Music Video theory

Music Video Theory

Music videos are made in a variety of different ways, usually representing the artist themselves. Music videos can be made to send a message to the audience or just for pure entertainment.

Music videos can be made for a variety of purposes, to spend a message to the viewers, make money or simply to entertain.

A common purpose for making a music video is simply to entertain. Viral music videos use entertainment to boost the popularity of the song and music video. To do this they make the video funny or just entertaining in some way to attract more people to watch it which spreads the video to as many people as possible. An example of a viral music video designed to entertain is the video for The Fox (What Does The Fox Say) by Ylvis.

The video is designed to be funny and entertaining to audiences. Through the use of bizarre costumes, dances and even the comedic nature of the song itself the song became viral for a short while. This was intentional as making a music video funny and entertaining as opposed to meaningful or deep helps to spread the video among people more. It is designed in a way that someone will watch the video and find it entertaining and funny and will then show their friends who will then show it to more of their friends etc. This is a good way to spread your video and song to more people and make it more popular, which in turn makes for a bigger profit from it.

Another reason for the creation of a music video is to sell the song itself or the album. A record labels ultimate goal is to make a profit from the songs and albums released by the artist, therefore making a music video can attract more people to the song or album and attract more people to buy it. Sometimes artists will choose to release a song on its own as a single while also being part of an album. This is done because an artist believes that the song can make more money on its own rather than with the album. Songs released as a single are much more likely to have a music video made for them as it will help to sell the song. having a music video attracts more people to listen to the song which gets it more views. This also helps artists sell songs further as radio stations will often play songs with the most views and if an artist gets a lot of views on their song brought on by the music video then it is much more likely to be played on the radio which in turn attracts even more people to listen to the song, leading to an even larger possible profit.

An example of a music video make to sell the song is Thrift shop by Macklemore, song was released as a single and was largely popular when it was released, this can be credited to the music video for it which brought more people in to listen to the song and it being played on the radio a lot at the time of its release as it garnered a large amount of views.




Synergy is when an artist writes a song or perform one for a film. This is done in a way that promotes the film so that anyone who takes a liking to the song will want to watch the film because they have enjoyed the music video and saw some shots of the film in the video, this method can also work in reverse as people who enjoyed the film may decide to watch the music video. This is a mutually beneficial reason for making a music video as they both promote each other.

An example of synergy in a music video is Safe And Sound by Taylor Swift. While the video does not contain actual clips from the movie it does contain some iconography from the film.




A music video can be made for the purpose of spreading a message or making a statement. A lot of artists want the meaning of their songs brought through into the music video, whether it be a personal feeling, political statement or any other kind of view. Some music videos like this are designed to make people look at their lifestyles or something in their lives and realise what's wrong or what is flawed in their society. Some people find it easy to relate to some themes in videos like this, Music videos with meanings or statements in them can help people with their own personal issues. An example of a music video with a meaning and a statement behind it is the song Love This Town by Dizzee Rascal. The video was released at the time of the London riots and challenges people on what they're being shown by the media. At the time the media was full of negative images of young 'thugs' vandalised shops and causing damage to London itself. The video challenges people to look at the way the media is representing people by only showing the worst that people do. The video features a group of young men dressed to look exactly how the media shows the 'troubled youth' or 'thugs' who cause damage. They then move on to challenge this by doing the exact opposite and actually helping around the town by cleaning windows, helping a woman retrieve her purse and rescuing a cat.




Some music videos are made so that artists may make an announcement such as a tour or a new album. In the case of releasing an album, usually the first song on that album is released so that people can see what the album will be like. An example of a music video announcement is the song Some Nights by Fun. This song was the first song in their new album entitled Some Nights (named after the song). Since the song is the first on the album it gives people watching the vieo an idea of what the album is going to be like.




One reason for the creation of a music video can be so that the artist is able to change their image. Often an artist will want to change their image, artists are often held to one image of themselves without much room for freedom so they have to stick with an image unless they decide to change. A music video can help to establish that image change for the artist and their fans. An example of a music video used for an image change was Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus. This music video was an example of a sudden drastic image change for Miley Cyrus as she had previously been an actress and performer for the Disney Channel. The video was provocative in nature which added to its shock factor for fans of her Disney channel work. By making it more provocative it became viral which helped more people to realise that she didn't want to be known as a disney channnel performer anymore and wanted her own image. This was controversial among parents as she was deemed unsuitable for children by them, this did however still help her as it helped her distance herself from the disney channel personality that she had to maintain beforehand.




There are many different techniques and conventions when making a music video to make it truly entertaining and interesting for potential viewers.

