Analysis of existing music videos

This is a music video also by the artist 'Radical Face', the artist in which I am creating a music video to one of his other songs. I thought it would be interesting to choose this video as I wanted to see how the same artists work is interpreted by directors and professional film/music video makers.
In doing this, I can use this as a comparison for when I have created my video and look at the similarities and differences.
It starts off with a young ethnic child wandering through a forest, however we don't know this straight away as the first shot is a birds eye view/tracking shot of a teddy bear being dragged on the ground by a chain, this gives us an incline that it could be a child, however we are not certain of this yet. 0.7 seconds into the song, an instrumental starts and there is an upwards tilt of the camera as it shows us the young child's identification.
The next shot is of the young girl stopping and waving at another young girl in a tree, the shot of this girl is a low angle tilt which makes her look empowering and in control.
Next there is an effective close-up of the ground as the same footage of the bear is being dragged along the ground, however the scene is interrupted when the girl from the tree jumps down, however we aren't aware of who this is yet as the camera angle is still on the ground and all we see is the young girls hands and feet as she falls down onto the floor. The next shot is a tracking shot of the two girls walking through the forest, this tracking shot is over the shoulder so not only does it make the audience able to see where they are heading but it also makes the audience feel more involved as it appears as though they are they right behind them. There is also a panning of the trees, this is used as it sets the scene, rather than an establishing shot.

The next scene is of a young boy banging a stick on the tree, this is effective as he bangs it in sync to the beat of the song, but it also represents his childlike innocence. The boy is wearing toy monkeys around his neck, this could be interpreted in two ways - These could either represent childhood or nature, hence being in a forest.
The use of the mixed gender could be used so that there is no discrimination against gender or stereotype, for example if it was only males used, females could argue that just because they come across as 'feminine' it doesn't mean they can't be getting their hands dirty in a forest.

All the children are wearing some sort of white material, for example the girl in the tree was wearing a cloth over her mouth, this reminds me of a mask that doctors/nurse's wear, and could therefore insinuate authority. Those that aren't wearing white clothing have white face paint, this once again represents the idea of childhood but also suggests they are forming a 'cult'.

The last child that they find is wearing hiking clothes and is holding a knife, this could be an connotation of a poacher in the jungle, especially as the shot of the last child is a high angle tilt, which shows him having higher authority, this could suggest that the rest of the children are animals and he is the poacher. However this use of ideology could be interpreted in lots of different ways.

As the beat picks up, the children begin to run faster. This makes the audience ask questions, why are they running? who are they running from? This makes the narrative more intense as it leaves the plot on a cliffhanger.
The children come out into a clearing, and there is an establishing shot of some cliffs surrounding them, all the children run out into the clearing holding a picture frame with themselves in, this could be suggesting that they want to be somewhere else? to escape? The picture frame could also be a insinuation for a doorway, which is relevant to the song title 'Doorways'.

The whole concept of the children running around the forest relates to the novel 'Lord of the flies' by William Golding. In this novel it is about a group of young British boys stuck on a deserted island, this is an example of synergy as the two relate to each other.

This book was published in 1954, and therefore the narrative of this video may interest an elder age range that have known the story for longer; However the genre of the music is alternative which is usually stereotyped with teenagers, therefore with the narrative and the song the two could appeal to a wide audience, including genders as this video does not specify to a specific gender.

Radical face are signed by an independent record label based in Germany called 'Morr Music'.
This specific label has signed band genre's such as electronica, plinkerpop (rock) and indie. Therefore Ben Cooper (uses Radical Face as a stage name) fits into these categories, and as this specific music label are already experienced in influencing and advertising this specific genre they have managed to create a successful music video which reflects this genre.

This is a music video by The Wombats called 'Perfect Disease'. I chose this specific video as I am interested in this band and this is a similar genre of music to the song in which I am creating my video to. It starts with a close-up of a life support machine with the heart rate at a steady pace, before the video has even started and the song has even been introduced we get a basic idea of what content the video will contain.

