Madonna - Vogue (Codes and Conventions)

We recently got some feedback on our documentary and found that our weak spot was the content of our codes and conventions for editing. Therefore we decided to choose three music videos and analyse the codes and conventions in more depth!

1. Madonna - Vogue

Madonna uses many different types of editing techniques throughout her video Vogue.
Firstly, she uses cross cut editing as she switches from her performance part
of the video to the narrative. The pace of the shots is linked with the music
itself, keeping to the beat and creating a staccato feel. Within this, we notice
that shots are longer when she is in the shot alone. However, the shots soon
become shorter when anyone else is in shot. We also notice that most of the
shots of Madonna alone are very close up, showing her beauty, body and
extremely minimalistic clothing. This creates the idea of the star theory, that
Madonna is who we, as an audience, should all be looking at. This idea is also
reinforced with the lighting editing. Although the video is filmed in entirely
black and white, the other dancers are made to essentially merge into the
background, whereas Madonna is very bright, with white hair and her face seems
to glow more than the others. This type of editing is essential to make the
artist look their best and look the most important thing there, selling
themselves in order to look good. The proxemics of this video also create the
star theory as Madonna is always in centre shot and slightly more towards the
camera to make her look bigger than everything else in shot. This is an
important part of camera work when making the audience focus predominately on
the artist. Another technique used in this video is the use of fades. Not only
were fades a very popular transition in the 80’s but Madonna does this for
specific reasons. It allows each shot to run smoothly into each other and like
the song itself, creates a very slick feeling. However, in some cases Madonna
actually uses a fade because it’s relevant to the lyrics. For example, “It makes no difference if you’re black or
white, if you’re a boy or a girl”. At this point, a shot of a boy fades into a
shot of a girl, emphasising the point she is making when singing the lyrics.