Styles & Conventions of Music Videos

Narrative:
In a narrative video there is very little footage of the band or group/band, the video concentrates on telling a story that which can have  something to do with the lyrics in the song. This style helps to keep the audience interested during the performance and also shows the audience the bands style. A narrative video can also be the choice of the producer, this could be because they want to break the group away from the norm of music videos for that genre of music. 


Interpretative:
In this style of video the images and footage in the video is directly related to the lyrics of the song, this helps the audience to visualise what the artist wants the lyrics to mean. In this instance the artists are trying to create a funny video in which the simplicity of the lyrics together with the footage of the artists gives the video a very comedic feel. Interpretive videos are most likely to be chosen by artists who are quite mainstream because it doesn't confuse the audience. It could also be chosen because they are easier to produce that an impressionist video and it may seem odd to the audience if a mainstream artist does a music video hat is against the norm for that genre.


Impressionist:
An impressionist video may be chosen by the artist because like interpretive videos they are relatively easy to produce and have a similar effect. The footage may not match the lyrics directly but the pace and feel of the editing in the video match the sound of the song and some elements of interpretive may be incorporated to make it easier for the audience to comprehend. The producer of the video may chose for the artist to use this type of video as it makes the video more appealing to the mainstream audience as this would increase the sales of the song.


Surreal/Abstract:
Some artists may chose to do a surreal video to try and separate themselves from the majority by creating a video that is confusing and usually doesn't represent the lyrics in the same way as an interpretive video. Many of these videos are controversial which can lead to the artist gaining popularity as the audience remembers the video due to its uniqueness. The producer may also encourage the controversy to increase the publics knowledge of the artist.


Animation:
Animation is when the footage shown in the video is computer generated or uses the stop motion method. This means that real footage of the artist or any thing else is rarely seen. Animated videos can work well with all kinds of video styles and can help the video appeal to a greater audience. An example of an animated music video would be "Stylo" by the "Gorillaz" in which the artists are animated but the environment is real.


Intertextuality:
This is when a phrase, action or theme is replicated in one form of media but id originally from another medium. This is mostly used to add humour to the video and takes advantage of the  audiences prior knowledge, but some of the audience who may not fully understand the reference can still appreciate the humour behind it. An example of this would be the TV show "Family Guy" which, like "The Simpsons", incorporates themes, phrases or characters from other forms of media and uses them for added comedic effect.


Parody:
A parody is when one form of media produces a video or episode that combines some elements of another medium in a way that adds comedic effect in an almost mocking fashion, this is also known as Pastiche. An example of this would be Wierd Al Yankovic's parody of Michael Jacksons "Bad".