In the next scene, the music starts and the camera is using a close-up angle on the main singer, however a blur has been used here so the figures face and emotions aren't very clear at this point. However the blur fades, whilst the camera angle remains the same, and we have a clearer view of the performers and the aspect of performance in the video.

Scenes of the green light from the lift support machine interrupt the performance as they are placed in now and again, this could be a reminder to us that it's still there and just because it isn't visible it doesn't mean it isn't still happening.

The next scene after this is a mid shot of the band performing, here we can see in the chosen mise-en-scene they have been placed in a hospital/surgery room, this is effective as it relates to the song title 'Perfect Disease'.

Even though this is not an establishing shot, we still see that there are large surgery lights surrounding the band, not only does this create an effective scene but it also provides lighting for the performance. These lights flash in sync to the beat, this is similar to the previous video in which I analysed with the young boy banging the branch in sync with the beat of the song. We also see a range of scans all over the wall, these could either be suggesting that they are scans of the band, or could just be there for mise-en-scene.

After this there is a birds eye view of one of the band members on the keyboard, here we see close up of his fingers playing, the use of these angle shots and the location in which this is shot is similar to those in documentaries when they are filming surgery; this is effective as it relates to the whole idea of the hospital, therefore the director of this video is taking ideas from other concepts of Media and using it in this work.

These shots also switch to over the shoulder shot of playing the keyboard, this is another suggestion that us (the camera) are observing the surgery and makes us feel as though we are actually there.

Throughout there are changes to some of the footage which is being shown through the green lighting used on the screen of the life support machine, this shows consistency throughout but it also implies that the band are the life support machine, and therefore their music is the only thing keeping whoever is hooked to the life support machine alive. This is clever as it is another form of promotion as it suggests that you can't live without their music.

At 3:21 there is a soft harmony in which all the ligths light up all at once and illuminates the room, this could be a play on the saying 'The light at the end of the tunnel', this suggests that the 'patient' is awakening, however the video ends with the life support machine cutting out, this suggests that the patient has died, however this also suggests it is an end to the video.

The Wombats are an indie rock band signed by 14th floor records which have also signed popular artists such as Biffy Clyro and Joshua Radin. Joshua radin's is an alternative singer songwriter who's sound is very similar to my first chosen artist Radical Face, which links in with the same genre.

This video is a narrative video to a song called Holocene by Bon Iver.

Bon Iver is an Indie/Folk artist who is signed by the label Jagjagauar. This minor record label has signed small independent artists in which aren't very well known.

The first shot in this video starts with a mid shot showing an old room in what appears to be a cottage. This room has low lighting which suggests the time of the day, but also contains old wooden furniture and a candle light rather than a lamp, this suggests that is an old fashioned room.

This shot then goes to a close-up of a boy sleeping, the use of editing here in that this specific shot was shown right after the shot of the room suggests that the young boy lives here. There is a mid-shot of the boy climbing out of bed and a variety of shots and close-ups as he is putting his clothes on. This suggests that the clothes are significant in that they need to be noticed.
The jumper he wears is a very odd and unique style, this suggests the 'Indie' genre, but it is also a good contrast against the snow when the boy gets outside and there is an establishing shot of him walking through the valleys.

The use of reflections is used when there is a close-up of the young boy looking out the window. The close-up is shot through the window in which the boy is looking through. In the reflection we can see a large bird fly past, at this moment we see the young boys eyes follow it, this is effective as we see what the boy is seeing, whilst watching him see it.

After this shot there is a tracking shot of the boy picking up a stick from inside the house, this represents childhood similar to the previous video I analysed by Radical Face.

Throughout the video there is a variety of shots as the boy is watching the bird, the fact that the bird keeps appearing makes the audience question is, Is this bird symbolic? Why does he keep watching this bird? Is he fascinated by this bird because it seems to be the only living thing in sight besides himself?

Throughout the video there are close-ups of the young boys feet as he is walking, this is a clever technique and it puts the audience in the boys eyes as though he is looking down to see where he is going, this technique inspired me and I shall try to use it in my own music video.