Stop motion is when a music video is made up of many frames, each one changing or moving slightly from the last, this can be done through photography, art, drawings, photographs or even inanimate objects. By taking many different 'frames' each one changing slightly from the last you can create a flowing almost seamless looking video, which is actually made up of many different stills.The downside to this methos however is that even with a short song a large number of shots would have to be taken to even finish the song. The usual video will have a frame rate of about 24fps. However with stop motion you are able to take much more or much less at the cost of your time and resources. Taking more than 24 frames per second can result in a truly seamless stop motion video however it would increase the amount of time taken to produce it by a lot.

An example of a music video using stop motion as a technique is Change Is Everything by Son Lux. The stop motion effect is created by taking pictures of pins stuck in a board with string wrapped around them and moving them slightly between each shot. There are a large amount of shots in the video as the stop motion in the video seems very fluid which means that a lot of shots were taken between each movement to give the effect it is actually moving.



A common technique used in music videos is Lyrics. These are music videos that feature the lyrics on screen in time with the song. These can be made in a variety of ways. They can be videos where text comes onto the screen at the right intervals or actual videos where a performer hold up cards with the lyrics on them. There are many ways to make a lyric video and it simply depends on the preference of the artist. Speed The Collapse by Metric is an example of using lyrics in a video.




Lip syncing is a common technique in music videos. Lip syncing videos are made by recording the band playing separately and then having the artist lip sync to the pre-recorded track. Sometimes the artist or band will play the song while it is playing. This makes it easier to sync up the lip syncing in post production. The song Dreaming Of You by The Coral uses lip syncing in the video.




Cutting to the beat is when a music video literally cuts to the beat. The shots will change to the beat of the song, it will not usually be on every beat but the shots will cut to the beat of the song so it fits well and makes it neater. The song L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N by Noah And The Whale has a lot of shots that cut to the beat of the song making the video look tidier.



Some music videos will feature cameo appearances. Cameos are when a famous celebrity, usually an actor appears in the video, sometimes alongside the artist. This is designed so that fans of that artist will want to watch the music video to see that celebrity in it, this means more viewers and a bigger profit for the artist. Cameos can also be used because the actor/celebrity could look like the artist themselves. Listen To The Man by George Ezra is a good example of this as it features a famous actor (Sir Ian Mckellen). This will attract fans of Ian Mckellen. The cameo is also used for comedic effect as, there is a comedic chemistry between the artist and Ian Mckellen, the cameo is used as a main feature point of the video as he is on screen at all times alongside the artist, sometimes even stealing the attention away from him.



Choreography is when dance is used in a music video. It is generally used in most upbeat songs. Music videos with their own interesting choreography can become popular as people may want to learn that choreography for themselves. Beyonce's Single Ladies was largely popular because of the dance involved. Many people watched the video to try and learnt the dance for themselves.




There are several different styles of music video which can often represent the artist themselves

Performance is when an artist released a video of them performing their song, sometimes along or among a few people or live at a performance. These performances generally don't have any hidden meaning and are just there to show them perform. An example of a performance video is Closer To The Edge by 30 Seconds To Mars which is a collection of live performances and monologues by fans.



Narrative is when a music video is made to show a story based on the song itself. This style is popular because it helps to show the audience what the song is actually about and helps with the meaning. They can also be made for pure entertainment but are more commonly used to convey a meaning or message. The song Sirens by Dizzee Rascal is a narratively styled song. The narrative is used to convery a meaning and message about modern society. It is about police brutality and racism. this is shown by the police being dressed on horseback like people going on a hunt, this is further enforced by the dogs they use and the fact that one policeman signals the rest using a horn typically used by hunting groups. The racism is shown by the fact that in the video is is black people that they hunt. This video is made to make us question our society and how we deal with race and the way police deal with race and brutality.




One take music videos are music videos that only use one shot throughout the whole video. There are no cuts or camera changes. There are various different ways to do this sometimes the camera will follow an artist around a set or follow whatever is going on or the artist will stay in one spot in front of the camera. One take videos can sometimes be very complex with moving sets, set changes and lip syncing. Bob Dylan's Don't Look Back is an earlier example of a one take music video, the video features Bob Dylan stood in front of the camera dropping cards to reveal the words to the song when it is time for the next words. This is an example of one of the simpler one take music videos however it can still be difficult to film that in just one take. Since this is an earlier example there are some points at which he gets out of pace with the actual song. An example of a more modern one take music video would be Taylor Swift's We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.



Not many music videos are fully animated, some do feature a little animations or CGI. This can be used because it is entertaining to watch or because it is impractical to do it without animation. An example of a music video that uses CGI effects is Brick By Boring Brick By Paramore. The video uses CGI to create visually surreal backgrounds to fit the story.