Music Videos

Music video is not primarily a commodity form but a promotional one. (Andrew Goodwin, 1992)

Definition
A music promo video means a short, moving image product, shot for the express purpose of accompanying a pre-existing music track and usually in order to encourage sales of the music in another format , Fraser ,2005 Music video is primarily a marketing tool. It might additionally be variously seen as:
• Part of the construction of the image of a particular band or performer.
• A creative artefact of interest in itself.
• Marketing for other media products such as films.
 
Key Features
- Perform a song
- Tell a story
- Dancing
- Background extras
- Product placement

There are three types of music video:

• Narrative based (tells a story)
• Performance based (the singer performing the song)
• Concept based (usually based on a concept which doesn't have to be related to the lyrics in the song)

Narrative Based: The Decemberists - 16 Millitary Wives

- Lipsyncing, slow cuts which represent the music tempo
- Lyrics in the song tell a story which is shown visually
- Based in a school, somewhere people can relate to, adults in the school are acting childish

Performance Based: The White Stripes The Hardest Button To Button

- Repetitive, jumpy, which is in tempo with the music.
- Lots of cuts, editing and slices fitted together to show the instruments being played
- Stop motion animation
- Old school, retro, haven't used any transitions.

Concept Based: Bjork - Declare Independence

- Repetitive song, sticks in your head, shown by repetitive movement
- Quick cuts, cuts getting quicker as tempo gets faster
- Jumping up and down is repeated - she shouts the same words repeatedly
- Beating song is like a machine