Music Video Analysis - Overview

Next up, I will look at music videos that already exist in similar genres to the song we have chosen, and look closely at how the directors or artists themselves have portrayed their songs through the medium of the music video. Obviously it is important not to restrict ourselves to simply what we find in these videos, but on the flip side, there are plenty of great ideas we can derive from related videos such as these and use in our own video.

In these videos I will look at a number of key areas:

• Editing and shooting techniques, e.g. effects overlays, colour modification, animation, different types of shots, angles etc
• Mise-en-scéne, e.g. clothing, equipment, setting
• Shot structure, e.g. cuts, speed of cuts, etc
• Usage of these techniques to create meaning
• Traditional conventions of a music video, e.g. traditional editing and shooting techniques, traditional narrative or performance concepts, etc.
• Possible target audience

I will look at all of these areas with a view to establishing how they all contribute to the overall video effect and representation, and how they portray the song and represent it.

Also, when analysing and considering music videos and the video medium, it is important to consider Andrew Goodwin's theory on the music video as an art form. He has identified a number of key features of music videos, which include:

• There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.
  
• There is a relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music.
• Genres are complex and diverse in terms of music video style and iconography
• Record companies will demand a lot of close-ups of the main artist or vocalist
• Voyeurism is present in many music videos, especially in the treatment of females, but also in terms of systems of looking. Some examples are screens within screens, cameras, mirrors, etc.
• there are likely to be intertextual references, either to other music videos or to films and TV texts, these provide further gratification and pleasure for the viewers/fans.

It is worth looking out for the above characteristics and conventions in the videos I analyse and look at, and even consider them when planning our own video.