Types of Music Video

Narrative Based: Taylor Swift – You Belong With MeExplain how the mise-en-scene of the video contributes to the video being a narrative based video.

The location of this music video helps contribute to the video being narrative based as the places the video is set relate very well to the lyrics and the storyline. For example, some of the video is filmed at a school football match, and the lyrics relate to what is happening in that scene. As the video is based on teenagers, all of the locations throughout the video relate to this, for example a school prom, an American football game, bedrooms etc.  The clothes that the characters are wearing also help contribute to the music video being narrative based as it is about teenagers, and so they are wearing typical teenage clothes, for example jeans and trainers etc.

Performance Based: Jay Z & Kanye West - Niggas In Paris In what way does the camera work contribute to its type?

The camera work in this video by Jay Z and Kanye West helps contribute to its type by different types of camera work. For example, the use of long shots of the artists performing shows us the whole performance. The way in which they have shown the audience throughout the video as well as the artists it gives us a better insight into what it was like, as you can see the crowd’s reaction to the performance. There are also some close ups of the artists singing, showing us their faces and the microphones. This contributes to the video being performance based as we can actually see them singing, creating a realistic setting for the viewers. There is also an establishing shot of the whole performance, showing us the artists on the stage and the whole audience, showing us the setting and giving us an idea of the atmosphere. There are many pans included in this video to show us the audience from the performers point of view. In conclusion, the camera work included in this video has a great impact on showing us it is a performance based video.

Concept Based: Beyonce - Single Ladies
What do you think the main concept of this video is? How is this put across using micro areas?

I think that the main concept of this video by Beyonce is the independance of single women. This is portrayed in many different ways by the use of micro areas. One of the ways in which this is shown is by the use of mise en scene. Her body language shows this alot by the way in which she keeps saying 'put a ring on it' and points to her ring finger throughout the video. The way in whioch she also uses two other women as backing dancers helps show the video is about women, and their illustrative dancing also helps portray the idea of independant women. the camera work also helps portray the concept of independant women as when the artist is showing her ring finger, the camera work goes from a long shot of all three women dancing to a close up of her face and her finger. This is so that the audience can see what she is saying as this is the main concept of the music video. When all three girls are shown there are long shots used so that the viewers can see the women in full, showing their small clothes which then adds sexual appeal to the women.