What makes an effective music video

1. WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE
MUSIC VIDEO

2. VISUALLY PLEASING
▸ Something which I think is effective within a music video is
how it looks. This comes down to things such as colours
used, how a particular clip is presented and
choreographed and if there is a continuous aesthetic.
▸ I think this sort of thing is especially important in a music
video because it shows makes an audience want to watch
it more as they will find it impressive or interesting.
▸ It also has a large part in showing the artists and the
albums style and what they are about. This is effective
because it can relate to a certain audience, if they have
that style themselves or like it.

3. EDITING
▸ Something which I always find effective within a music
video is whether the video goes with the music. For
example, whether there are cuts to the beat or whether
there is a change of pace at an exciting or important
moment of the song where the music builds up.
▸ Also, if it is a narrative piece the editing is important so it’s
clear. If there are flash backs it could show them in
different colours or styles if it isn't made obvious with the
mise en scene.

4. MEANING
▸ An important aspect of a music video is whether it has an impact. The music is
a large part at how the person listening feels so when it is joined by a music
video, if the music video doesn’t link or fit, it won’t have the same impact.
▸ The video doesn’t always have to be directly linked to the song lyrics either,
like many concept videos can be very random, however, if it is a sadder, slow
song with deep meaning, for example, if the music video is bright and fast
paced with a lot going on, it's to going to reflect the song in the right way and
might distract the audience from the meaning. If it’s a up beat song however,
it would be effective to have a more random, concept video with a lot going
on.
▸ Something which is effective in any type of art is whether it’s original. If it isn’t
it won’t be as exciting for an audience because they would have seen things
like it before, this can be through style or through the concept and narrative. I
think conventions in a genre can be useful but it is more effective when there
is something done differently which makes it stand out from the others.

5. As difficult to answer as ‘what makes a great song’ – it really
depends on several factors. For me, it’s often a singular
stylistic tone that transcends whatever is fashionable, and
suggests a brand new aesthetic. Or it could be as simple as a
superbly choreographed and edited performance – if the
artist/band is mesmerising enough to hold that without the
need for bells and whistle. Or just a brilliant, witty concept.
And a good track certainly helps.
Sasha Nixon – head of
music videos and executive
producer at Partizan

6. A MUSIC VIDEO WHICH I FIND EFFECTIVE
IS A CHANGE OF HEART BY THE 1975

7. WHY IT’S EFFECTIVE
▸ One of the reasons that I think this is an
effective music video is that it is all filmed in
black and white. I like this because I feel it
suits the song as the song is calming and
has no unexpected surprises in it, so the
black and white all the way through suits
this well. Also, the font used to say the
band and name of the song went well with
the whole aesthetic.
▸ I also think that the scene chosen to film it
in is effective and works with the black and
white well, this is because a fair is a busy
place and has lots going on and if it
showed the colours I feel it would be too
much for the song, as it’s quite simple. So
this makes the video have more going on
and adds to the quite simple
choreography.

8. ▸ Another things which I think is effective in
this video is the characters and the
choreography. The characters are mimes, and
I feel this adds a bit of mystery to them as I
feel it makes the audience less likely to make
assumptions for the character and the story,
as to where it’s going. But I feel through the
characters actions you start to get an idea
about them and what they're like which I like.
▸ Something which is constant throughout the
music video is the cuts to them dancing. The
choreography in this video is effective
because it is expressive and simple, and I feel
this represents the song best. It not only
shows there relationship but it goes with the
music well, for example, at 1:32 there is a bit
where there is a long bendy note and they
bend around each other and I feel this really
effective as emphasises this bit of the music.