Convections of Music Videos

Camera Shots:
Music videos tend to include many long shots, close ups and mid shots. This is to create emphasis on the artist, location and emotions. Also, close ups are used not only to show emotions but to reflect the words of the song with the movement of the lips of the artist.

Camera Movement:
The movement of the camera is used to follow and trace the artist or the band. Camera movements include tilts, pans, tracking and crane shots.

Mise-en-scene:
This refers to the arrangement of performers or props in a scene for a production of a music video. Mise-en-scene puts importance on the representation of something. An example would be the song 'Mad - by Neyo'. The mise-en-scene involves him walking down a road alone, being in an isolated room. This reflects the isolation from his lover. Also, the props include hats and dark clothes which represent the down mood of the song. Similarly the lighting is kept very dark as it is black and white; this connotes the angry and depressed mood.

Editing:
Jump cuts is the predominant editing technique used in music videos. This is because it 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 different effects to cuts.

Lighting:
Some music videos are black and white which help emphasise a particular mood and some videos have artificial lighting which puts the artist in an enhanced look.

Sound:
Sound is mainly the vocals or the song but in some cases such as Micheal Jackson thriller, the producers can make a music video into a short film.

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

Costume:
This goes with the scenes in the song and reflects the genre. Costume is an important factor because it has a slight influence on how the viewers will dress because they use some celebrities as role models.

Colour:
Colours tend to set the mood of the song through creating an atmosphere. For example, dark colours are used more in rock songs, such as kings of Leon and bright colours are seen to be used more in hip hop and pop videos.