History - The 1990's

1990's

In the 1990's, many key conventions started arising and a lot more aspects of music videos became common. These included factors included
- Fast Cut Montage (lots of pictures placed together)
- Multiple Viewing (included as many images as possible to grasp a first viewing)
- Non-representational ( musical artist never actually shown on screen)
HAVING A MOTIF
Along with the other conventions that the 90's began to enforce, it started becoming commonly known that a motif was displayed within music videos. This is when a recurring image, idea or principle is continuously displayed throughout the music video. A great example of this is portrayed more recently through Cheryl Cole's - 'Fight for this love' where the colour red is used as a motif. Being a particular colour and referring directly to the lyrics and title of the song, the colour red is known to have connotations of love, danger, heart-break, hurt and pain. Clearly, through the use of this motif, Cheryl Cole was able to identify with the audience and convey the emotions that the song encapsulates.
Screen Grabs from Cheryl Cole's 'Fight for this love' revealing the colour RED as a MOTIF:
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