Conventions - Technical aspect of the music video

There are many different factors that come in to making a music video successful.

- Camera Shots
- Mise-en-scene
- Lighting and colour
- Setting and characterisation
- Editing
- Beats
- Speed
- Sound



Camera Shots

There are lots of different types of camera shots that can be used in music videos. It normally depends on the type of artist.

For Example, if you are in a band the camera shots will be different to if you are solo singer.

Shots from One Direction - One Thing 

At the start of this music video we are shown all 5 members of the music video.

 We are shown the first member of One Direction - Liam.

We are then shown the next member of the band - Harry. 

We are then shown the third member - Zayn. 

Then they focus on the next member - Louis. 

Finally they focus on the last member, - Niall.

And then at the end we are shown all five members again.

Mise en scene: The mise en scene of the music video is vital in any music video. It needs to maintain authenticity to look professional and therefore attractive to consumers.  Another aspect of mise en scene; Lighting and colour can also enhance the video, as well as setting and characterisation

Lighting and Colour: As part of mise- en- scene, lighting and colour play a huge role in determining the genre of the video. For example, a pop music video is more likely to use bright bold colours to engage their younger audience, e.g. Katy Perry’s Californian Girls video uses bright pinks and baby blues to encourage its audience to watch. On the other hand, more ‘depressing’ style music such as Pink ‘Just like a pill’ use darker colour and lighting to keep the dull atmosphere about the song to match the lyrics. Another aspect to lighting and colour is to set the tone of a particular part of the song.

Setting and Characterisation: The setting of a music video can set the tone and atmosphere as well as lighting and colour. Most of the time the setting will conform to the narrative of the lyrics, however sometimes in disjointed music videos this is entirely ignored. For example if the music video is set outside in a wheat field with natural blues and browns, it can portray passion; as shown in Eminem ‘Love the Way You Lie’. Where as if the setting is a house party with bright colours it will set the tone as happy and fun, as features in Katy Perry’s ‘Last Friday Night’ video. Characterisation will often display the artist themselves due to the fact they will want to create a star image for promotional reasons, however the concept of the characterisation could change. For example in Katy Perry’s ‘ET’ music video, Katy perry is dressed as an extra terrestrial with very artistic costume and makeup to complete the look to a very high standard to engage the audience and provide entertainment. 

Editing : Including other post production effects such as green screen are yet another vital concept. Generally the attempt to use post production affects is to establish a strong visual style, for example ‘sexy’ artists, due to the fact that music videos represent the growing trend value ‘Style over substance’, and how image is more important than culture. Editing can turn even the most rubbish of footage into spectacular ones, using software such as Final Cut, and techniques such as the colour grading tools to enhance quality. Speed of beats and cutting is also part of editing, and often match the visual image perfectly to achieve a high standard, and these aspects will often reflect that of the rhythm of the song. 

Beats: The speed and timing of the cutting is often in time to the beat to enhance verisimilitude and add to the overall high quality look of the piece. Beats are very much involved with the camera work and editing, as well as the rhythm of the song itself. For example if there is a slow beat song, then the camera work and cutting would mimic the beats in most cases, to create verisimilitude. 

Speed:  Speed is one of the most important aspects to consider when creating a music video. The speed of the camera cutting will reflect that of the song, for example if the song is very fast, the cutting is most likely going to be very fast to keep with the general convention of the song and keep the audience entertained with its fast pace. The speed of the song can also be visualised through the camera work and movement to produce a more immersive effect.