Styles of the Music Video

There are various different styles of the music video, this can relate to the genre of the music, and what typical features we would expect to find in the music video. These different styles consist of;

- Narrative
- Cinematic
- Studio Based
- Intertextuality
- Parody
- Pastiche

Narrative

A video with a narrative often consists of the content of the video matching that of the  lyrics of the song and there is a storyline in the video that makes it appealing to the audience. The artist who is singing the song can chose to feature in the music video as the character who is portraying the storyline and plot or they can choose to hire an actor to take up this spot. Narrative often conforms to the theory of Goodwin where the storyline illustrates the lyrics of the song and the two interlink. However, narrative styles of music videos can also be in disconjunction with the music video where there is a story that is not very relative to the song. A good example of a narrative style music video is J. Cole - She Knows;



Cinematic

Cinematic music videos take the shape of a small film and there is a strong sense of cinematography and film involved in the creation of these types of music videos. The use of the camera resembles that of a film and there are obvious conventions in these videos depending on what type of message the music is trying to convey. The camera angles and shots also conform to make the music video appear as a cinematic piece of media text rather than a simple high intensity edited music video with lots of different shots edited together rather quickly. Or in many cases, cinematic music videos often have a film as almost a prologue that leads into the main video.



Studio Based

Studio based music videos can accommodate many different genres such as rock, Pop, Jazz where there videos are all manipulated to suit the specific needs of the genre and artists. For example, a rock band may use a studio based music video where they are all sitting with their instruments by stands whereas a Pop artist may use a studio with a white backdrop with bright lights and choreographed performance with dancers. This is what makes studio music videos so versatile. A good example of a studio music video is Rihanna ft Drake - Take Care;





Intertextuality

Intertextuality is another style that can be found in the content of a music video where the video makes reference to different media text from the past which the audience understand and can relate to. These references expand across all of the media and can take features from classic music videos or major films that are known world wide by many people and are highly recognised and significant. This is effective because it gives the audience a chance to identify with other media texts and thus makes the music video that is displaying these intertextual references memorable and interesting.



Parody

A music video can also come in the form of a Parody which means that it makes fun of certain characteristics of genres, artists or writers. An example of a parody could be an artist of present day performing as if Michael Jackson in a music video back in the day. A parody is very similar to intertextuality but it links more specifically to genre or characteristics of a particular artist. These videos are effective as alike intertextual media, they link together two pieces of media and help sell the music as they are made fun and memorable.