Styles and Techniques of Music Videos

Styles
In Concert and As Live
This is simply when the music video is footage taken from when the artist is
performing live on stage in front of an audience, usually at their concerts. This is one
of the oldest techniques as it easy to film and edit, as well as getting the added
benefit of making money through the concert.
An example is Livin On a Prayer (Bon Jovi), in which we see the band rehearsing
for a gig, before performing it in front of a large audience. It is set in the Grand
Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, as well as a show in Portland, Maine.
This promotes them as it shows how they like to be close to their fans, as well as
showing those who arent already fans how popular they are. They most likely chose
this style of video as a result of these benefits.
Animation
As the name suggests this is when the music video comprises of animation
techniques, be-it 2D, 3D, stop-motion or other similar methods. This became
popular decades ago through all the Disney Fantasia episodes which featured many
animated characters with classical music playing over it.
One prominent example is Gorillaz and all their music videos, which contain the
same cast of animated characters that became immensely popular and ended up
becoming what would be displayed at their gigs, with the band appearing on
screens and performing to the audience. They chose this style as it was an attempt
to make the focus stay on the music, as well as keep their personal lives secret.
There are many bands that do this with their image, such as Daft Punk, which did
this to make themselves unique. Albarn and Hewlett, whom came up with the idea,
said that It was intended as a commentary on the lack of substance on the musictelevision network.
Interpretive
When the music video doesnt entirely link with the lyrics and contains a possible
deeper meaning. It is completely based on the interpretation of the viewer.
Imagine Dragons I Bet My Life is a good example of this style. The lyrics dont
appear to have a link to the video in any way, as we are shown about a man whos
fallen downriver after a fistfight and goes on a strange journey. The song itself is
singing about how someone apologising to someone for how they treated them
when they were together. This was used as an attempt to make the viewer think
deeper on the meaning of the song, as what they hear in the lyrics isnt what is

reflected in the video. This makes the production memorable and so effective in its
purpose to promote the artist.
Narrative
These videos tell a story, with a clear beginning, middle and end. The lyrics and
video will link in some way or other and reflect the narrative. The band will generally
be part of, or view, the plot during the video. This technique is the most commonly
used, and so this can be quite costly to make as making a unique video is quite
difficult. However, this is an effective technique toward promoting that the artist is
more focused on the music than their portrayal. Furthermore, having a story is a
simple but good way to keep audiences engaged.
There are many music videos with a narrative, but one example is Centuries
(Fallout Boy). The song itself is about how the singer will be remembered for
centuries, and that it will take a simple mistake to lose it. This parallels through the
video well, as it tells a David and Goliath story, with the band in a roman style
gladiatorial arena against a very tough opponent. The artist chose to use this style as
it was the easiest to fit with their song and created a visual link between it and the
video. It promotes the image of them being a team as well as band, despite the
characters of the video being from different backgrounds.
Impressionist
This is similar to interpretive videos, but more obscure. The video will typically
contain cuts to random shots to, seemingly, unrelated items that will convey the
theme of the video. These shots will, however, link with the lyric spoken at that
moment and there may be a connection between the different shots, whether it be
a person, theme or item.
Though Eminems Rap God doesnt entirely fit under Impressionist, it does use on
key convention, which is displaying a particular item when a lyric is spoken. This is
done parts such as when he says Krypton, Asgard, Nascar, Bill Clinton and Satan.
There are many more, and all are displayed by either cutting to a word from a book
of comic, or to a video clip on a TV. Due to a lot of rap videos being quite hard to
make, because of the large and sometimes complex amount of lyrics, this style was
picked as it was the best suited. It creates a unique image for the artist and is
visually appealing to watch for the viewer. Furthermore, it makes the person
watching think about the video more and try to see its deeper meaning, such as if
the TV screens are supposed to be a representation of Eminems mind when writing
lyrics.
Surrealist
This style is the weirdest and peculiar of all of them. These videos tend to go for
having the most random and unexplainable imagery. A lot of animated music videos

