Different elements of music videos

Andrew Goodwin in his book The Rise of MTV (1992) identifies 7 key features of
conventions which distinguishes the music video as a form:

There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (with visuals either
illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics).
There is a relationship between the music and the visuals.
Particular music genres may have their own music video style and iconography, such
as live stage performance for Heavy Rock music.
There is a demand on the part of the record company for lots of close upshots of the
main artist/vocalist.
The artist may develop their own star iconography, in and out of their videos, which,
over time, become part of their star image.
There is likely to be voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of women, but also in
terms of systems of looking (screen within screens, binoculars, cameras.
There are likely to be intertextual references, either to other music videos or to films
and TV.

Textual Analysis of music video

Lyrics Song lyrics are important in helping to portray a feeling, mood or sense of subject matter and
are often subjective to interpretation. Particular lyrics may be used in the form of a visual in a
music video, however, it is rare to have a video that simply visualises the whole lyrics.
Music In terms of editing of a music video, the edit is often driven by the tempo/beat of the track
and visuals may emphasise a particular sound within the song.
Genre It is important to note that some music videos can be easily categorised than others into
conventions of genre. Some music channels focus on showing a particular genre of music
video, which allows the audience to identify distinctive features of music videos in terms of
camera work, editing, composition and mise-en-scene.
Camera Work Camera is essentially the most important element of a moving image text as the way the
camera is used in terms of angle, movement and shot size all add together to create a
particular effect. As an example, camera movement can be used to accompany movements
of the performers in a track or pan which can create a more dynamic feel to the visual. John
Stewart, a music video producer for 'Oil Factory' stated that he views music videos as having
similar aesthetics to TV advertisements as they feature lots of close ups of the star's face, to
advertise a product, music videos are advertising a song, so they are complementary.
Editing The most common form of editing in music videos is fast pace cuts between a varieties of
different visuals. However, some slower tracks match the track with the edit in a slow pace
form with gentler transitions between shots to make viewing easier for the audience.

Intertextuality The music video can be described as an intertextual form, as they draw upon existing texts
(i.e. the music) in order to gain recognition from their audience. Even though not all of the
audience will spot an intertextual reference, however, those that do will receive greater
pleasure from the product, so this increases the audiences engagement with it.
Narrative and Performance Narrative in songs can be fragmentary, like in poetry and music videos match this as they
often fragment visuals in a non-chronological order so they are open to subjective opinions
of the audience. Commonly in music videos, the visual will cut between a narrative and a
performance which features a lip sync and potentially a choreographed dance to enhance
the visuals. Occasionally the main singer may undertake both rolls of being the protagonist
in the narrative as well as the key performer. The performance of an artist can be enhanced
by the music video in contrast to a live performance because the use of close-up shots and
different camera angles and movement give a more dynamic feel, whereas a stage
performance is more one sided.