Music Video Styles – Overview

There are multiple styles of music videos, which have specific connotations depending on each particular style, and different genres of music vide0s often conform to these styles, creative diversity within music videos.

The different styles of music videos are as follow:

• Narrative/Illustration
• Performance
• Concept/Amplification
• Disjuncture
• Mix – Self explanatory, any combination or arrangement of mixing different ideas from the styles above.

Each of these styles have specific conventions as mentioned above, the conventions of each of these styles are:

• Narrative/Illustration

The narrative style videos often have actions linking directly to the lyrics, whereby the music video simply a video which ‘narrates’ or ‘tells the story’ of the video. These style of music videos also often include text and credits within the video, and in some cases clips from films or other references to highlight films and to give a level of publicity to the song or film reference to address the audience.

A Screenshot Taken From Illustration Video ‘Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked’

• Performance

Performance styled music videos feature the band or often solo performances, which includes lip syncing as an essential part of this style, however most music videos often feature an art of performance in them often through lip syncing as a popular technique to combine the video and music successfully. Live performance as well as pre recorded performances and studio based work is also included in this style, live performances are often featured in rock music, whereby the videos often revolve around the music itself rather than public image.

A Screenshot of Muse Demonstrating a Performance Music Video

• Concept/ Amplification

Concept music videos otherwise known as amplification videos, often take meanings or symbolic references from lyrics or even the tonality or ‘mood’ of the song and ‘amplify’ theses ideas exploring different meanings and interpretations to create more interesting music videos based on idea which explore the meanings behind lyrics and go a step further than the narrative style of music video. However music videos often take ideas from both narrative and concept as well as other styles when creating music videos.

A Screenshot of Green Day’s ’21 Guns’ Concept Video

• Disjuncture

Disjuncture videos however can be seen as a step further or even a step away from concept videos as this style often takes an abstract interpretation of music videos where in some cases the video bares no resemblance to the lyrical meaning or even tonality and therefore mood of the song. Which for this style allows directors to become more creative in their work and to explore and utilise different filming and editing techniques to create an abstract, yet successful music video to accompany their chosen song.

A Range of Shots from ‘Knights of Cydonia’ Showing a Disjuncture Video

All of these styles help to enhance music videos and create diversification within the genres and styles allowing a broader scope for creativity when producing a music video, allowing directors, artists and bands to personalise their music videos through utilising these styles and their known conventions and equally meet or subvert their audiences expectations for their creative media products.