There are three recognised types of music videos. However, often music videos are a combination of two of these categories.
1) Narrative music videos.
These types of music videos often follow a narrative structure, with a beginning, middle and end. The viewers are often shown a story and the music video can sometimes be likened to somewhat of a short film. Narrative music videos often establish a clear relationship between the lyrics and the visuals of the song.
Todorov's Three Part Structure suggests that every story starts with a equilibrium, where everything is balanced, progress as something comes along to ruin the equilibrium, and ends when resolution is reached and equilibrium is restored.
Todorov's Three Part Structure suggests that every story starts with a equilibrium, where everything is balanced, progress as something comes along to ruin the equilibrium, and ends when resolution is reached and equilibrium is restored.
E.g: The example music video I have found of this is the video Cigarrette's and Cush by UK Grime artist, Stormzy. The story begins with him meeting a girl at a party, who he begins to get deeply involved with then later realises she works within Crime Enforcement which is problematic as he is a drug dealer. The story then ends with her helping him escape being caught and them driving off.
At 0:39, in Cigarettes and Cush in Stormzy he is denoted in a long camel colored jacket and a black shirt and he is surrounded by plants. The connotation is that he is a drug dealer in some type of weed farm which begins to construct the narrative for the audience.
In Todorov's theory of narrative, this would be the equilibrium; Stormzy is a practicing drug dealer and crime enforcement doesn't know, he remains undisturbed and making money.
At 0:39, in Cigarettes and Cush in Stormzy he is denoted in a long camel colored jacket and a black shirt and he is surrounded by plants. The connotation is that he is a drug dealer in some type of weed farm which begins to construct the narrative for the audience.
In Todorov's theory of narrative, this would be the equilibrium; Stormzy is a practicing drug dealer and crime enforcement doesn't know, he remains undisturbed and making money.
2) Performance music videos.
The second type of music videos are performance music videos. This is where the artist performances the song through dancing, lap syncing, live performance or concert. These types of videos often include lots of shots of the artist, especially close up's (Star representation). Most of the time there is little to no connection with the lyrics.
E.g: The example music video of this is Questions by Chris Brown, he mouths the lyrics and there is a dance performance throughout the whole music video.
At 2:05 He is denoted in a red and black costume with a black cap and black shades. There are 4 additional girls standing around him and they are also wearing colored caps, different outfits but they are all wearing elements of red, black and white. They are all denoted dancing. The use of costume is useful because it makes the performance appear fun and youthful and the performance aspect may attract a younger.
3) Abstract music videos
The third are abstract music videos, often called conceptual music videos. These music videos are often have no relation to the lyrics and little to no meaning. They are often unusual and make little sense.
E.g: The example music video I found of this is Tyler the Creator Who Dat Boy at 2:32, He is denoted with dark ears and neck and then a Caucasian face with ginger freckles, eyebrows and brown eyes stitched to his own face.
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