tend to follow this path. It is quite difficult style it is quite a challenge to come up
with concepts to make such a video. This style tends to be used as an easy way to
gain attention in the media.
The music video for Katy Perrys E.T. does the style very well, with its use of
strange symbolism and unique visuals. Its narrative is quite hard to follow and
doesnt make sense in some segments. Much like most people who use this style,
Katy Perry used this to make it memorable. Making it weird for weirdness sake and
give it, what seems to be, some deeper meaning to provoke people to talk about it
more.
Parody
Parody videos take the styles and conventions of another piece of media and mimics
them to either mock, ridicule or for affectionate fun. Many people dislike this as it
can be in bad tastes, but others believe this is part of the life cycle of most works.
There is such thing as Self-Parody, in which artists can satirize themselves and
their own previous work.
There are many Parodies out there, with one of the most famous being Sabotage
(Beastie Boys). This video is almost a direct copy of the 70s crime drama Starsky and
Hutch, and pokes fun at how random and farfetched some of the scenes are, fitting
the style perfectly. Beastie Boys may have done this for a variety of reasons. The
main two may be that they wanted to bring fans of that era of television to notice
their work and gain more notoriety and so broaden their fan base, or simply that
they enjoyed watching the TV show growing up and always wanted to be in one.
Pastiche
This is almost identical to Parodies, however these are lighter hearted and much
more respectful of the original content.
An example is The Universal (Blur), which contains almost the same conventions
from the film Clockwork Orange. It doesnt mock the film, rather it complements
it, with the opening being almost exactly like the original. It is clear that the whole
production is in good taste to the director of the movie (Stanley Kubrick), as their
single album cover is a nod to 2001: A Space Odyssey, another film by Kubrick.
They clearly enjoyed Kubricks work and wanted to make something to show this.
Homage
Once again similar to Parody, but is more admiring toward the original and more of
a show of being indebted to them due to it inspiring most of the work an artist has
produced.
The very popular song Smooth Criminal (Michael Jackson) has an equally popular
music video, which pay homage to the film The Band Wagon (Minnelli, 1958)

through its costumes and scenery. The inclusion of this was to make sure it was
recognised where their ideas came from, and respectfully nodding to the original
content.
Influence of Commercials
This is where the music video can be treated as an advert in addition. This isnt
always a technique used to advertise products though, as it has also been used to
promote particular lifestyle, such as how glamourous a rich lifestyle is.
On the flip side, the song Common People (Pulp) is all about the artist wanting to
live like common people as its better and shows about the ignorance of the rich,
as living wealthy doesnt give reward for all the hard to obtain things the workingclass people have to go through. Though most artists use the main aspects of
influence of commercials to make money, Pulp uses it to create an image of how
they like their fame, but dont want to be held to a higher standard than everyone
else.

Techniques
Cutting to the Beat
This technique involves editing the footage of the video so that the cuts match the
tempo of the song. This can be done in a variety of ways to provoke different
emotions, such as fast cuts or slow ones to show tension or sadness respectively.
This creates a clear link between the song and the video by making you feel the
emotion of the song and video in tandem.
When a focus group was asked about the effect of cutting to the beat, they said that
the technique can be a good way to grab the viewers attention and keep them
engaged in the video. They also mentioned that cutting to the beat is best used in
fast paced songs rather than slow ones. When they were shown the music video for
the song Downtown (Macklemore and Ryan Lewis), one person said that the
technique tied the song together well and made every scene link in. Interestingly,
all agreed that there is no clear downside to cutting in this way.
Effects
The use of effects within music videos can be either visual (costumes, puppets or
etc.) or special (CGI, animation or etc.). These are what producers use typically to
make the video unique in some way shape or form. They are used to make the video
unique in some way shape or form. This is what creates the image of the artist that
the viewers will relate to and remember them by.
One thing that the focus group brought up was that they typically see more visual
effects than special, as it tends to be more realistic and relatable than the latter.
Upon being asked about if producers use effects randomly or to establish a theme

