Spector: Friday Night, Don’t Ever Let it End: Deconstruction

This video was produced to advertise the band’s latest single; Friday Night, Don’t Ever Let it End. The video was directed by Alan Del Rio Ortiz and takes a peculiar, art-house style to heart and places the band at a party whilst cutting between shots of objects. The target audience for the video is young people who enjoy going to parties and enjoy new, indie rock.

Camera:The video uses many camera angles and techniques; the most interesting being the zoom shots. When the video cuts to shots of objects the camera zooms in slowly, contrasting from the jerky handheld shots that show the party in action. The zoom shot puts focus on the object, making the audience think how it is related to the song. The handheld shots of the party are really effective at making the audience feel like they are there, observing the party as it takes off.The director also uses the close ups, mid shots and wide shots throughout the video showing the bands performance. These are contrasting to the shots of the

party and objects, where either the camera or subjects are moving fast.

Sound:The sound is designed to put focus on the music and lyrics. The only sound that can be heard is the track playing; no sound from the party can be heard. This connoted to the audience that the lead singer is remembering the night before and is singing about it afterwards. Another possible reason for the minimalist sound design is to make the viewer concentrate more on the lyrics and message of the song. Other music videos make the visuals standout more than the music, meaning the viewer doesn’t take as much notice. So when the director decided to limit the sound to just the track he was really pushing the music to be in the audience’s face.

Editing:The pacing of the video is fast, with the camera cutting between shots every few seconds. This was done to make sure the video progresses quickly, keeping the audience interested and wondering what’s they’re going to be shown next. The video also cuts on the beat of the song; establishing the relationship between the visuals and music as this shows the video is ‘following’ the music. Between some shots light bleeds are used as

a transition. These help establish the style of the video, ‘modern-vintage’ as light bleeds are associated with old film and photos. This transition is not standard meaning it could be new to the viewer, intriguing them to see why it was used. The lead singer of the band is shown to be singing the song in the video. Lip-syncing is used here to complete the effect. This portrays to the audience that the singer is singing for them, telling them the story of his Friday night; establishing a connection meaning the audience will enjoy the video more.

Mise-en-scene:

Artificial lighting is used throughout. During the band shots high key lighting is used to remove shadows from the scene and create a slight dream effect as the instruments and clothes seem to glow slightly. Also this makes the band members seem friendly and approachable. During the party scenes low key lighting is used to establish the atmosphere as intriguing and mysterious. The song’s lyrics also

accompany the idea that mysterious things happen at parties.

The costumes in the video have ‘vintage’ vibe to them, being inspired by styles from the 50’s and 60’s. This along with the light bleed transitions and short clips of film reel really sets the tone for the video. The clothing worn by party goers represents some of them as being stereotypical and then some of the items represent them as counter types. One girl is wearing a jumper that has the slogan ‘Chevy Thunder’ written across the front. This is a counter typical piece of clothing to be worn by a woman. This shows that the video is taking characteristics of vintage fashion and applying them to modern culture.The video is set in two locations; one is a party and the other is a carpeted back cloth where the band plays. The party location appears to be a flat, which has fluorescent lighting and is crowded with party goers. The location is represented as small but a comfortable environment to be in as the party goers are all comfortable in the environment. The carpeted area where the band is performing is set up being bright and clean. The blue

background allows the audience to see the musicians easily and to concentrate on them. The location is a contrast from the dark party, showing a difference between the band’s performance and party antics.

During the music video the camera cuts to close up shots of objects, all of which are from the 50’s and 60’s. These shots are strange as the objects don’t relate directly to the lyrics of the song; examples of these are the tea cups and matches. These shots add a surreal feeling to the video, connoting to the audience that not everything is right.

Representation:

The band is represented as fun loving. The song is about partying on Friday nights with friends, connoting to the audience that the band regularly attends parties. They are also represented as through backs to the ‘vintage’ period. This is shown through their choice of fashion and props and locations in the video.

What will I use?

I like the fact that every camera shot has some form of movement, making an otherwise boring angle exciting. It also keeps the pace of the video, keeping the audience interested