Music videos tend to consist of many long, mid and close up shots, in order to create emphasis on the artist, location or emotion. Close up shots are used to show the emotion clearly to the audience and to reflect the words of the song with the movement of the artists lips, to show a connection between the two. The camera is often used to follow the artist; this is usually done by pans, tilts, tracking and crane shots.
Usually crane shots are used when there is usage of stages in order to catcher every movement on stage of the artist. They can also be used to emphasis the number of fans a band has by tracking over the top of the audience showing a vast number of people. An example of this would be in "Planetary Go" by My Chemical Romance, the video consists of the band performing live on stage where crane shots are used over the audience to show the vast number. Similarly in the video there is a lot of low angle close up shots on the lead singer "Gerard Way" as if he has the most power in the clip.
Low angle, close up shot with a blurred effect.
Mise-En-Scene
All music videos contain mise-en-scene suitable for the genre and song type, such as if it’s a performance style video like the "Planetary Go" one there would be instruments, stage equipments and lighting visible in the shot, to emphasis the fact the band are performing live. In the R&B video "Mad" by Neyo, the mise-en-scene involves him walking down a road alone and being in an isolated room. This is a reflection of the isolation from his lover. Also the dark hats and clothes represent the dark mood of the song. It's shot in black and white, this connotes the depressive mood. Props are vital to create significance on a particular person.
Sound
Some video producers decide to add diegetic sounds at the beginning and ending of music videos, these are scenes without any music to explain what is going on, and to start of finish the narrative. Also sometimes in music videos there are changes in the levels of sounds at certain times in the song, this could be for effect, narrative reasons or just to suit what is happening.
Editing
In music videos the editing process takes the longest, it's also the most crucial part. This is because the lip synching needs to be synchronous with the lyrics in order for the video to look good. Also jump cutting is one of the most popular editing techniques used in music videos. This is because it enables a sudden change from one scene to another. Similarly transitions, such as fades and dissolves are very common as they create a different effect to cuts. Computer generated imagery is also popular editing in music videos as it enables the producer to use effects to show impossible outcomes, such as flying. Finally split screens are fairly common in videos as they allow the creator to show two different stories and outcomes at the same time.
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