Music Video Types

NARRATIVE BASED MUSIC VIDEO

A music video that mainly consists of story telling that relates to the lyrics is a narrative-based music video; often depicts a certain genre in order to interact and engage an audience.  This type of music video may present certain songs that feature in films, in which footage from the feature is shown in the video.  Locations, mise-en-scene and props are used in order to tell the story; sometimes footage of the artist themselves can be portrayed.  Narrative based music videos are more likely to entertain, actors can be used in order to present a story effectively.

Eliza Doolittle's video for 'Pack Up' depicts a narrative style as the artist climbs out of a suitcase which is flung out of a bus at the beginning of the sequence.  The narrative enhances the cheerful nature of the song and suggests that people should adopt a free lifestyle, being carefree.  We see many people at a dance in a hall, showing Eliza's journey.

PERFORMANCE BASED VIDEO

Alternatively, a performance based music video will depict the artist or band performing their release - either directly to a camera or shown as a live performance to an audience.  This technique is popular for rock genres etc.  in order to engage the viewer as they can view the concert - alternative to showing just the artist.  

'The Look' by Metronomy is a quirky, performance based music video which shows the band playing a set; stop-motion seagulls are seen walking along to the rhythm of the song at the beginning, and at various other times in the video.

CONCEPT BASED VIDEO

A concept based video will emphasise a certain idea; depicting a certain style or editing technique - although a video doesn't necessarily have to be based around one concept - it is usually several ideas.  These types of music videos tend to be unique - and do not have to necessarily appeal to a mainstream audience as such.  

One of my favourite music videos is 'Settle Down' by Kimbra - it seems to reflect the lyrics and theme of the song as a mixture of performance/ narrative based stylised video.  A young actress seems to portray a house-wife character as we see the effects of her marriage - in juxtaposition to the 'settle down' lyrics; which perhaps seem to show  that the relationship isn't as pleasant as hoped.  The artist is shown uniquely dancing/ singing - enhancing a performance aspect, it is a unique video.