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Conventions of music videos
We looked at the different types and conventions of music videos.
Performance - This type of music video involves the artist or band performing the song. This is usually done to showcase their vocal or musical talent without a big budget. An example of this is Adele's someone like you:
Conceptual narrative - This type of music video focuses on the images shown and there is an actual story throughout the video. They use this technique to bring a message across. Eminem's ' Stan' is an example of a conceptual narrative music video:
Conceptual non narrative - This type of music video focuses on the image but with random images which don't have anything to do with the actual song. One advantage of this is that it enables people to be creative and they can do whatever they want with it. An example of a conceptual non-narrative music video is Beyonce's Upgrade you :
Rock videos are different from hip-hop/r&b in many ways. Hip-hop/r&b videos tend to be more glamourous and show off the rapper's wealth while indie/rock videos are often show the opposite. Pop videos tend to have a variety of locations used depending on the song's mood. If the song is upbeat the locations used would be a nightclub (J-lo - on the floor), party ( kesha - tik tok), studio ( gaga - born this way), outdoor location (LMFAO - party rock anthem), or in the wild (destiny's child - survivor). But sometimes they use random locations e.g Gaga ft. beyonce - telephone, they use a prison and a diner. If the song is slow or a ballad, they typically use real or " unglamourouss" locations e.g christina aguilera - beautiful, fergie - big girls dont cry and beyonce - halo. Hip-Hop videos tend to use a wider variety of locations like mansions (young money - bedrock) , desert ( diddy dirty money - coming home), portrait/ moving painting ( kanye west - power) , city/outdoor (wiz kalifa - black and yellow and jayz - empire state of mind), studio (kanye west - gold digger).
Sometimes artists in pop videos wear casual clothes maybe to give the impression that they're down to earth or relatable e.g christina aguilera - beautiful and the saturdays - higher. But most of the time, artists wear over the top costumes like lady gaga - bad romance ( or most of the videos) , rihanna - s&m, beyonce - run the world. Most male artists don't really wear " outrageous" or crazy costumes ( with the exception of the black eyed peas), the majority of them wear casual clothes like justin timberlake, justin beiber, usher, example, jls, the wanted etc. In hip-hop/rnb videos the men are usually wearing normal clothes while the women are wearing revealing costumes. In indie/rock videos, the bands are usually wearing casual clothes (often scruffy) because they don't really focus on their appearances.
Some music videos use very fast paced editing because of the song and the storyline. For example the sugababes - about you now and red hot chili peppers - by the way both use fast pased editing because the songs are upbeat and the storyline. Beyonce's singe ladies and ok go both use extremly long takes but they both prevent the videos from being boring by performing and entertaining the audience. A lot of music videos take a few seconds before the song starts, for dramatic effect. Examples of this are beyonce's videophone and rihanna's only girl. Also, a lot of music videos nowadays are mini films, they don't stick to the traditional 3 minute videos, instead some of them are 5 to 10 minute long. Lady Gaga is one of the artists who does this, and Kanye West's Runaway.
