Music Video Styles

MUSIC VIDEO STYLES 

PERFORMANCE

Where the artist is singing into the camera to the song or the music, often at a gig or show setting.

CONCEPT

An abstract idea/theme used throughout the video with help from the visuals.

NARRATIVE

The narrative style in a music video is where the video tells a story as it goes along. The viewer can easily, and normally pretty quickly into the video, see a sequence of events which follows a plot. This can often follow with the lyrics of the video. 

Hip Hop music video conventions:

• in more of an urban, perhaps with a contrast between a more grungier setting e.g backstreets and a  more luxurious things like nice cars, money etc.
• often includes the singer performing to the camera following the lyrics and dancing 
• usually has lots of attractive girls dancing, often not wearing a lot of clothes 
• often in a club or at a party
• lots of alcohol being used
• males can be seen to have a lot more power than women
• people wearing very fashionable clothes and jewellery often designer or very expensive as well
• lots of close ups, especially on the artist performing 
• often tilted and angled shots are used to present power or even chaos
• often a performance style

Rock music video conventions:

• often in a club or at a party
• comparison between daylight and dark/gloomy lighting 
• urban areas
• a narrative and performance style often included with the band/artist performing their song
• often use of instruments
• emphasis on men, giving men power a lot of time
• a lot of close ups of the artists singing
• uses a lot of fast paced editing 
• can often use symbolism to represent the lyrics e.g graveyard setting 
• adoring crowd reacting to the performance

Intertextuality:

Allusion = When a text refers to another to help the audience understand something (e.g a meaning)

Pastiche = When a text refers to another as a mark of effect

Parody = When a text mocks another

Plagiarism = Illegally copying of another text