Good & Bad Music Video Techniques

Good & Bad Music Video Techniques

Lip Syncing is when a singer moves their lips in synchronisation with the pre recorded music. Lip syncing is used in almost all music videos their can be lip syncing that is really good and it really looks as if the artist is singing and there are music videos that have artist lip syncing but their lip syncing is off. An example for a good lip syncing music video is 'The Monsters' by Eminem ft. Rihanna. In this music video their seems to be a narrative from the very beginning of the music video when Rihanna puts on a video and Eminem watches it and has some of his previous music videos on it. Rihanna seems to play some kind of therapist in this music video who helps him confront 'The monster' that has him so shaken up. This continues throughout the music video until towards the end at 4.22 - 5.11 when he then decides to confront his 'monster' which is later revealed as himself and he can finally forget about his 'monster' and move on with his life.  


An example of a bad lip syncing music video is 'Beauty and the beat' by Justin Bieber ft. Nicki Minaj.
In the beginning of the music video Justin's singing looks off for example the way he says things in the song then the way he moves his lips don't look right and it looks very unbelievable that he's saying the words and in the music video Justin starts to sing under water at 2.08 - 2.14 which then the audience start to realise that Justin is not actually singing. In this music video Justin is having a pool party and it looks as if he's filming the party from the way that he holds the camera.

Cutting to the beat is when an image or transition cuts during a music video changes when the song hits a beat or on significant beats in the actual music itself. An example of a music video that cuts to the beat is 'Don't let me down' by The Chainsmokers ft. Daya. In this music video nearly every time that the song hits a beat it changes to a new image or transition on the screen. This allows for the audience to become more engaged with the music video. Also constant shot change need more attention. It also works well with the lyrics since the lyrics need more emphasis. 

A bad example of a cutting to the beat music video is 'Never gonna give you up' by Rick Astley. In this music video all of the beats that are used in this music video are not cut to the beat they're all over the place.This is about a man dancing around singing about a girl. The video also does not go with the song at all and the music video itself could have been done much better for example doing something in the video other than dancing around. 

Number of cuts an example of this music video technique is 'We found love' By Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris. In this music video all the shots and music is quite fast paced however it shows a lot of detail and you can still understand what is going on in the music video. Throughout the music video it tells a sort of narrative at how great that the two characters relationship was but then at 3.30 - 4.30 towards the end of the video it shows that their relationship turned bad over a certain period of time. Number of cuts is a good technique to use because it shows the audience the full depth of the relationship over a 4 minute song. It allows the audience to understand the relationship that is formed between Rihanna and her partner. 

A bad example of number of cuts is 'Call your girlfriend' by Robyn. This music video doesn't have any shots what so ever. Even though the artist Robyn is continuously expressing her feelings and emotions through her dancing which is very good. But she does not use cuts in the music video this could allow her audience to get bored. People may understand the reason why that Robyn is dancing around in a room trying to express her emotions through just one shot however for just a random person to watch this music video may like the song but dislike the music video therefore they wouldn't watch the video. 

Special effects this is an illusion that is used in television shows, movies, music videos. This is done by the use of props computer graphics and camerawork. This technique is used in the music video 'E.T.' by Katy Perry ft. Kanye West. In this video its shown from out of space which is quite unbelievable since they wouldn't have been able to film this music video in that location. Also it is obvious that this music video uses special effect techniques because at the end of the video at 4.33 - 5.00 Katy Perry is standing there with cow legs so she is then half human and half cow which is impossible therefore the creators would of needed to use special effects also let alone throughout the entire music video. 

A bad example of special effects is 'Earth song' by Michael Jackson in this music video the special effects that were used which created the visual image of the audience seeing strong winds and lighting but with all that strong wind and lighting the people who lived where all the destruction was happening were very calm and wasn't screaming or crying. This is first seen at 3.52 - 6.32. Therefore audience may have seen this music video as very unrealistic therefore they may get bored and stop watching the video. However it is a good song but people may prefer the song to the video itself. 

Camera language this is the use of shots, movement and angle used throughout a production which is is usually used in movies, television shows and music videos. A music video that does use this technique is 'Look at me now' by Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes. The use a variety of camera language techniques they use medium close ups mostly throughout music video which is seen for the first time at 0.11 - 0.14 this is because they may want you to see the artist close up but not close so you can see what is going on around them however the shot variety does change to close ups, long shots etc. Also they use a variety of angles for example a high angle at 0.31 - 0.32. This is so that we cans see every aspect of what is going on around the artists. 

An example of a music video that uses bad camera language techniques is 'Who you are' by Jessie J. This video is of Jessie J singing in a bedroom into a camera however this music video doesn't use a variety of different camera language of shots, movement and angle. This just stays at one angle which is eye level and the camera is mostly still apart from one point when the camera moves when Jessie J is in another location in that same room however the camera just turns but stills stays at the same angle the first time throughout the video it is seen at 0.57 - 1.02. This could get the audience very bored of watching that artist just sit around and not do much and just stare into a camera.

Chroma key/green screen this is a screen that is usually behind the artist allowing them to later add an image at the back of that artist to make it look as if they are in location that they are not necessarily in at that point. An example of a music video that uses a green screen is 'The Climb' by Miley Cyrus. which is of her standing in front of a screen playing her guitar and singing the background image is of clouds and as if she is walking a long deserted road. This is first seen at 0.14 - 0.19. This screen is to create the effect of having to climb for the things that you want in life. The visuals behind Miley also work well with what she is singing about, the lyrics and the visuals behind her work well together. 

A bad example of a green screen music video is 'Bound 2' by Kanye West. In this music video the audience are able to see Kanye West sitting on a motor bike but it's obvious that behind him   is a green screen and that the bike is not even moving which is first seen at 0.39 - 0.42. This is noticeable because of how slow that the green screen visual background moves. This might make the audience bored of watching the video because obviously the artist and creators did not go to much effort to make the music video look realistic. Also Kanye's wife Kim Kardashian suddenly appears on his lap and he is not even concentrating on 'the road' and only focusing on her which is also very unrealistic.