music video techniques

Music Video Techniques

Bradley Morris

Music genres include Pop, Rock, R&B and Country.

Pop music tends to be the most popular genre.

Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”

Popular Music Genres

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPf0YbXqDm0

This is where a director puts together a music video from live performances.

This tends to help show the emotion and energy of a live performance of a song. These kind of music videos were popular in the 1980s.

Queen – “We are the Champions”

In Concert and ‘as live’ Footage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04854XqcfCY

This is a music video that uses animation some way or another.

British band Gorillaz use animation in all of their videos because they are seen as an animated band.

Gorillaz - Stylo

Animation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhPaWIeULKk

These kind of music videos can be interpreted in many different ways to an audience. Each person will see the video differently and have a different understanding of it.

The Beatles – “Blue Jay Way”

Interpretative

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWWFZoTNrEs

In media, narrative refers to how the story is told in a music video, which is also communicated through to the audience.

Narrative can come in many forms such as single-strand and multi-strand narratives.

Justin Timberlake – “Mirrors”

Narrative

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuZE_IRwLNI

A surrealist music video features artificial and unreal elements, that can be compared to dream-like effects

Jamiroquai – “Virtual Insanity”

Surrealist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JkIs37a2JE

A parody music video is an imitation of another music video, where it’s main intention is to make fun of the video.

“Weird Al” Yankovic – “Eat it” – this is a parody of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”.

Parody

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcJjMnHoIBI

These kind of videos involve some kind of reference to either a TV show or a film.

They will show clips from the film they are referencing.

Sam Smith – “Writing’s on the Wall”

Referencing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jzDnsjYv9A

This is the way that someone watches a music video and relates them to the lyrics of the song.

This is often popular in music videos because people like to have their own view of what they think it means.

Lyric Interpretation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_qMagfZtv8

This is when the shots in the video cut to the next one in time with the beat.

Example – “Changed the Way you Kiss me”

Cutting to beat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLXt3yh2g0s

This is when someone is wording the lyrics in the video, therefore it helps give an illusion to an audience that whoever is in the video is singing the song.

Nickleback – “Rockstar”

Miming and Lip Sync

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmeUuoxyt_E