RESEARCH

MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS.

There are different types of categories in which a music video is categorised.  For example Narrative, live performance- music or dance, concept/ stunt videos, dance craze and hybrid.

Narrative; for a typical narrative video according to conventions, a story line is expected. This is when a story is told either by the lyrics of the song, the actual participants in the video “generally the singer” or the location of the video. It is expected that many symbolic images are used, changes of the locations, flash backs and future actions and repetition of sets.  An example of a narrative music video is “we found love – Rihanna.”

Live performance- music or dance; for a live performance video it is expected that the video is short on stage when the artist is performing and the video is always likely to focus on performance for example the vocals, the band and the instrument and the overall package. This could either be music or dance or in some circumstance the combination of both.  For a typical live performance video according to conventions theirs always extravagant settings or a simple setting depending on the artist or the genre of the music. An example of a live performance video is “Beyoncé- Run the world video at the billboard awards 2011.

Concept/ stunt video; the typical convention of a stunt/ concept video is something “wired ,surprising and outrageous” this is something that is not expected by the viewers or something that doesn’t nessasarly reflect the lyrics of the song. For example it could be a joke or stunts or something that represents the brand of the artists/ band.  Example of a concept video is “Cake- short skirt / long jacket.”

Dance craze; a dance craze video is a typical dance fest that focuses on the chorography of a dance which is normally being performed by the artist and a group of supporting dancers.  It is expected to that there would be lots of repetitive dance steps which might have been recorded in different setting or locations. It is very often that the lyrics are in sync with the dance moves. And it is also expected that the backup dancers all have similar or the same outfit while the lead artist has a similar outfit to the backup dancers.  An example of a dance craze video I “shakira – hips don’t lie.”

Hybrid;  a hybrid video is a mixture of everything be it dance, live performance, narrative and concept. A hybrid normally switches within the listed above. An example of a hybrid video is “Rihanna – Umbrella.”