Music Videos

Music videos often contain a number of different elements:

• Performance
• Narrative
• A Theme - lost love? betrayal? Choosing a metaphor for the lyrics
• Is Symbolic
• Promote a lifestyle

Music videos;

• Are a visual equivalent to music,
• Encourages recreated consumption,
• Encourages identification or desire for the artist,
• Provides an open, polysemic experience for the viewer (more than one interpretation),
• Are visually stylish - have an artistic mise-en-scene,
• Contain a 'rhythmic' montage, fragmented style,
• Intercut - from performance to narrative (is conspicuous; something you notice),
• Have an experimental use of cinematography/editing,
• Are fast pace,
• Use conspicuous lighting and cinematography,
• Often break the rules of continuity editing.