Research: Props.

The guitars feature heavily in the music videos I have looked at, mainly in mis-shots showing the band members playing the instruments giving a sense of realism to the music by insinuating a diegetic, synchronous sound. They portray the band's music by being played by bend members and just make the footage seem more realistic. Without these props, the music video would still make sense so they are not necessary to the narrative, but help make it more 'true-to-life'. The audience - who would stereotypically be current fans of the band- are able to recognise the guitarist as being a member of the band and therefore be able to instantly make the connection and embed the band's branding through the iconography.

The use of the microphone here sets a point for the singers to pivot around, focusing their movement around this one prop, allowing camera angles to be composed around this. This basis is very widely used in the music industry and is a tried and tested method to generate realistic perspectives, of what tends to be either a recording studio or concert. The band's singer, as with the guitarists, will be a signifier to the fans, telling them it is their song/video. This prop is a huge factor to the music video, providing a focal point for the vocals, which are usually the main area of interest for the video.

The drum kit is quite a common feature of music videos, yet isn't really given an awful lot of attention. it tends to just be sat at the back of the stage being played and given little screen time, only being on for a few seconds at a time. It is however used synchronously, matching the actual music to provide a visual beat to emphasise the audio. all of the videos I looked at had a drum kit on stage, yet the footage above is nearly all of the clear bits that were actually included in the final cut. These are a vital part to the narrative - assuming the others are used - as they are a main part to the track and are an ideal backdrop for the vocalist to be in front of. The stage looks bare if there are no drums. The audience doesn't particularly identify the drummer as being from the band as they are given little recognition on screen and just sit in the background, however the band's logo is usually on the main foot pedal drum for brand anchorage.