Styles, Conventions and Techniques of Music Videos

Introduction

In this essay I will be exploring the different styles, conventions and techniques within the industry of music videos, throughout all the genres and eras such as narrative and surrealist videos

In Concert and ‘As Live’ Footage

Concert or a 'live' footage video is where a music video is made up of footage from the artist's concerts and live performances. Bring Me The Horizon done this for their song 'Drown'  in which the whole band is set up on a stage and plays out the song, with the camera and crew being the audience.


Narrative and Interpretive

A narrative music video is one in which there is a story the audience can follow. An example of this type would be Kodoline's 'All I Want' in which a person with facial abnormalities fall in love with a co-worker but is ridiculed for his appearance by other men, but eventually gets the girl. This narrative is told over the course of the 5 minute song.





Interpretive music videos are where the lyrics of the song match the actions of the video. This is amongst some of the most common styles of music video. The video for the Foster The People's song 'Call it What You Want' does this. In the video, some of the actions that the lyrics portray, happen in the video. This happens when the line 'call it what you want' is said and the actors all pull out megaphones and start to call out.



Surrealist/Absurdist

Surrealist and absurdist music videos are made when the video includes something that's represented in a highly exaggerated and extremely over the top manner. These kinds of videos don't often merge with other forms of music videos as they are often too 'out there' or surreal to be portrayed in a mainstream or conventional way. One of the only other form they do combine well with, is animation. This could be due to the fact that a lot of surreal concepts are manifested through weird, unique animations. An example of this would be Coldplay's song 'Up&Up'. In this video many shots are surreal such as when we see a bunch of people skiing down a pillow as if it was made of snow.



Impressionistic

Impressionistic music videos often ignore the outer, more literal meaning of the lyrics and tend to metaphors and imaginative concepts. This is often more artistic and uses visuals cues to match the emotion of the song. An example of this style of video is the song 'Clint Eastwood' by Gorillaz. This video as it includes visuals that don't really fit the lyrics until you analyse and break them down on a deeper level.



Intertextual

Synergy- Synergy within music videos is when the video itself is like a promotion or advert from what its showing. An example of this would be Will Smith's 'Men in Black' which was promotion for his film 'Men in Black 3'. In this video, he is in character as Jay, from the film and proceeds to dance around sets that are also from the film. The lyrics of the song with synergy videos are often to do with the product its promoting which is evident in 'Men in Black' when he references to events within the film franchise.



Allusion- Allusion is when a music video uses references to people, events or another media. This could be a dramatic or realistic recreation of a event or an actor playing a specific person from any point in history. An example of this is in the song 'Gay Bar' by Electric Six, in which we see a over the top interpretation of Abraham Lincoln.

Pastiche- Pastiche is an when a video imitates the style of another artist, which can be linked with parody. An example of this is in the song 'Men in Black Safety Defenders' which is a song made by Air New Zealand in which they parody and take the style of the song 'Men in Black' by Will Smith.



Homage-  Homage is when an artist pays tribute to another artist they take inspiration from. Often, aspects of the other artist's work will be use it in a music video in order to pay respect to the original work and carry on their legacy, so to speak. Thirty Second's to Mars' song 'The Kill' does this, as it uses specific locations and and themes from the Stanley Kubrick film 'The Shining'.

Animation

Animation in music videos is just when any kind of animation is used throughout. For the most part, videos are only labelled as animation if a large percentage of the it is made up of animation, not just a small part. An example of a fully animated music video is the song 'Feels Like We Only Going Backwards' by Tame Impala. This uses psychedelic imagery that is only achievable through the use of animation, as Tame Impala's style is one of a 'trippy' nature.


Lip-Sync

Lip-syncing is where the person in the video is mouthing along to the lyrics of the song. In a majority of cases, this is the artist mouthing their own lyrics. This style is often used to add a narrative aspect to the video, making any event seem more interesting. An example of this style is in the song 'Sledgehammer' by Peter Gabriel, in which he, the artist, can be seen center stage lip-syncing for the entire video.



Editing

Editing music videos is in someways easier than editing film or TV, as there is no real need for continuity and editors can be as free and creative as they can be, within limits of what the artist wants. The most common type of editing is editing to the beat, which is as simple as it sounds- they edit the visuals to the beat of the song. This allows it to flow consistently with the song and seem more suited to the rhythm. This happens in the song 'Congratulations' by Post Malone, as on each beat towards to beginning, it changes the visuals to a new person and line in the lyrics.

Post Production Effects- Effects added in the editing of a music video are added for various reasons, such as transitions, visual enhancers or to a dramatic change to the video. Most effects are added in post production as some are near impossible to re-create during filming. A large majority of music videos contain at least one use of post production effects, such as colour grading or chroma key. An example of a music video that uses effects is 'Seven Nation Army' by The White Stripes in which a constant loop of several different clips is layered together to add a psychedelic look. This footage is also colour graded to get the dark reds and blacks.



Split Screen-  A basic explanation of split screen is that the screen is split into two or more parts that show different footage or visuals. It is used in quite a few music videos, as it allows multiple story or visuals to be shown at one time- this is good to show contrast in narratives or between characters. Blink 182's music video for the song 'Always' uses split screen throughout in order to show 3 different versions of the same events. This adds a unique style to the video and shows the different ways the event could of played out.



Camera Movement

In the world of media, camera movement is the most common form of story telling. It happens in almost all forms of moving media, such as film, TV and music videos. In music videos, camera movement is especially important as it adds to the flow and rhythm of the video compared to the song. Without it, the video can seem slow and boring in comparison to the fast paced and up beat music. Camera movement is when the camera moves in any way, such as up or down, left to right, pans in, pans out and anything in between. Different camera movements can connote different emotions, such as a contrazoom often means someone is surprised or shocked whereas handheld movement is used to put you into the action or scene. A successful music video that uses handheld is Arctic Monkey's song 'R U Mine'. This video shows the artists travelling around with the camera and depicts them vlogging their experience and with this, handheld or the 'found footage' style is formed. This allows the audience to feel like they are there with the band.



Camera Angles and Shot Types

Camera angles and shot types are similar to camera movement in that they can both connote different things to the audience. An example of this is low angles symbolise power whereas high angles symbolise weakness and wide angles are used to show size and vastness. Angles are also used to show emotion, such as close ups on people's faces to show fear or sadness. Without a varied use of camera angles, a video can become repetitive and boring. Videos with a mixture of camera angles and movement are usually the strongest ones, as they are more dynamic and interesting to the audience. A recent example of angles within music videos is Ed Sheeran's music video for the song 'Shape of You'. In this video we see Sheeran training and becoming more fit. Throughout the video, many high angles are used to show his power as he becomes stronger and close ups are used in the scenes with his girlfriend in order to convey the emotions between the two characters.



Mise-En-Scene

Mise-en-scene is the world and set around the characters. This is a huge part of videos as it shows the audience the type of world the characters live and interact with. It can be immersive if an environment is believable enough and can convey many different emotions if done correctly. A good use of mise-en-scene is in the music video for Skrillex's song 'Purple Lamborghini' in which the character's move through a lively night club. This fits the over the top tone of the characters and mood of the song which is loud and in your face.