Music Video Conventions.

1. Camera Shots: 

• Long shots to create emphasis on the location of the video.
• Close ups to emphasise the emotions of the artists which often show the artist lip syncing the lyrics, this is common with emotional ballads (eg. Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U)

•  Camera movement such as panning, tracking and ariel shots are used to follow the artist, especially if the music video is telling a particular story.

1. Mise-en-scene: 

• Mise-en-scene puts importance on the representation of something.
• In music videos, the mise-en-scene is important because it usually reflects the mood of the song through the use of atmosphere. 
• For example, a music video for an upbeat dance song would have a happy mood and atmosphere. (eg Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk, this video uses bright colours and the mood is very happy)

• Lighting, props, camera, editing and storyline all make up the mise-en-scene of a music video.
• Music video producers use all these methods to convey the meaning of the song.

Editing: 

• Jump cuts is the predominant editing technique used in music videos. This is because this allows a sudden change from one scene to another. 
• Similarly, transitions such as fade and dissolve are very common in music videos as they create a different effect to cuts. 
• It is common is music videos to cut between a storyline and shots of a band/artist lip syncing.

Lighting:

• Some music videos are black and white which help emphasise a particular mood and some videos have artificial lighting which put the artist/s in an enhanced look.

This is an example of a black and white video, in this case the lighting is meant to convey a cool 'rock and roll' mood:



Sound:

• Sound is mainly the vocals or the song but in some cases such as Michael Jackson – Thriller, the producers can make the music video into a short film.

 

 Props:

• These are a vital in aiding to add to the scene and create significance on particular objects or people.

Conventions in Indie/Rock music videos:

• black and white
• The artist/band is shown throughout the video
• Use of extreme close ups and long shots are popular 
• Dark locations 
• Fast paced 
• Some use of special effects

Conventions in Hip Hop music videos:

• Location usually in clubs/parties with dance scenes
• Use of alcohol
• Recognised brands and clothing
• Expensive cars and houses
• 
  

  Camera shots tend to long and establishing to show the money involved.
• Close ups to show the jewellery and assets of the artists.
• Attractive women seen as objects/dancing for men
• Usually does not follow a storyline, only follows the genre conventions

Conventions in Pop music videos:

• Bright and colourful
• Very upbeat
• Close ups of the artist usually lip-syncing, showing the happy and upbeat and happy emotions  
• Aims at the teenage audience