Types of Music Videos

There are 3 main types of music videos:

• Narrative
• Concept
• Performance

Narrative:

Typically, narrative based music videos are very cinematic and it often feels like you're watching a short film, set to a song which lasts 3/4 minutes. It can be known for narrative based music videos to include diegetic sound as a way of communicating information to the audience, mostly dialogue but can be sounds as simple as a car door closing. Narrative videos usually link the lyrics with visuals.
In the video below of "Treat You Better" - Shawn Mendes

The video itself is about a girl in a relationship which appears to be abusive and Shawn plays the character of the boy she should be with. The line "I know he's just not right for you" shows that Shawn has feelings for the girl and that he wants what is best for her, which isn't the guy she is currently with. The editing techniques aren't much different to what we used both last year and in our preliminary task this year, quick cuts between Shawn sining and what the girl is doing happens consistently. Also the lyrics have been matched with the visuals in the line "see it on your face" corresponds with a visual of the girl and the boyfriend pinching her face.

Concept:
Concept music videos revolve around a concept or idea that tends to be quite unusual or unique. The are highly likely to keep the audience's attention because theres so much to concentrate onscreen. Concept based videos can be an interesting way to represent the artist and even if the artist choses not to be in it then there is the opportunity to get creative and represent the artist in a way that their fan base isn't used to.

In this video "Heart Made Up On You" by the band R5, the band went in a completely different direction to what their usual videos are like. They gave this song a story, the idea (concept) being that Ross, the lead singer had fallen in love with a girl and had inadvertently dragged the rest of his band into a mess. Ross and his love interest in the video are seen carrying out a robbery in-between cuts of the band performing. The performance intended to be a distraction to the crime surrounding the band.  A lot of diegetic sound is included in this music video with the intended effect to make it feel more cinematic. 

Performance:
A music video based on a performance is exactly what it sounds like, its the band performing the song 'live'. Due to the simplicity of the concept, the location becomes far more important when planning. The choice of the location must fit within the genre of the song or else the audience will find that the visuals don't match what they are hearing. This will take away from the enjoyment the audience member when watching the video.

In the video below of "Wherever I go" by One Republic, it is purely performance based. The location is low key and the entire video is very simplistic and the only thing that really happens in the video is that the shot changes direction and switches between distance and close ups.

Narrative and Performance combined: 
Sometimes, artist make their videos by choosing to combine performance and narrative, sometimes all 3 types can be combined. The combination can be particularly useful if the narrative perhaps involves a concert or a reference to the artist themselves.