1. Conventions of a Music
Video

2. Mid Shots
It’s fair to say that most music
videos have some kind of
mid/head shot. These shots are
almost always to show the
artist/s or an actor playing the
artist lip-syncing. To the right is
an example of Demi Lovato’s
Heart Attack. This shot type was
used for most of the video and is
very common with pop music
artists.

3. Close Ups/ECUs
Most artists will use at least one CU
or ECU of their face whilst they’re
singing. The lip-syncing needs to be
good here otherwise the audience
will spot it easily. It’s often used
rather unfortunately as a, look at
how good I look, kind of shot. Which
is alright for some. Rihanna can be
seen on the right I her video
California King Bed, she is incredibly
guilty of using a lot of these shots.

4. Visibility of Instruments
It’s very common, as it always
has been, to show instruments
in the video. Not just randomly,
but the artist or someone from
the band to be seen playing. It
gives off a message that the
band don’t just sing and it is in
fact them that’s playing. E.g.
Beneath Your Beautiful –
Emile Sande and Labrinth.

5. The Basic Video
There are a lot of successful
videos out there that were
incredibly basic. To the right is
Christina Aguilera’s video for The
Voice Within and this is one of
those videos, as is Jessie Ware’s
Wildest Moments. They often
show very little, are in black and
white or just show the artist
sitting or singing and nothing
else. No flash, substance over
style.

6. The Video That Makes No
Sense
Many videos post 2000 have caused
controversy and Miley Cyrus is a key
example here, not only with We Can’t
Stop, but here with Wrecking Ball.
The video, as widely watched, caused
her to trend worldwide and gained a
lot of talk (most likely the point). Such
videos can accumulate insane
amounts of views and more money
for the artist, i.e. Robin Thicke and
Blurred Lines.

7. The B&W Video
Increasingly popular, a
somewhat stylized video with an
often retro theme. Beyoncé has
used this effect numerous times
(to the right is Dance For You)
and in all honesty, the effect is
not big or powerful enough to
get talked about. It would make
no difference to the audience,
generally, if it was in colour. But
again, it is style.

8. The Dance Video
Fairly self-explanatory, these are
videos purely consisting of a
dance routine. A very famous
example is shown here on the
right, Beyoncé's Single Ladies.
This video also fits into the
simple video and the black and
white video, this video, however,
is one of the most award
winning (near 10) of the decade.
It was also pretty cheap to
make.

9. The Modern Video
This kind of video is particularly
popular among female artists in
the genre of pop such as Karmin
on the right (her Acapella video).
It’s hard to describe but they
always involve some kind of
dance routine, various outfits
and often a basic room or wall
(top) in which they dance and
lip-sync.

10. Artists Playing Dress Up
(AKA Costumes)
It’s clear from the header of these slides
that singers and DJs seem to love dressing
up and making the music video much more
than just them lip-syncing. So they create a
story; on the right is Katy Perry’s Part Of
Me, Coldplay’s Paradise, Sam and the
Womp’s Bom Bom and Macklemore’s Thrift
Shop. Katy Perry is playing (as it were) a
marine, Coldplay pretended to be
elephants, Macklemore dressed in onesie’s,
fur hats, coats and all sorts and so did Sam
and the Womp. Some make more sense
than others

11. Stories and Plots
Macklemore’s Same Love is
overwhelmingly popular and its
actually mainly because of the
video. It’s a very popular video
because it tells of a life time of
struggle and a happy ending
for a gay couple. Good stories
can really win the audience
over.

12. Don’t forget: The Charity
Single Video
Clockwise from left: All About You –
Mcfly, Do They Know It’s Christmas –
Bandaid, I Got soul – Young Soul
Rebels and Wherever You Are –
Military Wives Choir. Obviously the
videos vary but thye pretty much all put
the charity logo in almost every shot or
give the singers logoed
t-shirts. Many of them have funny
moments (Comic Relief) but a lot have
sad moments that often make them
seem more like an RSPCA advert.
There is always lip-syncing in these
videos and it is always made to look as
though they are recording or live.