Styles..
Parody/Pastiche - Parody/Pastiche is used in music videos with the intent to mock or comment on someone else or their pre-existing work. Parody/Pastiche can be specific to an individual or an entire style of work. A certain artist may choose to parody another because it may present themselves in a different way to how they have already been perceived, it therefore attempts to gain a larger audience because of the humour within the video. It may attract attention but the success of a parody music video relies on whether the audience has seen the original piece of work for them to be able to understand the parody behind the video. An example of this is Mark Ronson's Parody of the song 'Just' by Radiohead, he mocks the original idea behind the video. Aside from personally mocking the band, he also ridicules the general seriousness of music videos altogether; as the Radiohead version of 'Just' is very serious Mark Ronson is mocking this.
Mark Ronson's Version
Radiohead's Version
Animation - Animation is the use of a sequence of images to create movement in a music video. There are various types of animation that can be used in music videos, traditional animation which is where everything is drawn on paper, stop motion animation which is the combination of freeze frame pictures to create a moving motion, Computer animation is where all animation is digitally created on the computer, and lastly 2D and 3D animation. Artists may choose to create animated music videos because they keep the identity of the band hidden also animation videos might differ from all of their previous videos, making it unique which may again reel in a larger audience. An animated video may appeal to a completely different group of people and could entice the audience to create their own perception of the video. An example of an animated music video is 'Freak On A Leash' by Korn, this video gives the audience the opportunity to interpret the video in their own way as it does not follow a typical narrative music video that most artists have to their song.
Korn - Freak On A Leash
In Concert 'live' performance - In concert or live performances will most commonly feature in rock music videos. The video will usually show the band performing live to an audience at one of their concerts, the performance will be broken up with other random parts of footage. Rock bands are most known for using live performance footage in their videos as it fulfils the stereotypical persona of a rock band, which is why they do it. The positive aspects of featuring a live performance in a music video is that it shows the huge amounts of crowds instead of focusing entirely on the lead singer alone, your able to see the band performing together and it appears more real as though your also at the concert; this could be why many artists and bands use their recorded concert footage in their music videos. An example of a music video that features a live performance of the band is the Guns N' Roses track 'Paradise City', it shows the band performing together whilst featuring the support of the fans, it is also littered with random shots of the band backstage and signing autographs on the street, live performances can be effective in heightening support for the band as it showcases their popularity.
Guns N' Roses - Paradise City
Genre Specific - For a music video to be genre specific it must be created to appear specific to the genre at which it resides in. A genre of music is determined by certain characteristics and traits such as clothing, setting and instruments which are common amongst other similar artists/bands, this is what separates rock music from R&B music and R&B music from Reggae music etc.. So, a music video must be suitable and remain specific within the genre. An artist or band will remain genre specific most of the time because they will want to please their fans and will produce a music video which their audience expects to see, a rock band would not feature R&B back up dancers because it would not suit their genre. This is why not many artists collaborate with other artists outside of their genre because it would not be favoured amongst the fans. An example of a genre specific music video is 'King' by Fireball Ministry. This is genre specific in the sense that it is suitable to the genre of heavy metal music because it has the band playing their instruments, in predominantly black clothing and in a dark, mysterious setting which is what we would expect from the genre of heavy metal rock music.
Fireball Ministry - King
Tool - Prison Sex
Tool - Stink Fist
Narrative - A narrative music video tells a story throughout, it has a beginning, middle and end. A narrative video should be clear and concise so that the audience can follow and understand the story completely. Freytag's theory applies narration to music videos, similar to a film, a music video should begin with exposition, which should turn into rising action, gradually increasing to the climax, which is the most important and interesting part of the video, falling action will decrease the action down to denouement which restores everything back. Freytag's theory should be able to be applied to any narrative music video. An example of a narrative music video is 'Stan' by Eminem. This tells the story of an obsessed fan named Stan who writes to Eminem in the hope of a reply to be together, after he doesn't receive one he kills himself. In the case of this video, the reason Eminem has chosen to produce a narrative video is because he is speaking to his audience through the story of Stan, which may be the reason many artists create narrative music videos. Also, the fact that a narrative video turns the lyrics into a video means that it is literal and easier for the fans to understand and doesn't require interpretation.
Eminem - Stan
Referencing/homage - To reference in a music video is to simply refer to another artist, genre or something/someone completely unrelated to the video. This is seen in many artists music videos, referencing and homage are slightly different. Homage is to pay dedication or respect to another in a music video, it can be hidden in the video or completely obvious. The Lady Gaga video 'Telephone' refers to the director Quentin Tarantino, if you have seen Tarantino movies then the references are quite obvious. The most obvious being the car that Beyonce drives during the video, it was the exact car that Uma Thurman steals in 'Kill Bill' named 'Pussy Wagon'. Another reference is the use of the name 'Honey bee' in the Lady Gaga video, this is similar to Tarantino's choice of the words 'Honey Bunny' in Pulp Fiction as one of the main characters is nicknamed this by their partner in crime, also the diner setting in the lady Gaga video is similar to the opening scene of 'Pulp Fiction'. Another reference is the use of font and colour which appears extremely similar to the 'Jackie Brown' colour and font, lastly the female banter in the car between Beyonce and Lady Gaga is similar to that of the girls in 'Death proof' and many of the shots of Beyonce in the car looks alike to the shots seen in 'Death Proof' of Tracie Thoms. An artist may chose to reference or pay homage in their video because they themselves were a fan of who or what they are referring to and want to feature it in their video, or because by doing that they might gain a larger audience as people who like Quentin Tarantino might watch the Lady Gaga video because of this.
Lady Gaga Featuring Beyonce - Telephone
Chris Brown pays homage to Michael Jackson in his video 'She Ain't You', this is an obvious homage as it says 'RIP' at the beginning of the video clearing stating his respect, and also dedicating the song to Michael Jackson. However, another homage video which is not as obvious as the Chris Brown video, is the track 'Walk' by the Foo Fighters. They have used a clear reference to the film 'Falling Down' to pay homage to the director Joel Schumacher. The whole video follows the same plot of the film about a man who goes crazy and starts attacking members of the public. This video therefore uses referencing to show their tribute to the film in a very obvious way, only if you have seen the film prior to watching this Foo Fighter's music video.
Chris Brown - She Ain't You
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