Music Video Techniques.

Large Number of Cuts:

The use of large number of cuts makes the music video flow. Most of the time the cuts vary on the pace of the song to match the mood. If the song was to have a fast tempo the video itself will have a large number of cuts to match the tempo of the song that is being sung. The use of large number of cuts entertains the viewer and does not leave them in a boredom state. The large number of cuts shows that the video is fast paced. For this example I will be using Jason Derulo – Talk Dirty (Music Video). As the video starts there are around 20 shots within a 15 second time mark which already states that the music is going to be fast paced. Also along with the large number of cuts the use of bright colours also shows that the video will be entertaining as well as being fast paced.  The use of this technique lures audiences into his video and instantaneously gets them hooked into the song. The song was based on going around the world which matched video where the flags of different countries had shown up. This sets the tone for the music and the lyrics match the video. Also the use of bright and colourful colours lures the viewer to watch the video further.

Something that was less appealing (Bad Example) was Lourde - Royals because it only had around 66 cuts where as Jason Derulos video already had 20 cuts within the first 10 seconds from 0:00 - 0:10. This would be less appealing because it lowers the mood and makes it dull and unappealing. The director may have wanted to be different with the Music Video but it has turned out unsuccessful and tiresome. The music video seems as if it was being dragged for a long period of time and just seems to be plain and miserable. The colours are dull. Also the use of low number of cuts slows the video down considerably and it can leave the audience feeling bored.

Cutting to the Beat :

A very good example of this would be Labrinth - Earthquake. The song has good cutting to the beat. Each time the bas drops within the video the screen shakes with special effects used within the video.  On the video at 0.28 it shows when the bass drops the screen shakes. Labrinth by itself only uses special effects throughout this video and it looks very unique and eye catchy. Within the starting of the video the video itself matches the beat of the song. Also we can see that Labrinth really is in an empty space and he has relied on special effects to make it seem as if there is alot going on within the video.

However a bad example of this will be Sub Focus- Endorphins ft. Alex Clare where the music is upbeat and the video is very slow ( Mostly slow motion). With the video have low amount of cuts the video becomes boring. With a song like this where the beat is really fast; without it cutting to the beat it looks very messy and un-viewable. An example is at 0:30-0:37 where one cut lasts for 7 seconds which makes the video itself very slow. People want to see something that is very unique and not boring. They want to get dragged into the beat of the music. Mostly throughout this video the Video had failed to go along with the beat making the song tiresome and boring.

Green Screen:

Green screens are used to re-create locations that Artists want to use instead of using money to go there. Green screen is a cheap alternative to the actual location and is very effective and successful in the music industry. A person who had taken advantage of this is Jessie. She has used a lot of green screening in the past and she still does it because she has mastered it and had embedded it very successfully within her videos.  Jessie J - Dominio shows how Green screening can help lighten up the mood of the song and make it very enjoyable to view. An example where the green screening is very good is at the start from 0:00-0:12 where the background is matching her clothing and at the same time moving. This helps the flow of the music because there is a lot of things going on at once on the screen which makes the audience engaged. With the use of Green screening Jessie J has shown that it is not bad at all to use a green screen in the music industry and can be money saving. She can make anything possible by using a green screen and also make it look realistic. In this video she uses a animated background to make the style of the clothes she is wearing which makes it very enjoyable to view.

A bad example of Green Screening is Kanye West - Bound 2. The use of green screening here was very fake and unbelievable. We can see the failed attempt of green screening at 0:38 where the background is blurred out and the lighting is very bad. Also they also made a big mistake in where the direction of the wind was blowing which made in fake and unviewable this is shown at 2:03. This makes the video very unrealistic and boring to watch. The video itself got dislikes maybe because the green screening was bad and for other reasons. The green screening has lowered Kanye West's reputation because this was one of his worst videos of 2013. He maybe had run out of ideas but this one had topped the line. The green screen that was used was unrealistic and boring therefore making it a bad green screen music video.

Special Effects:
Special Effects make the video more lively the overuse of special effects can be very entertaining as Rihanna has shown within her video "Rude Boy". She uses very bright colours which are available to see throughout the whole video. This invites the audience to carry on and watch the whole video preventing them from becoming bored. The special effects were very successful as she had made it flow right and made some lyrics come up on the video itself. Rihanna has successfully used these special effects to her advantage which can increase the rate of viewers and fans for her fanbase.

The video that came to my attention in having bad special effects was Backstreet Boys - I want it that way. The use of special effects was limited due to the fact that they had a low budget for the video itself. With a low budget Music video the use of special effects are limited because you cannot get everything you want into the video without a very good budget. For Rihanna she has a very large budget meaning she has the freedom for any effects she wants to use within the video. In the video the special effects did not really catch my eye and this would be the same scenario for the audience. They would have got bored because the video was not entertaining and all over the place. The video was not good also due to technology not fully developed as if it was to be today. Here in the 21st Century technology has evolved so much that low budget music videos can be entertaining.

Varied Camera Language:

By having a variety of Camera angles the music video flows better and does not become boring. The use of Camera language also makes the video more entertaining and fun to watch which Beyonce has successfully done in her video – Love on Top. These shots vary from Low Angle to High angle shots. The fact that Beyonce is performing in front of a camera she can show the audience how it would be if it was to be a live performance giving angles and viewing points of the audience. The video also uses a lot of shots per inute to keep the viewer’s eye on the video. With this technique beyonce has shown how a concert would be like to the audience by using this video.

A very bad video which had no Camera Language at all would be Lorde - Tennis Court. The video is just Lorde standing in the center of the screen with the camera on a midshot. This instantly makes the video boring to watch because there is barely anything happening in the video. The video itself has not cuts or any camera changes which makes the video really boring and for the audience to stop watching the video. The video however matches the tone of the Lyrics which is dark and gloomy which she has portrayed well but this video could alter her sales in future releases due to this video being boring and tiresome.

Lip Syncing :
A good example of Lip Syncing would be OneRepublic - Counting stars where the Lip Syncing has been done very well. If the video had bad lip syncing the video would be worthless to put up and the audience will not take the video seriously. The video had no errors in lip syncing which meant his viewers are enjoying the video. The lip syncing throughout this video is very consistent and there are no parts where the lip syncing goes off. By doing successful lip syncing the video becomes more believable instead of having a bad lip sync. The use of Lip Syncing helps the video be more natural and not alien towards the audience because if the lip syncing was to be bad it'll instantly ruin the whole video and it would be a waste of money for even producing it.

An example of bad lip syncing would be Dave Days - Summertime. This video shows how the audience cannot be serious with watching this video. They would assume it as a joke which can lead the artist to become unsuccessful in the future. The video shows that he is sometimes too early with the Lip Syncing or too late which leaves the audience in an uncomfortable state. This leads to the video being very unprofessional and amateurish. The use of poor lip syncing leaves the audience being not serious about the video and eventually leave the artist losing viewers.