An important person in the music video industry, Andrew Goodwin's 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory' (image right) summarised the forms and conventions of music videos, identifying that their main objective was to encourage sales of the artist's music, as well as to promote them. It was designed to accompany a pre-existing music track, and often presented a relationship between lyrics and visuals to help amplify, illustrate or contradict the lyrics' meaning.
Lyrics will also tend to help establish a general mood and feeling rather than a coherent meaning with abstract terms like loss and meaning. However key lines may play a part in the visual but very rarely will a music video illustrate it wholesale. Some songs feature the lyrics on screen throughout the whole song, a example of which being Calvin Harris's song 'We'll be coming back' where the lyrics are ever-present on screen. Another interesting example is Coldplay's song 'Every Teardrop is a Waterfall' which is largely shot in stop motion with the lyrics to the song being painted along floors and walls as they are sung (image below).
Particular music genres would have their own particular style and iconography, which would contribute to the artist developing their own style and iconography in and out of their music videos which would in time become part of their
star image, an example of this being Lady Gaga (image right) whose strange, kooky videos, outfits and style have helped her become one of the most popular artists in the world, who likely would not be as popular as she is without her music videos. Often in music videos there are references to voyorism particularly in treatment of women and also in terms of men looking at women in a sexual light, highlighted with the use of screens within screens like looking through binoculars or windows.
They may also have intertextual references to films, books and even T.V, which would help to cross promote both things, such as Dire Strait's song: Romeo and Juliet (image left). In ways of editing music videos will tend to make use of the tempo of the track which drives the video, e.g cuts are a lot smoother in ballads with transitions such as dissolves and may emphasise particular sounds from the track by foregrounding instruments such as a guitar, keyboard or drum solo. Although the most common form of editing associated with music videos is fast cut montage rendering with many images rendered impossible to grasp on first viewing (resulting in repeated viewings and more promotion for the video), some videos use slower and calmer cuts and transitions to establish a certain mood. As with any video, how the camera is used and how images are sequenced has a massive emphasis on how a song is portrayed and what its meaning is. Camera movements may accompany the movement of performers such as when they are walking or dancing but can also be used to create a more dynamic feel to a stage performance with close ups predominating to create a sense of intimacy with the artist. This can also be done through the artist breaking the fourth wall between the artist and the audience, e.g. looking at the camera.
Mise-en-scene can be extremely important in a music video and can instantly establish the mood and setting of it, as well as the style of the song. A formal setting could be created by a dark, dull coloured with old furniture, old fashioned wallpaper as well as the way people are clothed. E.g. older men in suits will create a more tense, strict
atmosphere than if there were younger men in casual wear. The costume for the artist/s is also very important. It inaugurates how the artist is meant to be portrayed in the video, such as if he/she is dressed in formal wear then he/she could be at work. Chroma key is also commonly used instead of an actual physical background if a suitable location cannot be found and to reduce cost. This type of video will usually take on a narrative form but it can sometimes just be a performance; the costumes will create a sense of what the artist is trying to look like, e.g. in a heavy metal band the band will generally be dressed in an outrageous style (Slipknot image below) which contributes to their performance persona and have influenced many fans to strive to achieve that look. Bands such as Slipknot use these outfits to distinguish themselves from other artists and instantly grab attention of people. Artists often indulge in extravagant outfits to make themselves unique and grab the interest of people from first glances purely from their look. A less dark, serious image could be that of
Elton John (image left) with his different looking glasses and in his earlier years his crazy outfits. These alone could have been John expressing his sexuality, just as how many female artists today express their sexuality with revealing outfits. Music videos can also be used in attempt for the artist to try and reinvent themselves, a good example being Geri Halliwell. After leaving the Spice Girls she needed to establish herself as an individual artist and develop her own particular style. This was especially important for her as she was renowned for being a bit on the large side, and this was the main cause of her depression which led to her leaving the group. As such, when the music video for "It's Raining Men", a lot of the camera was focused on her new, slim body, used to advertise how fit she now was, as she was often criticised because of her weight. Often outfits are changed throughout the video in an attempt to change the mood or show time passing by, as well as to interpret particular lyrics and portray them visually. The artist doesn't ave to be a good actor for a narrative video to be filmed and could be acting as a narrative voice or a conscience, similar to a play. An examples of this is: Eminem's feat. Rihanna "Love The Way You Lie" (video below). 
"Just gonna stand there and watch me burn" and "If she ever tries to fucking leave again Im'a tie her to the bed and set this house on fire" are physically represented on screen with the girlfriend playing with fire (image above right) in her hand and Eminem and Rihanna standing in front of a burning house (image left). However, most of the time lyrics tend to offer establish the general mood and feeling rather than a coherent meaning, thus lyrics are mostly used as more of an explanatory tool to what is happening in the video with narrative purposes. Another notable feature of this film is using Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan, both well known actors which add a celeb star status as well as intertextuality; Eminem chose Monaghan personally because of his versatility which would help him play the dark role of the boyfriend effectively. 
The music and particularly the tempo of the track will dictate how the video will be edited, such as how short cuts and how fast transitions are, e.g. in a slow ballad the cuts would be less frequent and may make more use of transitions such as dissolves than in a fast drum and bass song. This means that the tempo will drive the editing and will tend to concentrate on particular parts of the track which are significant, e.g. the camera will focus on the guitar player and his instrument during a guitar solo. There is also a significant demand from the record company for lots of close ups on the artist or lead singer as they are generally considered to be the most important part of a track and are therefore made most important in the video, which also develops a sense of intimacy with the audience; it makes them feel as if the artist is addressing the audience themselves, an example of which being in Geri Halliwell's video 'It's Raining Men' where at the end of the video she looks at the camera and kisses (image above right).
"There is to be reference to voyeurism particularly in treatment to women but also in terms of systems of looking (screens within screens)"
This has been a regular target for many record companies over the years particularly with female artists, since the notion of looking relates to this, voyeurism is often used as a form of sexualisation in videos. This is done so as to gain more video views through using women as a form of marketing; a lot of the time female artists would dance in their videos which is particularly common in Pop, e.g. Beyonce in her video 'All the Single Ladies' (image below). It also features a lot in Rap in Hip Hop videos.
