Research - Music Video Conventions

Form – There are three types of music video.

Either a performance video (Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas”) or narrative video
(Coldplay’s “The Scientist”) or possibly a combination of the two (Justin Timberlake’s “What Goes
Around… Comes Around”).

Marginly more abstract videos that have a direct link to the music but not as obviously. Possibly
through beat, performer, theme/mood. Good Example is Kylie Minogue’s “Come Into My World”.

Completely abstract short movie that bears no resemblance to the song it is accompanying. Good example is Daft Punk’s “Da Funk”.

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Performance – Close-ups used to show authenticity with singer and musicians lip syning and playing correctly. Extreme Close Up’s of drum sets, guitar necks, microphones and mouth etc. Sweeping crane shots of crowd.

Solo Artist performance – same as above often featuring dance sequences. Much more intent on artist and their actions. Often a parallel narrative that the solo artist becomes a part of.

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Camera – fast paced editing to mimic pace of music. Extreme close up on lips or face of artist is common. Fast dolly shots and pans/tilts, keeps pace quick so the viewer doesn’t mind watching it over and over again as it is not like a film that is meant to be watched once, the more the audience wish to watch the song the more they will hear it – promotion.

Costume – artists now almost always have a complete makeover before filming music videos. They look immaculate and make viewers like them. The clothes and props are carefully selected to reflect the mood of the song but also to look as good as possible at the same time. A lot of videos for electronic music tend to be very provocative because they reflect the promiscuous element of the music and scene surrounding it. Artists regularly look too good to be human in the videos and audience can sometimes be shocked by the difference professional makeup and production and post-production techniques has on a person.

Mise-en-scene – extremely important to a music video. Artists who have extended careers have constant image changes throughout their career. With each new video a new tone, mood and look for the artist is produced so it is important that for mise-en-scene remains consistent for each video so the juxtaposition between other videos is more apparent, allowing the audience to be impressed with an artists versatility.