Music videos: Performance and Narrative

Music Videos

Comprise of two different types of images:

·         Performance clips

·         Conceptual clips-narrative and artistic

In most both are combined

Performance clips

Video that shows the vocalist and the band playing.

Performance settings

The video can take place in different setting, perhaps with more variety

The singer could be in their bedroom singing out the window; they could be walking down the street (common in rap music)

Narrative

Contains a visual story that is easy to follow. A pure narrative clip contains no lipsychronised singing

The story is an idea, a ‘concept’ hence conceptual

The narrative usually relates to the clip

Artistic clip

Music use artistic elements

Artistic performance video

What can you say about how the songs meaning and lyrics have been explored

 Artistic narrative

 Using narrative effectively

 A narrative based video can be more meaningful than a performance-based video. It can also be easier to film

Technical requirements for performance

·         Tracking shots are hard to achieve without a dolly

·         Singer must be miming in perfect sync with the music

·         You need a large number of shots and edits

·         Shots need to be varied, constantly moving with multiple takes

·         Edits need to follow tempo