for the artist, the group said that artists tend to use a particular effect to make them
more memorable and to establish it as their thing. They mentioned this further
when shown the videos for Emperors New Clothes (Panic! At The Disco) and
Stylo (Gorillaz), saying that the effects used (Emperors New Clothes being
makeup that made the artist look like he was turning into a demon, and Stylo using
computer animation to make their well-known characters) were done so due to it
being what they typically do in their other work.
Miming and Lip Sync
This technique, as implied, is simply miming the words of the lyrics in the video as
they are sung. This is a very commonly used, however isnt always used (typically in
a heavy narrative video such as I Bet My Life) and sometimes we dont see the
artist singing throughout their entire video. Sometimes we also see an entire band
miming playing their instruments through some videos too. This is used to give the
band authenticity, in the sense that it creates a visual link between the video and
audio, as well as allows them to per vie the desired emotion they want to invoke
through the way they emphasise the lyrics of their song.
The focus group brought up that artists will use lip syncing when they want the
focus of the video to be on them rather than all the other things going on in the
back/foreground and wont use it if they want the narrative to be the main subject.
They also said about the different methods of lip syncing, after being showed
Radioactive (Imagine Dragons) and Writings on the Wall (Sam Smith), where
singers may mime the lyrics softly or with more emphasis depending on the mood of
the song.
Multi-Image
This is when there is more than one story happening at a time on screen. This can be
done using split-screen or by cutting to a different scene entirely. This technique
isnt very common as it is quite difficult to use.
The focus group agreed with this fact, with only one person being able to recall a
video in which this technique is used. When asked why this is the case, they said
that this is due to it being quite hard to do, as it needs to be to quite a good
standard to pull it off. Furthermore, they say this will be used in cases where the
producers want to make a more complex narrative.
Camera Movements
This is a very broad technique as it covers a lot of methods of use. At its core it is
about how different movements of the camera can produce different emotions
from the audience. For example, a slow pan, as oppose to a fast one, will invoke a
deeper and more connected feeling to the song. They also help tell a story by how

fast the camera moves and how long they hold a shot. For example, as slow
movement may invoke sadness, and a fast one an action based narrative.
Upon being asked about this technique, the group mentioned that these
movements can also make you physically fell something. One person references
how a fast camera movement can be used to raise the viewers heartbeat to make
them more engaged. Another point they made was that the types of movements
use will also depend on the style of the video too. For example a narrative video
such as Centuries (Fallout Boy) used slower movements to make it more
cinematic.
Camera Angles
Much like camera movements, angles are used to invoke a particular emotion.
Again, there are many methods of achieving different feelings or impressions of
people in a video. Furthermore, the mixture of fast editing and certain angles can
invoke energy in the viewer.
One person in the focus group pointed out that a high angle would typically denote
a person who is weak or in a more vulnerable position and a low angle for someone
in power or some sort of bully figure. The video for Radioactive shows both of
these, with the band being in shown with mostly high angles and the men around
the arena from a low angle.

References
Music Video Examples
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=
0ahUKEwiiksXkx_LKAhVJ7RQKHVNrBPYQFgg0MAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdrewburdakyting.blogsp
ot.com%2F2012%2F01%2Fdifferentgenres.html&usg=AFQjCNF0U8YaFLbU1cIDAI4ktyk4KrD2VQ&sig2=1-k1S14thWZiMDVs7XNpXA
Parody and Pastiche
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=
0ahUKEwiiksXkx_LKAhVJ7RQKHVNrBPYQFggtMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Flcl
arkhfc%2Fparodypastiche&usg=AFQjCNEGySeTJ_DGjDJVH7ZsYae3eIroyw&sig2=bOJMMChZg28pwnjv5oTJjw
Narrative Music Videos
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&sqi=2
&ved=0ahUKEwj4p4euyPLKAhVI8RQKHW0ADDMQFgglMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare
.net%2FJackolopolus%2Fnarrative-music-videos-37828577&usg=AFQjCNFZQebArLCTgC3kNPNZ0kwtNQjDA&sig2=vM2VJkrYrTWvDO1NPggClQ&bvm=bv.114195076,d.ZWU
Styles and Conventions of Music Videos
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=
0ahUKEwiejam9yPLKAhUIaxQKHb_3BIYQFgg5MAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmatthewclay.weebly.co

m%2Funit-29music-video%2Fstyles-conventions-techniques-of-musicvideos&usg=AFQjCNHkFybgl33LdD0QHKlnnerAD5CEvQ&sig2=cG7d1ifuhZgrJStAIWn_Fg
Impressionist Music Videos
http://www.slideshare.net/hannaheliza/impressionist-music-videos-25599167
Masked Musicians (Gorillaz and Punk)
http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2011/01/11-masked-musicians-and-why-theyhide.html