Styles & Conventions Of A Music Video

`    Popular Boy Band Music Video

A typical boy band would be aimed towards the younger generation and in the music genre of Hip Hop and R&B would have specific aspects within their music video’s. Using the boy bands we curerntly have now as an example would be JLS, One direction and the wanted all their video’s would contain the same aspects. If you were to watch all those three boy band music video's, you would consistently notice the same outline of things. The main aspect you would see in a typical boy band music video is females within the music video whether they are dancing or just general actresses, you would see a change of outfit, basic routines(dances), showing some flesh perhaps their abdominals. All these things are what you would see in a typical boy band music video because these are the typical things girls would want to watch. This is why they would do those things to increase their fan base. Mostly you would see the boy bands wearing more casual clothing in their music video, this could be to set trends and be fashion icons. You would not see a typical boy band wearing weird outfits in their video's like Lady Gaga because it would be less appealing.

This is a typical boy band music video which is by JLS. The video has a dance routine. It also has that cool/party vibe to it with the club, there are a lot of girls with them and they are also wearing casual clothing, that they would wear on a normal day. This music video leaves an impact mainly on the female viewers, making them want to party with JLS. This video is a good example of a typical boy band because it ticks all the boxes that young females would want to watch which makes it more fun to watch. Most of Jls's music video's contain the basic aspect which is why there are becoming so liked by the public. An example of a boy band that did not do so well is Westlife because they became less and less appealing towards females as their video's became less captivating. Their music video Lighthouse does not contain any aspects or elements that females would want to watch which makes the video seem boring.

Narrative Music Video 

A narrative music video is not about the dance routines, the clothes or anything else a narrative video has a specific reason for the video. It will have a main story which they want to portray through the lyrics. So a narrative music video does not focus on the artist singing the words it focuses on getting the story across, so it’s like a small film. A narrative video's main point to get across is the storyline and to get across their opinion.

The video I have chosen as an example of a narrative music video is Trey Songs ‘Your side of the bed’ because it has a deep meaning and displays a good narrative music video. This music video shows that it is not about the artist singing, it is about the storyline which is about a married couple. The music video shows the emotions of a wife living a career that she no longer wants to live. The video is captivating because it is a real life situation it actually happens all over the world. This particular video has a big impact on the viewer after they watch it because it makes them think about life and all those people who are fighting for their country. The video is based on a true life story, so it is very affective. The music video is very interesting and engaging because of the story line which make the viewer not get bored. Trey Songs video 'Your side of the bed' is an example of a good narrative video because it allows the audience to understand the tone and emotion behind the video. The video also uses a quick seen that has no lyrics just pure emotion which helps grabs the viewers attention.

Performance Music Video

A performance music video is mainly focussed on the artist singing, it is to create the feel that you are watching a live concert or gig.  The music video would consist of the artist singing directly towards the camera and maybe having a routine to show more of a performance. The music video would be presented like how you would watch it at a concert. The impact it has on the audience would be that they want to get involved and it could also be more engaging for them to watch. An good example of a music video that uses the style performance is Beyonce's song 'Love on Top'.

The music video by Beyonce is a good example of a performance video because it shows her singing the song with a mic and back up dancers. The music video shows clearly her just perfoming the song. The video does not have a specific story it. This is engaging and exciting to watch because it feels like your watching her at one of her concerts and it is a short video with dancing and singing which is entertaining and fun to watch. The lighting and costumes styles also make the video seem more real and helps the viewer get into it. The video byy Beyonce's main purpose is to entertain the viewer just like she would when she is on stage. This style of technique could be more affective than others because she is looking straight into the camera lense which makes the viewer feel like shes addressing them. It creates more of an intimate feel making the viewer feel apart of the performance. Also by doing a performance as a video allows the video to have more camera angle shots which is not shown on an actuall show. This helps the video seem more enjoyable to watch.

Performance- Live Concert 
The performance music video shows the artist performing to an audience, this shows that the video could have been pre-recoreded and just used clips from the main show. These music video's can be affective because they show a performance, so live dancers/dance routine and a band. The main reason for putting video clips of performances in a music video is to make the music video more entertaining to watch and more fun. The idea of an artist using this style could be to show the viewers who didn't see their live concert/tour to get a glimpse of what happened. The video's also allow the viewers to see the atmosphere of the concert.
A good example of a music video that contains live extracts from the artists concert is Beyonce's music video 'I was here'. The lyrics in the music are about her journey up until now and the concept of Beyonce using a live performance of her singing the song makes it feel more devoted to her fans. Overall the video is very touching because it not only shows Beyonce's performance it also shows the audience(her fans). By adding the performance makes the video that bit more enjoyable to watch. Beyonce's music video is a good example of performance because it shows the emotion when she was singing the song; something you would not get if it was just a normal video. It also contained lots of lights, which draws the viewer in because it makes the video more interesting. So overall the music video 'I Was Here' by Beyonce is an affective wa of using live performances in a video to get across the worlds and in Beyonce's case sum-ing up her carrer, makes the video more enjoyable to watch.

