Styles and Conventions of Music Video

Genre

Conventional - Iconic signs are specific or stereotypical to the genre.

For example - Dance (flashy lights, people dancing,)

Genre Subverting

Non-conventional - Goes against the typical iconic signs of the genre- surprising the audience and going against their pre-judgement

E.g. Rock band using pop music-type visuals

Performance

When an artist either lip-syncs in front of a camera, or performs in front of an audience through various close-ups and cutaways to audiences, this is known as a performance. The main types of performance music videos include 'as-live' where the band or artist perform in front of a staged audience. Many rock-bands use this technique for their music videos in order for their video to have more verisimilitude for their audience.

Narrative

There is a clear storyline in the music- either tells the story illustrated by the music video or tells a different story




Animation

Digitals used to make either stop-motion or cartoon. This is usually used by some low-budget artists who want their audiences to focus more on the music rather than the video. However, some animations can be quite expensive to make.






Interpretive

A video that interprets the visuals directly into a story that matches the story. This is usually used by low-budget artists as there is not much imagination involved, however this gives the audience a good opportunity to be able to interpet the video and the music into however they wish.




Impressionist

Imagery that matches the mood and pace of the song but not necessarily the lyrics




Surreal/Abstract

Works that feature the element of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions and non sequitur. E.g. Many of Sia's music videos use this style




Referencing

An artist or band creates a music video dedicated or featuring a movie. Often, the song that is sung is featured in the movie as a soundtrack. Using this technique, not only would the artist/band be advertising themselves, but they would be promoting and advertising the movie.





Homage

Homage music videos pay tribute/respect to a specific person or cause. This is mostly used by artists who want to somewhat "promote" a worldwide event such as the Olympics or the FIFA World Cup.



Parody

Unlike pastiche, parody music videos use the backing track of the original songs while remaking the music video with extra added humour. The sole intention of parodies are to mock and make fun of various songs. Artists such as Bart Baker have become famous on YouTube through their creativity and ability to turn what would be, for example, a sad song into a laughing stock for a large audience. Parodies are, however, not intended to be particularly offensive for the original artist.




Pastiche

A piece of music imitating the work of one or more other artists of a different category. E.g. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen celebrates the work of some playwrights and musicals by including theatrical themes, not just in their lyrics, but most importantly it is clear to see this in their music video. Pastiche does not make fun of other works, unlike parody.