Music Video Styles

Music videos can support and portray the message of a song, or can be completely abstract and subject to each viewer. They can have an independent narrative unrelated to the music, or can even be animated typography of the lyrics, there is no correct method or rules for producing music videos, however every different style and genre of music has its own style and genre of video with it. That is why videos that are the same genre tend to have similar music videos.

A few distinctive styles of music videos are:

Studio Performances

A music video that is shot entirely or mostly in a controlled environment with lots of props, costumes, maybe green screens and artificial lighting. Usually these types of music video don't gave a true narrative, but rather just add a visual experience to the music without much meaning. They are mainly simple, fun and easy to make. An example of this is Rhianna's 'You Da One'







Surrealistic

These music videos are very abstract and almost always make absolutely no sense and may or may not have a relation to the music itself. These videos are very artistic and creative and normally contain a mixture of live footage and animation to add surreal effects or distortion. They appear to be influenced by visions or dreams. An example of this is Pendulum's 'Salt in the Wounds'








Interpretative/ Impressionist

Interpretative music videos are where the lyrics for the song tells you exactly what is going on in the music video, For example, the Lonely Island 'Im on a Boat'. This music video is all about them being on the boat and the lyrics for this song describe what is going on in almost every shot of the video. All these kinds of music videos are interpretations of the music, that is why they're called Interpretative music videos.







Animation

Animation based music videos are simply partially or entirely animated music videos. This style of music video is usually cheaper to produce since it is entirely digital, and props, venues, cameras and other equipment aren't needed.  This style of music video can also compliment a song as it may suit its mood, or can attract their target age group. An example of this is Gorillaz 'Feel Good' as a band their music videos are always animated so they are a prime example of animation music video artists.





Narrative

Narrative music videos are where the artist tries to convey the meaning of their song through the video itself. This can be shown through a literal representation of the lyrics or a metaphorical one. In some cases it can even be a story line like video, but have no link to the lyrics, just the meaning behind the song. An example of this is Rhianna's 'Unfaithful'






Parody

Parodies are almost always fan made comedies ridiculing a song, changing the lyrics to mock the artist that sings it. These can come in any style of music video (Narrative, Animation ect) they are often similar to the original music video. An example of someone who makes parodies is Bart Baker, a YouTube artist, he brings out multiple videos a month, all parodies of new songs that have been released.