Types and styles of Music Videos

1. Types and Styles of Music
By Fatima Nawaz

2. • Music Videos follow certain conventions to allow
institutions to meet audience expectations.
• Three visual traditions are most commonly followed
- Film singers/bands
- Inserted Images/ Video shots
- Experimental film tradition
• Conventionally Music videos are supposed to depict the
meaning of the lyrics; Andrew Goodwin states 3
approaches to this.
• Lyrics in music videos:
- Illustrates
- Amplify
- Disjuncture

3. TYPES OF MUSIC
VIDEOS
Performance
based
Narrative based
Conceptual/
Artistic based
STYLES OF MUSIC VIDEOS
Animation
Interpretive
Impressionist
Surrealist
Inter-textuality
Allusion

4. Performance Based Music Video
• Singing
• Concert and
livefootage
• Instrumental
• Dance
e.g. Demons by
Imagine Dragons
Sven Carlsson Theory
A performance video heavily focuses on the artist. There are characteristics, Carlsson believes
are present in all music videos of this category;
• The commercialist exhibitionist – willing to sell their image/style/selves for money and fame
• The television band – A narrator or singing story teller creation of poetry between images
• The electronic shaman – embodies different characters and shifts to be part of different
scenes.

5. Narrative Based Music Video
• Almost likea silent
story to a musical
background
• Contains a visual story
• No lip synchronized
singing
e.g. Alone by
Alan Walker
Forms of Narrative:
• Linear
• Non-Linear
• Broken
Narrative Theories:
• Levi Strauss – Binary Opposition
• Todorov – EquilibriumTheory
• Cameo Performance – a brief appearance or voice part of a well-known person
in the work of the performing arts, typically unnamed or appearing as themselves.

6. Conceptual and Artistic Based
• Conceptual music videos
are based around a single
concept or idea
• Could be abstract or artistic
• Mostly polysemic (open
ended)
e.g. Chandelier by Sia
• Artistic music videos are usually about being
abstract and imaginative
• These are open to interpretation
• These videos are can be symbolic (used to
build meaning)

7. Styles of Music Video
Animation – 2D and 3D animation and effects
Interpretive – how the viewer interprets the music video
Impressionist – making a fantasy, taking the audience
away from reality
Surrealist – unreal elements, dream like
Inter-textuality – one media text is referred to another
- pastiche
- parody
Allusion – keeping the audience curious

8. Animation
The English alternative rock
band, Gorillaz exist in the form of
2D animated characters.
All the music videos are
animated and the members are
completely fictional and are not
personas of any 'real life'
musicians involved in the project.
Their ficational universe is
explored through the band's
website and music videos, as
well as a number of other media
such as short cartoons.
Feel Good Inc. - Gorillaz

9. Interpretive
The music video for Sia's song
'Elastic Heart' is Interpretive.
Different people may view it
from different perspectives,
thus giving it objectivity to
what the content of the
video actually means.
For some it may be holding
onto their childhood, dealing
with nternal struggles and so
on.

10. Impressionist
This style of music video can be used to
mae the audience feel a certain way by
creating and representing emotions or
ideologies. The video may represent the
song and lyrics to help undestand what
the song is about.
The A team by Ed Sheeran, narrates the
story of a homeless girls who sleeps with
strangers to get mney for drugs and
eventually dies of an overdose.
The entire video is in black and white to
give it a gloomy effect and the video
narrativegoes according to the lyrics of
the song itself.

11. Surrealist
Little Talks by Of Monsters and
Men, falls in this category.
The music video shows a
fantasy dream like story
involving sky sailor, a beautiful
female creature who fights of
a two-headed bird, a sea
monster and what not.
It takes the viewer away
from rality usingunreal
elements and creates a
whole new world to
percieve through the
video.

12. Inter-Textuality
One of the best examples of Inter-
textuality in music videos is Dani
California by Red Hot Chilli Peppers,
where they dress up and act like
popular music bands and artists as
they perform their song.
Artists they feature in their video
include Elvis, the Beatles, the Misfits,
Nirvana, Greenday, Prince and many
others.

13. Allusion
Take me to Church by Hozier
brings an elemnt of curiosity as
the video starts with a man
burying a box wrapped in
chains.
Through the course of the
video it is given due
importance but the audience
is never shown what is inside
and in the end the box is
thrown in the fire and the
audience will never find out
what is in the box.