EDITING TECHNIQUES

The pace of editing in music videos will normally link to the tempo of

the song. For example a song such as “Hot Right Now” by DJ Fresh

with a fast beat will have shorter time between cuts and more of them

whereas a song such as “Small Bump” by Ed Sheeran has very few cuts

at all. Slow motion is also a technique that is used in relation to the

tempo of a song. In “We Can Only Live Today” by Netsky again the first

34 seconds of visuals are in slow motion as this part of the song is

slower than the rest. This helps add to the effect of the different speeds

within the song.

CAMERA

Different camera shots are used in music videos to stick to the genre of

the song and to portray a particular message. Close-up shots are mainly

used to promote the image of the artist in pop music videos and wide

shots if they have backing singers/dancers. Mid-shots are used in rock

and alternative performance videos to show the band playing the

instruments and singing. Long shots can be also used to show the

crowd if they are present in performance videos. For example 30

Seconds To Mars‟ video for “Closer to the Edge” features many wide

shots of the crowd as the performance was taken from one of their live

shows.

LIGHTING

The lighting of a music video can change the entire feel of the video as

well as the effect it has on the audience. Usually, the lighting will match

the genre and desired feel of the song. Kings Of Leon‟s “Sex On Fire”

has very low key lighting and lots of shadows to give it a dark effect,

matching their style of music. DJ Fresh‟s “Louder” has very high key

outdoor lighting to adhere to the lyrics involving beaches and upbeat

sound of the song.

MAKE UP & COSTUME

Costume in music videos normally represents the style and genre of the artist. Pop

musicians tend to dress in very flashy, modern clothes while rock musicians will

dress in plain clothes to draw the attention of the audience to the music instead of

their image. Hip-hop/Rap artists also wear clothes made by big name brands

however their intent is to make them look wealthy by the use of fur coats and large

jewelry. Make-up is normally only used by female artists to seem more glamorous,

however it is also used by punk or metal artists to show their desire to stand out

and be individual. An ideal example of this would be Marilyn Manson whose music

teaches people to express themselves and so he wears thick eye liner and lipstick

in all his videos, such as “Tainted Love”.

THE NOTION OF LOOKING

Eye contact with the camera is used in many genre‟s of music video. It is used to

make a connection between the artist and the audience, a technique that can be

universally used in the music video industry. For example Rita Ora‟s “R.I.P.”

contains many close-ups of her looking directly at the camera and is from the pop

music genre, whereas The Prodigy‟s “Firestarter” is drum and bass yet also

contains eye contact from the performing artist . The voyeuristic treatment of

women is used in most genre‟s of music such as pop, hip-hop and dance. An

example of this would be in Fedde Le Grande‟s “Put Your Hands Up For Detroit”.

However in rock and alternative music videos women are generally not featured as

the artist will tend to be as „genuine‟ as they can.