Types Of Music Videos

Firstly, we looked at the conventions of music videos and how Camera Shots, Camera Movement, Mise-en-scene and Editing changed for music videos rather than films. We also looked at some other important categories such as Lighting,Sound,Props,Costume and Colour influence a music video.

We then looked at different genres of music and how conventions change, for example in Indie/Rock music there tends to be low light and sometimes even black and white whereas in Pop videos colours are bright and stand out alot more, this is because colour tends to set the mood of songs by creating an atmosphere.

After this, we looked at Andrew Goodwin and his ideas of features to make a successful music video. Andrew Goodwin wrote a book called 'Dancing In The Distraction Factory' in 1992 and in the book he identifies certain key features of a music video such as a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative,amplifying or contradicting ) also he states that there is often intercultural
references ( to film,TV programmes and other music videos). Goodwin also said that music videos can be Performance-based, Narrative-based or Concept- based and sometime with elements of 2 such as performance based with some narrative or concept based with some performance.

After looking at Andrew Goodwin's key features we then looked at some Music videos which incorporated some of the things we had just read about. The first one we looked at was 'American Idiot' by Green Day


American Idiot- Green Day




We Decided that the genre for this music was Punk, we can tell this from the hard drums and guitar sounds at the beginning and running throughout, it is fast paced which matches with the fast cuts in the video. We can also tell this is punk genre of music due to the costumes the band is wearing, they are all wearing black and Billie Joel is wearing a red tie which contrast with the black suite that he is wearing but also the toxic green coloured background. This Music video is performance based and toxic green backdrop emphasizes the name of the band 'Green Day'. There are many motifs in this video, one of Goodwin's features of a music video, such as the heart hand grenade, the american flag highlighting the name of the song 'American Idiot' and the green paint that pours from the backdrop. Another thing that Goodwin said was that there would be  concept of looking, in this video it breaks the 'Fourth wall', this is when we can see Billie Joel through another camera screen right at the beginning of the video. Furthermore, there are alot of close ups on the lead singer, Billie Joel, and there are lots of wide shots of the band and the green American flag  to make sure the audience feels connected and puts emphasis on the artist,location and emotions. Billie Joel is lip syncing through the whole video and the close ups show these. Pictures below shows the close ups and the wide shots of the band and backdrop of the flag

Here It Goes Again- OK,Go






We then looked at a concept based music video by OK, Go. in this video we can see the band dancing around on treadmills with the song playing in the background. This Music Video has no relevance to the song what so ever, there is no relationship between lyrics and visuals as no one is singing or doing anything close to the lyrics. However there might be a relationship between the music and visuals as they are dancing on the beats and pace of the music. There could be a motif of the treadmill in this video as each member does dance on them. there is no intertextual relationships or notion of looking. Although this video hasn't got anything to do with the song, its interesting and unique and that's what make it memorable.

Always-Bon Jovi






We then looked at a Narrative based with an element of performance music video. In this video, there was a relationship between the lyrics and visuals as you can see Bon Jovi singing the words on the video, furthermore there is a relationship between the music and visuals as its telling a story. There are close ups of Bon Jovi while he sings to. Furthermore there are some references to sexual objects as the woman is being painted and filmed. There are also the notion of looking as there are screens within screens in this music video. The pictures below show Bon Jovi singing and also the two characters who play the roles of the man and woman mentioned in the song.

5 Colours In Her Hair 







We also looked at another Performance based music video but it had an element of narrative in. Again in this music video its up tempo and catchy, its a pop song and so has bright colours. Due to it being performance based there is a relationship between visuals and lyrics as we can see Tom and other members of the band singing the song. There is a reference to the notion of looking as there is a TV screen in which the band come through. There are close ups on the which ever member is singing at the point in the song and wide shot to show the whole band. There is also intertextual references to the Beatles when the band cross the road on a zebra crossing. Below is a picture showing the wide shot to show all members of the band.