Types of music video

Bands or artists tend to choose from 3 different types of music video to go alongside their audio track. These 3 types are: Narrative based, performance based or concept based and this tends to change depending on genre. Because of these differences, mise en scene and editing throughout the video will change depending on the message that each genre is trying to convey to the audience.

The three types of video

Performance

Narrative Concept

This is the most common type of video and it will show a band or an artist performing live in a concert. Within the video, the audience will be able to see close ups of the band members as well as the instruments that they are playing. It is so that the audience can also gain an idea of what a live show from this band/artist would be like and so it is a very efficient way of selling the band and encouraging an audience to go to these live shows. By not telling a particular story, the video reminds the audience that the audio is still very important and so all the focus will not just be on the video. These visuals of performance tell them that the audio and recording is the most important message that the artist or band is trying to convey.

Performance based video

An example of this type is: Brianstorm by the Arctic Monkeys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30w8DyEJ__0

Narrative based music videos are becoming more popular with modern music videos to portray the idea that there is more to a song than just the audio track. This type of video will commonly present a sequence of events with a linear narrative and a cause and effect type routine. The most common type of music video however, is a love story narrative where generally a boy would meet a girl, he would then lose the girl and finally find her again to end the video. In a narrative video, the lyrics of the songs will tend to match up with the action of events in the video which can help the audience understand the narrative and meaning behind a song when it is released. It is often popular for a song that is featured in a movie and scenes can be cut into the video from this.

Narrative based videos

An example of this type is: When you were young by The Killers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff0oWESdmH0

This style of music video is not so common but it is based around a single concept or idea, hence the name. They tend to be rather strange or unusual videos whilst using a certain editing or filming technique. It is rare to find a video that is conceptually based the whole way through due to commercial world demands. The audience may become confused by this idea and it may struggle to sell the song however, on the other hand it may help an audience to remember the song if the video has a certain unique quality to it.

Concept based

An example of this type is: Californication by Red Hot Chilli Peppers

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