Types of Music Videos
Performance
Performance based videos show the band or artist performing the song, it can also be choreographed. It is the cheapest and easiest type of video to make. A large variety of shots need to be used in quick succession to keep the video interesting. They will either be performing to the camera or an audience. This type of video can be used as a marketing tactic for self promotion.
MØ - Final Song
This music video is mainly performance shot on location. The whole video is shot in the same place and there is also shots of her without singing and some choreography. The performance is lip syncing where the video is being shot. A large variety of shots are used quickly to keep it interesting. The performance shots were mostly close ups and medium shots so you could see her singing. The choreographed shots were mainly long shots so you could see the full routine.
Narrative
Narrative based videos mostly contain footage that shows a storyline that runs throughout, or sometimes several storylines run parallel to each other. It will either be actors or the artist themselves performing the narrative, the story will either link to the lyrics of the song or just the overall theme. If a song has been featured in a movie, the video will often show clips of the film. It is a good technique to use for engaging the audience.
This video is purely narrative as there is no performance or conceptual clips. The basic storyline is that Halsey is hopelessly in love with the guy who we are led to believe it is, dad. The storyline runs throughout and it is the artist herself playing the main character. It shows her taking polaroid photographs supposedly of her "boyfriend" but they are actually of his dad, which the "boyfriend" then sees.
Conceptual
Conceptual videos are based around a single concept or idea. This type of video is unusual and harder to film. It would be done with a lot of editing and special effects so is harder and more expensive to make. These types of videos aren't as popular as they aren't very easy to relate to, so few videos are purely conceptual.
This video is very conceptual as it is loads of random clips of different things all put together. This video is purely conceptual as there is no performance and there isn't really any narrative to it. There is lots of editing and the shots are quite short. The clips don't necessarily always link to the lyrics so you can interpret your own meaning of what is going on. In this video they have used a lot of editing between the clips as there is so many shots. They have also put an effect on some of the clips to make it look more like a home made video.
There are three types of music videos: performance, narrative and conceptual. It is unlikely that only one will be used in a music video, it is often a combination of two or more.