Conventions of music videos.

1. Artist Feature Artists are feature in all most every music video
no matter what genre, for example Katy Perry
and Rhianna as well as XX. This is because the
sole reason for a music video is to sell the artist
and to sell the song. In many videos the artist
will appear the same as the previous as the
want to sell themselves as a brand that is
recognisable.

2. Close Ups
Close-ups are always featured in music videos, they are used to show the artist, if that be performing or within
the narrative. In all genres close-ups are used as shown in the examples below, with Jessie-J, Kanye West
and Beyonce.

3. Performance
In the images below they’re some examples of performance based video, they all feature lip
sync, however they use the performance convention differently. For example in Iggy Azalea
video for Fancy she is performing using lip sync but within the narrative, similar to Taylor
Swifts - Shack it Off. However other genres use this convention differently such as Nirvana –
Smells Like Teen Spirt. They perform as a band with instruments and has a more live feel
than the others, lip sync is still featured along with instrument sync as well. This is a
convention of the Rock/Indie genre as seen in XX-Crystalised.

4. Narrative
Narrative isn't set in music videos in terms of what to have as a narrative, however it is
becoming more popular to feature a narrative within a music video. Narrative can be very
simple for example The Black Keys - Lonely Boy that feature just one man dancing. On the
other hand it can be a story such as Bob Dylan - Duquesne Whistle which is a full story about
a man wanting a girl. Some narratives can also feature the artist such as Jessie J, Ariana
Grande, Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang which features all the artist within the narrative.

5. Mise-en-scene
Mise-en-scene is important in a music video as it suggests the artist messages and values and
it also defines the videos aesthetics, the mise-en-scene can make a video very interesting
when it is changed multiple times in a short space of time. For example I Won’t Let You
Down by OK Go, this video is one single shot however they change the Mise-en-scene
multiple times with props and small location movements.

6. Sound
Sound is often just the non-diegetic track that plays, with all other sound muted, they are
millions of examples as that is the conventional way of making a music video, however some
music videos follow different conventions such as Tighten Up by The Black Keys and I’m Not
The Only One by Sam Smith. These two videos use sound breaks these are often used for
dialogue so the narrative can progress.