Animation

 An animation video is either a stop motion or digital. These two different styles are to create more of an unsual video. The style and conventions of animation can go we alot of different technique to narrative to interpretive for example in Bruno's Mar's song 'Just the way you are he uses animations and drew the images of what he was saying. The example I have chosen is
the by Black Eyed Peas. The music video is a good example of a video that contains animations to make the video more exciting to watch. The Black Eyed Pea’s song ‘Rock that body’ contains stop motion and digital animation. They use stop motion to go  with the lyrics of the song because the song is about move that body, so dancing by dancing and creating that stop motion affect helps tie in with the lyrics making it more engaging.

Two seconds into the music video they use the stop motion of two dances greeting, this is more engaging and fun to watch because it makes sense to what they are singing and it also placed on the beat which is affective for the audience to watch. They also have an animation robot throughout the music video which is not what most video’s contain so it’s more fun and lively and it makes the video seem like there are a lot of stuff going on at once.

The Black Eye Peas music video is a good example of stop animation because throughout the music video the video contains different animations from the robot and the stop motion of when the extra's are dancing. By using animation within the video makes the video more engaging to watch because not many video's use these types of styles and conventions, so it makes the overall video seem more unique which makes the audience more locked into the music video.

Interpretive 

An interpretive music video is a video that interprets the visuals directly into a story that matches the lyrics of the song. So An interpretative music video is when the lyrics the artist is singing goes with the movement in the video. Not a lot of music video use the concept of interpretation because it seems quiet childish. So for example if in the song it says 'I;m walking through the fields' and in the music video when you hear them say it you also see the motion of the words they are singing. By interpretating the music video makes it seem simple music the shots relate to the lyrics. Examples of video's that use this technique are nersery rhymes like the wheels on the bus. So this is why not many music video's use this style because it comes across as childish.

An artist that uses this concept is Rebecca Black. The concept of her music video ‘Friday’ is very interpretive. At the beginning of the song she says ‘Everybody is rushing’ then in the background you see her family members rushing. She may have used this concept to make her music video more engaging and she might have aimed this video to the younger generation perhaps school kids. The video got a lot of criticism because the use of interpretation makes the video seem childish and stupid. You can see from the picture to your right that when she says 'rushing' that her mum and brother are rushing around. Rebecca Black's main audience is the younger fans, this could be an indication as to why she chose this style.

Homage

Homage is when a music video duplicates a similar feature that has been previously seen. Lots of music videos may use this technique to make their music video more engaging because the public may notice certain things being repeated for a film possibly. Homage can have a similar style to the original or it may copy the entire original. A good example of a Homage is when an artist using the same idea that has been seen in a well known film into their music video. Most music videos that use this idea would use films that were a success and everyone would know about. Homage can also be known as a Pastiche because a Pastiche uses the same idea as a Homage which copies the style from a period of time. Homage is mainly seen through hip hop artists for example in Chris Browns music video ‘She ain’t you’ he uses the same effects and moves that Michael Jackson used because Michael Jackson was his biggest influence. So many artists would use this style to show that they were influenced by the artist or film. An example of an artist who used this concept are Katy Perry and Kayne West with their sone 'E.T'. The song uses the idea's from a well known film called Avatar.

The music video 'E.T' by Katy Perry and Kayne West contains lots of different ideas from previous films and programmes. The overall concept of Katy Perry’s music video looks like she has had influences from the film ‘Avatar’. Katy Perry looks like an avatar and she uses the same kind of shots you see in the film with the sky. The video is like a fantasy; however the fantasy is about aliens and avatars. The video has no main concept of the video having the aliens however it is visually entertaining for the viewers. By using scenes from the film ‘Avatar’ and making Katy Perry an avatar makes the film more engaging because the viewer is confused and left guessing which makes them want to watch it.

The image to the right shows that Katy Perry uses the film Avatar to create her image in her music video and uses the fil for inspiration. This is affective because the public viewers will constantly watch it because of the similarities between the film and the music video.

Katy Perry also uses the same idea from the programme True Blood. The image to the left shows the fox that is in Katy Perry's music video but this fox is also in the opening of the TV programme true blood. So Katy Perry used different elements from different films and programmes to make her music video more interesting to watch.

Parody 

Parody is when a music video displays similarities to the original video but portrays it in an amusing way. It could be to take the mic out of the original song or it could just be to make the original video seem funnier. Most of the video’s that use parody are often created for the viewers to make them laugh. So the video is created for the entertainment purpose. The videos will exaggerate on what you saw in the original video to make it more comedy like. They also would change the lyrics a bit to make it seem more humorous. Parody’s can be made of music video’s all films for example the film ‘Vampires Suck’ is a parody of the film ‘Twilight’ which imitates what they do but in a funnier way. Most parody videos are posted on YouTube because they are just for the entertainment purpose only. The example I have used is the parody music video of Rebecca Blacks sing ‘Friday’.

