1. Conventions of Music Videos
For a text to be recognised as a music video,
it must have followed at least some of the
conventions common with them. These can
include similar Camera shots, Mise-en-
Scène, Editing, Lighting and Sound.

2. Content:
• Most music videos last for about 3-4 minutes, but this all depends on how
long the song is and whether it contains any narrative pre or post video.
• Despite music videos being enjoyable and entertaining, their primary
function is to make money by promoting the artist or a record. These
videos can be accessed through online sharing websites like YouTube, or
watched on music channels such as 4Music and Vevo.
• The content of music videos can vary between a few limited choices.
Music videos can include computer graphics (CGI), use real-life actors or
some even use a combination of both.
Bruno Mars-Just the way you are
uses both computer graphics
and real film in his music video.

3. • A common feature of Music Videos is lip-syncing. This is where a character
maims along to the song and instruments can sync too. This links the music
to the visual. Without a link, the audience may be tempted to just watch the
video and not take notice of the song; therefore, not promoting the artist.
• Some videos, however, don’t use lip-syncing because the visual image runs
parallel to the music, so the video takes the lyrics in a more literal form.
• Music videos vary on their style: some use dance whereas some tell a
narrative and have shots of live performance. Most contain an element of
non-naturalism, and often require a certain degree of interpretation from the
audience.

4. Camera Work:
• Camera shots commonly found in music videos are:
• Moving shots-To follow the artist when they move, often they move towards
the camera.
• Tilts and pans-To get various views and perspectives. They often used show
location.
• Establishing shots-To present the location which often gives clues about the
theme of the video.
• Close-ups-most common in music videos. They contain close-ups of
characters and can feature the artist singing into the camera, breaking the
fourth wall, through direct address.
• Close-ups can also be used to create artistic shots for representation
purposes in music videos.
• Certain artists tend to have a particular style of camera shot which they
use in all their videos as a theme.
Ariana Grande (left) and Beyoncé (right) both have their signature shots

5. Mise-en-Scène:
• The location and background is particularly
important as it sets the mood of a music video.
• The colours and Mise-en-Scène are both specifically chosen to establish
meaning. Dark colours and minimal scenery may be used to emphasise
the sadness of a song, whereas a busy background and bright colours
would be for a more upbeat and happy song.
• Some colours are also used to represent the
artist. An example of this is Ed Sheeran whose
signature colour is orange, which links to his
ginger hair and is also used on his album.
Therefore, using orange in his music video
relates to his identity.

6. • With the purpose of music videos being to promote an artist/record, it
seems apt that some should link their album cover art into the video, or
the name of the band/single it’s promoting.
• The shots also tend to feature the artist as either a character in the
narrative, or as themselves singing about other people.
• The characters are obviously one of the most
important aspects of a music video, as it is them
whose story we need to connect with. Usually if there
is a large cast, the characters are used to represent
that the message can be applied to all people of all
cultures and genders, preaching equality in the
particular situation.
• The costume which the artist wears is also very important as this
represents them and can be very iconic and influential so others adopt the
same style, celebrities and bands are, therefore, trend-setters.
• Some music videos also contain
celebrity cameos which can
attract their fans, encouraging
them to watch the music video
and then like and listen to the
artist.

7. Editing:
• Typically, music videos consist of lots of fast cutting between shots, they
don’t even always lead into each other, and they can be completely random.
Usually the cuts cross between two different scenes. This can be between a
narrative and the singer sat on their own lip-syncing. Alternatively the cross
could be through flashbacks.
• Some songs feature in films or are originally made for film. So, when it
comes to making a separate music video to the song, the video cuts between
the singer and scenes from the actual film.
• Editing allows music videos to have all the fancy effects and transitions which
are often seen in upbeat pop songs. It can also provide an opportunity to
change the colours, lighting and add a zoom effect. Old-style videos may
benefit from an edited black and white colour scheme.

8. • Editing-technology can also achieve the slow-motion effect, which is a
very common convention in music videos. These tend to be used on
shots of someone moving, or on shots of objects to emphasise their
importance.
• The editing stages also provide an opportunity to superimpose footage onto
each other or, in some cases, words on top of the visuals. Videos which do
this, tend to either use the words to describe the thoughts of a character
which isn’t already voiced, alternatively the words describe feelings or things
which are important to understand the meaning of a video. Sometimes the
words are particularly important lyrics which links back to the song, these
could, again, be emphasised to clarify meaning, whilst additionally promoting
the song.

9. Sound:
• The conventions of sound for a music video are pretty obvious, in that it is
the song which plays as music, background to the visuals. There are only a
few variations when considering sound.
• Some music videos make the music completely non-diegetic and have the
video match to it, whereas other videos imply that the music is diegetic. A
good example of this is when a character presses the “on” button on a radio,
as if the music is playing from it and that is where the song comes from.
• One other feature to consider in music videos is whether to have any
dialogue or diegetic narrative included. This can be featured at the
beginning, end or even in the middle.
Paloma Faith’s “Picking
up the pieces”, contains
diegetic sound in the
middle of the piece
(2.37), which is rare.

10. Conventions of music
videos:
So…as previously shown there are many conventions to music
videos, some requiring a decision between multiple options.
These conventions seem to differ slightly between genres
though. And yet, though those in the same genre share
similarities, there are still variations between music videos within
them.