Music Video Categories

Sauzanne Micael

Types of Music Videos

A music video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, created forpromotional or artistic purposes. During the pre-production phase, and afterthe analysis of music videos, it is essential, that the type of music video beingproduced is established. There are three different types of music videos thatare created. They act as the foundation for what a music video will be based on.

There three different types include:

Performance based music videos,Narrative based music videos &Concept based music videos

Performance Based Music Videos

This particular type of music video originated in the 1920s, according to my research intothe history of music videos. This was the ultimately the start of music videos featuringthe musical artist or group actually performing live for an audience or possibly just acamera. This was particularly popular in the 1920/30s as this did not require a largefinancial budget and technology was not as developed. However in contemporary times,this type of music video is still popular as audiences are able to watch a high energy liveperformance that they allows them to connect with the music watching the artistdirectly perform it. The direct mode of address makes audiences feel as though they arethere in the moment of performance. Music videos within the indie folk genre are oftenperformance based as the demographic for this particular hybrid genre tend to enjoylistening to the lyrics in a nice calm atmosphere.

The actual song my group and I have decided to base our music video on which is ‘Youth’ by Daughter, has a performance based music video.

This type of music video tends to be most used in the rock genre, as the instruments used, energy of the music usually equals to a uplifting exciting performance which audiences tend to enjoy.

Example of Performance Based Music Videos

An example of a performance based music video is Lucy Rose’s music video for ‘Middleof the Bed’. This music video involves the artist, Lucy Rose, performing the song invarious natural settings in day to day attire directly looking into the camera and singingthe song. This is effective as the lyrics of the song describe what she is going throughusing words such as ‘I’ and ‘Me’. The connotation of these words makes the atmospheremore personable, as the audience can react to the lyrics of the song. As this is song isconsidered to be apart of the indie genre, it reflects a example of what we would betrying to achieve is we chose to create a music video using the idea of performance.

Other examples within either the Indie or Folk genre include: Foo Fighters – My Hero Vampire Weekend –

Cousins Daughter - Youth

Narrative Based Music Videos

Narrative based music videos are simply when the video is based on a synopsis (oftenreflected by the lyrics of the song). These types of music videos became increasinglypopular in the 1950/60s when musical sensations such as Michael Jackson and The Beatlespioneering them. Having a storyline means audiences can getter a different interpretationof the lyrics once they’re made aware of the narrative through the eyes of a protagonistfeatured in the music. This illustration may make a potential audience appreciate the songmore as they can see what an artist envisioned their product to look like. Effectively makingaudiences more attracted to the product. Particularly in the Indie Folk genre, narrativebased music videos are a great way of expressing the music videos as the lyrics for thisgenre tend to be about important topics of discussion. As a result, it will get audiencestalking and sharing their opinions on important issues in society.

This type of video is commonly used for songs that arefeatured in motion picture films with specific scenes cutfrom the movie; placed in the music video. This is usedamongst a few genres. An example of this being ‘Skyfall’by Adele titled after the James Bond franchise movie‘Skyfall’.

Example of Narrative Based Music Videos

Oasis’s music video for ‘Stand By Me’ which is based on people being wrongly seen asbeing criminals simply labelled by societies stereotypes. Throughout the video whatappears to be violent acts occurring by people who are usually depicted as bad in themedia are actually helping the situation. This is a very powerful message as it reflectsnot everything in society is how it looks and people should less judgemental. Thisnarrative highlight a real situation, thus this music video brings light to the topicpotentially making audiences go out and converse over what they have seen.

Other examples within either the Indie or Folk genre include: Damien Rice – 9

Crimes Bon Iver –

Holocene Mumford and

Sons – Lover of the light

Concept based Music Videos

Concept based music videos require the foundation of the editing to be concentrated onone particular idea or theme. Most videos have different concepts, however this type isstuck on one form of relaying what the song means. As a result of this, the music videofocuses heavily on it use of editing; including the pace of editing depending on how upbeatthe song or the build up of the symbolism either supporting or contradicting the lyrics ofthe song. This type of video tends to be very unique.

Example of Concept Based Music Videos

The music video for the Artic Monkeys hitsong ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ is editedthroughout to look like a heart rate line orthe electrical activity of a heart. This cleverlyrelates to the content; finding out about yourpartners activity.

My Music Video

My group and I have decided to focus on a narrative based musicvideo as we felt this would give us the opportunity to be creativeon what the potential storyline could be. Also, the song ‘Youth’ byDaughter is about young people and the social issues of thedifferent pressures they find themselves facing. We wanted achance to portray our perspective of how this affects the potentialtarget audience which we essentially are apart of. Therefore wewould be creating something that we may enjoy enjoy watching.