motifs in music videos. This shows what is common in music videos these days. For A2 Media

1. Motifs in music videos
Music videos of today contain some close similarities.
There are various motifs found in modern day music
videos.

2. 
In music videos, when presented the human body, it
is often shown in a fragmented manner. Often times,
rather than show the body in it's entirety, the shot
will only show one specific part of the body. This is
done to direct all the audience's attention to one
particular point of the person's body. It also adds to
the drama of the narrative. If for example, a girl is
singing, a close up of her eye or her lips as she sing
will be shown. This is done primarily to capture the
emotion behind the song/
artist. This is so common in
music videos now it's almost
rare to find one without. An
example of a close up of the
lips can be found in the
3OH!3 - My First Kiss (feat.
Ke$ha) music video
Presentation of the body

3. 
Often times in music videos the setting of the narrative is
something of fiction. Shooting earth as it is isn't very imaginative
but through the advent of fast computers and improved visual
effects, whole new worlds and ideas can come to life. Using the
green screen or CGI, an artist can set the video in a fantasy world
full of mythical, wonderful creatures or a mysterious new planet,
or even set in space or set in a microscopic universe or even if
they wanted, they would set their video in a post apocalyptic
wasteland. Literally anything else they want. This has become a
motif in music videos, often times the setting of the videos is not
just earth as it currently is. This is the case in the Disturbed –
Land Of Confusion music video where the entire video is
animated. This is a good example of heavy usage of CGI in a
music video.
CGI

4. 
Music videos have become to use special effects
more and more as well as animation and
expensive editing feature. It is obvious that the
budgets for music videos have increased,
allowing much more professional and detailed
videos. Music videos are now filmed with
professional
equipment
and
by
hired
professionals. To make their videos look even
better and stand out from the onslaught of music
videos, each music video music be as high
quality as it can possibly be. This is the case in
the Björk - All is Full of Love Music video.
CGI

5. 
In the event of a party narrative, several motifs are
present. Usually people depicted in the party scene are all
happy. They appear to be enjoying their time there at the
party. Usually black artists have their videos show the
artists wealth by showing the cars, money, drugs, guns and
girls. On the other side, generally white artist tend to have
a more dramatic party scene. More to do with an actual
story line and not just showing off. On the left is a scene
from Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night” and on the right is a
scene from T-Pain’s Bartender
Behaviour

6. 
Music videos have began to break the 4th wall and
often times address the audiences. Most of the time
the video shows the production crew behind the
music video. This means the art recognises it's art
and should not be taken trouble. It's like the video is
self aware, to add to this the characters in the videos
do this very often. When a character sees themselves
in a reflection, they recognise that they are simply a
character. They recognise themselves for what they
are. Most art don't do this as it diminishes the
meaning and any sincerity the video is trying to
make. This is done in the Nightwish - Storytime music
video
The 4th wall

7. Often times in music videos, there might be a reference to other
existing texts
 This can mean that the music video is quoting or parodying or
translating something else.
 Intertextuality can be used in any of the above mentioned ways
to give the music videos further meaning than it’s original
intended meaning.
 When music videos have this, it mean that the artist want their
artwork to recognise that other written work exists, that it is
aware of other neighbouring content. It blurs the line between it’s
universe and the real world.


An example of this can be found in the
music video by Eminem’s Mockingbird. As
part of the chorus the lyrics are : “Daddy's
gonna buy you a mockingbird” This is very
similar to the children's song Hush Little
Baby as that includes the line “Mama's
gonna buy you a mockingbird. It is a
direct reference to the original song which
Eminem’s song is based on.
Intertextuality

8. 
In most modern music videos where there is a narrative, the
artists will be shown performing the song. The music video will
essentially be two videos stitched into one. Where one is the
narrative and the other is the artists performing the song itself.
This is used to break the narrative and keep the view watching,
also it is a chance for the artist to introduce themselves to the
audience. The constant cross cutting from performance to
narrative can also be part of the narrative. Often times, the
artist’s appearance coincides with the narrative, often times, the
narrative is based off the performance. This can be seen in the
music video for “Give Me A Sign” by Breaking Benjamin where
the narrative is not directly linked but instead the performance co
exists with it.
Cross cutting

9. 

Modern day music videos vary in length but often stays
above 3 minutes but below the 5 minute mark.
The reason most music videos are short can be because of
the length of the song. The video generally stays the same
length, sometimes it exceeds it due to the narrative
requiring more screen time. The song itself may be
extended to allow the narrative more time. Extended
versions exist for this reason. There are many, many
examples of music videos under 5 minutes but above 3
minutes, but an example of a music video’s song being
extended due to the narrative can be found in Bon Jovi’s
“It’s my life” The narrative extends the song but not by
much. Here the music video length is 4 minute 28 seconds
whereas the actual song is 3 minute 44 seconds.
Length 3~5

10. 
In modern music videos, time is precious. Music videos do not
usually last long so there is no time for character
development, instead the audience is presented with
character personas. This means that we do not see characters
grow as people, we do not see the entire lives of the
characters, instead using very basic tools like expressions and
appearances we, the audience, are told just enough for it to
make sense. This can be seen very easily in Taylor Swift’s “I
Knew You Were Trouble” This explains the point that music
videos often have week characters and plot, simply to
accommodate the song. In the music video, the story seems
cliché but it has to be due to it’s short length.
Character Development

11. 

Usually, the narrative being told will have an
overall message. There will be a main theme
to the presentation.
This is often done by the narrative been
broken into segments. Each segment
isolated, is meaningless. Only after the
segments have been edited together does it
make sense. Long scenes cannot be shown
because of the overall length of the video.
The clips must just show important things
only. This can be found in the “We believe“
music video by Good Charlotte.
Scenes