how is the effect that music video cameras create acheived?

Question

if you watch videos with lots of dancing (ie. show stopper by danity kane) something about their movements looks very clear. the girlfriend video by avril lavigne makes her skin look airbrushed and smooth. is it the lighting or the camera that makes it appear this way?

Answer 1

This is not something I spend lots of time watching, but what I have seen suggests the answer is a lot of light. In lower light levels, both digital and film photography tend to go big grained and slightly blurry. Movie film is actually a slower fine grained film so lots and lots of light has to be poured into the scene and shaped to make for properly exposed images. With digital there is a similar effect - brightly lighted images are crisper and in the manufactured situation of music videos that means lots of costly lighting instruments and expensive people to aim them so as not to waste the money.