Conventions and Genre Conventions of Music Videos

Music videos are, predominantly, there to advertise the band and the video so a shot of the band throughout the music video is a must. Most music videos also tell a story and, at the very least, relate to the song in some way. In addition, music videos should reflect the lyrics.

The camera shots are of a wide range with the majority being close ups of the band and, if the scene is particularly important, a pan of the entire scene. Music videos tend to have a variety of shots compared to films as there is room to experiment. Close-ups tend to show the emotion of the singer or an actor if the music video is showing a narrative. Longer shots emphasise the scenery and it is not uncommon to see low-angle shots of the band or artist to give them a sense of superiority in the video.  The music video is generally a little longer than the track due to most videos having some sort of introduction which last from a few seconds to a minute in some cases.

The aforementioned band playing in the music video is also accompanied by them playing instruments as well as miming the album version of the song. Taking in to account certain theories, most music videos tend to match the tempo at which the song is played at and the editing also matches this to create a complete synchronisation effect.  

The mise-en-scene also needs to be synchronised in some way with the band wearing similar costumes or costumes that highlight their personas. Also, lighting plays a huge effect as certain genres (hip-hop, for instance) may use a different lighting effect to a song from the rock genre.

The genre we are working on is the indie/rock genre so the lighting will probably be dimmed and we will utilise darker colours. Close-ups of the band are a must for the indie genre as a lot of stock is taken in the band as a whole rather than things going on around it (which the rap genre tends to use). Indie music videos also tend to use a faux-concert setting with a story going over the top of the song. The style of the video normally changes from song to song. ‘Run’ by Snow Patrol has a very dark, sombre scene due to the pace and meaning of the song whereas our song ‘Feeling Good’ may be much more upbeat in its editing and narrative although we will probably distance ourselves from using special effects.