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In this exercise I learnt how to identify the key features and conventions of a music video.

The relationship between the song and narrative is important to know; for example whether or not the relationship is

• Illustration- when the narrative in the video very closely echos the lyrics and music
• amplification- when the narrative is inspired by the song adds a new element to complement the song
• Disjuncture- when the narrative seems to hold very little relationship to the song and seems quite random

Depending on what the relationship is between the song and narrative the star can sell themselves through a performance video of them lip-syncing, or by making a combination video of them playing a character in a narrative and using camera techniques to help add eye-catching effects to the video and interest the audience.

These are the over-arching technical conventions of a music video

1. The camera angles with edits of shots used to reflect the pace and mood of the song

2. How the video impacts the audience, and what the key message is behind the song or narrative

3. How mise-en-scene helps to define the character/singer and create meaning to the song

4. The style (performance, concept, narrative)

5. The sound effects (non diegetic, diegetic)