Music Videos

There are three main genres of music videos; performance, narrative and abstract.

Performance Video
Performance videos are usually more suited to rock/pop music and the focus is always on the performers and them performing the song. These types of videos are the easiest to produce and require the least amount of planning.

An example of a performance video would be 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' by Joy Divison. The video is simple the band performing the single in what looks like a shabby bare room in an abandoned house.

http://www.muzu.tv/joydivision/love-will-tear-us-apart-music-video/994763/

Narrative Video
Narrative videos are suited to most genres of music. As the name narrative suggests, the video is based around a story and often rarely has anything to do with the song. They generally have a unique and distinctive twist. For example The Scientist by Coldplay, the story in the video is shown in reverse.

Another example of a narrative video is 'The A Team' by Ed Sheeran. This video is unique in the sense the video directly relates to the lyrics as the video is about a prostitute trying to fund her drug addiction.

http://www.muzu.tv/edsheeran/the-a-team-music-video/974075/

Abstract Video
Abstract videos are usually detached from the music and lyrics. There are a series of seemingly unconnected images that fit the pace of the music. Abstract videos tend to suit most genres and in particular the less mainstream indie artists.

An example of an abstract video is 'Blue Monday' by New Order. The only way the video relates to the music is the pace in which it is edited and there are some images that have the lyrics on the screen. The rest of the video is made up of random and unrelated things such as a dog sat on a stack of chairs etc.

http://www.muzu.tv/neworder/blue-monday-88-music-video/994756/

Across all videos, they are generally built on money and image. The record label require a certain level of intimacy between performer and viewer.

In some cases, music videos can reference other forms of media, other videos and parodying real life. For example, R.E.M.'s 'Bad Day video' incorporates a news broadcast. Also, Shania Twain's 'Man I Feel Like A Woman' video directly links with the video to 'Addicted To Love' by Robert Palmer as it basically the same except the singer is a woman and she is surrounded by men playing instruments.

A2 Portfolio Task

Our new portfolio task for Y13 is to create a music video, website homepage and digipak (album cover).

There will be a lot of research involved for this task. In particular, I will have research a great deal into different existing music videos, common conventions and reoccurring styles for the different genres of music.

I will also have to pick a song I want to produce a music video for and actually stick to that song – I have been told this is the hardest part.

I will need a copy of the lyrics for my chosen song, and if a video has already been released for the song, I will need to make sure I have watched the video.

The skills I have learnt in AS will be particularly useful – especially blogger as this, like the year before, will be a means of uploading my research and planning and letting the examiner see the process I went through to create my video. I will also use PowerPoint and Word to present my research/planning. Slideshare will also be useful as I will need it to be able to upload documents to Blogger.

I think A2 will be a major step up from AS and I will definitely have to focus on making sure I manage my time well as there are a lot of elements that make up the coursework side of this year’s course.