Genres of Music Videos

Music videos are mainly categorized into three classifications: 

1) Performance – A performance based music video’s are focused on the artist or group performing the track. A band that shows this are One Night Only – “You and Me” This band represent a performance based music video as This video shows all of the band in a performance of the song. In this video they have changed scenes to the beat of the music e.g. the crowd clapping with the music. Also the main singer is lip-syncing to the audience. The use of close ups they have used for each of the band members.

  

2) Narrative - A Narrative based music is about telling a story or part of a story, which is normally linked to the lyrics. An artist that shows this is Amy Winehouse - "You Know I'm No Good" I have chosen this artist to represent a narrative based music video as it tells a story through the music, characters, editing and the locations. In this video they have used a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The use of clips to show the notion of looking, where they have had reflections, photos of the artists or screens within screens.


3) Conceptual - A concept based music video's are abstract, using a range of images to suggest a mood or experience but not a straightforward narrative. A band that shows this is OK-GO "Here it goes again" I have chosen this video to represent a concept based music video, as it looks easy to shoot, as it was shot with a static camera meaning that there were no changes in angle. Also this video was taken in one session so any mistake that they could have made would not have been cut out. In this video there has been no performing or narrative as is no story behind this. The main focus in this video is the band using the treadmills to the beat of the music.