Different genres

Genre

A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, marked by a distinctive style, form or content.

There are many different types of music videos and below are some examples.

•   Homage (an acknowledgment to something from the past)

Here is an example of a, ''Homage'' music video:

This video is a homage video as it is seen as a tribute to Tupac Shakur, this song was released ten years after his death. It features an actor playing the part of Tupac. It is basically a tribute towards the artist as his legend and his music is from the past. The video and song is acknowledging his death.

 

• Animation (use of drawings to illustrate lyrics and meanings)

Here is an example of an, ''Animation'' music video:

This is an Animation video as the video is animated. In their videos, Daft Punk use an animated style which tells a story and illustrates the song. This video contains scenes from the 2003 released Japanese anime film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem. When not using animation in their videos, the band usually hide their appearance by wearing masks.

• Narrative (Sometimes there is an extended version of the music video in order to help develop characters or the plot. It tells a story throughout the video)

Here is an example of a, ''Narrative'' music video:

This video is a Narrative video as it tells a story of a man and a woman, the video contains an intro between two gentlemen talking, the music then begins to start. Half way through the video, there is a break in the song where the man is yet again speaking and after the music begins again, It is narrartive as it follows and features a story.

• As live (Shows the song sung ‘as live’’ usually in a concert venue)

Here is an example of an, ''as live'' music video:

This video is an as live music video as the video is the artist's performing the song which is filmed in front of a live audience. The video features clips of all performers, including the band and the front men singing, the video also shows clips of the audience. We know the song is performed and recorded live as the sound of the song is different than the album version as it doesn't contain editing.

• Referencing (Uses a media subject for inspiration)

Here is an example of a, ''Referencing'' music video. Taken from the film, ''Goodfellas''

The video grants us an insight of a relationship where the man,  gets involved into some criminal acts and cheating which ends up in a break-up after some quarrel between the two. The video is set in the fashion of the movie Goodfellas. This video is a reference to the gangster film, Goodfellas, the video follows the plot of the film but puts it's own take on the video.

• Parody (It is created to Mock. It’s soul aim is to make fun of an original piece of work through either the subject matter, the author or the style)

Here is an example of a, ''Parody'' music video:

This video is a parody, not just for the video, but for the song. The song is keeping the same tune an style as the original song but changing the lyrics and making it more funky and comical. The song is basically taking the mick out of the original song, ''Another One Bites The Dust'' by Queen.

• Influence of commercials (Uses advertisements strategies to carry the narrative)

Here is an example of an, ''Influence of Commercials'' music video:

The video to ''Gold Digger'' is using an influence of commercials as the video features girls, posing as if on the front of a magazine from the 50's era. Shot in a widescreen letterbox format, using stylized art direction with few props, the video features performances shots of West interspersed with footage of Williams' trademark female video models depicted as "pin-up" cover models from fictional vintage magazines. The titles of the magazines on whose covers the women appear reflect the correlating verses in the song. Foxx is also present, lip-synching both his own parts and the Ray Charles vocal sample. John Legend makes a brief cameo.

• Pastiche (An imitation. The message promoted will usually be tongue in cheek)

Here is an example of a, ''Pastiche'' music video:

The video to, ''Walk'' by the Foo Fighters is a pastiche, it is quite similar to Parody and referencing, but  Pastiche mixes the two together. This video is heavily influenced by the 1993 film, ''Falling Down''. The video follows Dave Grohl picking up troubles along his journey. At the end of the video the band are seen performing in the warehouse.

• Surreal (something that the audience would fine hard to believe is happening in the real world. Effects can be added to create a ‘dream like’ meaning)

Here is an example of a, ''Surreal'' music video: 

This video is surreal because it is using a dream like style to create the video. Most things that happen or most things that we see in this video are not real or will happen, such as the color of the sky and the plot of the video. The video begins and ends with the band in a hospital setting watching an old man being administered medication through an IV drip. The majority of the video takes place in a surreal outdoor setting that incorporates imagery from the film, ''The Wizard of Oz''. During the song's first verse, the old man from the hospital climbs onto a crow-ridden Christian cross. The second verse introduces a young girl in a Ku Klux Klan costume reaching for human fetuses in a tree, and an overweight woman in a suit with human organs painted onto it and with angel wings affixed to her back. In the video's final cut, the band is only shown performing in the outdoor setting during the choruses, where Cobain's face moves in and out of focus in the camera.

