Characteristics of a Music Video

There are 5 different categories that a music video can fall into. Every music video falls into these, however, most music videos are a combination of these 5.

The categories are:

- showcase
- spectacle
- narrative
- intertextual
- crossover


The most common types of music video are showcase, spectacle and narrative, the last two categories are much less common. 

Showcase

Showcase music videos will showcase the artist or band. Usually, they are completely of the band or artist, although there may be a few dancers in the background. If the music video is by a band, showcase music videos generally identify every member of the band, almost introducing them to the audience with lots of close up or medium shots of each individual band member.

Showcase music videos usually accompany songs released by boy bands, like The Vamps, One Direction and Coldplay

Example: One Direction, 'Little Things'

During the video, the only thing we see are close up shots, mid shots and group shots of the band members.  The music video is filmed in black and white because the director thought it most captured the essence of the ballad. He wanted to let the song do the talking and I think this was very effective.

The use of close up shots throughout the video make the it seem more intimate, which makes the audience feel a lot closer the to the members of the band and therefore more connected to the song.  This will appeal to One Direction's target audience of teenage girls, who want to see more intimate, close up shots of the members of the band, who are all good-looking.

Spectacle

Spectacle music videos are often unusual or strange, and they usually have a different element that isn't conventional in the majority of music videos. They suggest maybe that the artist doesn't belong to the usual genres of music, perhaps presenting an indie or less popular genre of music.

Example: Lady Gaga 'Applause'

Lady Gaga belongs to the pop genre. However her videos are so different to those that are common in this genre of music that this can be considered as a spectacle music video. 

The video includes shots taken in both colour and black-and-white, including artistic and complex scenes such as Gaga's head on a swan, a scene in a bird cage, and the singer seated in a large top hat, as well as more simplistic scenes including Gaga walking in a black outfit wearing a headscarf, and the singer using white cloth, with scenes similar to the cover art of the single, featuring Gaga in bright make-up. Throughout the video bursts of color are shown theatrically. As Gaga sings the line "One second I'm a Koons then...

",which is before "Suddenly the Koons is me.", she is transformed into a black swan/human hybrid. Gaga also wears hand-shaped lingerie and a seashell bra with matching shell decoration. Near the climax, the singer features in a violet, crystal-like scene, and at the end, the name of her album Artpop is spelled using hand gestures. This music video is very unique as it combines art with pop culture. I think this is a good thing because when you watch it you can remember what happens in it as it is almost shocking it is so unusual.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applause_(Lady_Gaga_song)#Background_and_synopsis

Narrative 

Narrative music videos follow a basic story, and keep within the context of the song. The narrative could be interspersed with shots of the artist or the artist themselves possibly telling the story of the music video. At the moment I would like to create a music video that falls into this category.

Example: Taylor Swift 'You belong with me'

 Taylor Swift commented "One of my favorite things about this video is that there wasn't a standard performance scene. This video was pretty much all story line and I'm narrating it in the moment, basically narrating while all this is happening around me."

The video commences with the male love interest arguing with his girlfriend through a phone call. As soon as Swift, as the protagonist, notices, they begin to communicate by holding up signs through their bedroom windows. He closes his curtains,

and Swift holds up a sign saying, "I love you". As the song's chorus approaches, Swift starts to sing and dance in front of a mirror, changing to different clothing multiple times. Afterward, Swift is sitting in a bench while reading a book. The love interest arrives and the two converse. Then, Swift, now playing the antagonist, arrives in a red convertible car and he gets in it; she kisses him and gives a hostile look towards the protagonist. Suddenly, she is seen cheerleading at a football game while Swift's other persona is in the bleachers, performing in the school band. After scoring the winning touchdown, he moves towards his girlfriend and finds her flirting with a teammate, resulting in a heated argument which results in their breakup. Meanwhile, Swift, now the protagonist stares in amazement. Back in their bedroom

windows, they again communicate through signs, The male love interest asked Swift, the protagonist, if she was attending prom and she responded, "no, studying". Swift, however, notices he has a dejected expression as he leaves and changes her mind. Shortly after, Swift is seen entering the dance with a white dress, no longer looking like a nerd, while all her peers stare in amazement. When he spots her, he walks towards her and Swift, the antagonist in a red dress, attempts to impede him, but he ignores her. Ending the video, the two reveal folded signs saying "I love you" and kiss.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Belong_with_Me#Music_video

