Conventions of a modern day Music Video

Camera shots – Music videos tend to include many long shots, close ups and mid shots, this is a create emphasis on the artist, location and emotions. Also, close ups are used not only to show emotions but to reflect the words of the song with the movement of the lips of the artist.

Camera movement – Movement of the camera is used to follow and trace the artist or band. Camera movements include tilts, pans, tracking and crane shots.

Mise – en – scene - This refers to the arrangement of performers and props on stage or in a scene for a production of a music video or any other media text. Mise – en – scene puts importance on the representation of something. A very good example of this would be ‘Mad’ by Neyo. The mise – en – scene involves him walking down a road alone, being in an isolated room. This reflects the isolation from his lover. Also, the props include hats and dark clothes which represent the down mood of the song. Similarly, the lighting is kept very dark as it is black and white; this connotes the angry and depressed mood. This is just one example of mise – en – scene used to give an idea of how it works!

Link to 'Mad' by Neyo

Editing – Jump cuts is the predominant editing technique used in music videos. This is because this 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.


Other main conventions consist of;

• Lighting : Some music videos are black and white which help emphasise a particular mood and some videos have artificial lighting which put the artist/s in an enhanced look.
• Sound : Sound is mainly the vocals or the song but in some cases such as Michael Jackson – Thriller, the producers can make the music video into a short film
• Props : These are a vital in aiding to add the scene and create significance on particular objects or people