Concept videos are based around a single idea (concept), typically quite surreal and unusual for the audience. Concept videos are combined with either performance or narrative because from a commercial point of view, the market demands for greater accessibly. However extreme examples I have looked at, only focus on the niche of pure concept art.
A successful concept video will keep the audience entertained and constantly keep them engaged. A range of artists covering all genres have used concept/art based videos. There
is not a stigma attached to the type of artist who opts for a conceptual style of music video.
Directed by duo Godley & Creme, the video features robot-like movable sculptures dancing, spinning and walking in time to the music in a "virtual house" in London. The video is unique because it was edited to the sounds of the scratching of the composition, and it employed techniques that had never seen in a music video. Here is clear example of a relationship between music and visuals. Hancock himself appears and plays keyboard as a black-and-white image on a television, which is a clever tie to bring in a performance aspect into the video. The video had a demand from a commercial point of view, thus the idea of having performance and concept was evidently important having garnered five MTV Video Music Awards in 1984, including Best Special Effects and Best Concept Video.
The track was a massive success for Gabriel, reaching #1 on the American charts. The video is highly memorable purely because of Aardman Animations' and the Brothers Quay's use of claymation, pixilation, and stop motion animation, altogether giving life to images in the song. This video is frequently considered a highly groundbreaking video and is regularly listed as one of the greatest music videos of all time.
A series of awards the video has received can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sledgehammer_(song)#Musicvideo
What is clear are the demands of Geffen Records for 'close up shots of the artist', something Andrew Goodwin identified as one of his key features. There is also a clear relationship between lyrics in visuals. Examples of these are the 'bumper car scene' and the train tracks which appear around Gabriel's head.
A series of awards the video has received can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sledgehammer_(song)#Musicvideo
What is clear are the demands of Geffen Records for 'close up shots of the artist', something Andrew Goodwin identified as one of his key features. There is also a clear relationship between lyrics in visuals. Examples of these are the 'bumper car scene' and the train tracks which appear around Gabriel's head.
Unlike the previous videos, Ballad of Black Mesa does not dwell on a narrative or performance. The video is purely concept. Having been an 'internet viral' video, it does have an iconic status because of its originality.
"The Viral hit "Ballad of Black Mesa" is a toe tapping, gun toting, tour de-force. Taking cues from works like STOMP, and contemporary advertisement, The Ballad of Black mesa has been featured in numerous publications, including UK PCgamer, and GEE magazine."
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