Conventions of pop music video's

Conventions of pop music videos:

Camera Shots - Long shots, close up's and extreme close up's are constantly used. Close up's are usually used in music videos as it puts emphasis on the artist or bands face for promotional reasons and their lips to show lip synching

Camera movements - Pan's, dolly tracking shots, crane shots and tilts are used to follow the movements of the singer/band or dancers

Editing - Jump cuts are the most commonly used as its purpose is to jump from a scene of the location to the artist to the instruments and vice versa. Reaction shots are used with music videos with narrative as it expresses the relationship between two or more people. The pace of the editing is always in synch with the beat of the track

Mise-en-scene - This is associated to the inter-textual link of the music video, therefore it depends on the representation.

Lighting - Extreme artificial lighting is the most common type of lighting used in pop music videos, as it helps to enhance the look of the artist or the band through making them seem ageless and this is commonly used in pop music videos. Lighting also enhances the atmosphere as it can be used to give a bright and upbeat feel particularly in dance music videos or a dark and eerie feel which is used in rock music videos.

Props - these are essential in music videos as they can highlight the importance of the artist or band, or they might not be used at all which could help show the importance of not having any props as this allows the audience to focus more on the singer.

Costume - These reflect the genre of the music and the style of the artist, therefore costumes are essential because they complement the artist.

Colour - Colour represents the mood of the song for example; bright colours are used in feel good pop songs.

Sound - Usually the sound is the music and vocals; however some music videos are similar to short films with acting, therefore in these clips there are various sounds which can be heard such as diagetic and non diagetic sounds.