Conventions of music videos

Forms and conventions of music videos are very important particularly when making my own music video, this is because if they are followed too much I will end up with a dull and stereotypical video, however if I challenge them too much I will end up with a video that does not make sense and the audience will not be able to relate to it. Due to this I need to to get a good balance, but before hand I need to look at the forms and conventions of music videos so that I can get a good understanding and when planning my video I will be aware of whether I am following or challenging the forms and conventions.

First of all...Camera Shots:

Music videos tend to have many close-ups, long shots and mid-shots, this is done to draw the viewer in and focus their attention to the artist and what is going on. With the use of close-ups the artists emotions are shown alot clearer and this allows the viewer to emphasis with the situation.

Camera movement:

The camera movement mainly follows the artist/band and goes wherever they go. Camera movements include tilts, pans, tracking and crane shots.

Mise-en-scene:

This is very important and is used to set the mood and is key to representing the song and the artist, mise-en-scene is usually the best indicator of the genre of a music video and if I were to challenge this too much my audience may not be able to identify with it.

Editing:

The editing in most music videos is very fast passed and there are many shots, jump cuts are the predominant editing technique used. It is rare for many shots to last for more than 10 seconds unless the the camera is tracking the artist who is moving around. Fades and dissolves are also very popular transitions within music videos.

Lighting:

Some music videos are filmed in black and white to give a certain effect and others use natural lighting, artificial lighting is also used in video to give a certain effect or feeling.

Sound:

In terms of sound it is usually just the track and sometimes extra sounds are added to fit in with the story as well as dialogue in the video such as characters talking.

Colour:

Usually the colour ties in with the genre for example dark colours tie in with the rock genre however colours can also be used to reflect emotion for example if the mood was meant to be sad the colours would also be dark.