Research on Music Videos

My initial Music Video research

For my Media Studies A2 Practical work I have chosen to do a Music video. To further my knowledge of the music video productions I plan to carry out conventions of Music videos. In my research I then plan to look at different music video genres to broaden my ideas of what sort of video i would like to do, and to see what stereo typically each genre has in their music videos.

House/Electronic Music Videos:

• These music videos are usually shoot in Club/Party/Festivals/landscapes/natural (beaches, woods)
• They use bright colorful lights used to give party/electronic effect, as well as outside areas with sunsets and colorful natural settings
• Features varieties of people, dancing/having fun with friends
• Camera shots usually distorted/fast again to emphasize dance movements and beat of the music, they then feature long shots to show landscapes/clubs/fans
• The video is often fast paced,often not many lyrics but electric sounds
• A lot of quick shots are used to emphasize beat of the music and show the fun within the beat
• Don't often follow a story line/ Narrative as limited Lyrics in the songs
• Very instrumental ,meaning all clips are quite random but show fun and show they're having fun to the beat.

Example: https://youtu.be/knd9bJr2AFQ

      

Pop Music Videos:

• Close ups to show excited emotions on the face of the artist
• Camera shots (most hand held, following the artist or star of the music video)
• Artist genuinely dressed bold bright colours wearing lots of makeup, statement jewelry  ,woman often wear provocative clothing this is used as a selling point
• Artist performance, the person who made the song is usually the star of the video.
• The performance of the artist usually very upbeat, with fun and fast dancing
• Some artist use themes to represent the song, those themes usually include relationships/breakups/parties
• Bright clothing, bright backgrounds.
• Usually Young people feature throughout
• Subtle relating lyrics to music video
• Use of video editing (slow motion making the video look dramatic as well as speed ups to give the look of upbeat vibes)
• Most have inappropriate language to show rebeliance and fun
• Bright lighting to make the surrounding more colourful and fun
• Most scenes are full of action, due to pop music videos being related to young people, they want to make all the clips full to keep younger people intrigued.

Example Pop Music Video: https://youtu.be/7hPMmzKs62w

Rap/ Hip Hop Videos:

• Recognized brands/clothing high end
•  Expensive Cars
• Mostly shot at parties, rich houses/mansions ,clubs ,pools
• Camera shots tend to be long establishing shots/long shots, to show off wealth and big locations
• Which there is then fast shots to emphasize the beats in the music 
• Close up shots to show jewellery and assets of the artist, can include "merchandise" created by the artist with their name on etc.
•  Attractive woman and men (women wearing tight clothing, men stylish)
• Doesn't tend to follow storylines, it’s more fun random shoots with some relation to the lyrics
• Artist is featured throughout most the video, especially during rap in the song
• Once again colourful but sometimes more subtle ,clothes are bright but paired with 'normal' clothes (statement items of clothing)
• Lots of dancing, very chilled.
• Not much crazy lighting, normal/natural lighting.
• Different angles, low (showing the artist is important)

Example Videos:  https://youtu.be/uxpDa-c-4Mc

                             https://youtu.be/iAW7-HyxoyE

Alternative Rock Videos:

• Use of black and white filters gives a sense of nostalgia
• Mostly old artists starring in the video
• Some clips could be bad quality to show ageing.
• Dark lighting, to show dark vibes with most of the lyrics not being happy
• Usually consist of a unique narrative/storyline
• Some clips could be bad quality to show ageing, and  shots can be deliberately blurred or appear unprofessionally filmed to give a personal feel to add to the unique alternative style
• Long shots are used to show whole bands together or concerts at which the artist is playing at.
• Due to dark lighting most alternative videos have light studio lights to light up faces of artists, with not much else lit up (artificial lighting)
• Shows can be mostly following shots/hand held
• Mostly male artists
• Shots based around instruments and close up of artists singing/playing instruments etc.

Example: https://youtu.be/Tm8LGxTLtQk

                 https://youtu.be/FSnAllHtG70 

Rock Music Videos:

• Dark clothes (mostly black ,white ,grey)
• Tends to be black and white (because rock is stereotypically thought to be old as rock was very popular back in the 70s/80s)
• Artist is featured throughout, they are often shown to be playing an instrument, often uses moments from concerts and past memories
• Use of extreme close ups, long shots, quick cuts to emphasize the music, also showing the artists up close then showing their audiences (at concerts etc)
• Lighting usually dark, but with bright lights occasionally (often if filmed at concert) 
• Usually has a storyline, mostly about moving on, growing old etc
• Not very high quality clips, showing old artists.

Example: https://youtu.be/hH_j_GjNKaY

Metal Music Videos:

• Very similar style to rock music videos
• Usually have a deep storyline
• Black and white colours, both costume and backgrounds
• How the music videos are set out, is unusual which can make them memorable to audiences
• Stereotypically the music videos are about depression and death, very gruesome, most about war and fighting
• Dark lighting 
• Voices sound deeper the other genres
• Fast and distorted camera shots, often used to emphasize the heavy music and make it seem realistic
• These videos can have extreme make up often worn (sometimes masks in cases of bands like slipknot) very bold clothing choices and unique outfits (some outfits can be historian)
• Close ups of Artist to show emotion and power within their voices at loud lyrics

Example: https://youtu.be/h6-krHfdmGg