THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC VIDEOS AND CINEMA

International Journal of Computer Science (IJCS) Published by SK Research Group of Companies (SKRGC)

Abstract

Music videos and cinema have developed in close conversation for more than four decades. Both forms rely on moving image, rhythm, performance, montage, and sound to generate meaning, yet they do so with different aims and industrial logics. Cinema generally tells a sustained narrative, while music videos condense identity, mood, and spectacle into a short audiovisual form centered on a song. This article examines how storytelling, visual style, and editing techniques overlap between music videos and movies. It argues that the music video has influenced cinematic language through rapid montage, stylized lighting, fragmented narrative, performance-centered imagery, and heightened synchronization between image and sound. In turn, cinema has shaped music videos by contributing methods of character building, spatial composition, visual continuity, and genre expression. Using a qualitative literature review, the article shows that the two forms share an intermedial relationship in which each borrows and transforms the other’s techniques. The findings suggest that music videos often operate as miniature cinematic worlds, while contemporary films increasingly adopt music-video aesthetics to intensify emotion, market characters, and create memorable sequences. The article concludes that the relationship between music videos and cinema is not one of simple influence in a single direction, but rather a dynamic exchange that continues to shape popular visual culture.

References

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Keywords

Music video, cinema, visual style, editing, storytelling, montage, audiovisual culture, intermediality.