Harry Styles Singles: How Cinematic Music Videos Enhance His Musical Storytelling

Fans of the boy band One Direction know about the flamboyant and multi-talented singer Harry Styles. In 2017, Styles began his solo career and has been taking the pop music industry to delightful extremes. With his wild and colorful costumes, he blends genders and transcends pop star stereotypes. Styles is one of the most popular performers, live and in music videos, of our time and his generation.

With songs ranging from the pop-inspired "Golden" to the romantic and dreamy "Sweet Creature," Styles' fans encompass multiple generations. Not only is he a talented and polished singer, dancer, and performer, but he also makes entertaining and stunning music videos that take the viewer on mind-bending journeys.

Music fans growing up in the 80s were the first to enjoy commercial music videos with the launch of MTV. On August 1, 1981, the premier video on MTV was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. This video was artistic and quirky, setting the stage for early music videos. As MTV's popularity grew, music videos became a way to commercialize the artists, often in awkward or just plain weird ways, like in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "Don't Come Around Here." 

However, as more creative artists began making music videos and posting them to YouTube, viewers could stream them as they wanted without having to turn on MTV. One of the most watched music videos of 2009 was Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer," which used interesting techniques like Claymation and stop-motion animation.

Today, music videos are abundant on YouTube, allowing artists to showcase their creativity, cross artistic boundaries, and enhance theatrics, all while telling the song's story. One of today's masters of visual storytelling through music videos is Harry Styles. He has perfected the craft of expressing emotion, humor, and redemption through his visual styles.

In 2022, Styles released his song "Late Night Talking" from the album Harry's House. In this video, we see Harry waking up in bed, crawling under and through sheets, and interacting with multiple people in a dream sequence. He segues to a restaurant where he is eating pasta, then to a London street, and finally to a pillow fight.

The theme of the song and video is about missing a partner and the fantasies of intimacy and acceptance. All this is done in a colorful and psychedelic way, often using a backward-filming camera, a bed rigged on a tracking system, and other technical ways to capture the wild journey of this popular Styles music video.

As with the whimsical, tropical/party-themed "Watermelon Sugar" video, Styles collaborated with longtime cinematographers Bradley Bell and Pablo Jones-Soler for the quirky and enthralling "Late Night Talking." These two powerhouse creatives are known for crafting experimental videos and have worked with many artists, such as Harry Styles, Lil Nas X, and Cardi B, to make jaw-dropping and memorable music videos.

While "Late Night Talking" is one of Styles' most inventive visual storytelling videos, he has also dabbled in other types of artistic directions in his music videos, including:

This video is filmed in black and white with a lavish big band-era dance performance by Styles and his backup dancers. "Treat People With Kindness" showcases Styles' polished dance moves, his singing talent, and his passion for outlandish outfits. Watching this video masterpiece makes you want to get dressed up and dance along with Styles and his crew.

If you enjoy watching fantasy shows with music and visuals, you'll like "Adore You." While this song is about growing relationships and ultimately letting go when people grow apart, the unique video shows the story of Styles and a fish that he finally releases to the sea when the fish grows too big.

Styles took one of his most successful songs, "As It Was," and turned it into a romantic and visually stunning music video. The costumes are bright, and the raw emotion caught on Styles' and his dance partner's faces is electrifying, intimate, and passionate.

The 2017 "Sign of the Times" was one of Styles' first solo songs from his self-titled debut album. The video is gorgeous and fantastical as it takes viewers soaring across the Scottish landscape with Styles flying and seemingly skipping over water. In this video, Styles blends the beauty of a natural landscape with superhuman flying powers that make the viewer want the video to never end.

One key takeaway from Styles' music videos is that he is not afraid to explore new cinematic territory. Watching him perform live with an infectious smile, colorful and gender-fluid costumes, energetic singing and dancing, and lavish sets is enough to make him a pop superstar that anyone can appreciate. Adding this energy to creative music videos only enhances his appeal.

Other artists have taken notice of his popularity and the widely viewed YouTube videos for inspiration. Combining creativity with technical capabilities takes Styles' music videos to another level of performance that anyone can watch for free.

Music videos aren't just concert performances, commercialization of an artist, or quirky shows that are hard to follow. To stay competitive in the pop music industry, artists must collaborate with experimental cinematic geniuses to produce compelling music videos. Modern music videos focus on quality, storytelling narratives, and unconventional filming styles. Additionally, artists must make music videos that can be easily shared across multiple social media channels, connecting with a wide range of audiences.

Successful music videos require a lot of work, from preproduction storyboarding to the final edits. With more and more people watching YouTube videos, artists must go above and beyond to ensure their videos will stand out and be memorable while engaging the viewers.

Styles excels at making fans happy while compelling them to think about what the storytelling behind the video is all about. It will be interesting to see what's next for the unstoppable Harry Styles.