Hip Hop

Camera Shots – Hip Hop videos tend to feature a lot of mid shots (whole body), also having a few close ups and wide shots which are used for establishing. The shots usually flick between the artist and other actors, usually with a definite emphasis on the artist.

Mise-en-scene – When the actor is on screen he is usually in the center, when others are on with him they are usually behind him and often in a line. The videos tend to be on location, often showing poorer areas – e.g. the artists roots. A lot of the black artists feature a lot of women and money in there videos, as well as drugs and guns.

Editing – The editing is usually to the beat but not too fast, most of the videos allow several beats before cutting. They often open and close on a fade.

Lighting – Hip Hope videos vary a lot, videos like the one for Macklemore “Can’t Hold Us” are naturally lit and are outdoor. However other music videos create style using artificial lights, tending to emphasis and a dark but flashy look.

Sound –The sound would usually just be the music, however sometimes they have a small amount of atmospherics (like the noise of wind).

Props – Hip hop music videos do often have props, often with some of more “gangster” artists this is drugs, guns and money.

Costume – Costume tends to be the artists “normal clothes”, or the clothes of the persona they are trying to illustrate. In Macklemore “Thrift Shop” music video he dresses like a pimp, which is the style they chose to make. However they do not tend to have strange artistic costumes like Lady Gaga.

Colour –Colours in hip hop music videos tend to be bright and almost always have a fairly warm colour tone, many also go for a natural looking colour scheme. Most studio filmed music videos go for a high contrast bright look.

Indie/Rock

Camera Shots – Indie/Rock videos tend not to focus so much on the artist or the band, they vary shot types a lot, with close ups, medium shots, full body shots, wide shots and super wide shots. The shots are used often to tell a story.

Mise-en-scene – The videos tend to show the whole band, together and individually. They tend not to feature women so much, like Hip Hop, but focus more on things that can tell the story. Often the artists will not be on screen at all, instead they will have actors who act out the story.

Editing – The editing is usually varied and dependent on that particular song. The cuts aren’t usually as fast as in genres like pop and hip hop, however in some videos they use a few fast cuts as an effect.

Lighting – Indie/rock tends to have a much darker lighting style than hip hop, it is not natural. You can tell that there is definitely a darker colour grade, which tends to go with the slightly “fuller” nature of rock. It is not a depressive darkness, many of the songs are uplifting.

Sound –The sound varies, in some music videos they have some crowd noise from a concert even though it is not a live recording. In others they only have the song, and in others they have Foley and atmospherics.

Props – Indie/rock does not have a “typical” list of props, they simply feature what the director thinks will add to the story.

Costume – In indie/rock videos the clothing tends to be “normal”, not strange or artistic. However like in the Kodaline “All I want” music video make up is used on the man’s face to tell the story. The videos tend to feature what will add to the story.

Colour –Colours in indie/rock tend to be fairly dark and the tone is usually on the cold side.

Pop

Camera Shots – Pop videos tend to vary quite a lot, they tend to focus on the emotions of the artist. This means they use a lot of close ups and mid-shots, however they do use some wides.

Mise-en-scene – The artists are usually seen lip syncing to their songs, many times while acting out the story or dancing to the song.

Editing – Editing in pop tends to be quite fast, cutting quickly to the beat and keeping the audiences attention.

Lighting – Pop videos tend to be fairly bright and glossy, they often look quite commercial.

Sound –The sound tends to only be the song, thought occasionally it will have some quiet background noises (like traffic).

Props – Pop does not have a normal list of props, often they have things which are mentioned in the song. For example, featuring a pay phone in Maroon 5’s “Payphone”.

Costume – Pop artists tend to dress  up for their videos, no outrageously but not always in their own style.

Colour –Colours tend to be bright, glossy and give an overall commercial effect.

Many music videos can be influenced by commercials, not all are as overt as the Foo Fighters "Big Me" music video. They just replace the Mentos sweet with a made up one and then copy the original Mentos adverts, in a humorous, slightly mocking way. Not all music videos can be as overt as this however, many do include product placement, which brings in aspects of commercial video. Early music videos would have had a lot of advert influence due to that being a large portion of video that was being made.

40’s Music Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5TUCRDM6X8

In the forties “Music Videos” as we know them weren’t in really a thing, instead there were musical films. The linked clip is from the film 'Strike Up The Band' and the actress is Judy Garland. The artists image in the video was of the girl she was acting as, from what we can tell this is a lonely librarian. The music itself is very different from what is made now, the recording sounds “muffled”. This is because the microphones at that point weren’t as sensitive and therefore could not pick up the intricacies of sound that we are now so used to hearing. The style of her clothes also shows that she is from a different period, it is quite simple compared to some clothes now and looks more formal. Because this was a film about a normal woman of their time she is dressed like most people did. The quality of the footage compared to what we now can produce is fairly poor; it is black and white and not that sharp. However for its time it was good quality, especially as it was part of a feature film – therefore a bigger budget. Even though compared to now the definition is bad you can tell it was a high quality production, the camera work is all very high standard and pans etc. are all very smooth. They mainly use close-up and mid-shots, but end on an establishing shot. The editing techniques are basic, they are just simple cuts between different angles – there are no time jumps. There are no obvious special effects that I can see.

50’s Music Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbre48NgBOg

As time went time went music video progressed, by the 50s people were already starting to recognise music video’s potential. The link is to Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock” music video and although it is not quite like modern videos you can see the similarities. Elvis had a well recognised image, part of his image was the risque element of all his performances. His dancing was in a style that was very avanguard at his time, they tended to film him above the waist because of his hip thrusting. Now his dancing is still sexual but we have got accostomend to this because of performers like Miley Cyrus etc. The music itself is rock and roll, of which Elvis was named “the King” it is different to modern music but still good. The fashion is different from ours, although we have tight jeans we would not really wear what looks like a denim jacket. The footage is better than from the 40's but still not as good as what is currently considered professional standard. However it is not much of an improvement on the 40's video, this is probably because the one I used for the 40's was from an actual film. They would have probably used 35mm film or better whereas the fifties one is a music video (smaller budget) and probably would have used 16mm film which would therefore be of a lower standard. The video features mid shots to wide shots, it usually cuts between these and a few go from mid to wide using a jib shot. As mentioned it features a few cuts, these are the only editing techniques really featured. There are no obvious special effects, however the black and white could be an intentional style (it could have been filmed in colour) because they knew TV's could only play black and white at that point.

50’s Music Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU5xxh5UX4U

Elvis has a definite image, he has a style of dancing and hair etc. that is signature to him. He always has his hair styled and shiny and in this video is well dressed. The music is the same style as the music in his 50's video, the style had not changed and is still popular today. However new pop songs dont have the same style as Elvis, they have a modern style. The fashion is different but Elvis is dressed like some would dress now, he has a black shirt and smart black trousers. However the band behind him are wearing striped t-shirts (all the same) which is not how people would dress now. The footage is of a fairly good quality and is colour, this is an obvious improvement on the last videos. The video just goes from wide shots to mid shots throughout the video, with basic cuts. The only special effects that have been used is a possible colour grade to give it its "look". It is in the style of a film.

70’s Music Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tJYN-eG1zk