The document discusses various conventions used in music videos, including camera shots, camera movements, mise-en-scene, editing techniques, sound, structure, types of music videos, and special effects. It notes that common camera shots include pans, tracks, hand-held shots, and tilts. Editing often uses cuts, parallel editing, jump cuts, and transitions. Music videos also consider lighting, costumes, props, dialogue, diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Types of music videos are performance, narrative, and lyric videos. Special effects include slow motion and CGI. The concluding section discusses applying these conventions to a performance and lyric music video.
2. Camera shots
Pan – this may used to follow the subject e.g. a pan
may be used to show the subject walking along the
street.
Tracking – similarly a tracking shot is sometimes used
to track the subject.
Hand-held – this technique is sometimes used to follow
the subject. For example the subject may be running
and a hand-held camera movement may be used to
represent this as it gives a realistic effect with the
camera’s instability.
Tilt – this may be used to introduce the character in
the music video. It could also be used to represent the
character as being powerful.
There are several types of camera shots which
can be used in a music video.
In most music videos there are close ups of the
artist to show the emotions they are holding as
well as to see the lyrics of the song they are
lip-syncing.
Mid shots may be used to reveal the body
language of the artist as well as to see how
they interact with other people or objects.
Extreme close ups may be used to emphasise
the importance of the object and make the
audience feel a particular emotion e.g. the
audience may be drawn to the tears falling
from the eye with an extreme close up which is
used to gain empathy from them.
Camera movements
3. Mise-en-scene
Lighting – this may be used in various ways for different music videos. Songs
which are more upbeat perhaps would have brighter lighting whereas songs
which are more emotional and sad may have dull lighting to setup an
atmosphere that suits the style of the song.
Costumes – depending on the genre of the music, there are many types of
costumes that could be worn. There is no particular costume which is worn in
a music video. For example, pop artists may wear brighter coloured clothing
whereas rock artists may wear darker coloured clothing to reflect the type of
music they are presenting to the audience.
Props – there are various types of props which may be used in a music video.
For performance videos there could be musical instruments, a microphone
and an amplifier.
4. Editing
Cutaways – this is often used to show the narrative plot as well the artist lip-
syncing to the song.
Parallel editing – this is frequently used to display the actions of two or more
people in a narrative plot.
Jump cut – this is used to make the artist appear as if they are jump from one
place to another. For example, this may be used to show the artist dancing around
the room –jumping from one spot to another every few seconds.
Straight cut – this is where one scene cuts to another without a transition. This is
often used to change from
Transitions – the most common transition used in a music video is perhaps a fade.
This changes one scene into another quite smoothly.
Music videos often edit their footage of the singer singing and sync it with the
music so it appears as if they are singing to the song.
5. Sound
Dialogue – in music videos with a narrative plot there may be short bits of
dialogue to go with the plot when there is just music playing or sometimes
part of the song is quietened down to allow the audience to hear the
dialogue.
The sound may sometimes be synced with the action on the screen e.g. a loud
drum part of the song may show an explosion to match it.
Diegetic – this is the sound that comes from something visible from the
screen. In music videos, there may be a diegetic sound in the form of
dialogue spoken by the actors.
Non-diegetic – this is sound that is from outside of the screen so it may be
sound effects or narration. In a music video, there may be non-diegetic sound
of sound effects such as sounds of fire or sirens.
6. Structure
Length – an average music video is about 4 minutes long.
Setting – it usually consists of a few different settings which are outside as
well as inside.
For narrative music videos they often start off with the narrative scenes and
then jump to the separate cuts of the artist lip-syncing if there is. To show
the narrative as well as the performance, the video is often edited so that it
jumps back and fourth between the two types of footage.
7. Types
There are many different types of music videos:
Performance – this is where the artist is lip-syncing to the song throughout nearly
the whole video. It usually consists of close-ups of the artist so you can see they
are lip-syncing the song. Most of the music video is often filmed in a studio but can
also sometimes be on location.
Narrative – this is where the music video has a story to it. It can also have some
cuts of the artist lip-syncing as well but it mainly based on telling a story. The
artist may be a part of the narrative, an observer or completely separate.
Lyric – some music videos consist of the lyrics to the song only. This can be
displayed in an interesting way such as show the words on different objects or
simple using the computer to animate the lyrics of the song in a way which is
interesting such as using different colours and transitions.
8. Special effects
Most music videos have special effects added to them after the filming the
video.
Some of the most common special effects include:
Slow motion – this is used to emphasise the action taking place e.g. in a romance
music video, throwing a cup on the floor in slow motion would highlight the cup
smashing into pieces suggesting the end of the relationship.
Computer-generated imagery (CGI) – this may be used in music videos to create
effects which can’t be achieved by filming such as some creatures or some thing
which ma be difficult to film such as use of animals.
Split screen – this is where the two different bits of footage is combined and each
takes up half of the screen. This usually shows the simultaneous actions of two
people or things.
9. How I will apply these to my video…
As I am doing a performance and lyric video, some of these conventions may not apply for my
video.
For example, I won’t include a clear narrative in my music video so the structure will be different
as I wouldn’t have to go back and fourth between the narrative and the performer as my actors
will only be lip syncing.
Another thing is editing. It may not be necessary to use some of the editing techniques in my music
video as it is not based on a narrative so techniques such as shot reverse shot and parallel editing
may not be needed.
Some conventions which would be applied to my music video include the transitions between
scenes. This is an important part of the music video as there would be much more transitions
than perhaps in a narrative video as there will be different things associated with each part of
the lyrics which will be shown in separate scenes.
The length of my music video would still be similar to other music videos.
Some camera shots and movements would still be used in my music video as the performer is
only going to lip-syncing to the song so different camera shots would be necessary to create
variety.
Most of the mise-en-scene in my music video would still need to be considered carefully as the
lighting is important as a pop music video would typically consist of bright lighting to reveal the
appearance of the artist and create a lively atmosphere. The costumes, hair and make-up will be
important as the song is a pop song and the appearance of the artist is important in fitting in
with the genre e.g. bright casual clothes may be worn. Props will also be important as it will
make the music video more fun to watch.
