1. Music videos typically demonstrate characteristics of their musical genres through elements like bands performing on stage for rock videos and lead artists dancing with backup dancers for pop videos. 2. There are often references to looking, such as eye contact with the camera, and voyeuristic portrayals of the female body through revealing clothing and sexually suggestive dancing. 3. The visuals in music videos are usually closely connected to the music through elements like band performances matching the instrumentation and visual cues reflecting the tempo, rhythm, and lyrics of songs.

1. references to the notion of looking and the voyeuristic treatment of the
4. The record label which the artist is assigned to tends to have certain demands. include lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist will have a visual style which their work
There is succinct relationship between the music and the visuals
5. There are often intertextual references to films, T.V programmes, other music videos Audiences enjoy knowing the ‘in joke’.
Music videos more often than not tend to include a demonstration of typical genre
characteristics.

2. 1. Music videos more often than not tend to include a demonstration of typical genre
characteristics.
Typical genre characteristics are what we
see in nearly every video of a genre. They
are redundant conventions of the videos.
For example – in a rock/metal video, you
can usually see the band performing their
song in the video, usually on a stage with
close-ups of each band member and their
instruments.
Another example is in pop videos they
usually show the artist doing a dance
routine with backup dancers around
them.

3. 2. There are frequent references to the notion of looking and the voyeuristic treatment of the
female body
References of looking refers to eye contact
between the artist and the camera (the viewer)
which is common in videos trying to convey a
message, as they are telling the viewer
personally. It can also be referenced through the
use of ‘looking’ props such as televisions,
cameras, mirrors etc.
Voyeurism is commonly found in rap/hip
hop videos and videos that have females
as the lead actor. Voyeuristic treatment is
the sexualisation of the female body,
given by the clothing they wear and the
actions they perform (Such as their
‘dance’ moves).

4. 3. There is succinct relationship between the music and the visuals
The most common example of this is the performance aspect
in most rock videos, as their instrument playing matches the
instruments in the music. It can also be found in equalisers
from electronic videos.
In the video for ‘Could this be’ by
Noisia (right), the speed of the jet
reflects the tempo of the music. It’s
slow during the intro and speeds up
when it “drops”. These tempo changes
are commonly found in electronic
genre videos like Drum&Bass.
Lyrics also tend to match the video a lot
of the time. A classic example is House
of Pain’s “Jump Around”, which often
features the actors in the video
jumping up and down with the beat of
the tune.

5. 4. The record label which the artist is assigned to tends to have certain demands. They often
include lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist will have a visual style which recurs across
their work
A good example of a
recurring visual style is
Lady Gaga, who wears
unique and over the top
costumes in all of her
music videos. This style
ensures her videos get a
lot of attention and are
memorable, helping her
success as an artist.
Close-ups are also
important in
remembering the star’s
image. You feel like you
are much close to them
and their face is much
more identifiable as it is in
more detail. It’s used in
conjunction with
voyeurism to bring out
the ‘beauty’ aspect of
female stars.

6. 5. There are often intertextual references to films, T.V programmes, other music videos etc.
Audiences enjoy knowing the ‘in joke’.
Intertextual references are when the music video makes a reference to another form
of media in its video.
The video to Red Hot Chilli
Pepper’s ‘Californication’ is one
big intertextual reference to
video games, as the entire
video consists of a video game
starring the band.
The Beastie boys spoof 70’s –
80’s cop shows with the video
for their song ‘Sabotage’. Paying
homage to something that
would have been a part of
everyone’s lives from that era is
a good way to gain interest.