Research Blog: Music video conventions

 

Choose a theme or visual motif. This simply a common set of colors, locations, or a mood that guides all of your shots. Professional rap videos tend to rely on creative visuals while the rapper spits his lines into the camera. These themes can range from a lavish hip-hop lifestyle to a simple but striking visual theme. Craig Mack's "Flava in Ya Ear," for example, uses stark black and white shots on a white background that makes each rapper a unique, screen-filling phenomenon. Decide if you want to tell a story. Not all rap songs need to tell a story, and most don't. But some videos will even split the difference, interspersing a short story throughout more traditional shots, like in T.I.'s "Whatever You Like" video. T.I. starts with a short skit, showing our feature dancer working at a fast-food joint, before using the video to show her "rise" to stardom and riches. It is simple, but effective, especially with the ending skit that reveals it was all a daydream. Scout out cool locations for your rapper to perform in front of. This is the main event of most professional rap videos, and higher-budget videos might have 4-5 locations each. Watch a few of your favorite videos and note where they place the rappers. Some of the most common locations include, Hometown streets or neighborhood. Party locations, like houses, pools, or the beach, Rooftops, Graffiti tagged walls or deep city environments. More common locations can consist of Green screens, allowing you free rein of backgrounds. You should find 3 – 5 locations with good footage to shoot the video and obtain the best of them all. This will be a matter of preference and artistic direction. So make sure to put a lot of time into the way the video will be presented to the viewer. It’s always a plus for a rap video to display a show of wealth, fashion and style. If you want your video to be classy and catchy you should include the expensive flashy cars and some expensive jewelry.