Genre Theory - Queens "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Firth

Performance

Nearing the end of the music video, the "Bohemian Rhapsody" music video abruptly switches from  Conceptual to basic stage performance. The stage is lit up with bright vibrant lights and the artists switch to a more 70's rock-esque attire.

Narrative

The music video has no real narrative plot per se. However, the lyrics for two-thirds of the song seems to suggest some semblance of a story. It seem to be about a man who just murdered another man and is being sent to jail/hell.

Conceptual

The beginning of the music video seems to be very original and experimental in style. There doesn't seem to be a narrative, neither do we see the artists playing there instruments like a performance piece. It is simply the heads of the artists singing along to the music video in the dark.

Carlsson

Commercial Exhibitionist

A commercial exhibitionist is where the artist is prominently featured throughout the music video, with plenty of close-ups being used on the lead singer. The genre this typically applies to is Pop.

One well known example of a Commercial exhibitionist is Beyonce. In the music video "Single Ladies" Beyonce is almost always on screen, with plenty of close ups on her face and voyeuristic shots of her and the background dancers.

Televised Bard

A televised bard is where there is usually a narrative implemented into the music video to tell a story or to get the meaning of the lyrics across.


Electric Shaman
Electric Shaman is an artist who is never seen performing in his/her own music video. This is essentially the exact opposite of a Commercial Exhibitionist. The genre this typically applies to is Techno/Indie

One of the more popular examples of "The Electric Shaman" are the music videos of Fatboy Slim. He is known for not appearing in his own videos and in the music video "Weapon of Choice", it is neither a performance piece (owing to the artists absence) nor a narrative as their is no story involved in it (Christopher Walken is sitting down, he gets ups and dances, then sits back down).