Conventions of a music video

The conventions of a music video are important because they help to classify the video into the correct genre. For example, your typical R&B/Hip Hop music video will contain perhaps a club with attractive girls and be bright, upbeat and colourful, whereas a music video for a metal video will be dark and dull, with perhaps a somewhat depressing atmosphere to it. The music style and lyrics must also relate in some way to the music video.

The types of video in which music videos can be done are:
Performance - When the band or artist is seen throughout the music video performing the song being played
Narrative - The song will involve a narrative storyline, so actors will be put in the video to act out the story
Mixture - A mixture of the first 2
Cameo - Where the musician features in the narrative as a cameo, but does not act out the song in any way
Animation - An animated story or other video to go along with the music

Camera Shots/Movement
The camera can be used to portray the story and also the band that are performing. A music video involving the band performing live on stage will also contain the various shots of the band and also will focus on the fans and audience, particularly to view the crowds reaction to the band. An example of this would be moshpits in metal videos. When showing a story, it uses the same conventions as a film; close ups to show facial expressions, match on action to show actions etc. It is more important that shots like these are put into the video, since the video will have no dialogue because of the music and it will therefore be harder to understand. There will also be close ups of the band's instruments to show what they are playing, and also shots of logos for product placement.

Editing
Again, this is the same as film. Special effects will be added to show what cannot be done in real life, such as flying or magic effects etc.

Mise en Scene
The mise en scene of a music video needs to be convey the genre of the music through the use of the location/setting, the lighting and the props used (if it is a narrative music video)
For example, the typical mise en scene used for a rock/metal music video, it will be set somewhere dingy and dull, there will be very little lighting and the band/people acting in the video will have long hair, piercings, dark clothing and chains etc.