Conventions of music videos - pop

Conventions of pop music videos: Pop songs are usually about the joys and problem with love and relationships. They usually have a catchy melody and a chorus that is repeated multiple times.

Camera: After watching multiple pop music videos I found that the majority use many similar camera shots. For example close ups of the artists face are used to emphasise the passion behind the lyrics. This can be seen in Harry Styles' music video 'Falling.' This video also features many panning shots that are in the majority of pop music videos. For band pop music videos there are more wide shots to show the whole band with close ups of each member. Some pop music videos are more dance and movement and therefore also include many wide shots and long shots.

Mise en Scene: Mise en Scene in pop music videos varies with more up beat songs use bright colours and higher saturation whereas slower, darker songs use less saturated and dull colours. An example of an artist using both of these is Harry Styles. In the picture above there are more dull colours for his slower and sadder song. Whereas for his song 'Watermelon Sugar' There are more vibrant colours with more saturation. This can be seen in the picture below.

Editing: Editing is a huge part of any music video not just pop. Editing transforms the music into a final product. Usually the editing will match the music or the beat. Editing also allows lip syncing in music videos to look real by matching it to the music at the right tempo, making parts of the music video like a performance. For narrative music videos the voice over will be edited over the top of the video. Editing can also boost the quality of the music video by making the video have a higher saturation and making the artist look cleaner and making the video more crisp. This allows for a more professional look and is why editing is so important in music videos.

Sound: Although the obvious sounds that will be in a pop music video is the music itself, other sound can still be added such as: bits of dialogue to introduce a story if it is a narrative video. There is also sometimes breaks in the music mid way through music videos to have a small clip as part of the narrative including sound and dialogue which wouldn't be in the actual song.