma" were all the props have bright colours in order to reinforce the artists image. Costumes in Pop music videos are also very important but in our style of Pop they often are very casual and almost everyday wear. This can be seen in videos such as Sam Smiths "Too Good at Goodbyes". Mise en scene can also be viewed in Hip hop videos as very important as they help to represent the culture of the genre. For example in 50 cents "Window Shopper" locations and props are used to show a luxury lifestyle with flash jewellery and fast cars.

7. Intertexuality

7.1. Pop Music often reflects popular culture so through the music videos you can recognise links to modern day culture and events. Furthermore Pop music is very much influenced by the world that surrounds it. This is clear in videos such as Taylor Swifts "Bad Blood" which features scenes that look very similar to the popular film "Tron". An example of a Hip Hops music video intertexuality is in Snoop Dogs "Gin and juice" where the pressures of parents in society was highlighted.