Homage in Music Videos

A homage is a sort of tribute to a specific person on work. In music videos, homage is commonly found among covers or even expressed in their structure and narrative.

30 Seconds To Mars - The Kill

As per Wikipedia: The video is a homage to the Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film The Shining based on the Stephen King novel. Several scenes are based on the film, such as when Shannon Leto enters Room 6277 and encounters the woman in the bathroom and another when Matt Wachter is served drinks at the bar by a doppelgänger apparition. The video culminates in an elegant ballroom in the same manner as the photo at the end of the film. At 2:07, the papers that Jared Leto has been typing are briefly made visible and the words on them appear to read, over and over, "This is who I really am." This is another allusion to The Shining, in which Jack Torrance types up pages and pages of the same line, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", over and over in the same sense. The scene with a man in a bear costume, in a bedroom, is also from The Shining.

The music video features the band exploring a hotel which they are care-taking. At the start, Jared Leto states that they have the hotel all to themselves for three days; although, later on, after the first chorus, it comes on the screen saying "One Week Later", before showing the pages saying "This is who I really am". In the extended version of the video, the other band members complain that they have been at the hotel longer than expected and have canceled shows because of Jared's peculiar behavior, explaining the discrepancy.

A letter from the hotel owner tells the band to "Enjoy your stay and please stay out of Room 6277." Shannon Leto does not heed the warning and opens Room 6277. Following the opening of the door, each band member begins to experience the effects of the room opening throughout the hotel. Each member experiences the effects differently, but one thing remains constant for each individual – they encounter a version of themselves dressed in a 1920s style tuxedo with tails. Several other apparitions then take up residence in the hotel, dispelling the promise Jared made in the beginning of the video that the band will have the hotel all to themselves and that "there's not gonna be a single fucking soul". The video reaches its climax when Tomo encounters himself in bed with a man in a bear suit (another Shining reference), and immediately the band dressed in tuxedos are shown performing the song in the hotel's ballroom in front of a crowd of twins, dressed like the roaring 1920's, dancing with themselves. The theme of duplicity resonates throughout the video.

Concluding commentary: many easter eggs are found within the video (MARS being spelled out on one of the hotel doors), plus behind the scenes when you learn that Leto used the split screen visual he picked up from Darren Aronofsky on the set of Requiem for a Dream. The music video in 2009 was selected as the greatest rock video in the Kerrang top 100.

Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal 

As per Wikipedia: Jackson originally wanted to make the music video in the western genre, but he later decided after watching The Third Man with director Colin Chilvers to change it to a 1930s gangster style. Film was shot between mid-February and April 1987. Jeffrey Daniel of the soul music group Shalamar co-choreographed the "Smooth Criminal" video with Jackson and Vincent Paterson, who was a back-up dancer in "Beat It" and "Thriller". It was directed by special effects coordinator Colin Chilvers. The dance sequence of the video in the 1930s style lounge (and Michael's white suit and fedora) pays tribute to the Fred Astaire musical comedy film The Band Wagon.

Concluding commentary: the music video itself won Best Music Video at the 1989 Brit Awards and the Critic's Choice awarded Jackson the "Best Video" award and the People's Choice Awards for "Favorite Music Video" for that same year.