Conventions of a Music Video

Clare Maguire - Ain't Nobody

Camera: There are lots of establishing shots and extreme close ups especially on the performers body parts like hands, face, hair and her shoes. There is very little camera movement but they’re mainly noticeable on the extreme close ups.

 

Lighting & Mise En Scene: The lighting use in the video seems to be all natural apart from one or two shots that use glow sticks in the dark. There is also a lot of props used in the video like chairs, ribbons, glow sticks and other things.

 

Editing: The editing is extremely simple in the video but it’s incredibly smooth throughout the entire video.

 

Performance: The performance aspect is included with the video and its happening at the same time as everything else in the video. The video itself has no narrative to go along with the song.

Lana Del Rey - Blue Jeans

Camera: Quite a lot of close ups and very little camera movement again. There is a massive variety of camera angels used especially towards the end of the video.

 

Editing: There are lots of ripples added to enhance the water effect and the whole video is mostly done in slow motion rather than real time. The video was also edited in black and white which makes it difficult to identify what type of lighting it is.

Mise En Scene & Lighting: The video was shot at a house but mainly in a pool. There was also very little props used other than a cigarette and some crocodiles. The lighting I think is mostly natural but it’s hard to tell because of the ripple effect and the black and white effect.

    

Performance: Much like the other two, the performance s mainly included in with the video and isn’t shot in a separate studio. In this video, the performance is mainly happening in the pool.

Sia - Chandelier

Camera: The camera in the video is permanently moving whether it’s with a pan or a zoom. Most of the time there is also a low angle on the dancer apart from a few specific shots. The whole video looks like it was taken in one shot because of the editing.

Mise En Scene & Lighting: The lighting varies throughout the whole video from dark to light, but it seems to be artificial lighting when it is light. There is also no props used  and its set in a flat.

Performance: Unlike the other two videos, there is absolutely no singing performance involved in the video, only the dancer.

Paloma Faith - Can't Rely On You


This video is different to the others as it has an introduction which isn't involved with the song. The into includes video clips which link to the main video and a woman talking, presumably Paloma Faith herself, in a different language with English subtitles being shown on screen.

Camera: There are lots of pans and zoom throughout the entire video. There also seems to be a small amount of handheld camera. When the singer is with other people in the video, the camera mainly focuses on her as she’s singing.

Editing: Throughout the whole video there is a lot of slow motion that has been edited in. The editing itself seems quite simple and it seems to be matched to the pace of the song. It also seems to be edited so it fits with each storyline.

Mise En Scene & Lighting: Because of the amount of storylines, there are different locations/sets so it varies the mise en scene each time. The lighting in each set is different each time, but all the way through it seems to be mostly low lighting. There are some points where it does get massively lighter, so it’s led me to believe that it’s all artificial lighting.

Performance: The performance is merged into each specific storyline so it happens fluently throughout the whole video. However, there are two specific sets which are just for the singing rather than adding to any storyline.

Marina & The Diamonds - Hollywood

Camera: Close up on facial features, as well as lots of pans and zooms with a variety of camera shots and angels. Throughout the entire video, the camera never seems to be completely steady; it almost feels like its hand held camera.

Editing: The editing, again like the other songs/videos, matches the pace of the song; there are also lots of cutaways to different parts. There is also some slow motion added in at various points.

Mise En Scene & Lighting: The lighting is artificial all the way through even though it does vary in lighting. It seems like one setting but because of what the song is about, lots of props are involved. The video seems to follow the stereotype as well.

Performance: Like the others, performance is merged into the video and there isn’t a set place where all the singing happens.

I have learned doing this task what genre I would like to do my music video in, which is Alternative Pop, and the main conventions of the genre. I've also noticed what main things are noticable in each music video and how they carry across all five videos, like not really having a seperate studio for singing and it being merged in all together.