Categories of music videos

1. Performance
Performance basedvideosshowonlythe band/artistperformingthe song.
It isthe cheapestandeasiesttype of videotomake,provingthe type of locationyouchoose.
A large varietyof shotsneedtobe usedin quicksuccessioninorderto keepthe videointeresting,as
there isa risk itcouldlookboringwithonlyperformance.
Narrative
Narrative basedmusicvideoscontainmostlyfootagethatshowsastoryline thatrunsthroughout,or
sometimesseveral storylinesrunningparallel toeachother.
Sometimeswithactorsorthe artiststhemselves,the storyisinsyncwiththe lyricsto the song,or
justthe overall theme.
If a songhas beenfeaturedinamovie,the musicvideowill oftenshow footage fromthe filmthat
are cut intothe musicvideo
Thisstyle of musicvideoisgoodfor suggestingthemestothe audience,howeveritisharderto film,
and there ismore to thinkaboutlocation,actors,mise enscene etc.andit couldbe more expensive
to organise
However,there isadangerof the videolookingtoocheesyandunoriginal if the narrative wereto
followthe lyricstooclosely.
Conceptual
Conceptual videosare basedarounda conceptor idea.
Thistype of videoisfairlyunusual andare a lotharderto film, mostlybeingdone witheditingand
special fx,andwouldthereforebe notonlyhardertodo, butalso more expensive
These typesof videosaren’tverypopularastheyare not veryeasyto relate to,soveryfew videos
are purelyconceptual.
However…..
Most videoshave alittle of everything
Thisnot onlymakesiteasierforthe audience torelate butitalso hasa widerrange of appeal,
however,itwouldalsobe more complicatedtoshootandmore expensive.
One videothathas a good example of amixture of all of these thingsisBlackandWhite by Michael
Jackson
Thisvideohasa narrative at the beginning,performance intertwinedthroughoutanda conceptual
part at the end.
Likewise mostmusicvideoswill have elementsof all 3typesof videowith performance