Music videos

Music video styles

Music videos come in all different styles and genres. There are 7 main categories that they can fit in to:

Narrative

Interpretive

Parody

Pastiche

Performance

Impressionist

Surreal

Narrative Narrative music videos tell a story which is either fiction or no fiction and can follow

both a linear or non linear storyline. An example of a linear music video is Florence and the Machines “Never let me go”

• These videos are very popular when it comes to promoting an Artist’s music as they engage the audience and they are sometimes able to relate to the story being told.

• The story does not always have to relate directly to what the music is saying, and can follow any theme that the artist wishes to produce, for instance Junip’s “Line of fire”

Interpretive These music videos are less straight forward and can have deep,

complex and more abstract meanings behind them.

The idea for interpretive music videos is that the audience can decide what the story means to them and can differ between people.

An example of an interpretive music video is Alexander’s “Truth”

Parody These are music videos that imitative someone else's work and

in doing so mock or trivialize the original piece of work.

Parody's aren't seen very often however they are becoming more and more common.

A notable parody is James Franco’s spoof of the Kanye West and Kim Kardashian music video “Bound 2”

Pastiche These are another type of music video which imitate a

certain thing. This could be the same style or feature similar motifs or even be a copy of the original.

Sometimes a pastiche copies the style form a period in time.

One of the most famous pastiche music videos is Michael Jacksons “Thriller” whereby the 1950s horror movies and 1980s Zombie movies have been referenced.

Performance These are videos which have a live performance

used in them. However, they can also be staged to look like they are a live performance.

An example of this is Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the dark” Which featured 200 extras to play a crowd of people.

Impressionist These music videos are made to make the audience feel a

certain way.

This is done through a mixture of different ways such as the colour used and tempo of the video.

An example of this is Radiohead’s “Street spirit (Fade out)” The black and white colour mixed with the slow motion helps convey a eerie and sad feeling.

Surreal These videos are so strange you cant believe its real.

Mostly animated music videos fall under this style.

A well known animated music video is the Gorillaz “Feel Good”

Techniques

To help promote an artist, music videos will sue a number of different techniques to help captivate an audience.

Some of these techniques are:

Colour – This helps set the genre and mood of a music video, for instance a low key lighting is darkly lit music video is more likely to be a rock or heavy metal band, in comparison to high key lighting which is vibrant and has bright colours which would be more suited to a pop video.

Camera shots and movements – A range of long shots, mid shots and close ups are usually used within a music video to show not only the emotion in a characters face but to help reflect the lyrics of a song. Many tilts, pans, tracking and crane shots can be used whilst shooting a music video, keeping the video interesting and engaging.

Lighting – some music videos use a black and white colour to emphasizes a particular mood. Extra artificial lighting can be used to emphasize a certain feeling or tone to a music video.

Techniques

- Mis-en-scene – This is the setting ,costume, facial expressions, body language and positioning of a character. Mis-en-scene also takes in to consideration the lighting and colour of a scene. This is also extremely important because without these features the music would be very hard to convey any meaning or storyline.

- Editing – These usually refer to the type of cuts made with in a music video. Jump cuts are one of the most predominant type of cuts made, however a mixture of transitions, such as fades and dissolves are also common throughout music videos. Rhythmical editing another common feature in music videos, they help keep the pace and intensity of a music video going.

- Costume and props – These are vital when helping distinguish the genre a music video is to fall in to. They can also play a huge part in influencing the audience as artists are very influential.