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Music video conventions over the years
Different genres of music have different styles of music video that are different from each other as well as the ones of the same genre from the past. -
Michael Jackson - Thriller
This is another example of pop genre music video that follows a narrative storyline. In total the video is 13:43 minutes. I like the idea of having a narrative plot with some parts having diagetic sound to add to the story. It also has a strong focus on performance and won the 1984 MTV award for the 'Best Overall Performance in a Video' as well as the 1999 MTV award for '100 Greatest Music Videos of all Time' -
Aha - Take On Me
At the 1986 MTV music video awards this music video won 6 awards including 'Best Direction' and 'Best Concept Video'. I really like the narrative style of this music video as well as the combination of real life action and animation (rotoscoping). The artist's did this by filming the live-action footage and tracing over it frame by frame. It would be an interesting technique to encorporate into my own music video. The genre of music this relates to is Pop. It combines narrative and performance. -
RUN-DMC - Walk This Way
The Run-DMC is the cover of the Aerosmith's version of Walk This Way. The rock/hip-hop song has a video that focuses strongly on performance and is regarded as one of the main songs that broke hip-hop music into mainstream. The video features the band RUN-DMC competeing against the Aerosmith members creating a hip-hop X rock mashup of the song.It is set up like a competition between the two groups to play the song the loudest and the best before 'joining forces' in front of a huge crowd. -
Madonna - Like A Prayer
This video during the development was intended to address issues such as racism but then changed to a provocative theme of sex. It is an example of voyeuristic use of the female body in the pop/pop-rock genre. It was quite controversial due to the strong relations to religeon and It features burning crosses which references the KKK ceremonies; addressing the racism as well as casting a black man to play the saint in the video. I like the way this video uses controversy to make a statement. -
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
This iconic 90s rock song has a music video that socuses mainly on performance. The band play their song in a dimly lit school gym in front of a crowd. It uses strong lighting and smoke to create a punk kind of look to it. The video won 'Best New Artist' and 'Best Alternative Group' at the MTV awards in 1992.The band hired a bad director in an attempt to make the video more punk and 'not- corporate'. The video ends with a riot and trashing the band's equipment. This is iconic of rock/punk genre. -
Beastie Boys - Sabotage
The video to this song is in the style of a parody of 70s 'cop shows' such as 'Starsky and Hutch' or 'Hawaii Five-O'. It is presented as if it were the opening credits to one of these shows called 'Sabotage'. It has a lot of very quick edits.The band members act as the show's protagonists and are each introduced as a fictional actor. This punk style of the video is reflective of the music style itself as the parody element reflects the anti-corporate ideas as shown in the way they mock it. -
Radiohead - Karma Police
This ia an alternative rock song from 1997. The video is interesting as it is shot mostly with one shot. The first 2:34 minutes are a continous shot but as the song reaches a climax, there are cuts. I follows a narrative style of a car driving, ending with the vehicle catching fire. As the genre changes to more alternative rock, the style of the video becomes more interpretive and less obvious as to the meaning. I like this simplistic but dramatic narrative and style in the video. -
Blur - Coffee and TV
This Blur video won awards in 1999 and 2000 including Best Video at the NME Awards and the MTV Europe Awards.The alternative rock music video follows a narrative story of a missing person that the carton goes on an 'adventure' to find. The milk carton became a loved character and has fan pages on Facebook and Twitter. At the 2012 Olympic closing ceremony, Blur played and gave out replicas of the carton to fans. I also has a performance element. I really like the creative idea behind this video. -
Destiny's Child - Survivor
The music video for this R&B/pop song follows a narrative and performance style. The group are stranded on a desert island and sing about 'surviving'. It does feature sexualisation of the famale body but combined with the lyrics, it acts more as empowering as it talks about surviving a 'break-up' with a man. It won the 2001 MTV 'Best R&B Video'. I like the choreograohy on the dance sequences. The group then get rescued by a helicopter at the end, It presents women in a strong/empowering way. -
Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya, Pink - Lady Marmalade
This hip-hop/R&B song won the MTV 2001 'Video of the Year' award. It is a cover of the 1974 version and was recorded for use on the 'Moulin Rouge' soundtrack. All four performers in this version of the song are presented voyeiristically: showing them in lingerie and on a set designed to look like Moulin Rouge; reflecting the sexual lyrics. It focuses on the performance element and has a strong sexualisation of the female body. This is common for R&B music videos, especially at this time. -
Moby - We Are All Made Of Stars
This alternative rock video won the 2002 MTV award for 'Best Cinematography'. It shows the 'Hollywood' lifestyle as 'fake' and not how the viewer would expect as many celebrities including sean Bean, and Corey Feldman are shown in very 'non-celebrity' places such as cheap diners, strip clubs, and motels. Many of the celebs lipsynch to the song. Moby himself is dressed as an astronaut to represent an 'outsider' to this Hollywood life. -
Outkast - Hey Ya!
