Music Video Categories
- Natalia Muñiz Blasco
- Dec 8, 2021
- 5 min read
Hi everyone!
As part of my research, I am now looking at the fundamental concept of music video categories (which I have already mentioned without explaining it in depth, and which is quite simple), and the more complex idea of intertextuality in music videos.
Both are very important when understanding certain key aspects of some music videos and how to appeal to the target audience.
Hope you enjoy this post!
xx Natalia
Music Video Categories:
A performance music video will have no narrative, but will not be abstract either.
Purpose: to display a certain image of the artist- sometimes with subliminal messages hidden in the mise-en-scène.
In the rap/reggaeton genre there is often an emphasis on luxury whereas other artists such as Genre de Zona (also reggaeton) focus on local life and mundane topics which end in group dancing.
Therefore, each artist has their own visual style created through their performances. Meghan Trainor's colourful music videos follow the theme of the song with various settings and glamorous outfits. Another pop singer, Ariana Grande has many performance music videos where her theme matches her performance and short clips of action (with no linear narrative).
Both Ariana Grande and Meghan Trainor are creating their own visual style through their music videos, Ariana as a confident and sophisticated persona and Meghan Trainor as a bombshell of positivity, rhythm and attitude.
Examples:
Now look at how Taylor Swift's music video for her song Look What You Made Me Do, with all her references to "snakes" after the drama with Kanye West and the Kardashians. This whole music video has a variety of performances, but each scenario is very meaningful, and makes a statement about her "Reputation" and all the images people have of her. It has an underlying narrative although being mostly performance-based. The music video finishes with an iconic reference to when she got interrupted during her speech by Kanye West. It is full of criticism and a message of killing all the images that people have of herself.
A narrative music video will use a storyline (usually linear or with flashbacks) to maintain the attention of the audience throughout the music video.
Katy Perry and Taylor Swift are two pop artists which made the most out of these music videos, creating some iconic ones such as "Part of Me", "Wide Awake", "Last Friday Night", "Bad Blood" and "You Belong with Me". All of them tell the story narrated by the lyrics which gives them a layer of depth that also helps keep the audience hooked.
Purpose: To maintain the attention of the audience throughout, to better represent the lyrics of the song, to make a statement or to gain publicity for the artist.
As they often feature the artist as the main character, this allows the artist to either create an invented persona or to give a certain type of image of themselves. With artists such as Taylor Swift or Katy Perry, their personalities throughout the 2010s were a mix of all their different music videos, making them extremely mainstream and versatile; as sometimes they played more than one role.
Other narrative music videos do not feature the artists at all- they hire actors to play roles and represent the story they are narrating. David Guetta's music videos are sometimes like small films, like "Lovers on the Sun". Another amazing example of this is Alt-J's music video for "Breezeblocks" which is a story played in reverse so that the audience does not know exactly what happened until the end.
Examples:
We can conclude that narrative music videos are used for various purposes. They can revolve around the image of the artist, making a statement about them and their lives (as in Katy Perry's "Roar" or "Part of Me" music video) or they can simply be creative narrative stories that draw the attention of the audience and expand the creative aspect of the artist.
Here we can find more niche music videos that really expand the creative mind of the artist and find another way to make a statement.
Charlotte Day Wilson's music video for her song "Work"
Wilson was trying to make a statement about the minor role that so many women play in music videos, matching Laura Mulvey's theory of the Male Gaze. This music video is sophisticated in its simplicity, giving women a face of diversity and a place in music videos, as well as in work. It is a rich exercise of female representation, and its static nature allows the audience to focus on each of the individual faces, creating a sense of individuality and diversity.
Ok Go's music video for their song "The One Moment"
This is an incredibly creative music video taking 4.2 seconds of carefully planned footage over 7 weeks and slowing it down so that even the lyrics fit perfectly with the small lip-signing moments that it has. The concept of this music video matches perfectly the title of the song and creates an eye-catching, iconic and unique visual experience for the audience.
Goyte's music video for his song "Somebody That I Used To Know"
This is another unique music video which took 23 hours to paint and is based on the artwork by Goyte's father. It conveys the message of the song as him and Kimbra are painted into the same artwork and suddenly she stops being part of it, encapsulating the message of the song; she is now somebody that he used to know.
Coldplay's music video for his song "Up&Up"
This music video is full of CGI and special effects that create an abstract image that matches the lyrics and the concept of the song. It can be interpreted in various ways, and for me the music video is trying to encompass the global perspective of life as we know it tackled in the song, and change the perspective in order to make progress. It does not have to have one necessary interpretation but it blows the minds of the audience and matches perfectly the mood and lyrics of the song.
My Own Personal Take:
After having had a look at the various types of music videos, I have decided that my music video will be a narrative music video without the artist featuring in it, only having one actress. Its purpose, however, will not be to create an interesting action story, but to convey one message- in that respect, it will also have a trait of the concept-based music videos.
The storyline will also be non-linear, and the breaking of a routine pattern will result in the resolution of the narrative, which will be a non-linear routine conveying a clear message: be yourself and not some fabricated version you think people will like.
I therefore think that, although the main type of music video I am going to make will be narrative, it also has some traits of concept-based music videos and can even be considered to be slightly hybrid.
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