Typical Conventions of a Music Video

Typical Conventions of a Music Video

Camera Shots

Long shots, close-ups and extreme close-ups are constantly used. Close-ups are usually used in music videos as it puts emphasis on the artist or bands face for promotional reasons and their lips to show the lip-syncing.

Camera Movement

Pans, dolly tack shots, crane shots and tilts are used to follow the movements of the singer/band or dancers.

Editing

Jump cuts are the most commonly used as its purpose is to jump from a scene of the location to the artist to the instruments and vice-versa. Reaction shots are used with music videos with narrative as it expresses the relationship between two or more people. The pave of the editing is always in sync with the beat of the track.

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene is associated to the inter-textual link of the music video, therefore it depends on the representation. For example, a video based on a sixties film (Madonna - "Material Girl" is based on "Diamonds are a girls best friend" from a Marilyn Monroe film performance. This would use iconic staging, characters, costumes and so on to represent the time.

Lighting: Extreme artificial lighting is the most common type of lighting used in music videos as it helps to enhance the look of the artist or band through making them seem "ageless", this is commonly used in pop music videos. Lighting switches help to indicate a shift from the chorus to verse and vice-versa. Finally, lighting also enhances the atmosphere as it can be used to give a bright and upbeat feel particularly in dance music videos or a dark and eerie feel which is used mostly in rock music videos. For example, Cheryl Cole's video for "Fight for this love", uses the lighting to show her flawless complexion.

Props: Props are essential in music videos.

Costume: Reflect the genre of the music and the style of the artist: therefore costumes are essential because they compliment the artist. For example, Lady Gaga has specific clothing to show off her fashion, this is evident in her "Poker face" video.

Colour: Colour represents the mood of the song for example; bright colours are usually used in "feel good" pop songs, a good example is Kylie Minogue's, "In your eyes" video.

Sound: Usually the sound is the music and vocals; however some music videos are similar to short films with acting, therefore in these clips there are various sound which can be heard such as diegetic and non-diegetic sounds.