Music Video Conventions

Camera work - Music videos include a lot of close ups and mid shots however there are some long shots. The closer shots give us a better idea of the artist and who they are, while the long shots show us the location the artist is in. Close ups are used to show the artist/characters emotions and their facial expressions, this helps to give further reflection on the words of the song.

Pans and tilts are used to show movement of the artist and help the narrative. It helps to give the video a story.

Music videos consider a lot of different conventions, this can include props, lighting and clothing. The props in the video will help to relate to the genre and should follow the generic conventions of that genre helping the video to seem more real. Lighting is important as it can give a whole different view on the situation. Dark lighting can be used to hide things and make the video or character seem to be more emotional and sad, whereas bright lighting can give a more positive view on the video. The colour and lighting of the scene should reflect the mood.

The video above is a very sad video and throughout we can see that it is shot in very dark colours. This helps to set the mood of the video and everyone knows that it is a sad song without even listening to the song.

The editing in a music video will help to show generic conventions. For example a pop music video or rap will usually have faster editing and more cuts than a classical video would have. this is due to the nature and speed of the song but also the target audience.

Conventions of the indie genre -

-Usually dark colours.
-Tends to be slower editing.
-A lot of close ups
-Some special effects.

We are looking at the indie genre and this will help us because this post shows what you can expect to find within a video from this genre.

Rhys Williams