This document analyzes 9 shots from Beyoncé's music video for "Countdown" and discusses how they relate to various theories about conventions in music videos. Shot 1 establishes Beyoncé as the "star" through a close-up. Shots 2 and 8 illustrate the song lyrics through counting and choreographed dancing. Shots 3, 4, 5, 6, and 9 employ techniques like editing, color, movement, and shot composition to engage the audience as described in music video theories.

1. 9 Frame Analysis
Beyoncé - Countdown

2. Shot 1 - 0.03
The first shot used in this music video
is a close up of the Main Star of the
video, Beyoncé. This is a convention
used of a pop song which matches
Goodwin’s theory about ‘Star Image’.
Using a close up as the first shot
shown also shows the audience the
famous person who is in the video.
Shot 2 – 0.35
The second shot I picked out of this
music video is when Beyoncé is
counting down. The technique used
is a post production edit using
medium close ups of the artist. This
shot supports Andrew Goodwin’s
theory as it shows the number 4
which illustrates the lyrics to the
song. It also links in with the title of
the song as it is called ‘Countdown’.

3. Shot 3 - 0.37
This medium shot shows how pop
music videos always use a lot of
colour and in this screen shot
there are many different bright
colours used. This makes the
audience more interested in what’s
happening and makes them want
to watch the rest of the video.
Shot 4 – 0.40
During shot 4 diegesis is used as
Beyoncé's shoulders move up and
down in time with the music and also
the colour of her clothes and
background changes from, for
example yellow to orange. This
supports Carol Vernallis’ theory about
‘The world of the music video’
showing a character moving in time
with the music.

4. Shot 5 - 0.47
Shot 5 shows some editing
skills used in this music video
as Beyoncé is shown as if she
is in two different places also
wearing different clothes
using close up shots. Editing
skills are a common feature
used in music videos as it goes
with the upbeat music.
Shot 6 – 1.06
This is a long shot to show
what is happening in the video
other than Beyoncé just being
in it and this kind of shot
makes it more interesting
because more people are used
for example there are people
playing instruments in this
shot.

5. Shot 7 – 1.39
This medium shot shows how
dancing is a typical convention
used in pop music videos and
there is a lot used in Countdown
by Beyoncé. The dance routines
used are always choreographed
by a professional because it
wouldn’t look very good if it was
just made up by the artist.
Shot 8 - 1.58
This shot also shows a
choreographed dance routine.
However it matches the lyrics to the
song and focuses on the main star
with the use of editing skills to show
there is more than one of her. This is
again called illustration as there are
10 Beyoncé's shown and she is
counting down from 10 in her lyrics.

6. Shot 9 - 2.14
The last shot I chose shows
that editing techniques have
been used because as the
screen scrolls up Beyoncé is
shown using close up shots
wearing different clothes and
in front of different
backgrounds. These editing
skills have been used to
make the music video more
interesting because the
audience would expect to
see more than just one
person shown in the same
shot.