POV style in my music video

For my music video, I intend to film it in a POV (Point-of-view) perspective.

False Alarm

This is a filming technique where the audience watch the events of the narrative play out from the perspective of a character present in the narrative as if the camera are the eyes of the character. The Weekend's music video 'False Alarm' (right) uses this format to show a group of individuals robbing a bank using aggressive military techniques to escape from the responding police force with hostages.

Bad Motherfucker

This filming technique is a highly effective way of making the audience feel as though they are a part of the narrative and are in fact present in the moment of the events and have an able hand in influencing the narrative. Take for example in Biting Elbow's music video 'Bad Motherfucker' (left) that emphasizes this feeling for audiences by having weapons pointed towards the camera to evoke a stronger sense of danger to audiences and a higher desire to want the protagonist to survive and be successful during the fighting (as audiences feel as though they are the protagonist and wish for themselves to survive and not die at the hands of the antagonists).

Bad Motherfucker

The structure of this music video is also quite similar to that of a video game in first person format where it is clear to audiences the short term goals for the protagonist by having them clearly in sight (e.g. the audience can see the man that the protagonist is chasing). This helps to keep the audience constantly interested and keeps their focus on the events of the narrative.

Bad Motherfucker

The inclusion of less realistic elements such as parkour during a chase, falling from tall heights and using a vertical zipline to ascend a building (left) add to the entertainment of the music video with the POV style element allowing audiences to be able to suspend their disbelief and still treat the music video as something that still feels realistic. This, accompanied by the use of occasional sound such as gunshots and punching noises adds further to the audience's ability to suspend their disbelief.

Smack My Bitch Up

The effect of a POV perspective is achieved by the audience often not being able to see the face of the character they are seeing the events of the music video from. This can either be for the whole music video such as in The Prodigy's 'Smack My Bitch Up'. In this music video, after leaving their home, going to a fast food establishment and then to the club until the end of the video, the face of the main character is not seen which allows the audience to put themselves in the position of the main character and feel as if they are the ones leading the narrative themselves.

False Alarm

This is not always the case however, music videos such as The Weekend's music video 'False Alarm' (left) hides the identity of the main character up until the ending where the face of the main character is revealed in a mirror. This is used as a way to end the narrative by having the character commit suicide and so this music video keeps to the general use of hiding the identity in POV music video apart from doing so to cap the narrative and resolve the events of the music video.

Smack My Bitch Up

Overall, I can see that the use of POV style shooting of my music video is quite appropriate in reaching out to audiences in quite a unique way that would be best for my music video. All examples above seem to prioritize violence and other taboo type topics such as sex (controversially lesbian sex in 'Smack My Bitch Up') and drug use (present predominantly in The Prodigy's 'Smack My Bitch Up' as seen right). The reason for the inclusion of this type of behavior by characters in these music videos I believe is due to the fact that it further involves audiences compared to just more mundane actions by the character with violence in the first person being more exciting and exhilarating for audiences due to the heightened realism brought on by the POV style perspective. As a result, I will likely use similar elements of violence and drug use in my music video to achieve the same effect as other music videos have achieved.