Conventions of a music video

Charlie-Mae Taylor

All kinds of music videos have different conventions but I am going to explore into the most common ones.

Camera Angles

In various music videos lots of camera shots/angles/movements are made. Some examples include:

- Long shots

- Close ups

- Mid shots

- Establishing shots

- Panning shots

- Tracking shots

 

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene is everything you see in the shot. Some music videos have a variety of a locations where as others just stick to one.

The outfits that the performers/actors wear can really tell you a lot about the genre of music. Pop music videos tend to include more colourful clothes where as Rock music videos have darker and duller clothes.

Lighting is also another important part of the video. If the colours are kept darker then again it will suggest a Rock music video.

Editing

The editing of a music video can differ in every single one. Some shots will be longer than others and include special effects or will be superimposed. Quick cuts are used to create emphasis and speed everything up.

Key Words

Audience- The people who the video is made for

Binary Oppositions- The contrast between two things on screen

CGI- Computer Generated Imagery, used for certain effects on screen that you cannot achieve in real life

Connotation- the deeper meaning of something, it may no be completely obvious/ a hidden meaning

Demographic- a group of people of factual characteristics

Denotation- the obvious meaning of the thing you see on screen

Narrative- the way in which a story is created- Many music videos have a story line to help add more to the video and to keep the target audience captivated and interested

Representation- The way something is shown to the media, a woman can be represented as strong and independent

Key Words