    

The video above is a copy of the the original video by Rebecca Black but it changes the lyrics to make it seem funny. The video is a parody because it makes a joke of the video by Rebecca. In the parody it show the main with two types of cereal because Rebecca’s lyrics in the video are ‘gotta have my cereal’ so the parody used these lyrics to make a funny joke about it. The parody video is funny and exciting to watch because it’s engaging for those who want to watch a video that is not so boring. The parody video was only posted on YouTube it did not go on the TV music channel because it was a realese of a new song its purpose was just to entertain people and show the reaction they got from watching the official music video.

This image shows that the parody video has the same scenes at the same time for example when she wakes up at 18seconds so does the parody video. This makes the parody video more funny and fun to watch because the viewer can understand the reason why they have created the funnier video.

Referring 
Music videos that contain reference means that the video has a tie in with a film. This could be to promote the film as well as the song. Also most of the time you see tie ins the film would only want a famous singer for example the example I have chosen is a song by Leona Lewis who is a nationwide singer known by everyone singing a song called ‘I See You’ which has a tie in with the famous film Avatar. This is effective because it promote both sectors getting them more views. The music video by Leona Lewis contains shots and scenes from the film which help get the lyrics out more making the film more passionate.

http://youtu.be/3YDz-ftqr1g

This style of video is engaging for the viewer because it tells a story, a story that is already known which makes the video more interesting. By having Leona Lewis sing the words as if she was in the film makes the video seem more emotional which strikes the viewer to watch. Also the video shows that it is not about the artist it is about the film which is what the music video is based on. The music video is beautiful overall because it gets the viewers mind lost into the video making them want to watch the film. So the main purpose of this style of music video is to promote the film and Leona Lewis has made this music video engaging to the eye through the use of colours and backgrounds bringing the viewer back to the film. The music video mainly contains clips from the film to help tie in with the lyrics that Leona Lewis is singing.

Impressionist

A video that uses the style ‘impressionist’ is to create imagery that may not tie in with the lyrics but links to the mood and style of the video. This is to create atmosphere and tension which makes the viewer watch the video. So the main point of the video is to create imagery making the video seem more interesting to watch. The video type impressionist can use elements of surrealism or animation to make the video seem more interesting. However not depending on the type of style in the video, the pace will still match the mood. For example if the song was slow the video would be dark and unexplained. The example I have of a music video that uses the style ‘Impressionist’ is the music video ‘All of the lights’ by Rihanna and Kayne West. This video uses different elements to help the mood and pace of the video however the clips don’t match up.

The video by Rihanna and Kayne West shows at the beginning a little girl walking and its quite dark and looks cold by the way she is dressed. This beginning part does not necessarily tie in with the lyrics because the lyrics are about turn the lights up so you can dance, however, the clip at the beginning of the young girl goes with the tone of the beat because the main instrument is the violin which sets the moos to a sad and cold mood which links in with the girl walking slow and sadly and the weather being cold with the snow. However by seeing the girl walking you would automatically think the lyrics would be about a lonely and homeless girl where as the video is about turning the lights up. The video uses this technique in an engaging way because it miss leads the viewer until you see lots of bright lights. It also makes the viewer want to watch the whole video so they can understand what is happening.

Surreal/Abstract

Surreal and abstract videos are when the imagery shown in the video gives the viewer a shock also the visuals that can be see may not link to the lyrics being sung this is called Juxtaposition. This is when to opposite things have been put together for example in Lady Gaga’s music video ‘You and I’ it shows imagery of a scary man in a ice cream van however this imagery does not reflect on the lyrics because Lady gaga is singing about a relationship. This shows that the music video may not make sense this is why it is interesting for the viewer to watch. 

The video I have chosen by Lady Gaga called 'You & I' shows surreal/abstract footage this is because the video has shocking and weird objects in the video. At 23 seconds in the video we see a old man inn an ice cream which looks like a dummy, this is very strange. The lyrics Lady Gaga is singing are 'I'm not leaving without you' this shows that the video is about a relation and that Lady gaga wants to stay with that person. So the lyrics and the video's don't go together, this makes the viewer confused which makes them intriged to watch the rest.

Intertexuality

Intertexuality is when a music video uses one media text to copy the scene or settings. The music video could also take similar features from the media text whether it’s from a programme or a film. The music industry uses this technique to make the videos more interesting by taking advantage of the viewers understating on different media texts. Intertexuality is used to give the music video that bit more excitement because when viewers watch it and can relate it to the media text it is copying it automatically makes the video more enjoyable, it is also enjoyable to those who may not perhaps no the media text it is copying. An example of an artist that does this is Geri Halliwell she uses this technique to make her video more extreme than others it also gives the song more of an edge.The video I have chosen as my example for intertexuality is 'It's raining men' by Geri Halliwell. Geri Halliwell uses the film 'Fame' to help create an amzing music video.

Geri Halliwell duplicates the famous dance film ‘Fame’ in her music video ‘It’s raining men’. Geri Halliwell uses the same setting and atmosphere as shown in the film to make her music video more memorable. Geri Halliwell uses this concept so the audience can relate to the video which makes it more enjoyable because they get into it because they have previously seen that type of dancing before on the film. 

The image below shows the two different scences one from the film and one from the music video. The image clearly shows that Gerri Halliwell has taken inspiration from the film and creating the film into a small music video.