However, the notion of the music video being used to endorse or promote the song has a large effect on the methods used in its creation. Namely, this involves a list of techniques most commonly found in advertising:
- Intertextuality, see my post on intertextuality here.
- Beauty
- Celebrity endorsement, such as the famous people in Johnny Cash's God's Gonna Cut You Down, or Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl's camo appearances in Tenacious D's music videos.
- Escapism
- Comparison
- Demonstration
- Enigma, like the mysterious phrase at the end of Radiohead's music video for Just.
- Humour, Foo Fighters - Learn to Fly.
- Shock, such as the Prodigy music video for Smack My Bitch Up.
- Irony
- Contrast
- Illustration, such as Bright Eye's visual recreation of the lyrics in At The Bottom.
- Juxtaposition
- Glamour
- Lifestyle, eg Blur - Parklife.
- Sexuality
- Narrative, like Panic At The Disco's very literal video for I Write Sins Not Tragedies.
- Rebellion
- Concept, like the simple idea behind Wax's California, or the groundbreaking use of technology by Arcade Fire.
- Emotion, such as The Smashing Pumpkin's harrowing video for Try Try Try.
"music video has the aesthetics of a TV commercial, with lots of close-ups and lighting being used to focus on the star’s face (the product)" - John Stewart of Oil Factory
