COMMON MOTIFS FOR

MUSIC VIDEO

There are variety of motifs used in different music videos to mirror the purpose or theme of

the video itself. On this PowerPoint, I will be evaluating each motifs and linking the motifs to

different music videos.

Jay Z “Holy Grail ft. Justin Timberlake”

FRAGMENTATION OF THE BODYFragmentation of the body is the

close up of the artists’ or models’

body part (mouth, eyes and breasts),

where the body is obscured by

objects. This may have no relation to

the music video but may be used for

artistic purposes. When a body part

is fragmented, it doesn’t have to be

sexual- you can have feet marching

to the beat of the music.

Beyonce- “1+1”

MYTHICAL AND MYSTERIOUS

For this motif, the artist may decide to

include a theme that’s purely make believe

the emphasize perhaps the surreal emotion

that they felt when they underwent their

experience. In a mythical or mysterious,

the main props used are castles, medieval

elements in the video however it may also

be the complete polar and include places

from the past or “fairytale”. With the

mythical and mysterious theme, a post

apocalyptic scene may also be set to add

on to the mystery and suspense.

“California Gurls”Katy Perry

“Next 2 U”Justin Bieber ft. Chris

Brown

HORROR

Horror is a common

theme used in metallic

rock music videos which

shows extreme violence,

elements of the hellish

experience and satanic

and monstrous creatures

and the idea of war.

Jay Z “Run This Town ft Rihanna and Kanye West”

INTERTEXTUALITY

Intertextuality is the idea of the

artist realizing that what they are

doing is artistic and art creating

art. They may also make

references to other music videos or

movies or even make caricatured

commentaries or v ersions of the

original song. In Intertextuality,

you may see shots of cameras, sets

or directors or the artists looking

at their own reflections to highlight

the idea of Intertextuality.

Katy Perry “Wide Awake”

Robin Thicke “Blurred Lines Parody ft Pharrel and Jimmy Kimmel”

Miley Cyrus “Wrecking Ball”(Directors Cut featuring Terry Richardson)

Justin Timberlake “Love of My Life (Mirrors Interlude)”