Music Video Conventions Depending on Genre

Pop: videos are usually very upbeat, bright and fast paced which makes them appealing to a young audience. If the lyrics and the tempo of the music is more sad the whole tone of the video will be brought down but it will still be quite bright and the artist would probably be in a more sophisticated outfit than if the video is more positive.
-Bright and colourful settings and lighting.
-The camera pans and zooms to catch the movement and emotion of the artist.
-Close ups of the artist are used to show the happy emotions.
-Artist or band perform in some way usually by actually lip syncing the words of the song.
-There is usually a dance sequence which illustrates some of the lyrics.
-There are not usually any instruments present as not many pop bands actually play their own instruments.
-Very stylised – there are often many costume changes throughout the video.

Indie: there is often a mixture of narrative and performance and sometimes the whole band performs and other times just the main vocalist sings. When Indie music videos do have a narrative they are often quite symbolic and do not literally follow the lyrics.
-There is a variety of close ups to show the main artist singing and other band mates performing as well as wide shots of the whole band.
-The colour of the video changes depending on the lyrics of the song and the tempo of the music it can be bright, dark and sometimes black and white.
-Special effects are sometimes used.
-Editing is usually quite fast paced depending on the music.
-The band wears casual clothing.

Rock/ Metal: the lighting and the setting is often very dark giving the video a mysterious, scary and edgy tone.
-The band usually performs in the video. The performance is often very dark and scary and the artists are usually dressed in black, with multiple piercings and dark make up on their faces adding to the scary stereotypical Rock/Metal look.
-Sometimes there is a narrative which will reflect the dark melancholy tone of the music and the lyrics.
-There is a variety of close ups to show the main artist singing and other band mates performing as well as wide shots of the whole band.
-Special effects are sometimes used.
-Editing is fast paced reflecting the hard, loud and fast music.

Hip Hop: there is never really a strong storyline in Hip Hop videos it is more about a massive party with attractive women in skimpy outfits and lots of expensive things such as cars, houses and gadgets. The colours in the video are often quite bright which usually emphasises all of the expensive things like jewellery and brand named clothing.
-As the setting is usually a party there is often lots of people dancing and alcohol is usually present.
-Close ups are used to show the artists assets like expensive jewellery and also to show them singing the words.
-Mostly wide and long shots are used so that you can see a lot of expensive things.