Codes And Conventions Of Metal.

INSTRUMENTS: Guitars, drums ect. Very important part of the metal music genre. The sound of an electric guitar is iconic and is a iconic, it is easily recognised by the audience.

LYRICS: In my opinion, they are the most important part of a music video and not the narrative or sound. This is because lyrics are usually from the heart of the band and it something that one or more members or someone they know has experienced which makes the lyrics more personal and meaningful, and can be expressed through the vocals - overall improving the quality of song. People listening to the song may also be able to relate to the video and may help them get through some tough times in their lives. The tone of the lyric could be called aggressive because of the passion they put into singing, because of this the metal and rock scene are mostly male dominated due to the deep growling or screaming, although, there are female vocalists who are successful.

TOPICS: Much like the lyrics, the topics that metal videos are mostly personal the band or something they feel strongly about, for example - war. These topics aren't usually covered by mainstream music like hip-hop. Although, some topics do cross over genres like love.

BAND IMAGE: The stereotypical black clothes, long hair, tight or ripped jeans with tank tops and sometimes make up (bands like BVB or MIW). This type of look makes metal bands sound out more and make them stand out more, easily recognisable and iconic. The band image may also influence the audience and makes them a part of the genre, for example, in live performance music videos when the camera pans over the audience you may see some of the audience wearing similar clothing to the band.

VIDEO: The videos are normally dark with graphical scenes and are narrative/performance based, which related back to the lyrics and band image as they usually compliment each other (lyrics relate to the narrative and band members and their image are seen in performance videos or in some cases the narrative videos when it cuts back to them)

CAMERA ANGLES/SHOTS:

LIVE
Quick cuts - Show the fasted paced excitement of a live performance. Promotes and sells the products which makes the target audience want to go experience it themselves.
 Pans of the audience: Like the fast paced cuts this also makes people want to go see the band, they see that the audience is having a good time so they want to aswell.
Close ups of the band members: Focuses in on their talents, e.g guitarist.

NARRATIVE

Mainly focuses on the story being told in the video, makes people focus on it more than the band who usually have little screen time, if they do then it'll most likely be a close up of the vocalist.
Slow motion editing to show the audience the transition between reality and the narrative.