Conventions of music videos are the style of rules that most people follow sub-consciously. Every music video tends to follow some sort of convention that every other music video does. Sometimes they can be really different but it is not obvious at times.
Lyric Interpretation
Lyric Interpretation is the way that someone watches a music video in relation to the lyrics of the song. This convention is popular because a lot of people like to have their own view of what they think it means.
"Just" is a single by Radiohead that was released in 1995. The music video features a man who lies down in the middle of the street, while people around him try to work out why he's there. Throughout the entire video, everybody's speech is muted and is replaced by subtitles. During the music video, the man refuses to tell them the reason for his behaviour in the whole video, however at the end of the music video he tells them but the subtitles cut out, before everyone who was interrogating him start lying on the ground with him. We (the audience) are automatically guessing what he had said that could have changed everybody's minds.
The good thing about it, is that people remember the video more than the music, which gets them recognised and people will just remember them for this video.
The good thing about it, is that people remember the video more than the music, which gets them recognised and people will just remember them for this video.
Extending or Consolidating Song's Meanings
To capture the viewer's attention and emotion, a director will produce a music video that generally expands the songs meaning and "tug at your heart strings". Sometimes they will normally have a different meaning to the lyrics. So it's almost like lyric interpretation but there is a clear meaning, even if it doesn't represent the lyrics.
Christina Aguilera - Beautiful from LUNDLUND on Vimeo.
"Beautiful" is a single by Christina Aguilera that was released in 2002. The music video features many people sitting/standing/lying around half naked, which depicts that they aren't very happy with their bodies and the way they look. This music video uses this convention a lot because it definitely gets people emotional when watching, especially because most people can relate to it. Even when she says "I am beautiful...", it doesn't just mean her appearance, but her personality as well which is how the song extends the meaning.
Allusion
Allusion in music videos is a convention that is related to the styles of referencing or pastiche. It makes a reference to something else; very similar to intertextual referencing.
"Right There" is a single by Ariana Grande featuring Big Sean, and was released in 2013. The music video uses the allusion convention to represent the movie Romeo and Juliet. This is effective because it gives a hint to the audience about the style of music or song meaning before it has even started. After the first 20 seconds, we already know that the song is about love and being happy in love.
Links to other artists
This is a convention that is very similar to allusion in the way that it references other artists, but it generally features an artist in the music video.
"Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" is a single by Katy Perry that was released in 2011. This music video features another artist named Rebecca Black. I like this convention because it references another artist and promotes them as well as the main artist. It also shows a bond between the two artists and sometimes can lead to future productions together.