Music Video Analysis Key Terms

Purpose: Promotion of single/ album/ artist- to increase sales in an artist's music

Style:
Performance- the artist can be seen lip singing along with the music (e.g. Single Ladies)
Narrative- the music video tells a story (e.g. Norf Norf)
Thematic- theme of a song  is taken and something different is done with it (e.g. This Is America)
music videos can contain different types of styles, in fact they often do (e.g. California Girls)

Moving image codes:
Camera- shots (close up)- to give a first impression of the person in the shot e.g. Vince Staples at the beginning of Norf Norf expresses confidence
            - angles (high/low)- often to express dominance or roles between people e.g. in the end of Norf Norf there's a slightly high angle which makes him seem smaller in the frame and could've been used to express how the viewer sees him differently now he's in prison
            - movement (pan/tilt/zoom)- focus on a specific area
Editing- cut e.g. upbeat songs can use lots of cuts
            -fade e.g. ballads would use the fade effect instead of cuts
            -pale
            -cut to beat

Visual codes:
Expression and gesture- e.g. facial expressions and body language can present a person in a music video as likeable or unlikable
Costume and props- e.g. clothes from older centuries (colonial and 20th century America)  are used in Beyonce's Formation video to contribute to the message she wants to send
Iconography- e.g. police car
Lightning and colour- e.g. the black and white palette used in Beyonce's Single Ladies video showcases classiness and glamour
Graphics- explicit messages which can briefly explain the meaning of a music video e.g. Beyonce's formation video contains the phrase 'Stop shooting us' written on a wall to express her opinion on police brutality against African-Americans

Key terms:
Genre
Star persona- how the artist presents himself to be like e.g. Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues contributes to the songwriter aspect of his star persona as he used to be praised for his lyrics which is what the video consists of.
Motif- anything used repeatedly by an artist e.g. Beyonce's costumes and dance
Anchorage- the union of the visual element of a video and the lyrics of a song
Binary deposites- two opposite aspects expressed in a music video e.g. independence vs relationships in Meghan Trainor's Dear Future Husband
Intertextuality- media form referring to another media form (more often in films)