Styles and techniques in music videos

1. Styles and techniques in
music videos.
BY ELLIE-LOUISE CARROLL

2. Genre
 Pop music video: Zara Larsson – Lush life.
 With this music video you can tell that it is a pop video as it has bright colours which fits with the pop
genre it comes from, it also has a lot filters which not only makes the star look better but also intensifies
the colours used. You can also see the star dancing in most shots which is typical of pop videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD4HCZe-
tew&index=107&list=PL2HEDIx6Li8jqhOAi7wQb18wXQ3oeLAO8
 Hip-hop/rap: 50 cent – In da club.
 In this music video we can see the people in the video drinking and dancing in a club, this is common in
hip-hop music videos. It also shows a lot of attractive women and the men in the video wearing flashy
jewellery all of this signifies to the audience that it a hip-hop video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qm8PH4xAss
 Rock: The Cranberries – Zombies.
 This music video switches between black and white and colour, rock music videos usually tend to have a
lot of black and white, if in colour like in some bits of this music video it is usually quite dark colours. In
this music video they use of lot of high-angle shots which makes the singer look more powerful. We also
see this music video tell a sort of story which is typical for a rock music video. Some religious symbolism
is used in the video which is common in rock music videos as well as seeing instruments being played.
videoshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ejga4kJUts&list=PLBF4CF958AF80561F&index=21

3. Styles and techniques.
 In-concert ‘live footage’: Coldplay – Fix you
 This music videos uses live footage at the middle of the video where it shows the band
performing in concert, during this part of the music video fast edits are used in order
to make it seem more exciting. We also see wide-shots of the crowd and the band
performing. A lot of bright flashing lights are used as they would be at a concert.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4V3Mo61fJM
 Animation: Arctic Monkeys – Do I wanna know?
 In this music video it starts with soundwaves which are in synchronisation with the
guitar. It then changes into different animations like women and cars, the styling used
is quite similar to their album cover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpOSxM0rNPM

4.  Narrative: Maroon 5 – maps
 During this music video we see the story of how a falling out between the main star
and his girlfriend which leads to her getting into an accident and ultimately dying
however the order of the events is not chronological and all the different events are
mixed up throughout the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmugSMBh_iI
 Pastiche: Panic at the Disco – Girls/girls/boys
 In this music video we can see that the star is doing their own take on the D'Angelo -
Untitled (How Does It Feel) music video with the black background and the nude torso,
there are some differences in the videos but all in all it is very similar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk8jV7r6VMk

5.  Parody: Bart Baker – Break Free (Ariana Grande Parody)
 In this parody they do low budget versions of what happened in the original this is
common in parodies as it adds to the humour of the music video. We also see them
mock the artist not only for the song but even things that concern their personal life,
this again is common in parody music videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtjrYNSQOKw
 Surrealist/impressionist: Red Hot Chilli Peppers – Otherside
 This video is quite surreal as it uses a lot of cubism and cartoon like visuals, this video
revolves around somebodies dream sequence and is quite strange in the way that they
present the visuals to us for example turning them upside down to reveal something
else. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn_YodiJO6k

6.  Miming and lip syncing: Blur – Parklife. In this music video we see the band
members singing the song directly to the camera as if they was having a
conversation with the audience. With the narrative of the music video the lip
syncing fits well. The style of the song also makes the lip syncing work better as
the lead singer if talking more than singing the verses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSuHrTfcikU
 Cutting to the beat: White stripes – Seven nation army. This music video consists
of the band members shown in front of triangles that are moving closer to the
camera, the brightness and speed of the triangles depend on the beat and goes in
unison with the guitar and drums.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J2QdDbelmY

7.  Multi-image: All American rejects- I wanna. This music video shows a house party
in which a somebody notices their ex-girlfriend is there with her new boyfriend.
Throughout this music video multiple mobile phones are on screen at the same
time and this is used as an editing transition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwm7crkV124