Conventions of Music Videos

Throughout a music video there are certain conventions that can be see in most music videos no matter what genre of music, these are:

• One person is main character - this is usually the artist but if the act is a band then the main character is usually the lead singer of the band.
• Performance/Lip syncing - this is when the artist sings the lyrics directly to the camera, this convention is how a music video can be easily separated from a short film/film since in a film the character never looks at the camera, whereas in a music video this is a frequent occurrence.
• Narrative - music videos usually have some aspect of narrative, this a story line that is seen throughout the video. It is usually cut in between the lip syncing of the video.
• Cut to the beat of the song - this means that the shots are cut to fit the pace of the song, if it is an upbeat fast paced song then the editing of the shots will be very fast, with shots that last no longer then a couple of seconds. 
• Different settings - not all one place, as this could get boring, music videos usually have around three different settings and change between the setting throughout the video, but have one main setting.
• Variety of shots - shots are important in a music video, a music video usually have three times the amount of shots compared to a film, as the shots have to be cut to the beat of the song.
• Music fades out at the end - the music usually doesn't come to a blunt end, it's usually a soft fade out, along with the music video.