TYPES OF MUSIC VIDEO
The three types of music video are; Perfomance, Narrative and Conceptual. Some of the types can be combined and are often used alongside another type of video.
Narrative
The narrative of Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes is set out in chronological order so that the events of the video flow nicely. Shawn sings about domestic violence where the point is established in the video through the clips. This is quite a serious topic which demonstrates how Shawn has challenged the conventions of a pop star as he expresses his ideas about this serious topic which isn't commonly seen among pop songs.
It could be argued that the Narrative music videos are the most entertaining as there is a intresting storyline compared with the artist just performing. Further more there will be alot more going on in a scene to keep the audience entertained such as multiple outfit and location changes in a pop video.
Perfomance videos are based around the artist singing and dancing alot of the time. This is typically seen a lot of the time in pop videos where the artist is bubbly and lively, entertaining the audience. This reflects the nature of the songs as they are generally about cheerfulness and the characters in the song having a good time.
In Send My Love (To Your New Lover), Adele has multiple edits where she forms into another image of herself. The edits are quite fascinating and memorable which is useful in a performance video as there is a specific element that makes the video iconic and special.
This type of video is often incorporated into a narrative video as the two go well together and add a different element to the video as there is more going on.
We are led to feel sympathy for not only the girl in the video but also Shawn because in the end it seems as if he doesn't get the girl he likes. This makes the audience, who are probably already fans of Shawn feel a stronger relation to him as it shows that he is still a normal person who can be heartbroken and not the general idea of a pop star that the media may portray him to be.
Narrative videos tell a story along either a part or the duration of the clip. Shawn Mendes tells the story of a girl who is abused by her boyfriend and Shawn wishes she'd be with him because he would be better for her. There is a mystery left at the end of the video as it is unclear whether the girl stays with her boyfriend or has a happy ending with Shawn. The idea of there being no happy ending at the end of the video is also another challenge to the conventions of pop as the atmosphere is meant to be one of hapiness and generally not seriousness.
Narrative can be considered more fulfilling for the artist as it is a way of them showing off what else they can do, not only singing but maybe acting, dancing and performing.
Performance
The camera shots are nearly all filmed in almost one take which flows nicely with the music as the video is created in one swift movement. The camera sways forwards and backwards from long shots to close-ups to almost reflect the position of somebody performing a very elegant dance with moves vertically and horizontally.
The shots that are mostly used in a performance video is close ups of the artist and parts of their clothing or props to add more information to the scene and enlighten the audience into whats happening.
Performance videos tend to favour the idea of costumes and lighting to enhance the scene and make it a bit more interesting in order for the audience to engage with the music.
There is hardly any illustration in relation between the lyrics and the video as this is more commonly seen in a Narrative music video. However, it is rumoured that in this song Adele is singing about a past relationship where he has moved on. Although, the lyrics of the song suggest sass and possibly anger, Adele has filmed the broadcast to show she has class and elegance through the shapings of this tape.
Performance videos generally aren't as popular in Pop videos as the audience aren't able to engage with the video as much as they would be able to in a narrative viddeo.
Conceptual
Conceptual videos are music videos based around one idea. However to have one idea is very uncommon in a pop video. JLS are a typical pop band who have decided to create a conceptual video for their song Eyes Wide Shut.
The music video consists of the one idea of the band members dancing whilst shapes are moving around them. To keep the video entertaining there is multiple different shots including long shots and close ups. Also there is slow zooms forwards and backwards into the scene to distract the audience to a particular part of the scene.
Their costumes are stylish t-shirts and jeans which hang loosely off their body enabling them to look normal and original which means the audience can associate with the members of the band and feel like they can relate to them as they dress similar to some of the male audience members. Furthermore, the outfits were most likely chosen as they are easy to dance in for such an energetic video like Eyes Wide Shut.
From what we can infer from the video, it is possibly set in a dream as the clouds represent perhaps heaven and the band feeling as if they are above the clouds. We may also be able to suggest that the location of the video is set in a dream as the lighting of pink, purple, blue and white suggest a peaceful situation where JLS are showing their emotions for the girl in the video from the dancing and floating objects in the video.
As there is not a lot visually happening in the scene as a story is not being told, elements like the costumes and lighting play an important role in the video as they can convey hidden meanings or further the audience's interest.