As the young boy is throwing rocks into the lake, this once again represents childhood but the chosen camera angles also make the audience question it. For example, as the boy throws the rock the camera pans towards it as the boy walks out of the camera frame, this means we are watching the rock across the water rather than the boy, (The main character), this makes us wonder, Is this rock significant? And if so, why?

A tilt is used from behind the boys shoulder as he is looking up at the waterfall. This makes the water look empowering in contrast to the little boy, and suggests that the boy feels small in the big world.
This is also suggested with the different shots of different locations as it implies that the boy likes to explore, but also that the world is so big compared to him. This suggests naivety, which also plays on the idea of childhood.
When looking at the comments which were left on this video, someone had left the comment 'This makes me want to be young again. Childhood is magical.' This intrigued me as it showed that other people interpreted the childhood innocence in the video aswell.

Even though a child is used throughout as the actor, the music in specific is not usually associated with this age group, as it is too slow and the depth and meaning of the lyrics would not be understood. Therefore this music and the video would be aimed at teenagers up through to middle aged people, also in specific artistic people as the video has a hidden depth in which needs to be understood.

History Of Music Videos.

    History of music videos.

The purpose of music videos are to promote the artist through a visual form as finding a venue that held the appropriate amount of fans was difficult in the early years of the music industry. Therefore, narrative music videos were made, similar to short films which involved the artist so that fans could watch them perform in a cinema, rather than a venue/stadium.

Only 2 TV channels displayed music videos/performances, one of these was ‘Top Of The Pops’ which showed ‘live’ performances of the band, these were not videos, however still grabbed the same aspect of performance in which the fans wanted to view.

Music videos were only introduced in the 50’s, before this music was shown through the use of radio. In 1965, Bob Dylan brought out a short film promoting his song ‘Don’t look back’ produced by D.A Pennebaker. This was a very basic film, with the artist stood holding a range of cue cards displaying the lyrics to the song playing in the background, with only one simple camera shot used. Even though this is very simple to the music videos we are used to seeing in the 21^st century, this was the first real music video produced. This video challenged authority and pushed the boundaries as it had never been done before. However, this video was a success – And from here the music industry was created.

The next big success after this video was the famously known ‘The Beatles’, in which they produced a video for their song ‘A hard days night’, directed by Dick Lester in 1964. This video was black and white (similarly to Bob Dylan’s), and had a basic narrative running throughout, however also contained aspects of performance.

Unlike the previous artists in the 60’s, The Beatles and Bob Dylan were the first to produce their own lyrics to their songs, this was effective as it spoke out to teenagers (The aimed audience), and therefore the fans could relate to them more. The Beatles first video not only had more narrative than Bob Dylans, but also used a wider range of camera angles, this allowed individual shots of each person (the band members), and therefore made the video more appealing.

In 1965, The Beatles produced another video to the song ‘Help’. This was when colour was introduced into music videos, along with the concept of developing features such as close-ups, birds eye shot, performance based, jump cuts and montage editing. This video also had no continuity of time, this made it unrealistic which went against the original objective of music videos to display to the audience a realistic performance, however boundries were further being pushed.

 After this was David Bowie’s ‘Space Odity’ in 1972. This introduced new media technologies such as the coloured lighting (Red) and the use of zoom. The lighting was used to create a futuristic mise-en-scene, even though to us this appears ‘cheesy’, in the late 1900’s this was seen as a clever effect created, due to the lack of technology and mediated knowledge.

The use of zoom achieves a close up of the face giving the audience access to read the emotions of the performing artist. Not only does this give the performance a variety of shots as there is no narrative, but it also makes the audience feel more involved as they are interacting with the way the artist feels. In this video Bowie is placed on a stool, surrounded by the dark red lighting and instruments, this gives the illusion of alienation, and also plays on the idea of the futuristic idea.

Music videos are not only a reason for the artist to impress the audience with their voice, but also with their appearance. Not only do the fans watch music videos to watch their favourite artist perform, but also to look at their image, and what their chosen clothings/hairstyle ect represents.