Intertextual

Intertextual music videos take one genre of media, in this case music videos and combines it with another, e.g. film or video games.  These types of music videos also include the hommages - those music videos that are specifically made to accompany the main theme song to an upcoming film. A great example of this is the music video for Skyfall by Adele.

 Example: Red Hot Chilli Peppers 'Californication'

This music video takes the form of a PC 3D video game from the third-person point of view of each

of the band members, all on some sort of adventure; this varies with each band member. One runs through Hollywood, dodging celebrities and their bodyguards. Another snowboards in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, then he falls off a cliff and lands on a train. A third swims in the San Francisco Bay, surrounded by sharks and females; he then surfs on a shark's back and suddenly jumps into the front seat of, and drives, a

convertible car. The last band member runs through Sequoia National Park, saving a bear from a hunter, riding a mining cart, and escaping many lumberjacks as they are cutting down all the trees. One of the band members enters a film studio, where he interferes with the productions of a space movie, a pornographic film, and a Leonardo da Vinci biographical documentary. Next another rails one of the Golden Gate Bridge's main suspension wires on his snowboard, while someone else from the band is joyriding across the bridge, and passes through a giant doughnut. He then drives off a cliff, landing on a giant

dragonfly with another band member riding it. In the meantime, Another skysurfs, and a further one rides the da Vinci flying machine prop from the studio. Another person from the band then falls off the dragonfly and lands brutally (losing most of his health in the process) on a giant garden. This scene cuts off into the band passing through an earthquake of the San Andreas Fault, eventually concluding with all four of them meeting at the center of the Earth, where they all touch a 3D cube which transforms their computer-generated avatars back into all four of their own real selves, as the message "Game Over" appears

at the bottom of the screen, segueing into a "Next Game?" prompt, upon which the video ends. Intercut with all this is live-action performance footage of the band, which remains in a picture-in-picture insert till a band member passes through the eight-rayed star; this is enough to make the live-action footage fill the screen each time a band member passes through it. The video itself contains many homages to video games of its time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Californication_(song)#Music_video

Crossover

Crossover music videos show various different examples of the characteristics shown above.  For example, they could be a combination of narrative and showcase, which is very frequent.  It's very unlikely to get a crossover of an intertextual music video as they are often very specifically based on a certain type of media, which makes it hard to combine with another characteristic and for it to make sense in about 3 to 4 minutes.  A spectacle and showcase combination in a music video is also quite common, because the artist is often involved as part of the spectacle.

Example: Taylor Swift 'We Are Never Getting Back Together'

The video begins with Swift in colorful pajamas recounting the events of her off and on again relationship with her ex-boyfriend. The video then segues into Swift going into her living room where her band is dressed up in animal costumes and Swift belts out the chorus of the song. The video then goes to a TV where Swift says "Like, ever." and then to the dining room where we see she

returns to recounting the events of her relationship and receives a phone call from her ex who is calling her from a nightclub. Swift hangs up on him and he walks off screen into the nightclub. It then goes to the two in a truck having an argument then to them having a stroll in the park. Swift then runs off and we see her on the phone telling the person on the

other line how she and her ex are not getting back together and her frustration of their entire relationship. The video then segues back to Swift's living room where a party is going on and her ex shows up unannounced trying to woo her back and she slams the door in his face. The video ends with Swift on her window ledge where she was at the beginning of the video, singing the last line of the song. This is a crossover music video because it has aspects of narrative, showcase and spectacle characteristics in it. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_Never_Ever_Getting_Back_Together#Music_video