Added value Sinead O Conner / A-Ha

Primary functions of a music video:

There are multiple primary functions of a music video which can include showcasing artists and bringing more attention to them in order to get a bigger fanbase, they can also be used to promote the artists and their new songs and they are also used to increase sales and profits in the way that if people look at the music video and like it they may go out to buy the song itself to listen to and increase profits for the artist.

A-HA:Take on me - 

This is one of the most memorable music videos to date for multiple different reasons, one of the most obvious ones being the fact that it had amazing visual effects for its time and still does even now thanks to its clever use of hand drawn images and art style different to any other music video out at the time, it was the kind of video that left people sitting there wondering how exactly they did that. This video is so well done that it took 3 months to make the whole thing and over 1,400 different drawings to make up the whole thing, another reason as to why this song is so popular and well known is the fact that originally the song on its own was a flop and it was the video itself that actually bought the song up to the top of the charts. 

Sinead O'Connor -                                                                                              Nothing compares to u - 

During the shooting of the music video the director had spent over £40,000 on just shooting different shots around France however in the end he admitted it to being a waste of time as all he really needed to do in the end was keep all of the close up shots on Sinead and keep her as the main focus once she really started to cry towards the end of the video he had realised that everything he had recorded there was gold and that he didn't need anything else however he didn't want to waste all of that money which he had spent so she decided to still keep clips of it even though she thought that it had made the video a bit worse.

Music video types

Music video types:

Narrative music videos:

This music video is a narrative based type as it tells the story of how a famous band travels al around america in order to perform for anybody who is being married on that day, all of the story is pretty much told at the beginning as the main singer of the group actually states at the very beginning that they are going to be travelling and crashing any parties along the way. the music goes in conjunction with the as the lead singer and the lyrics.

performance based music videos:

This music video is heavily performance based with the main focuses being on the band members themselves and the man who is rescuing others from the house fire, it is also worth noting that the house fire itself provides an urgency to the performance and helps with the urgency of the man rescuing people as well.

Michael Jackson "thriller":

When i think of cinematic thrillers the best example which i could come up with was Michael Jackson's Thriller due to the amazing cinematic presence which it had, the main things which all came together to form this cinematic feeling includes the costumes, dancing, make up and of course the graphics and great edits which are all amazing and all come together to form one of the best music videos of all time.

Abstract music videos:

As far as abstract music videos goes this is one of the strangest and most abstract which i could find, there is nothing really comprehensible going on throughout the entire music video the only thing which i could only make sense in the music video was the fact that the song is about spinning around and throughout the video there are multiple objects and people rotating.

live music videos:

This is one of the live music videos out there and this one is Bohemian Rhapsody which is performed by Queen and normally as live performances go they are generally pretty bad however this live performance is seen by many people as one of the best of all time.

Inter-textual music videos:

Intertextuality is when one or more different forms of media are referenced or used within a music video and Lady Gaga's Paparazzi is a great example as the title and nature of the song references the paparazzi and throughout the video it also shows different newspapers and the titles, the video also sets itself up at the beginning and the end to seem almost like a film with the opening and ending credits.

Parody music videos:

Pastiche music videos:

A Pastiche music video is one which mimics or imitates the style of another artist and their music video, it could be said that Lady Gaga's Alejandro is a pastiche of Madonna's Vogue.

Animation music video:

Animation music videos are ones which are all animated and have little to none real life action as is the case with this music video however an animation music video does not mean it has to be exclusively drawn or done digitally, it can also be something like stop motion.

MV Analysis

Deconstructing two music videos:

Bad Day:

The music video begins with both of the characters waking up and hitting their alarms 30 minutes apart from one another, this is done to show that the two characters are not near one another and do not know one another so they begin separated, the video then goes on to show everyday activities such as brushing their teeth and putting on shoes etc. this shows that they are in an everyday routine which is boring and dull and they are waiting for something to change, the music video shows many different split screen shots to show the similarities between the two characters and how they mirror each others lives through their bad days. The mise en scene is performed wonderfully and perfectly mirrors the lyrics of song, the lighting is done to mirror the lighting in reality and to make the world seem more alive also the costumes are nothing special and are just clothing which people would wear in their everyday lives and the settings are also done to set up the feeling of just normal average boring lives with nothing special really going on. The tall buildings are included in some of the cinematography in order to make the characters them feel smaller compared to the rest of the world and to almost make them feel like they're insignificant compared to everything else around them.

Shut up and drive:

The music video mainly revolves around Rihanna herself with her being in the middle of the majority of the shots however her dancers are always visible in the background as well, it is also arguable that the reason why she is in most of the shots with different angles is to draw the audiences attention away from the lyrics and more onto the video and Rihanna herself, it could be argued as well that this supports Laura Mulveys theory of the male gaze. Most of the cinematography focuses on different parts of Rihanna's body such as her upper torso, legs and bum and it could be said as this goes hand in hand with the sex appeal of the song and is used to engage more of the audiences attention however it does not actually make sense when paired with the lyrics as it has nothing really to do with driving. The mise en scene and especially the costumes and dancing has a lot more to do with the sex appeal and showing off the attractiveness of the women which are present within the video and the lighting is also set up perfectly to show the dancers shining against the dark background.