2. Music Video Pros and Cons

Pros

There are many positive and negative uses for music videos. The 4 primary types of music videos created are, surrealism, performance, parody and narrative. Each type has its differences, the artist or director will decide which type is best matches the song. If a music video wants to be successful it needs to be unique and stand out from every other. An example of a successful music video would be PSY's - Gangnam Style which is the most viewed YouTube video ever with around 2.5 billion views. It is successful due to it being extremely weird and different, the song itself isn't the reason for its success. The video boosted its popularity and downloads however not all of it is positive media, a lot of people disliked the video because it was so weird and random.
Types of lighting used in most music videos, especially for performance videos is low key and narrative is usually high key. Being original is very important to stand out however most music videos feature similar techniques for example a black and white filter used for a dark scene mainly in rock music. Editing is always used for example the speed of edits, action points and filters. Doing this makes the video look more professional. Props are used constantly, a stereotype for rock music would be alcohol, cigarettes, women and instruments, they are used to set the scene so it mimics a real life situation.
There are many different camera shots used, an example would be a close up to show the persons facial expression and a panning shot to show the background and location. A song could have scenes from a film, this will boost sales as people will want to see the film and people watching the film will hear the song making them want to download it. An example of this is the film Armageddon cooperating with Aerosmith’s - I don't want to miss a thing. Songs and music videos can display a deeper meaning which can leave the viewer thinking, most of nirvana's songs leave the viewer thinking.

Cons

However many music videos can receive a lot of hate for being too disturbing or insulting, this can affect the amount of views and downloads the song therefore decreasing the sales as people are offended by it. An example for this is Miley Cyrus's - Wrecking Ball which has millions of views however many people lost respect for her and no longer follow her music affecting her reputation. Make up is always used in music videos on both the guys and girls, doing this can portray a negative image for younger people as they have unrealistic expectations looking like them. Especially with the amount of editing done on them as well.