Forms and Conventions of a music video

• Relationship between lyrics and the visual either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics
• There is a relationship between music and visuals. This can be the editing for example if the song is fast it needs to have fast cuts mimicking the movements though the genre or camera movement
• Music videos styles have there own style and iconography.
• There is a demand of the part of the record company that is producing the video they will want close up shots of the artist.
• Each singer/band will develop their own iconography
• Within a video there will be inter references of different screens

Lyrics

• The lyrics should establish a general mood or feeling or a sense of subject matter rather then offer a coherent meaning
• The words may go with the beat but thee lyrics may not
• Use the tempo of the track to drive the editing
• Emphasis the sound from the track by foregrounding instruments for example something can happen on a beat

Genre

• The genre need to have distinct features of the genre for example mise en scene, themes, performance, camera work and editing

Camera

• How the camera is used and how the images are sequenced have a significant impact.
• Camera movements can be portrayed though the movement of the performance to create a dynamic affect
• Close ups predominates a sense of intimacy and shows the star

Editing

• The most common for music videos is fast cut montage. Images on the first watch are impossible to show first time therefore you can put this in again.
• The editing establishes the mood it is sometimes enhanced with a digital effect
• In terms of the narrative, the editing is rarely complete fragmentary the editing offers complex fragments in a non-linear order
• The editing is often cut between a performance/live and a narrative. Sometimes the artist may be involved in the performance acting as the narrator and participant, allowing a more varied access.