DIFFERENT TYPES OF MUSIC VIDEOS

After some brief research into the different types of music video, it has come to my attention that there are 3 main types of music video. To ensure that I make the correct choices when producing my own music video, I will evaluate each type of video and discuss the main features of each and how they best suit the music they are paired with.

1.Narrative Based Video

This type of music video is based heavily on the moving images telling a story. It usually involves actors, sometimes well recognised ones such as Megan Fox, to portray the story which relates to the song’s lyrics. This type of music video is particularly popular for songs which are featured in movies and you will often see scenes cut into the music video. A good example of this is ‘Jump’ by Girls aloud which was originally written for the film Love Actually. The video below, ‘Stole’ by Kelly Rowland is a perfect example of a narrative based video as it contains many different narratives which all come together at the end of the film.

This music video, accompnied by music from Kelly Rowland is very unique due to the way the narrative is explored. The story matches the lyrics exactly although instead of telling one persons story it tells many which all come together at the end as one. It also includes Kelly Rowland throughout the piece appearing as if she was a student at the school the narrative unfolds in. It also focuses on one particular age group, older teenagers, which slighly aims it at a specific target audience.

2.Performance based video

These are easy to produce music videos, especially when you are working on a smaller budget. They feature the artist/band/group performing the song throughout the majority of the video, if not it all and it features largely on different camera angles. It requires a suitable backdrop for filming. Below is an example of this type of music video, ‘Best of You’ by Foo Fighters. The majority of this music video shows the band performing the song combined with small clips from others sources. As you can see from video, it focuses largely on different camera angles which creates suspense for the audience.

This music video focuses largely on different camera angles to show the band performing their own song in an extravagent way. A lot of close up’s of each singer allows the viewer to see who is actually singing. It has been combined with a selection of extra clips which relate back to the lyrics although this is just to add entertainment value to the actual music video. At the very beginning of the clip, the camera focuses on one particular singer which allows us to build up to the centre of the song where the most passion is shown.

3.Concept based video

The least common type of music video until recent years, this is a unique style of music video that is based around a single concept or idea. These types of video tend to be very rare to come by as they are fairly unusual or utilize a particular editing or filming technique. Due to the commercial world demanding things are more accessible it is increasingly hard to come by this type of music video although below is a great example. This music video is called ‘Warriors Dance’ by the Prodigy.

Throughout this video, the viewer does not once see a real person present and instead concentrates of a concept involving paper themed ‘people’ as warriors. This video has been produced using a lot of different editing effects which in turn had created a narrative in a concept based music video. Although this type of music video is very unusual and original as well as being effective, the time spent making this type of music video is much longer and some people, including critics, do not agree with this type of music video.

Although I have described the videos as being one particular type, this is unusual and many videos are made up of different types. Most videos incorporate a mixture of elements from each of these three types eg. An artist performance paired up with some narrative footage. A lot of modern day videos use this technique with one example being ‘Love the way you lie’ by Eminem. The example I show below is a well-known music video which uses all three techniques shown above. The video begins with a narrative, has a performance centre and finishes with a concept based video where people’s faces blend and change. This music video Is ‘Black and white’ by Michael Jackson.

This very popular music video by Michael Jackson is one which combines all three of the techniques mentioned above although this does not always aid the viewer in understanding the idea behind the song. Compared to the very basic narrative at the beginning, the centre of the music video is very alive and there is much change in backdrop etc. It finishes with a very abstract piece showing the changing of people’s faces as they blend into each other. As all three types of music video are combined, there is a wide range of camera angles used throughout and the music video is a much longer piece compared to average music videos.

Although this may work well for some music videos, I feel that it is not guarenteed to work for all kind of music. Depending on the song that I choose for my music video I will then have to make a decision in relation to what type of music video I will produce. This relies largely on the lyrics within the song and also what ideas I generate from listening to the song. For example, some pairings may not work such as joining an emotional track with a concept based video. Each type of music video is very particular and each has its own conventions and whichever I choose to use I will need to ensure that I stick to these guidelines.