VIDEO RESEARCH: KEY ELEMENTS IN DANCE MUSIC VIDEOS

Define the key elements you must include in your video to conform to the expectations of the genre, the audience you expect and what is expected of a video. Make a checklist of things to include in your video

Elements that I could include in my music video in order to conform to the expectations of the genre are:

Bright colours	This can be in the natural or artificial lighting, location or costuming
Movement	This can be dancing, walking around, running etc. this is usually to the beat of the song
Variety of locations and mise-en-scène	This creates interest and keeps the audience’s attention and gives different information about what is happening there.
Variety of looks	This includes costuming, styling, makeup and hair. Having a variety of even similar types of looks creates interest and offers different representations.
Multiple people	This again creates interest and keeps the audience’s attention, as well as shows different representations of people. Sometimes, the music videos feature the artist(s) or have cameos from other celebrities. Including well-known people in your music video makes more people watch it. The people featured are almost always in their twenties. This allows the target audience (teens-thirties) to relate to the music video more.
Quick editing	This makes the video more fast paced and relates to the beat of the track. A popular style of editing associated with music videos is a fast cut montage, where not every detail and frame can be seen – this encourages people to watch the music video multiple times.
Intertextuality	When viewers recognise intertextual references, they feel a lot smarter and as if they can somewhat relate to the music video and artist. This encourages multiple viewing and for viewers to share it with others
Variety in shot distance	Having a variety in shot distance creates different relationships and emotive aspects. If the music video features close ups on a person, the viewer is more likely to relate to them and care about them. If a singular person is shown alone in a long shot, the viewer is more likely to be intrigued and feel as if they are important.
Variety in camera angles	Different angles have different levels of how emotive they are. If a person is seen at a lower angle, they seem more powerful and authoritative, whereas if a person is shown at a higher angle they seem vulnerable and weak. If a person is shown at an a neutral/eye-level shot, there is less of a psychological effect on the viewer. However, it makes them feel more comfortable with what they are looking at as it is more natural and equal.

The audience expect these features due to previous dance music videos they would have watched featuring these conventions.

I am wanting to include all of these features in my music video, however I am planning to have a bit more variation in order to produce a more interesting video than perhaps popular dance music videos. For example, I will be including a variety of ages.