Music Video: General Theory

Lyrics establish a general feeling/mood/sense of subject rather than a meaning. Meaning is presented more through visuals.


Tempo of music drives the editing.


Genre might be reflected in types of mise-en-scene, themes, performance, camera and editing styles.


Camerawork impacts meaning. Movement, angle and shot distance all play a part in the representation of the artist/band (close-ups dominate).


Editing is done in fast cuts, rendering many of the images impossible to grasp on first viewing, so ensuring multiple viewing.


Digital effects often enhance editing, which manipulates the the original images to offer different kinds of pleasure for the audience.


Intertextuality is often present. Intertextuality is the shaping of a texts’ meanings by other texts. Not all audiences will spot a reference to another text, which would not significantly detract from their pleasure in the text itself, but greater pleasure might be derived by those who recognise the reference and gain a sense of fulfillment by this. It also increases the audience’s engagement with, and attentiveness to the product. Many music videos draw upon cinema. Some examples are: Madonna’s Material Girl drew on the song sequence Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend in Howard Hawk’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. 2Pac and Dr Dre’s California Love, which referenced George Miller’s Mad Max Exhibitionism is often present.


Exhibitionism is the psychological need and pattern of behavior involving the exposure of parts of the body to another person with a tendency toward an extravagant, usually at least partially sexually inspired behavior to attract the attention of another in an open display. The apparently more powerful independent female artists of recent years have added to the complexity of the politics of looking and gender/cultural debates, by being at once sexually provocative and apparently in control of, and inviting, a sexualized gaze.

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