Music Videos of Today

It is very clear that music videos released nowadays have very typical conventions. For example most music videos feature:

• close ups of the artist - whether they are doing a dance routine or following a narrative themselves - E. A. Kaplan's theory
• scopophilia - this Laura Mulvey's theory that women and men are portrayed in music videos as sexual objects and the artists themselves implore the audience to look at them in this way
• edits that match the beat/speed of the song
• close ups, long shots and mid shots used to emphasise artist, location and emotions
• camera tracking to follow artist
• colours that set the mood of the song

Here are a few examples that follow these conventions

Rihanna - Only Girl In The World


In this video there are definitely close up's of Rihanna, there is use of Rihanna being seen as a sexual object and luring men and women to look at her in that light. Recently being provocative in her music and videos has been Rihanna's trademark. There are cuts throughout that are in time with the beat and the speed of the music. The closeups of Rihanna are used to show her emotions which convey that she is happy therefore the song is a feel good song, the long shots and mid shots also show her surroundings and the colours of the location. The location is flowery which may symbolise being girly and the colours are reds, pinks and yellows, which symbolise lust, love and happiness. There is also use of camera tracking throughout and it follows Rihanna everywhere.

JLS - One Shot



Obviously this is a boy band so of course there are going to be close ups. However boy band video close ups tend to focus on the most popular boy band member. In this case it is the member who starts the song, he is usually the main focus in most of their videos and he also gets the most solos in their songs. This video is an example of how scopophilia can be used to show men as sexual objects in their music video and JLS are known for showing off their bodies. The close ups are also effective in showing off more of JLS' trademarks, such as low cut tops, fashionable clothing and dance routines. Cuts and also the transition of dance moves are in time with the beat and speed of the song, as well as lighting and the special effects that were added post-production. The colours are bluish and grey which sets a sombre and serious tone to the music video however the sparks and the lights, as well as some of the burgundy colour clothing JLS are wearing, makes the video have a slightly warm feel to it.

Chris Brown - Don't Wake Me Up


When this video first came out people noticed the intertextuality of the film 'Inception'. Having abnormal dreams and the special effects of this video match how it was done in the film. Transitions, which are also leading to a close up of Chris Brown, are in time with the beat and speed of the music. And the long shot at the beginning shows the location and also the mood of the song because the sunrise and warm colours are completely contrast with the cold colours that are in the video later. His dreams have warm colours which show that it is where he wants to be, but the shots of him sleeping have cold colours showing that he is trying to escape his reality and live in his dreams. However Chris Brown's trademark is highly choreographed dance routines which this video does not have, this was Chris Brown's way of showing that he can do "ballads" and simple songs/videos.