Dynamic Music Video: Categorizing the Convergence of Video Games and Music Videos

The present article examines how the aesthetics of a specific format can be applied to another, thus creating a new autonomous product. This is the case of a distinctive point in video games wherein the playthrough is imbued with music video aesthetics, and the player interacts with the music, camera movements and landscape, becoming the protagonist and architect of what I propose to define as a “Dynamic Music Video”—following Collins’ definition of “dynamic music” (2008, 139). This study analyzes the musical transmedia narratives created from Death Stranding and other contemporary games, both regarding the gameplay experience and the User-Generated Content, focusing on their bidirectional motion: one that converts the players’ experience into a music video inserted into a video game, and one that converts the video game into an autonomous music video.