Task 7 - Music video analysis (Different types of videos)

Performance based music video

Catfish and the Bottlemen - Kathleen

This music video is an example of a performance based music video, as it focuses on the performance of the band, rather than a narrative. The whole video takes place in one location, the studio, and the the band members are the only people that are shown. This performance based video is used by Catfish and the Bottlemen so that focus is centered on the music and the band; nothing else. There is no character types, narrative elements or anything. These type of videos are popular with rock artists as the cost of production is low, so they can't afford anything too emphatic. Furthermore, rock bands are concentrated on their music rather than the commercialism side of the industry, so having a different style of video isn't suitable for them.

Narrative based music video

The 1975 - Robbers

Narrative based music videos are where the lyrics of the song are told through a story line shown in the music video. The music video for "Robbers" by the 1975 is an example of this, as there is no footage of any members of the band actually performing the song. Instead, the story of the song is portrayed. The lyrics of the song are about a toxic relationship, but they are so into each other that neither of them can see how its ruining their lives. The title "Robbers" refers to how they are stealing each others happiness. In the video we see the couples happy relationship, before it starts doing them no good. They start to argue, before deciding to carry out armed robbery at a gas station. This links directly with how they are stealing each others happiness, just like they're stealing money from the shop. The man gets shot, which is a consequence of their toxic relationship. This song is a perfect for a narrative based music video, as the meaning of the song is shown really well. It also follows Todorov's theory, as they are happy at the start (equilibrium) and then their relationship starts to go downhill and they start destroying each other (disruption). In terms of Vladimir Propp's character types, they could both be seen as the villains, as they are the ones stopping each other from finding their goal of happiness.

Performance and narrative based music video

John Newman - Love Me Again

 This music video is a combination of performance and narrative. The narrative side of the video revolves around a woman and a love interest. The video follows them as they chase each other around a venue, whilst their respective families try to stop the relationship from happening. This is an example of binary opposites (Levi-Strauss), as the couple represent good and the families are bad. There is also evidence of Propp's character types in the video. The woman acts as the Princess/reward and is the end goal of the man. The woman's family are the villains/antagonists as they are in the way of him achieving his goal and don't want him to accomplish it. Narrative techniques such as this help to create a good music video, as it's engaging for the audience and is almost like watching a film. Meanwhile John Newman is performing the song on the stage at the venue, which reminds the audience of the music. This is a good balance of performance and narrative to keep the audience interested in the song and the plot at the same time.

Concept music video

Alt-J - Breezeblocks

This music video is unique, as it has been filmed and then put in reverse. This makes the audience make assumptions that the husband has killed his wife and put her in the bath. However, as the video progresses we discover that it was the ex wife that had kidnapped the mans current wife, causing the man to kill his ex wife in self defense. Putting the video in reverse is a very clever idea and isn't common. Concept videos are based around an ideas that are unique and different, such as putting the video in reverse. There is no performance element to the video, just narrative. This video is probably one of my favourite music videos as it is really interesting to watch and engages me throughout the whole thing. However, my attention is often taken away from the music as i'm concentrating on the visuals. If done well, concept videos are some of the best as they are very unique and are a much different experience to normal videos.

Learning Comment

Upon completing this task, I have found that there are many different types of music videos. These range from performance videos to narrative based videos, and many have a mixture of them both. I have learnt that when I film my music video, we will need to decide how much of the performance element to include, and how much narrative to include. I will need to find the balance between the two as I don't want either part to dominate the other, I also need to make sure the type of video I make is suitable for the genre of music.