Transitions in Music Videos

After researching into different types of cuts and transitions, I have looked at music vidoes to see the most commonly used ones. I have chosen to watch music videos from artists who could be linked with our actress' style and those with a similar story line as this will effect the cuts and transitions. For example, our video is fast paced so a slow song would most likely have different cuts to make it appear soothing and calm.

Kesha, We are who we are
We feel that Kesha links well with our actress and music video and I have therefore firstly looked at the music video for her song 'We r who we r'.

Parallel editing Cutting

Here is an example of parallel editing cutting which shows the same scenes but from a variety of shots, making it more exciting and interesting for the viewer. The cuts are quick and therefore makes the music video fast paced. The image shows 4 different cuts of the same scene, using a range of angles.

Here is another example. The left image shows a mid shot of the DJ's with the laptop, while the second is a close up of the laptop screen. The scene is the same but the shots are very different with a simple cut separating them.

Dissolve

The images above show the stages from a close up shot of the singer turning into a long shot of a group of people. A dissolve transition was used as the middle image shows the original picture fading and the last image coming into view. It does not go black in between however, showing it is not a fade.



This image also shows the dissolve transition being used, with a close up of the singer turning into a long shot of a tunnel. It effectively makes two very contrasting views link into one another.

Miley Cyrus, Party in the USA

Miley Cyrus, Party in the USA is a music video starring a young girl roughly the same age of our actress. Though the setting is quite different (in this it is hot and summer, while ours is set in the winter) it is the same sort of speed and therefore appropriate to look at.

Parallel Editing Cutting

Once again, this cutting technique has been used, showing the same scene but in a range of angles, meaning regular cuts.

This cut however, is less obvious in showing that the scene is the same.

Fade in/ out

Going from left to right, the above images show a sequence of how the music video uses the transition of fading to change shots. Between the two different scenes, the screen goes black briefly and then fades in as equally slowly as it faded out to the next scene.

Beyonce, Best Thing I Never Had

Beyonce's music video for 'Best thing I Never had' does not necessarily link to the style of our song or plan for the music video but is one of the few videos I can think of that includes a story in the present and then flashback to the past and so I wanted to see how this change was cut to show the time difference.

Despite thinking there would be a particular transition to show the flashback, the music video just cuts to this scene in a basic cut. The difference in time is consquently shown in the effects used rather than the transition, for example the past in this video is shown as if it was filmed on a video camera.