No story, weird transitions, slow motion and music videos

Vital Butinar · February 14, 2020

So basically the bull of the stuff that I have done consists of music videos and since I'm getting ready to shoot another one I was looking at music videos not to try and find something I like but rather what is being used and what I didn't like.

Well after looking at a lot of music videos got me thinking.

The sad thing is that I found a profound lack of story in music videos. I won't say that there are no videos with stories but for a lot of them just didn't have any story that I could determine.
My personal view is that behind pictures there should always be motivation like a story or a concept or something.

Then I noticed that a lot of music videos relied a lot on super flashy transitions like people use in vlogs and youtube videos. I tried to determine if these transitions and effects were there to help show a story or were motivated in some way but in a lot of cases I never figured it out. It doesn't look bad and it's flashy but it looks like it's there just to look cool.
My personal opinion is that I love a cut where a viewer doesn't even notice a transition or an effect. I also love invisible cuts but they need to be done well. As far as cuts and effects just so that it looks cool I'm not a fan of that. However I do realize that sometimes something is needed when all else fails.

But the last thing that I noticed that is used all the time was slow motion. It's used all the time.
And I get it slow motion looks good but using it just because it looks cool. I'm sorry but I don't get it. I do like to use slow motion where it's needed and where I'd like to make an effect but in my opinion using slow motion all the time is like bringing roses home to your wife every day and then when Valentin's day comes what do you do then. I'm not saying it's not good once in a while and even on an odd occasion but other than that it just looses all meaning.

I think the latter two are a result of the first one. If there is no story behind the music video it's just a song with a bunch of visuals.
I've always said that a music video is intended to bring in a viewer to listen to some the music and not to just give the listener something to look at.

Whenever I'm working on a music video I always want to know the story of how the song was created and that then gives us an idea how to show a story that compliments the music.

Anyway what are your opinions on this?
Does story matter or is it enough to be flashy and cool?
Do you like modern music videos?

Thoughts on this subject are welcome.

The point of this discussion is to talk about different takes on music videos and to see if I'm weird for always wanting a story or some motivation behind the something that's shot.

Best regards

Leanne Summers · February 14, 2020

In general I like a good story to go with it, but I could understand how there could be songs where that doesn't really fit. As far as the flashy things, they're okay when done in moderation. The problem is, that they usually seem to end up being a crutch, and it ends up being like what Hitchcock described as "just pictures of people talking." That's why I've always really enjoyed Aki Kaurismaki's work, he's done some good visual storytelling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AY_xjLlCws

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DoxWBZ8ekI