The document discusses various conventions and techniques used in music videos, including performance-based videos featuring the artist singing on stage, narrative videos that tell a story, and videos with a mixture of both. It covers camera shots, angles, and movements used to convey meaning and emotion. Elements of editing, sound, and mise-en-scene like lighting, props, costumes, and location are discussed in shaping the overall style and message of the music video. Examples are provided for each convention and technique.

1. Conventions
Of A Music
Video

2. Performance
• A performance video will consist mainly of the
artist on either a stage or some sort of set
where they are singing the song.
• This style of video is not as common as narrative
based videos as it could be deemed that it is
harder for the artists’ audience to relate to and
understand the video.
• A good example of a performance based music
video is ‘Can We Dance’ by The Vamps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqSww10eeKw

3. Narrative
• A Narrative music video follows a story line,
there are two types of narrative: Linear and
Fragmented
• A linear narrative starts a story at the beginning,
goes on through the middle, and ends at the
end.
• A fragmented narrative is one that doesn’t.
• An example of a linear narrative is ‘Katy Perry –
’Thinking of you’ as it plays a story from the
beginning to the end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdGZBRAwW74

4. Cameo
• Cameo is where a band or
artist features in the
narrative but does not
perform.
• A good example of this is
‘Drake and Rihanna’ –
‘What’s my name’ where
both artists in this case play
a part in the narrative but
do not perform.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0CGsw6h60k

5. Mixture
• Some music videos have a
mixture of performance and
narrative as it makes it more
interesting and enjoyable to
watch.
• An example of this is All
American Rejects – Give You
Hell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxUATkpMQ8A

6. Camera
The way the camera is used is crucial in producing a
music video. It can have and create different effects
by the different angles and movements. In general
every music video uses a variety of camera shots,
angles and movements to create different
techniques and to make the video different and
unique in its own way, to other music videos.

7. Camera Shots
Very Wide Shot- This is where the
artists is shown visible (barely) but
the emphasis is still on placing the
artist in the location/setting.
Wide Shot- This is where the artist is
shown taking up most of the shot but
the location/setting is still focused on.
Mid Shot- This shows the artist from his/her
waist to head, and focuses mainly on the
subject but still giving an impression of the
location/setting.
Extreme Close Up Shot- This shows the artists
face extremely close, e.g. eyes, or mouth to
identify something it can have the effect of
showing the audience the artists thoughts and
feelings or even showing a lip sync commonly
used in music videos.
Cut In Shot- This shot can
be used in music videos to
show something that the
lyrics might be saying e.g.
‘I will shoot you with my
gun’ and a fun comes in. It
shows the object in detail,
similar to an extreme close
up, but used very quickly ,
or an object that relates to
the subject or narrative.
Close Up Shot- This shot shows the
artists face or can show an object that
the artist is holding, or something
where the camera focuses closely on.
Over The Shoulder Shot- This shot is good to use especially in
narrative based music videos usually when the artist is acting and
speaking to another person you tend to see an over the shoulder
shot to display the conversation, or to show something the
character is looking at.
These shots are the basic
shots you expect to see in
most music videos.

8. Camera Angles
Eye Level- This is a very common view being
the real world angle that we are all used to
seeing, it shows the subject as we would
expect to see them in real life.
High Angle- This is where the camera shows the subject
from above , and the camera is angled down towards the
subject, which has the effect of making them appear less
powerful, less significant and or even submissive.
Low Angle- This is where the subject is shown
from below, giving the impression of being
more powerful or dominant.
Bird’s Eye- This angle is showing the subject/scene
from directly above and can be from an unnatural
point of view which can be used to add dramatic effect
or showing a different spatial perspective. It can also
show the positions and motions of different characters
and objects, enabling the viewer to see things the
character might not see.
Slanted- This is when the camera is slanted
(also known as the Dutch angle where the
camera is purposely tilted to one side so the
horizon is on an angle) this is creative in
making interesting dramatic effects.
The way the camera is positioned
determines the angle of the shot.
Camera angles play a huge part in
emphasising the artist or to show
emotions and expressions. Other
camera angles that are simply the most
common in music videos, are close ups,
showing the artist lip syncing, and
extreme close ups where the lyrics can
be linked to the visuals. The camera
never stays on one shot for longer than
3-5 seconds.

9. Camera Movements
The camera moves to follow the artist or to show
the performance o the artist. These movements
include panning and tracking. A director may
choose to move action along by telling the story as
a series of cuts, going from one shot to another, or
they may decide to move the camera with the
action. Some examples of camera movements are:
Pans- This is where the camera scans a scene
horizontally. The camera is placed on a tripod,
which operates as a stationary axis point as the
camera is turned, often to follow a moving object
which is kept in the middle of the frame.
Dolly/Tracking- This is where the camera is
mounted on a cart which travels along tracks for a
very smooth movement. Also known as tracking.

10. Editing
• Editing concludes the music video. Editing
involves cutting scenes down, adding special
effects and adding the track to the music video.
• Editing also consists of jump cuts, which is the
predominant editing technique used in music
videos. This is because it allows a sudden change
from one scene to another. Similarly, transitions
such as fade, and dissolve are very common in
music videos as they create a different effect to
cuts.
• CGI effects (the process used for generating
animated images by using computer graphics)
are also used a lot.

11. Sound
• Sound consists of two main forms: diegetic
sound which is already present in the film and
non-diegetic which can be edited in.
• Sound, like footage, can be edited to create
different effects and variations.
• Parallel sound is when the music matches the
mood of the video. E.g. if the song was slow then
the movements and action in the video would
also be slow to go with the mood of the song.
• Some music videos have diegetic sound, where
they include sound from the environment, such
as birds, police sirens, which make the video
seem more realistic. However, the music itself is
non-diegetic sound.

12. Mise-en-scene
• The mise-en-scene for music videos focuses on the
lighting, props, costume, hair and makeup, location, and
colour. These elements usually depend on the genre of
the music video and the style.
• These elements are used to represent certain characters in
different ways
• Lighting- how the scene is lit / artificial lights / side lights
• Props- performance equipment, band merchandise
• Costume- certain outfits
• Hair and Makeup- style of the artist
• Location- concert hall venues, streets, etc.
• Colour- specific colours representing a mood

13. • No matter what the style or genre a music video
is, there will always be props and costumes in it.
The stylists and visual director will purposely
choose what clothes the artist or actor would be
wearing or what guitar they would be playing as
they would want it to fit in with the genre of that
song. Sometimes they might choose something
quite simple in order to reflect the character of
the artist of the video or they might decide to do
something completely wacky and quirky for an
artist.