This video won 'Best Hip-Hop Video' and 'Best Special Effects' at the 2004 MTV awards. It is filmed as a parody of The Beatles' performance on the 1964 Ed Sullvan Show. The clever editing and filming shows the artist André 3000 performing as every member of the 'band'. He wears a different outfit and performs. The video is strongly based on performance. I really like the way it is edited to have one performer staged as several people. -
Green Day - American Idiot
This punk rock song is iconic of the band Green Day. The music video focuses solely on performance as the band perform the song in a large warehouse style set with the american flag behind them. The punk rock style of music is reflected in the music video with the costumes and the aggressive performing; this is combined with many fast edits to create a fast-paced video. They also destroy their instruments at the end which is often seen in punk videos to reflect the anarchist ideals. -
Fall Out Boy - Sugar, We're Goin Down
This pop-punk/emo genre of music by Fall Out Boy has an interesting music video. It follows a narrative story combined with shots of the band performing the song. The narrative follows a boy with antlers as an outcast of society and his attempt to date a girl. I like the idea of this video and the symbolism behind it. The combination of narrative and cuts to performing is common in a lot of music videos in pop genre/sub-genre. -
Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancin'
The music video for this song is interesting as it is staged as a poster. The poster comes to life to produce the music video with a lot of overlaying moving images and use of a green screen to combine all these performance elements that make up the video. The pop style is reflected in the performance style of the video and upbeat dancing and playing instruments etc. By creating a montage style video of different foreground/background images and movements it's an interesting surreal effect. -
Soulja Boy Tell'em - Crank That
This video is rap song that had a dance that went with it. The artist created a signature dance to accompany his song. It became an iconic dance. The video features this dance as well as cuts to him rapping and also cars. It follows a performance style which is common for rap videos as well at shots of cars to reflect wealth. -
The Hoosiers - Goodbye Mr A
The genre of this song is pop/indie rock and is reflected in the music video with an ineteresting narrative storyline that is reminicent of 1960s superhero comics such as Batman or Superman. Part of it is animated in the comic book style. It also features a performance element as the band perform the song during the narrative. I really like this video and the popular culture references. -
Owl City - Fireflies
Owl City is s synthpop artist with his song Fireflies reaching 143+million views on Youtube. The video features the artist turning on a keyboard and as the song progresses all the toys in the room begin to come alive and the lights and lamps all turn on. The lyrics reference light which is amplified in the video and they turn on in time to the music. It features toys from the 70s and 80s as well as a monochrome TV giving it a nostalgic feel. I love this video and the use of 'magic' objects. -
Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
The pop music video follows a voyeuristic surreal narrative of Lady Gaga being kidnapped and sold as a sex slave. It is a risque style with strong imagery and extravagance. It has a strong performance element that involves dancers and singing. The music video received 10 nominations at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards due to its adventurous and eccentric style and choreography. -
All Time Low - I Feel Like Dancin'
This pop-punk/rock band is set around a narrative that turns into performing. It is a satirical video that 'mocks' the music industry by showing the steps to make a good music video. It features several pop culture references to other music videos when the final step is to just steal ideas. The band are shown copying Lady Gaga's Bad Romance video as well as Katy Perry's California Girls. I like the pop culture references that mock the music industry; it fits with the punk idea of anti-corporate. -
Nicki Minaj - Super Bass
This pop/rap video is an example of voyeurism and sexualisation of the female body. It is a vibrant video with lots of flashing light and bright colours. As fitting with rap video mise-en-secene it features cars and examples of wealth. As well as sexualising women it also shows men in a sexualised way as many are seen topless lying around a pool. This video mainly focuses on performance and the colour pink is used throughout: reflecting the artist's femininity. -
Imagine Dragons - Radioactive
The alternative rock genre of this song is reflected in the interesting alternative music video. It focuses around a narrative of a girl who has to save her friends from a puppet fighting ring. I really like the creativity of this video as the lyrics suggest a post-apocalyptic scene but the audience are presented with the unexpected. The narrative is interesting and original. It was nominated for the 'Best Rock Video' at the 2013 MTV awards. -
Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know?
This indie rock song has an animated music video to accompany it. It is interesting and the movements of the animated 'wavelength' lines move in time to the music. It is a simple video with a black background and white line animation over the top, sometimes with colour. The animation features voyeuristic women, and racing cars and other images that morph into each other. I like the surreal and psychadelic style. -
Hozier - From Eden
This music video follows a wholely narrative storyline. Its indie rock genre is reflected in the video as most music videos combine narrative and performance but this is only a story. It is about a family of outlaws who care for a young boy, at the end they are arrested. It has a lot of slow-motion shots that give it a nostalgic feel and reflect the 'lazy summer' atmosphere when it is set. I like this video because it is interesting and keeps the attention of the audience.