• Interpretive (It is a visual interpretation of the lyrics)

Here is an example of an, ''Interpretive'' music video:

This video is an interpretive video as the video uses the lyrics to create plot and style of the video.

Perry opens the video gazing down upon the city from a balcony. As she sings into the night, fireworks burst from her chest and soon inspire young people throughout the city to overcome their fears and insecurities, in the process igniting their own fireworks. A shy overweight girl, playing the role of wallflower at a pool party, finds the courage to shed her clothes and jump in the pool with her friends. A leukemia patient at a children's hospital proves to herself that she can show herself out on the street and in public despite her loss of hair. A teenage boy approaches his friend at a party and kisses him on the mouth. A struggling young performer walking home in a dark alley uses tricks from his magic act to win over a group of street toughs who were trying to rob him. A boy confronts his fighting parents and pushes them apart because their shouting is upsetting his little sister. Soon the youth of the city are converging upon the courtyard of Buda Castle, dancing and lighting up the night with their fireworks.

• Impressionist (An artists take or ‘’impression’’ of a style/genre or theme)

Finally, here is an example of an, ''Impressionist'' music video:

The video to. ''Dani California'' by Red Hot Chili Peppers is impressionist as throughout the music video, all members of the band are dressing up as different artists from over the years such as, The Beatles, Prince and Kiss. At the end of the video the video ends with the band starring as themselves on the stage. the video is a quasi-chronology of the evolution of rock music; the band performs the song on a stage, but in a variety of outfits representing important figures and movements in the history of rock.

 

Music Conventions:

 

Lyrical Interpretation - Using visual meanings to interpret the lyrics. In the Eminem ft. Rihanna video, we can see the visual being interpretive with the narrative. The lyrics say, ‘’Just gonna stand there and watch me burn’’ and in the video, she and the house are on fire.

 

Extension or consolidation of song’s meaning - The video extends the meaning of the song. For example, in ‘’Sabotage’’ by the Beastie Boys we can see the use of text to extend the meaning of the song. The video features text of the song name.

 

Allusion (Reference) - An allusion is simply a reference to something. For example, ‘’Walk’’ by the Foo Fighters alludes to the film ‘’Falling Down’’ and also, ‘’The Kill’’ by 30 Seconds to Mars alludes to, ‘’The Shining’’.

 

Links to other artists - The Tinie Tempah song, ‘’Pass Out’’ links to another artist, Labrinth and also the Eminem video, ‘’Love the Way You Lie’’ links to Rihanna.

 

Music Video Techniques:

 

Cutting to the beat - Every time a beat occurs, there is a different shot. The editing will have to keep up with the beat.

 

Effects - Effects are used in music videos to add to the narrative. The Major record labels will use effects in these videos. In the music video, ‘’I Need A Doctor’’ Dr. Dre  crashes 3 Lamborghini cars.

 

Miming and Lip sync - In every video Artists mine and lip sync their songs. However, in Feeder’s video, ‘’Just A Day’’ they use homemade fans videos in their video, with the fans miming their lyrics.

 

Use of multi image - A multi image is just using multiple images throughout the video. An example would be, ‘’I Bet That You Look Good on the Dance Floor’’ by the Arctic Monkeys.

 

Camera shots, angles and movements - A tracking shot is where the camera moves along with the subject and a panning shot is where the camera moves on the shot. These will be used to cover movement. Close ups will be to capture emotion, an establishing shot is used to set the scene, a high angle shot will be used to show somebody’s innocence and a low angle will show importance and respect.

 

Green screen - A green screen is used to protect images onto the back of the screen to show as if they’re at another place. An example is the ‘’Buddy Holly’’ music video by Weezer.

 

Lighting - There are two different kinds of lighting, High key lighting and low key lighting. High key lighting will not show shadows of the people features, it makes everything lighter. Low key lighting will be used to capture a darker and more moody video.

Purpose of music video

In 1964, the English band, The Beatles, released a film called, ''A Hard Day's Night'', which was a black and white comedy film. The film was made in the style of a mockumentary, describing a couple of days in the lives of the group. The reason the film was created was too advertise the band and the album, it also gave people a chance to view the band's life and music on a big screen as it was released in Cinema.

The main purpose of music videos to , promote, advertise, entertain and to create a lasting impression on the viewer's mind. This works hand in hand with promotion and the more entertaining the music video, the more exposure the video will get from the public.

Music videos are created to promote the music/single created by the artist and to advertise the music to people, it also helps the artist gain interest from the public. Music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos date back much further, they came into prominence in the 1980s, when MTV based their format around the medium.

Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation and live action. Many music videos do not interpret images from the song's lyrics, making it less literal than expected. Other music videos may be without a set concept, being merely a filmed version of the song's live performance.

However, some music videos have been created as tribute to an artist. Two examples we have are, Joy Division, with their video to the song Atmosphere. This was created as a tribute to frontman of the band, Ian Curtis, who sadly died ages 23. We also have the Micheal Jackson song, Hold my Hand, released in 2010, the year after his death.

A good music video must be entertaining, accessible to the mainstream audience, unique (different), must make a lasting impression. It also helps if the music video tells a story but the director must not feel confined to make it to similair to the song. People will also look out for a memorable video, such as something that has a meaning behind it. Some music videos are also very original and exciting, Pop music brings this idea to the videos as it contains partying, dancing and bright flashing lights to create an exciting vibe.

Audiences can comsume, watch and download videos from places such as MTV, YouTube, DVD, iTunes and social networking websites such as Facebook and Myspace.
MTV was created in 1981, the main purpose of MTV was and still is to allow bands artists to promote their music to the viewers 24/7. Music channels have moved on over the last decade and music videos are placed in competitions with reality TV shows.
DVD's are also a way of exposing music to people. DVD can something be given away with the CD single which demonstrates the promotion aspects of the video itself. DVD is also a traditional form of promoting something as artists, record companies and retailers will profit from the sale of these DVD's.
Viral websites such as YouTube and Vevo are also a very good way of getting music out there as artists can create channels which display all current, previous and upcoming videos and songs. This kind of promotion can also benefit lesser known or unsigned artists. By using viral webistes, the promotion of the single is assisted and the popularity can be measured by monitoring the amount of hits the video and single has. Artists such as Justin Bieber and Rebecca Black have been found by creating YouTube channels and being watched by millions worldwide.
 
iTunes is also a very big way to advertise, promote and download music. iTunes is used for promotional purposes, any money made will be given to iTunes itself, the record company and obviously the artist.
Social networking websites such as Facebook and Myspace are also a very good of promoting and advertising music. The artists and musicians can create pages which can then be searched and viewed by surfers of the internet. It also a great way for people to view music this way as it doesn't cost anything to view or listen and fans can also interact with the artists and give feedback, views and opinions. The artists progress can be monitored according to hits and views. The artist's pages will make money from the advertising. The more popular the video, the more advertisements, therefore, the more money you will have gained.

Synergy

• Synergy comes from the Greek word that means, work together. In media it is used to explain how different products can work together using the same concepts, for example, film, soundtrack and game.
• An example is the film, Terminator 2, a Guns and Roses song, ‘’You Could Be Mine’’, was used in the soundtrack. The result was that the song promoted the film and vice versa.

Strategies

• The music industry consists of many artists and performers working with varying levels of ambition and success.

Labels

• Major record labels are usually owned by multinational corporations. Labels such as London, Island and Polydor sign artists that they think will have mass appeal and therefore make lots of money. They will look to use music videos as part of a wider marketing strategy that includes things such as radio play, press reviews, TV appearances and an expensive website.

Here is an example of a major record label music video:

 This is an example of a Major record label music video as the video begins with singer, Chris Cornell on a large high up platform which leaves the rest of the band scaling up in a lift. The video contains a lot of emphasis on the bright strobe lighting which in some cases may cause epileptic fits, massive fireworks and explosions which was reported as being a possible terrorist attack. This video is very risky due to the flashing lights and what the video contains.



• Independent record labels such as Domino, have much smaller subjects and the artists they sing generally have a more niche appeal. This means that the marketing strategy is different as they can’t rely on radio and TV for productions. Music videos are used, although they will be much lower budget and accessed mainly through the internet.

Here is an example of an Independent record label music video:

This is an example of an independent music video as it only contains the band performing in a dark room with a few bright lights infront of the band. Throughout the video it keeps cutting to a group of dancing girls who are performing along to the music but neither shot contains the other performers.

Self produce

• Artists who self produce are not signed to a record label tend to not have much of a budget for music videos. Their videos tend to be homemade and posted online receiving very few hits, an example is the band Soul Khan. Some self produced videos tend to be of bad quality.

Here is an example of a self produced music video:

This is a self produced music video as it is home-made, it features the rapper on train tracks and under a bridge throughout the video. During the chorus it features people miming the lyrics and singing along.