Bringing in Theory - General

Things to think about when looking at the different theories and how they tie in with the music videos;

Lyrics - establish a general feeling/mood/sense of subject rather than a meaning
Music - tempo often drives the editing pattern
Genre - reflected in types of mise-en-scene, themes, performances, camera and editing styles
Camerawork - has an impact on meaning. Movement, angle and the distance of a shot all play a part in the representation or the artist/band. Close ups usually dominate the music video.
Editing - the most common form is a fast-cut montage, images impossible to grasp on first viewing. This makes the music video one that people would repeatedly watch so they can see what they have missed. Editing uses digital effects, which play with the original images to offer different kinds of pleasure for the audience.
Intertextuality - not all audiences will spot a reference, which would not significantly detract from their pleasure in the text itself, but greater pleasure might be derived by those who recognise the reference and feel flattered by this. It is also increases the audience's engagement with, and attentiveness to the product. Many music videos draw upon cinema and other areas of popular culture.
Exhibitionism - The apparently more powerful independent female artists of recent years have added to the complexity of the politics of looking and gender/cultural debates, by being at once sexually provocative and apparently in control of, and inviting a sexualised gaze.