Music Video Genres James Hedgecock

This post is basically to introduce the genres that music videos can be classed by, and what types of music video would generally suit which genre of music.

So, the main genres of music video are as follows:

• Performance
• Narrative
• Spectacle
• Image
• Personal.

In a performance music video, the video will be centred around the artist or group performing the song, with focus on each of the performers as they play or sing. You'd often expect rock bands and such like to create music videos of this genre.

Narrative music videos have a story that runs through them, often with footage of the artist or group where they are characters in the story.

Spectacle music videos will make much use of special effects and postproduction techniques, particular style and flair in a performance, or reference to cultural intertextuality to reach an audience.

In a music video with a focus on image, the purpose is to present the artist/group in a particular manner, creating an aesthetic or image for the performer(s).

A personal music video is designed and directed on the whims of the artist/group and/or the director.

Is it always easy to discern the genre of a music video?

David Bordwell argues that it's the audience, rather than the directo that decides ofn the genre of a music video.
Mark Reid argues the genre of the video changes ased on what the audience is told; he analogizes this concept with the idea of tomato purée - if you were to find tomato purée shelved in another part of the supermarket to where you'd expect it to be, would you perceive it to be any different?
Barthes states that as an active audience we decipher what the genre of the video is through semiotics - the study of signs.

Genre Screenshot Photographs

Narrative

In this shot the actor/performer in the shot is shown to be peering around a tree, with a cheerful expression. The idea of a game of hide-and-seek implies that this shot is part of a storyline, and therefore that the video will be of a narrative genre. The kind of hand-drawn effect that has been applied to the shot also makes it appear as an illustration, pointing towards it perhaps being a part of a comic strip or picture book.

This is a shot from Coldplay's video of 'The Scientist'. The focus is on the singer walking down a street in reverse, although his mouth is in sync with the lyrics, which produces an interesting effect. The whole video is in a kind of slow-motion effect, and the storyline runs backwards so the events develop in the opposite order, with the last part of the video focusing on what happened to trigger all the other events that happen during the video.

Image



This shot has had a duplication effect applied, so the artist appears four times in the same shot. This kind of pop-art effect, with a different colour tone effect applied, presents the artist as individual and alternative. The positioning of the singer in the centre of the shot with the camera at a low angle also presents the artist as being independent and having a strong character.

This shot, from Red Hot Chili Peppers' 'Dani California' presents the band as very alternative, out-there, unusual and eccentric. There is a sense of rebelliousness as the singer is shown to be running around the stage in a random way and swinging his microphone stand around. Throughout the video the band are shown to represent different styles of rock through the ages through the use of costumes, props and effects, and the way that they present the different styles shows them as also being versatile and being able to change their image easily.


Spectacle

 Effects have been used in this shot to create a superimposition effect - two separate shots have been taken - one with two girls jumping up in the air, and another with one boy. The two shots have been taken at slightly different angles, and an unusual, perhaps slightly disorientating effect is produced when the two shots are layered on top of one another. The action of jumping connotes joy, exitement and fun.

 This is a shot from the video for Lady Gaga's 'Applause', which is of the spectacle genre. Similarly to the still we created, a duplication effect has been used of the same person with different facial expressions, doing different actions. The style, acting and make-up used in this video are unusual and wacky, and confirm it as a video of this genre.

Performance

In this shot the performer is playing a bass guitar with amplifiers in the background - the image is black-and-white, having been desaturated. This makes the shot appear as though it would be from a kind of goth or emo-style music video as with the colour effect and the props this would be typical of the genre.

This is a shot from the video of 'Perfect Weapon' by Black Veil Brides. Similarly to our shot there is use of dark tones, and the guitarist, guitar he is playing and the amplifier stack on the left can all be seen clearly, and are the main focus of this shot.

James, on behalf of JTS Productions