Music Video Techniques

NUMBER OF CUTS

GOOD EXAMPLE



By using this many shots in the music video, it adds more energy to the video as the song is very fast paced. The amount of cuts fits the song so that it adds a more energetic atmosphere that is intended in Slipknot videos. They used many cuts in this video especially at the beginning since it starts with a fast paced intro, you start to notice the large number of cuts at 0:06 when they make it clear, that there is a lot going on at the same time, so they added multiple cuts to add more energy, by doing this it helps give that certain energy in Slipknot videos that their fans enjoy. This worked very well since it made the music video fit perfectly with the song that goes with it. By having many cuts it shows the energy that Slipknot has when performing this song and by doing that, people can see how passionate Slipknot are when they perform. Additionally, it shows the craziness of Slipknot as the video has a fast pace; it shows all the energy that Slipknot has.


BAD EXAMPLE



In this music video there is one cut through the whole video, by doing this it fits the slow paced atmosphere that the song is trying to give. This helps give a relaxing atmosphere when watching the video which is what the editors of the video intended. We start to notice this at 1:20 that it is the same shot throughout the whole video . It can seem boring to some people and they might stop watching as it is basically the same thing happening throughout the video, and by just having one cut throughout the whole video, people might think nothing interesting will happen and stop watching. Having not that many shots makes the people watching the video seem uninterested and will stop them wanting to watch the video. This shows that the band Radiohead, are very calm people because of this relaxed atmosphere.

CUTTING TO THE BEAT

GOOD EXAMPLE



By cutting to the beat in this music video it makes the video more energetic and adds a more enthusiastic atmosphere. For example, at 0:24 this works since it helps fit with the song which is what was intended and this worked perfectly with the upbeat track that is in the song. By doing this it adds a hyper atmosphere and adds more energy, getting people more into the song as they might enjoy all the energy that is in the music videos and will keep watching.

BAD EXAMPLE



In most music videos that try to cut to the beat, they try to make the frame change with every beat in the song, but in this video they didn't try to match the cuts to the beat of the song in any part of the video, an example of this is at 0:31 when there is a very fast paced beat, but they dont match the video with the beat. As a consequence, it might put people off from watching the video as they might find it a bit boring as none of the cuts match the song. Most artists try to cut to the beat so this artist might be attempting to stand out from other artists.

CAMERA LANGUAGE: SHOT VARIETY

GOOD EXAMPLE



In some music videos the people who make them try to get a variety of shots and have many types of shots throughout the music video; they don't focus mainly on the same shot throughout. There are many shots throughout the whole music video and they don't focus mainly on a certain amount of shots.They show multiple types of shots, and we start to realize this at 0:37 where they start showing multiple types of shots throughout. This lets the audience see more in the video and not get bored of seeing the same shot over and over again. The reason why the artist and the person who made this video did this is to show how the artist really is. By using many shots in the video, it shows many of the weird things that happens in the video, which reflects Marilyn Manson weird personality.

BAD EXAMPLE



As some people who make music videos try to include as many different shots as they can, this music video doesn't include many types of shots and mostly focuses on the same types of shots throughout. In this video, they show the lead singer and the guitarist in the same shots many times at 1:12 and throughout the rest of the video you start noticing this. The people who made this music video focus on the same shots throughout the whole video instead of doing many different types of shots. By not having many different types of shots in the video this might seem boring to some people and they might think not much will happen in the video, resulting in viewers to stop watching. By doing this it might show that the people who made the music video are  normal people.

SPECIAL EFFECTS

GOOD EXAMPLE



The person who made this music video used special effects very well such as text floating in the air, they show this at 0:06 and then it happens multiple times throughout the video, in high quality. They did this to add humor to the music video and they used good quality technology to make it look better, making them look more professional. They did this successfully throughout the video as there is floating text when they show a person in the video. The special effects in this video could seem funny to the audience as the text could make them laugh. With this it makes the artist look more professional as they used good quality technology to make it.

BAD EXAMPLE



When people usually use special effects in music videos, they try to use high quality technology and special effects in their videos, but in this one they use very bad special effects that looked very cheap and unprofessional, along with a bad green screen, we notice this at 0:05 where it shows a very cheap effect of a car. This seems very unprofessional and with this it might make the audience stop watching since they might think it looks too cheap. Having cheap special effects makes the artist look cheap since their videos are cheap, reducing their appeal.

GREEN SCREEN

GOOD EXAMPLE


When using a green screen for this video it makes the band look like they are in a place that wouldn't possibly be able to go to, which is the reason that they have done this, they show the green screen at 0:27 . This is done very well because it is not clear that they used a green screen and it really looks like they are in space. This might seem amazing to the audience since it is unusual compared to other music videos, this makes the artist look more creative as they try to be different from other artists.

BAD EXAMPLE



When a green screen is used in a music video it can be either amazing or very bad, in this case it is done very badly. It has been made obvious that a green screen is used and they are not really in the certain places they chose for the green screen, such as at 0:11 as it is clear that they are not in that area, and it was done with a green screen because it is not possible at all, to be in a area like that. This may seem cheap to the audience as it makes the artist look very cheap and unprofessional and will lead to the audience stop watching since they think it looks badly done.

LIP SYNCING

GOOD EXAMPLE



In most music videos the artist does lip syncing in the video and sometimes it is done very well. In this video the singer seemed very passionate about the song as it looked like he knew all the lyrics such as at 4:18 he was putting a lot of energy, into the lip syncing, so it made it look like he was passionate while performing. It is done very well since it looked like he actually sang the song the way he should of as we can see that he gave a certain aggression to show the passion he was feeling. The audience watching might like this more since they can see how emotional and dedicated the artist is.

BAD EXAMPLE



When lip syncing is done in a music videos, the person singing tries to look very passionate and committed when singing, so it looks like they are actually singing. However, in this music video made by the band You Me At Six, it looks like the singer is not really bothered about singing the song and doesn't look dedicated. It looks like he is just talking rather than singing, and not showing any emotion at all, such as at 0:35 there is a lot of passion and energy, in that song but he is acting  like he is just talking, not giving any energy at all. This might stop the audience watching because it makes the artist look not bothered about singing their songs.