The Different Elements of a Music Video

By Harry Denn

Lyrics

Lyrics are used primarily to establish a general mood or feeling, or sense of subject matter, rather than offering an coherent meaning. Only key lines may play a part in the visuals of the video, but rarely will a music video incorporate an entire songs lyrics into the visuals of the video.

Music

A music video tends to use the tempo of the track to determine the editing speed of the video, and may emphasise particular instruments in the foreground of the track.

Genre

While some music videos cross genres, others can be more easily categorized. Some music channels show a certain music genre, and if you watch the channel over a long period, it will become clear that there are distinguishable differences/characteristics within the genre. These characteristics may be miseen scene, themes, performance, camera and editing styles.

Camerawork

How the camera is used and the way the images are sequenced have a significant impact on the meaning being sent. This means camera movement, shot distance and camera angle all need to be analysed. Camera movement may accompany perfromers but may also give a more dynamic feel to stage performance.

It also emphasises a bit commodity on sale, including the artist and the voice. John Stewart, who works for the music video production company Oil Factory said that he sees music videos as a TV commercial with lots of close ups.

Editing

• The most common form of editing associated with music videos is a fast cut montage, rendering many of the images so they are impossible to see on the first viewing, encouraging multiple viewings of the video. However, some videos use slow pace editing to create a mood. This is mostly used by solo female artists with mass appeal like Adele.

• There is also the use of digital effects which play with the other images in order to make a better viewing for the audience. This could be in the form of split screens, colourisation and CGI.

Intertextuality

• The music video is often described as a ‘Post Modern’ form, a slippery term which is often used to describe intertextuality. Basically, if we see music promos as frequent drawings upon existing texts in order to achieve recognition in the audience, we have a working definitions of intertextuality. Not all audiences will necessarily spot a reference and this need not significantly detract from their pleasure in the text itself, but greater pleasure might be derived by those who recognise the reference and feel flattered by this. Arguably, it also increases the audience’s engagement with, and attentiveness to the product, an important facility in a culture where so many images and narratives compete for our attention.

• Many music videos draw upon cinema as a starting point, since their directors are often film school graduates intending to move on into the film industry itself. TV is often a point of reference aswell, as in the‘Beastie Boys’ spoofcop show title sequence for ‘Sabotage’ or REM’s news-show parody ‘Bad Day’. Visual referencing in video tends to come most frequently from cinema, fashion and art photography.

• John Stewart from the music video production company Oil Factory said of promos ‘The music video incorporates, raids and reconstructs’ which is essentially the definition of intertextuality. In essence, they use something in which the audience are familiar with to generate both nostalgic associations and new meanings. Stewart suspects that the influence of videogames on music videos, particularly for younger audiences, has generated more plasticised looking characters, for example, in Robbie William ’s ‘Let Love Be Your Energy’and the Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s ‘Californication’.

• Narrative and Performance Narrative in songs, as in poetry, is rarely complete and often fragmentary (DavidBowie is renowned for writing words and then jumbling them up sporadically to create his lyrics). The same is true for music promos , which tend to suggest storylines or offer complex fragments in a non-linear (jumbled up) order, leaving the viewer with the desire to see them again. Often, music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song by the band. Additionally, a carefall choreographed dance might be a part of the artist’s performance or an extra aspect of the video designed to aid visualisation and the ‘repeatability’ factor. Sometimes, the artist (especially the singer) will be a part of the story, acting as a narrator and participant at the same time. But it is the lip sync close-up shots and the miming of playing instruments that remains at the centre of music videos. The video allows the audience more varied access to the performer than a live stage performance can. The close-up, allowing the eye contact and close observation of facial gestures, and role play, within a narrative framework, present the artist in a number of ways not possible in a live performance. The mise en scene in particular can be used: