Setting

Setting:
Setting is the place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place.
Setting is a very effective tool within media, and is often part of the generic conventions of a genre, and often defines the atmosphere and mood of the scene, with many different settings having different connotations. For example, a lady walking alone through an alley at night would create a sense of unease or danger compared to walking through a park during the day, which generally would be a pretty mundane task and depending on lighting and weather would set the tone for the scene.

Within short films, setting is key to defining genre, settings such as; cityscapes, warehouses and bars are often associated with action films, the environment offers lots of opportunities for stunts and are often settings associated with criminal activities. The sort of settings often used in short films are easily accessed locations, because a lot of these films are low budget, paying for access to locations is generally not an option, so places like schools, houses and other easily accessible locations are often used. Many different genres have settings particularly iconic of that specific genre, for example haunted houses for horror, urban areas for romance films or on space ships for science fiction. These settings are obviously part of the narrative and help define which genre the film should be a part of and help the viewer to understand what they should be feeling. But how does this apply within music videos? Often within music videos the type of music defines the atmosphere and tone of the video, with most people listening to the music primarily, rather than watching the video. While setting is often part of the narrative-if there is one-generally music videos choose settings based more on pure aesthetic rather than relation to narrative, for example, many bands use shots of them in a dark, empty building/room with high key spotlight lighting, with huge contrast between the light and dark areas while performing or in cramped areas with very high key lighting, while performing. However if a music video is narrative driven then setting generally plays a more key role, especially if there is dialogue.