Andrew Goodwin theorised that music videos can be placed into the 3 following categories:
These videos are made to be inline with the lyrics of the song and illustrate the themes and topic literally. These types of music videos are usually cut to the beat and also usually include the band members/artist performing within the video. This is also the most popular type of music video.
Examples
This video, performed by Jenna Rose and featuring 'Baby Triggy' clearly demonstrates the fundamentals of an illustration video. The lyrics of the song describe a pair of jeans which the artist desires which is very inline with the visuals.
Similarly to the previous example, the lyrics within this music video are very much inline with the visuals. The Hoosiers sing about superheroes whilst taking on the fictional identities of being them.
This is also an example of an Illustration video because Goodwin also stated that videos that only focus on the artist in replacement of any kind of narrative fall into this category.
This is one last example of an illustration video. The lyrics describe the story of a gay man faced with all the challenges of his sexuality. This same story is then displayed visually to illustrate it.
Similarly to illustration videos, these are inline with the lyrics of the video, however rather than illustrating the themes and topics literally, amplification videos use more metaphorical and/or abstract imagery to emphasis the point they are trying to make. These are also usually cut to the beat however could also use off-beat-cutting as a editing technique to further emphasis a point. It isn't uncommon for the band to appear in the video but they might take on fictional roles.
Examples
This video is an example of Amplification because Vampire Weekend use the concept of a tennis match to amplify the character-narrative they refer to in the song. The song gives us the idea that the character was skilled at a point in there life before 'giving up the gun'; therefore the imagery of a skilled tennis player is used.
This video is another example of Amplification. The theme of achieving 'Paradise' is amplified through the imagery of an elephant escaping captivity and finding its own paradise in the wild. This imagery is also used to compare the elephant to the average day man through the use of props and setting such as the underground, the London bicycle, the shop, et cetera.
In contrast to the previous two music video types, disjuncture videos are contain visuals that are completely different to the lyrics of the song. These videos are usually not cut to the beat and otherwise distance themselves from the song. They are normally used by bands that are already established and therefore are able to take more risks.
Examples
This is a clear example of a disjuncture video because the visuals appear to be very random and unorthodox.
The artists of this video hired well established actors (such as Jason Bateman and Ed Helms) to pretend to perform the song is a comedic way. This is makes the video disjuncture because the visuals have nothing to do with the lyrics themselves.