Music Terms and Studying Music Videos


1. The lyrics are put into videos to help make the narrative more understandable and they can help determine the genre of the song. Also people can relate to the lyrics in a song.


2. The narrative in the video is quite important, because this also makes the song more understandable.


3. The star image is very important in respect to a pop video because if the artist has a big following then they would be eager to watch the videos just as much as they would to hear the new material. Also in pop music the artist would need to be relatively attractive in a pop video to make it more appealing.


4. a) When the term 'Illustrative' is used, it means; to take the lyrics and make them real in the video. Like a script.


b) Amplification is when someone overdoes their actions. They take the lyrics to literally and go over the top.


c) Disjuncture is when the lyrics and the action aren't related at all.


5. a) 'Speed' in pop videos means the speed of the cuts. Lots of different, fast cuts are more interesting to watch than long ones with few variations.


b) 'Meat!' means the close up shots on the artist's face, showing the full emotion of the performance.


c) 'Beat!' is when the actions or cuts match with the time of the beats.


d) In pop videos lots of colours and lighting is used. They always appear very upbeat and energetic. This also matches the type of the song.


e) The common elements, in terms of the mise-en-scene in pop videos, tend to include fast paced dance routines, full hair and make up and clothes in the height of fashion at the time.