Sven E Carlsson developed a theory categorizing music videos into two main types: performance and conceptual. Performance videos focus on the artist, and may feature them as a commercial exhibitionist, televised bard, or electronic shaman. Conceptual videos tell a narrative story either through clips (silent movies synchronized to the song) or art clips with no narrative. Both types of videos often use binary opposites to drive the narrative forward, such as light vs dark. The document provides examples of videos that fit each category and discusses their characteristics.

1. SVEN E CARLSSON –
MUSIC VIDEO THEORIST
WHAT MAKES A MUSIC VIDEO:

2. SVEN E CARLSSON’S THEORY:
Performance
Conceptual
The Two Main Types of Music
Video
This type of Music Video includes:
 The Commercial Exhibitionist – merely
advertising/selling the artist.
 The Televised Bard – A narrator or singing
storyteller using on screen images instead
of inner, personal thoughts.
 The Electronic Shaman – voice anchors the
video.
This type of Music Video includes:
 Narrative Clip: The Music Video is understood
as an easy to follow, silent movie with no lip
synchronisation.
 Art Clip: The Music Video contains no
perceptual visual narrative.
Also Includes
Binary Opposites – Drive the narration of a Music Video forward.
Examples include: Black vs. White, Light vs. Dark, Good vs. Evil, Male vs. Female and
others.

3. PERFORMANCE MUSIC VIDEOS:
 Commercial Exhibitionist
A Commercial Exhibitionist music video is where the sole purpose is to sell the artist. This is
achieved by portraying the artist as successful (in the given context) and consequently make the
viewer idolise and aspire to be like the artist.
An example of this type of music video is: ‘Katy Perry – Roar’. This music video revolves around
Katy Perry becoming the ‘Queen of the Jungle’, in this video she can easily be seen as a selling
item as well as a role model to aspire to. She is surrounded by a luxurious setting to show her
reward of success, as well as high key lighting to accommodate scenes of her simply singing to
the camera; this highlights facial features such as the eyes. Overall, demonstrating her success
and the viewer’s desire to be like her. Perry’s success is also evoked by Binary Opposites, such
as: Male vs. Female – there are only two characters in this music video (One Male; One Female)
and the Male is quickly disposed of, showing the female artist’s success. Another opposition is
Cowardice vs. Bravery – Perry is originally a coward during the opening but overcomes her fears
to be seen as brave, presenting her as a successful figure. The final one being Natural vs. Man
Made – Perry originally arrives on a man made aircraft and is wearing man made clothes, as the
music video develops she disposes of the man made attributes and successfully uses natural
remedies to cleanse her fears.

4. PERFORMANCE MUSIC VIDEOS:
 Televised Bard
A Televised Bard music video is where the artist acts as a narrator or singing storyteller of on
screen imagery instead of inner, personal thoughts. This type of narrative is often successfully
understood because the music video revolves around the lyrics, giving meaning to the visuals.
An example of this type of music video is: ‘Tonight Alive – Lonely Girl’. The band are seen
performing in the same setting as the narrative, however the band are not directly involved. The
artist therefore acts as the narrator to the story, about a girl who is secluded and ‘lonely’ due to
refusing help from others, despite being offered it. By creating a narrative which is highly relevant
to the lyrics, this achieves an easily understandable music video which also shows the artist
performance of the song. Binary Opposition is also intertwined within the music video, examples
of these include: Single vs. Multiple – this relates to the idea of being ‘lonely’ within the music
video, the girl in the narrative is at her lowest when she is lonely but chooses not to stay in a
group. Help vs. Hinder – The concept of her Mother wishing to help her daughter, but her daughter
refusing her help which hinders her own mental health.

5. PERFORMANCE MUSIC VIDEOS:
 Electronic Shaman
An Electronic Shaman music video is where the voice anchors the narrative, the artist’s have no
visual presence in the music video only their soundtrack is present to overlay the song. The song
itself usually mirrors the content of the music video too, to help give understanding to the
audience.
An example of this type of music video is: ‘Mayday Parade – Hold Onto Me’. The narrative
revolves around teenagers whom have been isolated from society and eventually find acceptance
in each other, during the climax of the music video. Editing techniques help create the solemn
tone and atmosphere, an example of this are the pacing of the cuts: they’re often cut to the beat of
the drums as well as making most clips slow-motion to convey the steady and moderate pace of
the song. Binary Opposites are too a key element in making this a successful electronic shaman
music video, these include: Isolation vs. Integration – this is the most prominent point of them, as
all characters are greeted with a happy ending when they integrate with each other. Light vs. Dark
– this moves the narrative of the video forward as all character come closer to light up the area
around them together (with flashlights).

6. CONCEPTUAL MUSIC VIDEOS:
Narrative Clip
A Narrative Clip music video is where the video is understood as a silent movie, it includes no lip
synchronisation. This is commonly achieved by creating a narrative which mirrors the lyrics, giving
us a deeper understanding and a stronger connection to the video itself.
An example of this type of music video is: ‘Ed Sheeran – The A Team’. The narrative revolves
around a female homeless young adult who sells her body for money and eventually commits
suicide due to these actions. The artist Ed Sheeran, offers a story to accommodate his song to
give a thorough emotional attachment to the song and video. The effects such as the use of
greyscale help perpetuate the mood and tone of the song, the pacing of the cuts too help keep the
song sombre. Binary Opposition also acts as a catalyst to the music video’s sombre tone, some
examples include: Poverty vs. Wealth – due to the girl being so poor she cannot participate in any
activities she would enjoy, this contrasts with the man who does have money and consequently
pays her to have sex with him. Greyscale vs. Colour – all of the terrible events unfold in greyscale,
the only time the music video could be considered ‘happy’ is at the end when the screen is
coloured and the silhouette of her is symbolic of an angle in heaven.

7. CONCEPTUAL MUSIC VIDEOS:
Art Clip
An Art Clip music video is where the video itself has no perceptual visual narrative, in that, there is
no story to the music video. The video is likely to be as a whole a visual symbol for a greater
theme; the music video sometimes also has little to do with the lyrics or music themselves.
An example of this type of music video is: ‘Paramore – Anklebiters’. The video itself has no
narrative, it does not develop as time progresses, it’s simply a compilation of different scenarios
animated revolving around the idea of those who try and bring you down (‘ankle biters’)do not
succeed. This Art Clip does reflect elements of the original song and lyrics, whenever cuts are
made they’re usually to the beat and the fast paced transitions are similar to that of the song.