Conventions of music videos

Movement

Movement of the cameras and the movement of the actors in a music video is crucial to the genre and tempo of the song as well as the atmosphere it creates.

Songs with high tempos will often feature lots of cuts and fast movement in general. The speed of the cuts and character's movements will change to correspond with the music, as these song often have periods between choruses where the music calms down a bit and builds up towards the next chorus. This is important as keeping the video linked to the music means that they will be easy to remember and focus on, as if they had completely different timings it would not feel natural at all.

Slower or more relaxed songs will not be as fast paced as others. They will feature slow motion scenes and maybe a few long shots. They could still cut along with the beats but because the BPM would be lower, the cuts would not be as frequent. Fast paced songs might use slow motion scenes to convey a calm or chilled atmosphere but will not be used in the same sense as for slow songs.

Lighting

The lighting of each shot is an important way to communicate emotions or atmosphere in each video. These are important for setting the tone and defining the genre for each song.

Songs with performance music videos will feature genre specific lighting for each venue. A video set at a rave will include all the flashing strobe lights and beams, as is typical in a rave or party environment. These are just fitting of the environment and therefore included in the video which provides a very fitting theme for the song.

Songs with a darker aesthetic, such as rock or metal songs, will use silhouetted lighting around people to create a sinister look. These videos could use horror inspired lighting styles as that is the same design that these songs are going for.

Star image

Artists will always have a public image that they have to keep up. Normally this is just the band members or lead singer but can sometimes be an icon that they have for themselves. This image and, more specifically, closeups of them will be included throughout the video.

This is used for 2 reasons. First, to attract attention to the video and to entice fans of whoever is on screen. Secondly, this is also promotion for the band as there is now something or someone recognisable linked with the bands music and therefore can be used to promote future albums and songs.

Mise-en-scène

 

At the end of the day, music videos are simply adverts for different products, including the band themselves as they are of course trying to sell the music that is playing. But companies that sponsor the artists will use these videos as an opportunity to advertise their products as well. Shots that focus on the product and have people in the video using the product are never subtle and will, at times, ruin the pacing of the video.

The other objects around a music video will just provide extra insight into the locations and setting of each video and therefore benefit the genre of the music. These could be sexual, as per most hip hop and RnB songs, in which people manipulate the objects to perform a seductive dance.