For example, in the early 90’s, ‘Song for whoever’ by Beautiful South, the band are wearing dark glasses throughout the video. These were seen as a code for ‘being cool’, and was then re-created in future music videos. Another image in which was shown throughout music videos from the early 90’s till the 21^st century in which we analyse now was the concept of Religion. In R.E.M’s video ‘Losing My Religion’ there is a narrative story line which is linked to the lyrics content ‘I’m losing my religion’. The suggestion to religion in this is clever, as a famous painting by an painter named ‘Caravaggio’ is imitated in this video through the use of acting. The way in which the actors in the video have been placed re-creates this painting, showing the audience in ways in which religion can be interpreted.
This not only has relevance to the religion, but also suggests that the viewers see music videos as a form of art.
This music video displays plausibility; as even though the wings that are featured in the mise-en-scene would be unlikely – The whole concept of religion as a revolution and the different beliefs developed over time makes this plausible as we believe what we see. In today’s video’s, Naivety is perceived however the theorists show it.

(The photo by Caravaggio

immitated at 02:24).

For example, Madonna’s ‘Die Another Day’ video – Madonna is perceived as a dirty, masculine women who isn’t bothered about her appearance, this is done through the use of mise-en-scene (For example the ripped clothes and the make-up). This is a completely different approach to her previous videos in the 90’s, for example her music video ‘Vogue’. This is a performance based video featuring dancing. This video has style over substance, as her music video has no relevance to the song. However her personal appearance us enough, as we are looking at her rather than the choreography. Not only is this an example of voyeurism, but also narcissism. This is interpreted this way  she is wearing revealing clothes and stroking her arms and face.

This video also has aspects of Synergy as she is portrayed as the famous ‘Marilyn Monroe’. Monroe was known as a sex symbol, and therefore this image is being impersonated in this video with the blonde curly hair and the way she is dressed.

However, relating back to the ‘Die Another Day’ video, Madonna’s personal image has gone from narcissism to not being afraid of how she is judged by her appearance in this video. However, as she is so high in the music industry, personal image doesn’t matter anymore – And therefore she is able to make a more exciting narrative video.

In this video, it shows Madonna’s horror of being tortured throughout the video, this is a very strong narrative throughout, as there is also other scenes of her fighting aswell against herself. This effect is created by computers, and in the early years of the music and video industry this was not able to be created, however technology is now getting more involved and constantly being upgraded.

The whole idea of the ‘narrative’ backs up Tim O’sullivans point, in that he argues that all media texts should tell a story, and this is what is happening more and more regularly throughout the years of music videos. This video also has another concept of Synergy as this song was originally created for a James Bond film, however as this film was so popular, so was the song – And therefore a video was created after. This had to contain aspects from the film (such as the fighting scenes, ect.) In order for the two mediations to have continuity and relevance.

The mediations are turned into media texts which are then interpreted by the audience however they like. The media texts demonstrate culture and society through the use of narrative and demonstration. Even though the technology, narratives and performances have changed over the years in Music Video’s, the basic aspect of Mediation will always remain the same. We upgrade the techniques used in music video’s as the world has to develop, otherwise the people who purchase the music (us) would get bored, and sales would rapidly drop in downloads and music shares. Not only does the tecniques need to evolve, but technology is constantly being upgraded, allowing us to continuously improve the music and music video industry.



This the existing music video of the song in which I have chosen to promote through the use of my own music video.
I have placed this video on my blog to allow peers to view and answer the polls which I have created, this will help my audience research. I will also analyse existing music videos with a similar genre/type of music video (e.g narrative) to this one.

Audience

I am producing a music promotional video for Welcome Home by Radical Face, and I need to establish the demographic and psychographic profile of my audience.

Brief

For my A2 task, I have been asked to design a promotion package for the release of an album, which will include a promotional video.
Aswell as this, I have also been asked to choose one of the three following options to design alongside my promotional video:

• a website homepage for the band
• a cover for it's release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package)
• a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).