The document discusses different categories of music videos including performance, conceptual, and narrative styles. Performance videos focus on the artist performing, conceptual videos are based on an idea rather than performance, and narrative videos tell a story. Popular genres like pop often use narrative styles while rock may use conceptual or performance. Examples are provided for each category to illustrate their distinguishing characteristics.

1. Music videos- The basics…

2. Categories
There are lots of different categories of music videos, these
include:
• Performance
• Conceptual
• Narrative
• Gag/Trick
• Dance
• Animation
• Party/club
• Film clip

3. The 3 main categories…
Despite there being multiple music video categories, most videos more
or less follow the same three styles…
• Performance
• Conceptual
• Narrative
Different genres tend to follow different categories, for example pop
music videos often tend to follow a narrative style, whereas Rock tends
to lean more towards conceptual or performance.

4. Performance-Features the artist/band performing, sometimes takes
place in different locations with the performers wearing different outfits
in each shot
Lady Gaga- Applause
The music video for Applause is a performance
video as the main focus of the video is Gaga and
she performs the song to the viewer. Throughout the
video, the audience is kept engaged through Gaga’s
countless costume changes and the dramatic hair
and makeup she has. Furthermore the setting is all
in front of a black background, however it has the
effect that it has changed due to the different props
used and special effects.

5. One direction- What makes you beautiful
What makes you beautiful is a performance
video as it consists of the band performing
the song and showcasing themselves as a
group. Despite the fact the video is focused
on One direction as a whole, the video
constantly shot both Harry Styles and Liam
Payne, indicating that they were the most
favored out of the band. The video was all
shot in one location (on a beach), however
they moved around the beach a lot making
it more interesting for the viewer. The
members of the band all wore one outfit
throughout and made strong eye contact
enabling a bond with the viewer to form.

6. Conceptual- The artist/band neither perform nor often even
appear in concept videos- they are based off an
idea/concept.
R.E.M- Everybody hurts
Everybody hurts is a conceptual music video as it is based off of
an idea/concept. However it defies the norms of concept videos as
it features the band, and the lead singer does perform the chorus;
however it isn’t classed as a performance video as the main
theme of the video is the concept behind it and the displaying of
people’s thoughts. The message that everyone hurts is shown
through the thoughts and lyrics that appear onscreen, but the
chorus displays the actual lyrics to the song and not people’s
thoughts perhaps representing that it is normal to hurt and
everyone is going through something. The traffic jam which is the
basis of the video may represent that people come to a standstill
in life every now and then but everyone can come together and
uplift and support one another.

7. Ok Go- Here it goes again
The music video for Ok Go’s ‘Here it goes again’ is a conceptual
video as it focuses on the concept of the treadmills. However, it
could be argued that perhaps the video is performance-concept
as the band are performing whilst also basing the video off of an
idea/concept. The video is shot in one take allowing the viewer to
follow the treadmill dance clearly and adding a clear sense of
continuity to the video. The band wear the same outfits throughout
and have matching colour schemes. The music video is set in one
location and it can be viewed as quite a low budget video due to
the grey background, simple idea behind it, lack of special effects
and camera quality.

8. Narrative- Has a clear story with a beginning, middle and
end, often intercut with performances from the band/artist
David Guetta
Titanium is a narrative video
as it is focused on a story
that has no direct relation to
the lyrics but there is a clear
beginning, middle and end.
Furthermore, there is wide
amounts of setting due to
the fact the protagonist is on
the run. The characters
remain in one outfit
throughout.

9. Katy Perry- Thinking of you
Katy Perry’s Thinking of you is a narrative
video as it has a clear story that runs
throughout it. The video is set in 1940s
post war America and contains flashbacks
of Perry’s previous relationship with a
dead soldier. The idea of the flashbacks
and memories of her past relationship ties
in well with the lyrics of the song and
therefore creates a link between the video
and the song. There are a range of
locations used throughout and the video is
very green and country based, with
definite hints of the ‘old south’ present.