Conventions of a music video

There are usually many aspects when considering how a music video is made, these aspects include Lighting, Editing, Camera angles and shots, Mise en scene (props e.g green screens or random objects, costumes) and Location. Most music videos are based around personal emotions and feelings including the portrayal of beautiful women as sexual objects for example music director Phillip Andelman specialises in using certain angles, shots and cuts to represent female artists in a sexual nature like in 'come back' by Kelly Rowland which can be seen below.

Normally music videos would have a lot of close ups, medium close ups and long shots, these shots are used to establish the artist, to show the audience the location of the clip and to show the emotions of the actors/actresses and the artist/s in the video, close ups of lip syncing will always create a sense of realism within the video. Tilts, pans, dollying and aerial shots are used quite frequently in music videos too especially if its a narrative based video and a story is being told, panning would be used in a fast moving/ fast beat song.

Props and clothing are also an essential part of the conventions of a music video, these props and clothing could include anything from desks to sunglasses to set the scene of the video whether that be in  an office or a beach scenario, a good example of props and clothing within a music video is 'feel good' by Modestep, since the song has a great beat to it and is very dance like yet the video is composed in an office before the contrast cuts to the streets and the storyline is rather unusual too as the office workers unleash into party animals within the office itself. This video can be shown above.

Editing is another important part of the conventions of a music video along with sound and lighting. Most videos use an overlapping effect at the start of videos which enables two images to allow the audience to see two images at the same time. Producers tend to edit the lip syncing within a song so that its completely accurate and in time with the song itself, but obviously if the tempo of the song is really fast then the pace of editing will correspond with that. Transitions like jump cuts are usually used as well to enable a swift change from scenes so that the video doesn't drag on. Sound and lighting is a hugely important aspect of a music video too as some music videos begin with speaking but most do not, lighting helps to set the scene and mood of a song for example dark and dull lighting create a rather unhappy atmosphere whereas a more vibrant form of lighting creates a happy atmosphere which is also related to clothing. A great example of editing and overlapping techniques is in the video above, which is called 'all about tonight' by Pixie Lott which is directed by Marc Klasfeld.