Every media product that is created follows certain forms and conventions which can easily be spotted throughout any sequence. Generally, these forms and conventions are the same for all different types of media for example mise-en-scene, camera angles and shots, editing, lighting, sound etc. For media videos, aspects such as editing, mise-en-scene and sound are extremely important for conveying what type of music video it is to the audience.

There are three different types of music video that you can create, these are narrative, performance and concept music videos. Narrative music videos are based on some sort of story line throughout the music video, this can be anything from the singers to a random character. There are three types of narrative sequences that can be used in music videos:

Illustrative – where the narrative of the music video reflects the lyrics of the song.

Amplification – here the narrative aspect is slightly influenced by the lyrical content however it uses different themes to compliment the songs ‘feeling’.

Disjuncture – this is where the narrative holds very little relationship with the song and is quite random.

Concept music videos have no storyline and have no relation with the lyrical content of the song. The imagery we usually see is surrounded by one idea/concept, however the footage does not have to make sense to the viewer, it can either leave the audience confused or leave an idea in their head. The audience generally remember concept music videos more than performance or narrative music videos because they are individual, unique and memorable. There are two types of concept music videos:

Thematic – based around a theme, which normally depends on the genre e.g. rap or rock

Symbolic – there is often lots of symbols to build up a meaning. Lots of montage of clips and images, lighting is often used to suggest a mood, pace to represent emotions and meanings. The pictures often support and contradict the lyrical meaning.

Performance music videos are centred around the artist and the band. They involve lots of shots of lip-syncing and performance aspects by the artist/band. This genre has become more common in recent music videos as more artists try to show themselves singing in their music videos. Performance videos are the cheapest type of music video to make as thy don’t require lots of filming, setting props etc. These types of videos also help to promote the singers in concerts as they always look good in their music videos.