1. Conventions of a music video
Camera shots: The purpose of different camera shots is to focus in on one or more artist within a
band/individually. A variety of shots can help emphasise the mood in which the video is trying to
represent and the emotions that the artist/s are showing (performed using a close up shot). The
three main shots used in a music video are: Long shot, Close ups, and mid shots. Long shots to
establish the mis-en-scene of the music video; close ups to emphasise emotions and mid shots to
introduce/advertise the main singer or artist.
Mis-en-scene: This is important to focus on when filming a music video as it allows the audience to
work out where the video is set. It can also help reflect different emotions of the song/artist. For
example in Bruno Mars’ ‘The lazy song’ (shown on the right)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLexgOxsZu0 it is filmed in what looks like
a front room of someone’s house, this represents the comical side of the video
and indicates to the audience that there is a lack of seriousness within the
video. Again with the costumes of the background dancers in monkey suits,
reinforces the fact that this music video is meant as a comedy. Whereas in
Black Veil Brides song ‘Fallen angels’ (also shown on the right)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuGzJVKtW6g the mis-en-scene looks
like an apocalyptic world which represents an almost ‘zombie’ like effect to
the singers who are in ripped clothing and dark make-up.
Love/Indie genre: The conventions of a love themed music video is to have a
couple who either break up during the video or get together throughout the
video. This is normally represented through bright colours used for costumes/mis-en-scene and will
normally be a sunny day when the couple are together. In the typical love themed music video the
costumes of the main artists/actors will be fashionable and will usually
represent them as being trendy, which will appeal to our target
audience. For example in Passenger’s ‘Let her go’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBumgq5yVrA he is represented in
fashionable clothing with a bright coloured background, as shown to the
right. Another aspect of our music video which will attract our target
audience is in male character playing in it. Although stereotypically this
will attract the female audience, we hope to inspire our male audience to
want to ‘be like’ our artist. In addition to that, the images within a
love/indie themed video are always crisp and sharply focused. In indie
videos the convention of being authentic comes out quite heavily. This is
shown through the artist either performing live or playing instruments
during the video. We will include this within our video as our artist will be
featured playing a guitar.
Edits: During a music video there is normally lots of various shots used in order to tell the story.
However there are some videos which use long cuts in the video to make it seem more realistic. The
shots normally consist of going from one artist to another (if they are band), switching mis -en-scene
when going from verse to chorus and vice versa, close ups on the main
singer/s and when a different beat is played the video will be edited to
cut from different surroundings. For example during Magic’s song
‘Rude’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIh2xe4jnpk the band are
shown in a variety of locations. Eg. When he is singing the chorus he is
normally presented in what looks like a garage (shown on the right)

2. where he practises his music with his fellow band mates; however when he is
with the girl or asking for her father’s approval of him, he is outside or in her
house. This indicates to the audience that there are two or more emotions
trying to be represented; when he is in the garage he is represented as a typical
boy playing music with his mates, whereas when he is out trying to get the girl,
he is represented as more sophisticated and formal.
Lighting: This can play a big part in creating a realistic music video. Lighting can clearly represent the
emotions that the video is trying to show. For example in a rock video there will be darker lighting or
the occasional bright flash that is sometimes shown when entering the chorus. Similarly in heavy
metal music videos there will be dark lighting to fit in nicely with the mis-en-scene; this genre of
music has a niche target audience therefore it is easier for them to create a music video which will
please their audience. However in contrast to that, indie/pop music will have bright lighting so it is
clear to establish the setting they are in and how the mis-en-scene is representing the characters.
Sound: During a rock/heavy metal music video the music is normally fast paced and extremely loud
when listened to. Also the voices aren’t always clear to hear; which may be a reason for its audience
as some people may just like to listen to the music instead of the singing. The singing in the music is
also fast and always has a resemblance to screaming, for example Slipknots ‘Duality’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fVE8kSM43I. In pop/indie music the sound of the songs are
normally very smooth and ‘easy’ to listen to. The music is also slower than rock and heavy metal but
some beats in a pop song can be fast; the reason for this is for the songs to become catchy. An
example of this would be Carly Rae Jepsen’s ‘Call me maybe’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWNaR-rxAic.