Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band). : For instance the expressions and gestures Hayley Williams makes during the music video 'Misery Business' she looks at the camera directly adressing the audience several times through out the song.
There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). For instance in Cee Lo Green's- Forget You. The video is taking place in a diner. It shows Cee Lo's life of bad luck with a woman known as 'The Heartbreaker' all consisting inside the Diner. Cee Lo keesps attempting to woo the woman but fails each time. The lyrics consist of lines such as ''Sorry, I can't afford a Ferarri. But that don't mean I can't get you there'' A young Cee Lo goes up to the Heartbreaker, who is sitting with another boy. He offers to let the Heartbreaker play with his toy garbage truck, but she ignores him and walks away with the other boy, who has a toy Ferrari F40.
The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style). For instance Dave Grohl in 'the pretender'. There are several close ups of Dave in action playing the guitar and singing into the microphone. In the music video, he keeps his eyes focused straight ahead at the camera facing directly towards the front, which is clearly directing the audience.
There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) for instance Adam Levine in the retro televisions in the electronics store in gym class heroes latest song, Stereo Hearts. Also the particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body such as the female in closer by Ne-yo seductively dancing and lying on a table in front of Ne-yo in a tight body suit emphasising her Curves especially with the white backdrop making the curves stand out while she has dark tanned skin and darker tights on outlining her features, also illustrating the lyrics.There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).
