Common Motifs of a Music Video

The following presentation outlines the different motifs that are used in music videos and a description about them.

Ritual CelebrationThis motif has become popular over generations with it being pointed out in most videos in the world today. This aspect consists of:

Parties on the beach, street etc. Black artists usually being happy White artists usually being demonic

Madonna uses this motif in her music video ‘Like A Prayer’ where the choir are seen rejoicing in a church and it is visually evident that the choir members are of black origin which backs up this theory.

HorrorThis motif uses extreme measures of violence and reference to Hell and Satan in videos which cause a lot of controversy as it could upset certain religions. This aspect consists of:

Extreme violence Hell War Satan/Monsters

This motif is used in a video called ‘disturbia’ by Rihanna where the artist and other backing dancers use demonic gestures in the video made by effects. The following screenshot shows the artist with blank eyes in a ‘possessed’ look to emphasize that she is in another place.

IntertexualityIntertexuality is art recognizing art as itself through mirrors, glass, water etc.

An example of this is Usher ‘Confessions’ where in this clip he is looking at himself singing. In the following screenshot you can clearly see Usher looking at himself in a mirror which is seen as intertexuality because he is seen as the ‘art’ of the music video and he is recognizing himself.

Impossible SequencesThis motif is all about unreality as it consists of:

Fast and slow motionSpecial effectsAnimation

This motif can only be done using computer software which is why it is referred to as impossible. Red Hot Chilli Peppers uses animation technique in their video where all artists are represented as animated characters. They used this technique as well as other artists because graphics where improving at that time so they wanted to produce a music video that would be different.

Body FragmentationBody fragmentation is a motif used in music videos that uses the theory of scopophillia where an artist deliberately uses close ups on their body parts to ‘excite’ the viewer. Nicki Minaj uses this motif in her ‘Super Bass’ video a lot to showcase various body parts such as her eyes, feet and breasts in order to keep the viewer watching.

Mysterious Aspect of this motif can be shown through:

Gothic mansions Post apocalyptic Make believe places

An example of a post apocalyptic song can be shown through Michael Jackson ‘Earth Song’. As the screenshot shows, trees are bare and naked which suggests the world is at a venerable state. Also later on in the video it shows people of the earth who are possible survivors praying on their knees before the inevitable will happen. This video shows the viewer that the world is coming to an end and there is nothing that can be done to stop it.

Other FeaturesAnother motif that consists of different characteristics such as:

Shots into bright lights, sun, fire Breaks in narrative for the artist to sing Clips from the film that the song is featured in Cross cutting from narrative to concept feature

This video by Dr Dre is used as a soundtrack for a film called ‘Friday’ which is proved in the music video as the left screenshot shows a scene in the music video showing a clip from the film while right screenshot shows the next scene of the actual music video. These scenes cut into eachother throughout the whole music video.