Music Video Analysis By Hannah Duncan

7 Key Areas- Andrew Goodwin 1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (e.g. stage performance in metal

videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop). 2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with

images. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). 3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the

visual reflects that of the music. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). 4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the

artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style). 5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors,

stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. 6. The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a visual

style) 7. There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos

etc).

Twice- Catfish and the Bottlemen.

‘Twice’ is a song by UK indie rock band Catfish and the Bottlemen. It is taken from the band’s second album ‘The Ride’ which was released in May 2016.

The song is an indie rock/alternative song and includes multiple instruments like electric guitars and drums etc.

Andrew Goodwin suggests that each music genre has different characteristics that makes it their own. ‘Twice’ is a song of the indie rock genre so therefore the video will show more conventions of an indie genre video.

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).

A key convention of indie rock videos is performance. This is where the band/artist is performing throughout or, depending on whether there is a narrative structure, partially performs in character. However, the main feature for this particular band is full out performance. The video looks like a live performance from the band which fully supports Goodwin’s idea of specific characteristics within genres.

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). The video is an performance of the song, so there are no direct visual links between the lyrics and what is on the screen unlike narrative based videos which tell the story of the song.

The lyrics aren’t reflected by what is on screen, however there are some actions which could link with the lyrics.

The whole band is frequently shown in the video, however lead singer Vann McCann is the main focus and has more camera time. From watching his movements and body language it is evident he has no intentions of telling the story of the lyrics. However, he does hold out his thumb and pointer finger (shown on the left) multiple times while singing. This could have been done to reflect the song title and chorus line ‘twice’. Also, McCann slightly lowers his head and leans against a speaker (shown above) while singing the line ‘from every hangover my head feels’ which could portray hangover exhaustion as he is lively throughout the rest of the performance.

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). There is an evident relationship between the music and the video as, being a performance video, the band are playing the instruments in perfect time to the music.

The band also do various movements like bobbing and head nods to the rhythm of the music and are always in time with the beat.

The bands movements make the video more lively to reflect the tone of the song. It makes the atmosphere of the video fun and energetic; just like the song and the band’s live performances at gigs.

The video looks as though it has been filmed in one shot as the camera follows the band in and out of their set and never seems to stop. This makes the video look smooth and laid back which gives off chilled vibes to the audience.

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).There are multiple close ups of both the lead singer and the rest of the band, but there isn’t too many that it looks as though it has been demanded as the idea of the video is to reflect a performance.

5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. There are no references to notion of looking evident in the video as it is a performance. However, McCann does look directly into the lens a few times; possibly to connect with the viewer. The majority of the time the band keep their eyes away from the lens and are normal; possibly to show the realism of the performance.

6. The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a visual style)The band have always included some form of performance in their videos. However, since the release of their second album, they have began to use black and white videos unlike their previous videos for their 2014 album ‘The Balcony’ which used various washes of colour and narratives.

‘7’ from ‘The Ride’

‘Soundcheck’ from ‘The Ride’

‘Kathleen’ from ‘The Balcony’

‘Cocoon’ from ‘The Balcony’

The first few videos released by the band were both narratives and disjuncture's, however they became performance based and have been since.

7. There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).

There are no intertextual references to films or TV programs within the video, but the video is similar to their previous videos but also very different as they are never the same.

How Good It Was- The Courteeners

‘How Good It Was’ is a song by UK indie rock band The Courteeners. It is taken from the band’s fourth album ‘Concrete Love’ which was released in August 2014.

The song is an indie rock/alternative song and includes multiple instruments like electric guitars, bass guitars and drums etc.

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).

Similar to the previously analysed video, the band are performing the song throughout the video. However, the difference with this video is the band have chosen bright colours to light their performance space and have edited them on to the video. The colours used have links to the indie genre and target audience as they are bold and bright colours are preferred.

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). Throughout the majority of the song, the band don’t make any references themselves to the lyrics apart from singing them. However, there is a projection behind them of a sepia toned film. This adds contrast to the rest of the video as the colours are different. The projection reflects old times which is what the song is about, hence ‘how good it was’. The image of a women appears when the lead singer sings the line ‘then she’s here and then she’s gone’. 3. There is a relationship between music and

visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). The lighting flashes and changes colour quickly, along with the editing from shot to shot. This reflects the beat of the song and the fast paced rhythm made by the instruments. The band play their instruments in time with the music and lip-sync the words perfectly as though they were actually singing them.

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).

5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

The video includes a lot of close ups, but not to the extent that it looks directed by the record label.

The band almost always have bright themed videos and seems like that is something they are comfortable with doing as it is what their audience like to see.

It is difficult to tell whether or not the lead singer is looking into the lens or not as he is wearing sunglasses, but the position of the camera makes it look like he is creating that bond between artist and viewer. There is a reference to notion of looking as a woman appears behind them on the projection multiple times which could link to the female gaze.

6. The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a visual style)The band’s visual style is different, bright and they either tell a narrative story in their videos or they stick to performance videos. They alternate between the two, but continue to use conventions of the indie genre in them all.

‘Not Nineteen Forever’ from ‘St. Jude’.

‘Next Time You Call’ from ‘Concrete Love’.

7. There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).There doesn’t seem to be many intertextual references in this video, however there does seem to be some type of reference to a movie or existing video which is projected onto the background of the performance space. This links to the lyrics of ‘how good it was’ as it reflects an older time in life.

Light It Up- Eliza and the Bear

‘Light It Up’ is a song by UK indie rock/pop band Eliza and the Bear. It is taken from the band’s debut self-titled album ‘Eliza and the Bear’ which was released in February 2016.

The song is an indie rock/pop song and includes instruments like electric guitars, bass guitars and drums etc.

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop). Unlike the previous illustrative performance videos, ‘Light It Up’ is an amplification video. This means the director is creative and mixes both performance and narrative together. This isn’t necessarily telling the story, but it is an interpretation of the story which is something pop videos include. In this video, it shows two male characters doing jobs like cleaning and collecting rubbish. In society, these jobs are seen as boring and ones people tend to avoid. However, in the video it looks as though the character is enjoying his job as he dances along to the song. This could be from the motivational lyrics ‘light it up… when the weight of the world falls on your shoulders’.

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). When the lyrics ‘light it up’ are sung, the lighting brightens and the performance space gets brighter; contrasting from the darker space.

The male cleaner frequently dances in the video and he does a walk over his should when the lyrics ‘when they weight of the world falls on your shoulders’.

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). The band play their instruments in time with the music like a live performance. The editing is fast paced to match the pace of the song and they choreography of the two male dancers/characters is in perfect time with both the lyrics and the beat. The lighting also matches the lyrics and the music. The bright video sets a happy and uplifting vibe.

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).There isn’t as many close ups of the band as there is in the previous videos, however there are some. The majority of the close ups are of the characters within the video; possibly to keep the focus on them.The band have similar themed videos to this which suggests their audience like to see and they like to produce them.

5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female bodyThere are no references to notion of looking in the video as the majority of the time the band keep their eyes away from the lens and are normal; possibly to show the realism of the performance. The characters in the video also keep their gaze diverted away from the camera; almost emphasising the saying ‘dance like no one is watching’.

6. The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a visual style)The band’s visual style is bright and lively. They mainly have videos with both performance and narrative and use conventions of both indie rock and pop.

‘It Gets Cold’ from ‘Eliza and the Bear’.

‘Lion’s Heart’ from ‘Eliza and the Bear’

7. There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).There are no intertextual references to films or TV programs within the video. However the video is similar to their previous videos so they could reference them.