(R) Music Video Conventions

Camera Angles and Shot Types

The majority of time the genre of music can influence the type of camera angle or shot type used. For example, long shots are often used to show a band playing their instruments, cutting to close ups of each individual band member for time to time. However, if the genre was pop or blues, there might be a lot of close ups in order to focus on the main star's face and emotions in order to further emphasise the storyline and make it clear to the audience what emotion they should be feeling, i.e. if the main star was crying or looking distressed then the audience would know to feel this way too.

Mise-en-Scene

Mise-en-scene is everything included in a scene - the setting itself, props, costume and make-up. The mise-en-scene for each genre of music is different and is always intricately thought about and planned out. For example, if the music video was of the pop genre it will usually be more upbeat, bright and colourful and would be set in a conventionally cheesy place. However, if the genre was rock the music video might be very dark and include a lot of black and red, heavy eye make-up, piercings and tattoos. Furthermore, if the genre was rap or hip hop conventional props such as guns, expensive jewellery and scantily clad females would be included.

Sound

Sound is obviously a crucial part of a music video because it is what makes up half of it - without sound it would only be a video! Although the actual song would be non-diegetic sound, some music videos also include diegetic sound as a part of the storyline, some videos even include a minute long script before the music actually begins, and some even have a break in the middle of the song to cut to a piece of diegetic sound.

Editing

Editing is another crucial aspect of the production of a music video - this is where the scene for the music video are picked out and fine-tuned. One of the most vital parts of editing is lip syncing: if the artist doesn't appear as though they're actually singing the song the overall music video can appear unprofessional and messy. CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) effects can sometimes be used as well, for example to create the effect of a person flying or doing something else which is deemed impossible in reality. Jump cutting (jumping from one scene to another) is another technique which is used a lot in music videos.