Codes and conventions of a music video

Camera

- Close up shots of the lead singer and their instruments such as guitar.

- Short cuts in time to the beat of the song.

- Long tracking shots of the full band.


Sound

-Fade outs/ins.

-Can use distorted effects to blur in or out some lyrics.

-Auto-tuning modern day pop songs and even
other genres now use auto-tuning.

Mise en scene

- The narrative depends on the genre.

- If pop its normally based on love, sex or break-ups.

- If rock/alternative there is usually more band shots rather than a story to the video.

- Product Placement in music videos (for example putting Redbull in a music video with a lot of dancing)



Editing

-Quick cuts and cross cutting for up-beat fast paced, mainly pop songs.

-Slow mo shots for example rock or alternative.

-Fade out's are used in slow songs.

-Sometimes certain lyrics appear on the videos.

-Cuts in time to the beat.