media styles of music videos

1. PERFORMANCE BASED,
NARRATIVE BASED OR
CONCEPT BASED MUSIC VIDEOS
By Yasemin Sehri

2. Performance Based Music Videos
Performance based music videos often contain close up
shots of the artist and bands as well as the instruments they
are playing, the whole video tends to be of a one
performance filmed from different angles which provides a
more engaging finished product. Occasional cutaways of
shots that aren't relevant to the performance may also be
used. An example of a performance based music video is,
The 1975’s ‘UGH!’ The entire video is of the band
performing with cutaways of close ups of lip syncing as well
as of the instruments. This style of music video is very
popular in the indie music genre as the focus tends to be on
the instruments.

3. Concept based Music Videos
Concept based music videos are based upon a single
theme or idea, they tend to be a bit hard to
understand and can be interpreted in various different
ways, narratives in concept based videos can be very
strong if there as a strong ideology message behind it
or very loose if the idea is more visually artistic. An
example of a concept- based music video is, Vance
Joys ‘Riptide’ The video is very aesthetically pleasing
and interesting to watch, there is no story line but
there is a running theme of women and photography.

4. Narrative Based Music Videos
• Narrative based music videos often tell stories that
either features in the lyrics or that is suggested in the
lyrics and the video will amplify them. This style of
music video helps connote meanings to the lyrics of
songs and illustrating the lyrical content. They tend
to follow the generic beginning, middle and end
layout. This style can be seen in Mikas ‘Popular
Song’ The visuals of the video amplify the lyrics
and a story is created around it.