Music Video Styles and Conventions

Some examples of music videos that show the following techniques.

Special effects such as chroma key (green screen)
The Blackout - Radio
they use green screen to film the music video because they are trying to show that they have gone on holiday but without going on holiday. they did this effectively by showing them paragliding, on a boat, playing guitar on the beach and by performing as a band on the green screen beach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2PzANQd1cg

Multi-mage(multiple images on screen at once)


Cutting to a beat
The Blackout - Never By Your Side
They have used Cutting to a beat in this music video to make the video link in with the fast beat of the song. this is effective because it allows you to see that the song has a fast beat. it is also effective because it shows that they have linked the video in with the song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR5ICFGFTis

An artist miming an lip-syncing to a playback track


Animation


In-concert footage

Asking Alexandria - Not The American Average
this video shows in-concert footage to promote their new song. this is effective because it shows that they can perform this song live and it shows what they do on stage. you can see that it is an in-concert footage because there is the band on stage and they are performing to the crowd. 


An "as-live" performer where the group or artist is shown performing(miming/playing instruments) in an empty space


An allusion or reference to another musical artist


Lyric interpretation 

The artist has their own interpretations of the lyrics they write. however, the audience listening to the song may interpret the lyrics differently and have their own way of understanding the lyrics. this could also bring the person listening to the song closer to the artist. 

Extending or consolidating song's meaning

this is showing a songs meaning throughout the artists music video. this effects the audience because they can see the artists song meaning through the video and gain an understanding of what the artist is trying to represent. 

focus of performer

this is showing the artist in the music without anything else to take the attention away from them. this effects the audience because it helps them understand what the artist is attempting to put across. 

lighting for mood

the lighting in the artists video will represent the mood of the song within the video. this effects the audience as it helps putting across the mood of the song that the audience is listening to. 

pace of cuts

the artists video will contain different paces of cuts to show the audience the type of song they are representing. this effects the audience as they can get an understanding of the artist. 

narrative(tells a story)

this is when the music video will tell the story throughout the video. for example, the whole 'save rock and roll' album tells a story which is split up between all the music videos. 

impressionist (more about mood and atmosphere than meaning)

this is when a music video has no purpose or meaning and its more about the artist themselves and the music they are producing. an example would be The blackout's music video for Higher and Higher. 

interpretative (directly interprets lyrics of son in a visual way)

this is when the lyrics of the song are shown throughout the video in a visual way. an example would be The Blackout's video for their song Start The Party because the lyrics talk about starting a party and in the video they are on a party boat.

surrealist (weird imagery, seems unconnected with the song, often used in videos for instrumental songs and dance tracks) 

this is associated with strange videos that are not trying to get a message across, an example would be My Chemical Romance's video for I don't love you. they have them playing their instruments and then they have a couple and one of them is painted. the whole video is also in black and white and it doesn't connect with the song. 

Pastiche/homage (an affectionate or positive copy of or tribute to another artists work, a media genre or roduct like a tv programme, film etc.) this is when a media idea is incorproated within a music video. an example would be Mcfly's video for I've Got You because it has clips from the film just my luck.

parody (a mocking or critical copy of another artists work, or another media genre) this is when an artist makes a joke of another celebrities work, an example would be Bart Bakers parody for Miley Cyrus' video We Can't Stop.