What would you expect to see in a house music video?

From doing personal research I understand that there are a lot of different elements that go into a house music video. This would generally be made up of components like, costume, performance, narrative, mise-en-scene, lighting, camera and editing. I have narrowed down within those components, what makes a music video specifically house.

Costume

In many house music videos the artist who is singing the song does not appear. It is instead an actor or several actors who play a part in the narrative. There is a great variation in costume depending on the narrative of the music video, but typically the clothing worn would be regular, pedestrian clothing. In some cases costume can be way out there as it fits with the party vibe of the house genre. For example in Oliver Helden's - Shades of Grey he makes an appearance in several animal costumes. Another example would be in Swedish House Mafia's Greyhound, where the people are wearing very futuristic clothing.

This is a visual example of an out of the normal costume from Oliver Helden's - Shades of Grey. This shows that the costumes can be fun and different because typically house music doesn't convey any serious messages. The songs do not try to be didactic so the artist is able to have fun with the music video and make it as visually entertaining as possible. There are many music videos for house tracks that have actors wearing a normal styled outfit rather than something unusual. These music videos tend to have a more realistic narrative to them as it reflects the lives of someone in the music video.

Performance

As I mentioned earlier the typical performance within house music videos is much more upbeat, fun and light-hearted as the lyrics tend to stray away from any topics controversial or serious. The songs usually are based on good emotions and events. So performance wise most of the music videos are made to entertain and to get the audience excited. Rather than some pop songs where the music is slow and saddening, house music is faster, and repetitive. This is because the genre was made for clubs and bars, making people want to dance and have a good time. This is what I feel we need to reflect in our music video.

Narrative
The narrative for most house music videos is quite similar. The story generally seems to show a fragmented version of a persons life. This can range from a tame, realistic story like in Disclosures - You and Me, where we are viewing a couple on their journey through a new town. Or something completely out of the box like Oliver Heldens - Overdrive, where we see an old couple mess around
on their anniversary, as we find out that the woman is actually some sort of alien creature.

I also noticed that a lot of house music videos will reflect the lyrics of the song within the music video, but do it in a way that is clever and creative.For example in Route 94's - My Love. We see the typical club scene that is quite common in house and dance music videos, but is done using a thermal effect. This could be reflecting the repeated lyric "up above, made with the warmth of my" The warmth here is being shown by the thermal camera, This also links in to editing and special effects as many house artists use special effects to enhance the video.

Mise-en-scene
Many house music videos are promoted through the DJ that created the track. Typically, in the music video the DJ will include some sort of trade mark that identifies the song with the artist. For example the artist Disclosure will have drawn figures, usually faces over certain singers or actors. This is to trade mark the video and make it unique. As I have mentioned before most house music videos will take place in real life, showing one or more characters leading a normal narrative. This is generally because house music artists do not need grand and audacious music videos because fans of the genre listen for the music and the sound of the song. Not the stunning visuals that follow along.

Lighting
Lighting plays an important part in music videos. Without lighting we would be able to create mood changing effects that convey a message without the use of any words or sound. For example placing a light to the side of the face to create one side lit and the other blacked out evokes a sense of duality and split personality. Or a balance between good and evil. Lighting is used a lot in house music video to add mood to the song and video.

Disclosure's - White Noise utilises lighting really well to create a mood too the song. In this part of the music video, the main actor is searching a dark tunnel with only a flashlight for vision. This creates an eerie atmosphere for the music video until he begins to dance when then chorus hits. The suspense created is good for the music video as it is engaging and keeps viewers watching. We also are not given any other information through song lyrics or symbols, only lighting is used to evoke emotion.

Camera 
The camera angles tend to follow the standard techniques used in filming music videos. Many have close ups of either the artist or actor in the music video. This is to show a sense of intimacy and give the audience a closer look. House music videos are always dynamic, there is rarely any static camera shots because a fast paced movement style fits better with the song. Accompanying the dynamic camera style is a fast paced fragmented narrative. This is usually portrayed through several wide shots to cover as much of the action that occurs in the video as possible. Due to the artists or singers generally being absent in the music video, The close ups and mid shots are pointed mainly at a female actor. This can be described as they 'male gaze' since it attracts male viewers, observing the female figure.

An example of an effective use of camera would be in Calvin Harris's - How Deep is Your Love. Here the actress is placed under dark lighting with a red tint. Using a close up on her face, this could be a sign or symbol of danger, or an incoming event that could be in some way dangerous. We aren't directly told this in the fragmented narrative or the song lyrics but coupled with the lighting, and the camera showing us the expression on her face, the artist is able to convey emotion visually.

Editing
Many house music videos have a similar editing technique. Because the genre of music is dynamic and fast paced the editing needs to match. Montages are mainly used to create a speedy and engaging scene filled with several pieces of a narrative. Typically within house music videos special effects or after effects are placed onto the video to give it depth. Colour correction is applied to create bright, fun colours such as reds and blues, colours which we wouldn't be able to achieve with just a camera. This allows artists to create emotion and symbolism, like a red tone for danger or a blue ton for tranquility. This would have mainly been done by adding a colour correction, using the editing software.

In this screenshot from MK's - Always, we can see that his shot of a man in a hallway has been colour corrected to make the shot darker than it originally would have been. The weak lighting paired with a darkened brightness and saturation helps to create an almost eerie atmosphere. This in turn creates tension and builds up the narrative for the music video. This shot is then followed by a cut where the man walks through the door and moves from one location to the other. This kind of editing can be found in many house music videos because of the dynamic effect it gives.