Analysis of Dubstep Music Videos

• In order to develop my understanding of Dubstep and how the filming techniques and the story line emphasises the mood and atmosphere, I researched some original Dubstep videos to gain inspiration of how we should do our music video.The first video i looked at was Magnetic man- I need air

Magnetic Man- I Need Air• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2vWQFHP3D0• There is no performance from Magnetic Man or narrative story line, the

music video is concept-based. In terms of Goodwin’s Theory, there appears to be no specific dance routine. The video captures people dancing differently (some with glasses, some on shoulders, others freely waving hands) which I believe symbolizes free expression (a character trait from the target audience). The music and visuals are synergized, the visuals often have a fast cutting pace to the music which volumises the impact of the club. The lyrics and visuals are illustrative, for example there are close-up shots of people hot from dancing as the chorus goes ‘I need air’, effectively relating to a target audience which dance. In a way the music video is not selling the image of Magnetic Man (as there are no shots of them at all in the music video) but rather they are selling dubstep nights. Emphasizing on the lights and atmosphere of the club effectively promotes and may influence the audience of the song to go to a dubstep night, perhaps to promote the culture of dubstep, making it more popular.

Benga and Coki- Night• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7ArUgxtlJs• This is a purely concept video. It emphasizes an abstract,

metaphorical interpretation of the music. The relationship between the title and the images on screen have no obvious correlation. The theme of the video seems to be a journey comparing between bare feet walking and a car driving. Because there are no lyrics, it is hard to compare the relevance of the music to the visuals. The visuals on screen have been experimented upon (the background patterns and the lighting) which almost represent the experimental instruments used by the artists of Dubstep. The same visuals are repeated over and over again which synergize with the music because the music doesn’t change-the same tune is repeated over and over again so in that respect, the music and visuals are intergrated.

Katy B- Perfect Stranger• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-VcBiS6dqw• The music video for Perfect Stranger is a combination between

narrative and performance. Katy B is a mainstream artist under dubstep, her music video’s are more to do with selling her image, so the audience is presented with her performing and also being the main character in the narrative as there are many close up shots of Katy. The black and white effect makes the video look older or far away (it is set in another country). Under Goodwin’s Theory, the lyrics and visuals do correlate, but not obviously. There is a sense of division between them and the police, as though a war is going on (which may relate to the target audience, the police generally being disliked) . The lyrics ‘I don’t know who you are’ come under the narrative as she is talking about one of the uniformed men and looking at him throughout the video. The relationship between music and visuals is not amplified. When the base drops at the beginning there was no dramatic change in the visuals (she is still singing behind the curtain which emphasizes her as an image).

Skream- Trapped

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXIc8ofYNis&feature=player_embedded#!

• The music video is concept based. There is a story line to the visuals on screen, the fly is personified and the actions of the fly correlate to the lyrics. For example when bug killer is sprayed on the flies the lyrics are ‘sometimes I feel trapped at point 1.55. The music video is aimed at teenagers. The lyrics emphasize being trapped when grounded, not having a phone as one way of being grounded. The flies dance and listen to pounding speakers which represent teenagers and the target audience. Again, there is no clips of the artist suggesting no interest in selling the artist as an image.

Common features in dubstep music videos

• All the songs contain a base drop which enhances the impact to dance (as dubstep songs are originally designed for clubs and raves)

• Goodwin’s Theory states that demands of the record label will mean close-ups of the artists in the video. However, there are little demands for record labels under dubstep because, generally, they are their own producers.