Leo Hodges' presentation of music video genre's to be used on my wix website.

1. MUSIC VIDEO GENRE’S
Leo Hodges

2. PERFORMANCE
This genre of video is pretty self explanatory, it focuses on the band/artist as they sing
or play an instrument, this genre is extremely popular within the Rock music genre yet
it does not exclusively lie within this type of music. With heavier rock, such as
"screamo" or "metal" the video will often be filmed at a concert/festival where the
audience can be seen rocking out to the music too, performance based videos work
very well with this music genre because it can help portray the intensity and excitement
of the music. Pop also uses the performance genre widely, this is because the
performer(s) are often the centre of the music, by this I mean fans listen to them
because of who they are not necessarily because of the music. Therefore performance
allows them to express their personality which is one of their greatest selling points as
an artist. Performance based videos are not always just an artist being filmed, they can
be choreographed too, Two Door Cinema Club are a great example of this, their
clothing and set changes to the song with dancers alongside them giving a more
professional look to the artist and video. Such videos can be seen as more of a
marketing technique than an art form because seeing the artist perform over video can
often lure them into buying a ticket to see them live. The downside to performance
based videos is that they can become 'boring' quite quickly, they need to be cut
quickly, with a wide variety of shots or it is just repetitive and monotonous.

3. NARRATIVE
Narrative videos feature a story playing in the music video, some of these stories can
be more closely related to the lyrics of the music itself whereas some are loosely linked
to the lyrics and more open to interpretation. If the story reflects the lyrics as much as
possible then this is called 'illustration' due to the content of the video essentially
being a translation of the lyrics. 'Amplification' is where the narrative is only
influenced by the lyrics, the themes may not be exactly the same however they will
compliment each other to 'amplify' the meaning of the song, this is a great way to
create a video if the lyrics are related to love and romance because it can evoke strong
emotions within the viewer. The last type of narrative video is 'disjuncture' where the
video holds little relation to the lyrics yet it still has a story, often this type of video will
have an open meaning and ending allowing for a variety of interpretations. No matter
which variety of narrative video is used, they are based on emotions, they are a
marketing tool in the sense that the story is so appealing that it requires repeat
viewings, or it is so abstract that people will keep viewing the video to try and find the
meaning. It is also much more of an art form, a much better way of expressing oneself
through a narrative based story and allows more artistic freedom.

4. CONCEPTUAL
Within a concept music video there is usually no narrative and there is little
relation to the lyrics, or if there is a relation then it is very ambiguous and needs
careful consideration. It is interpretive and often hard to follow, it is up to the
viewer to find their own meaning of the video. They are often very creative, they
are unique which lends them to a more niche type of music, so indie and 'odd'
artists often have a more concept based video in keeping with their unique genre.
They contain lost of symbolism, hidden emotions and meanings, which all come
together to paint a picture. Many conceptual videos will essentially be a montage
of various clips, which all have some form of symbolic reasoning associated with
the song, the beat and rhythm of a song is extremely important with these types
of videos as the clips will be cut quickly or according to the pace of the song,
otherwise it simply doesn't flow or attract an audience. The drawback of this
method is that sometimes the artist/director can go 'too far' to the point where
the audience cannot understand the video at all so are perturbed by it. It also
means the artist themselves cannot promote their own identity, it is up to the
song to impress the viewer rather than them being taken in by the persona of the
artist.

5. OTHER
 Impressionist videos are often abstract like the conceptual videos, and they don't
usually have a direct correlation to the song or its lyrics. They contain new and
exciting visuals which are not usually found in the music video industry and are up
for audience interpretation.
 Animation music videos are really what they say on the tin, they are animated
videos to music. Sometimes they can be partially animated, such as films like Who
Framed Roger Rabbit or they will be fully animated, although most don't contain
children's cartoons. They can be visual based such as arctic monkeys AM which
doesn't contain a narrative and would be considered more of a concept video.
 A parody video, is again, pretty self explanatory. Parodies are often made by fans or
the modern opposite of fans called 'haters' they either joyfully mock the song or
completely mold the song into some form of attack on the artist however this is
much less common. The lyrics can often be changed into a funnier parody but the
song is essentially the same. Homages can also come under this category, this is
where a fan will create a music video or adapt an already made video because they
gained inspiration from the song.

6. SUMMARY
 As with any form of media there are 'cross sections', almost like a
Venn-diagram, where a music video can fit multiple genres.
Performance and narrative work very well together and can be
seen across many videos, this can be where the artist also plays the
persona in the narrative or it will cut to the artist performing where
they do not hold any relevance to the story, this is very popular
within the indie rock genre at the moment as it uses the artist as a
selling point but also draws in an audience because of the
narrative. The genre in which my music video will fit will be this
Performance/Narrative mix as it can create an increasingly
emotional story especially when the artist is also the persona in the
story.