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Music video analysis By Grace Doughty

Music video analysis

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Music video analysisBy Grace Doughty

Andrew Goodwins 7 features of music videos

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).

John Stewart’s Theory 1. The music video has the aesthetics of a TV commercial, with lots of close-ups and lighting being

used to focus on the star’s face.2. He sees visual reference in music video as coming from a range of sources, although the three most

frequent are perhaps cinema, fashion and art photography.3. Stewart’s description of the music video as ‘incorportating, raiding and reconstructing’ is essentially

the essence of Intertextuality, using something with which the audience may be familiar, to generate both nostalgic associations and new meanings.

4. The video allows more access to the performer than a stage performance can. The mise-en-scene, in particular, can be used to emphasise an aspirational lifestyle.

Foster the people - Call it what you want.

In the opening 2 seconds of the video, the audience is present with the phrase ‘Idle minds are the devils workshop’. Here, Foster the people are suggesting details about the moral behind the music video and song. In this case, it may be interpreted that the video is about how a large number of people in society are easily manipulated by the ‘devil’. The devil may be interpreted to be society, and it is possible that Foster the people believe that this has lead to people are lacking diversity due to people being easily influenced by society. Therefore, Foster the people are singing about what they disagree with in todays day and age.

At 0.05, the band members are shown sat in a grand room, 1 on a sofa and 2 sitting on the ground and lying down. John Stewarts theory states that the mise en scene in particular, can be used to emphasizes an aspirational lifestyle. The room that the band are in may be considered aspirational as appears to be a grande home which would be worth millions. However, how the band are placed in the video is a contrast to this. The scrunched up paper combined with them lying down may imply they are bored, further more suggesting that money doesn't buy happiness because even though they have the lifestyle that someone would aspire to, they’re bored. The singer on the sofa is holding up an umbrella inside, this is known as unlucky to open an umbrella inside, therefore this could suggest the band feel they are unlucky, which may be due to the social contrasts of society.

Foster the people present a blue wall with cracks beginning to show at 0.03 seconds. Then at 0.09, a hand is shown trying to break through the wall. This may be interpreted as Foster the people wanting to break through the status quo. This links to the lyrics that will be later sang in the video. The opening line to the first verse is ‘yeah we’re locked up in ideas’ and this use of imagery may suggest that Foster the people want to show that they are breaking out of being locked up in ideas.

At 0.13 seconds, the lead singer is seen sat outside on a balcony. The exterior of the building appears to be of a large stately home. This again contributes towards the band being shown to have an aspirational lifestyle. This is further supported by the girls at 0.17 seconds who are in the house. This may also be considered to be an aspirational style because it’s often thought that band members tend to ‘get girls’ therefore the group of girls here fits that belief. Again, the large house shown at 0.25 seconds also is aspirational for viewers of the video.

At 0.31 seconds, the word 'Foster' is shown written on t-shirts being worn by girls. This is followed by the word ‘the’ written on a hand and the word 'people' is revealed behind a skirt on a leg. This will meet the demands of the record label because it’s will support ‘foster the people’ as a band by ensuring their name is known by as many people as possible.

There are a number of closeups of the lead singer in the video, this will also help meet the demands of the record label because the company will be aware that fans will want to see the artist close up which they could not do easily otherwise except for pictures. This would be encouraged by the record label because it would mean that the audience can gain access to the

artist. At 2.21, the girls in the ‘foster’ t-shirts are shown. The lead singer makes a gun with his finger and ‘shoots’ at the girls, blue paint runs over their clothes simulates blood. This is a reassuring theme in foster the people’s music as their debut hit ‘pumped up kicks’ is a song about school children running away from guns. This may meet the requirements of the record label because it creates a style for the band that people can recognize. Also another recurring theme is the use of colorful paint, in the song ‘don't stop’, colored paint is used during a crash. This again creates a consistent style for the band which enables fans to recognize the band.

The genre of music that the band makes is indie/alternative. This is reflected through the styling of the band in their music videos. In this clip at 0.20, the band is shown playing instruments. This is common for indie bands therefore by showing them playing instruments it helps in portraying them as indie. Also, indie bands are known to give off a more casual vibe, this is true in this case because the outfits worn by the band don't coordinate exactly how a pop bands would. The outfit choices are casual and look as if they have just been put on and not styled, this gives off an alternative vibe as it seems carefree.

The music video is very quirky and random. However, there are also links between the lyrics and visual throughout. at 1.13, the lyrics are ‘we’ve got nothing to lose’ however, the image shown at this time is the lead singer with a clock on his head in a mirror image. This is a link between lyrics and visuals however it is ironic because he is singing they have nothing to lose yet time may be considered to be something that is valuable and they will lose/waste.

Then at 2.13, the band are shown setting their instruments on fire in black suits. This suggests a funeral for their instruments. This is controversial as they are clearly trying to send a message to their audience saying they are bored of their music and it’s ‘dying’. This links to the lyrics which are ‘we’ve got nothing to prove’ because it shows that the band aren’t afraid to show how they feel even if it goes against the normal conventions of a music video. This supports their genre of alternative

Arctic Monkeys - One for the road In the opening seconds of the music video, the audience is presented with a women dressed in a jacket with the title of the song on embroidered on. This may have been done to meet the requirements of the record label because it would promote the song by getting the name of the song into peoples heads. This may be helpful for the band for example if this was shown on a music video channel that the name of the song is repeated again so people could find the song to purchase it etc. It’s also important to note that this music video is in black and white. This effect is commonly used for indie/alternative artists therefore I think that this use of editing conforms to the genre of song. Also, how this girl is styled also conforms to the genre and fits well. She’s wearing dark/black clothing which appears warn in and has a edgy vibe.

at 0.09 - 0.12 seconds we are presented with 4 close ups of the band members. They are all dressed in formal suits while also maintaining an indie feel. The use of close ups in Andrew Goodwins theory is to meet the demands of the record label. Close ups of the artist would be wanted because the audience want to see the band and close ups allow them a greater level of access to the members (as in John Stewarts theory). In these few seconds of the video, the audience is also presented with the setting of the video, in this cause a rural area with a building behind which appears abandoned. This supports the music video for a song from the alternative genre because it’s more casual and not clean cut as it would be in a pop music video. Even the expressions on the faces of the band demonstrate how the song is from the indie genre because the artists all have neutral expressions which is common as indie bands often are presented as being cool.

This is a wide angle shot in which you can see a tractor moving down a road. It is stated in Andrew Goodwin's theory that their is a relationship between lyrics and visuals, and the lyrics 'one for the road' link with the image on screen. In John Stewarts theory he states that music videos may contain visual reference from cinema and photography. This clip looks as if it could be from a movie due to the wide angel shot.

Another link between the lyrics and visuals is shown at 0.57 seconds when the backing singers go ‘ooh, ooh’ and the tractor lets of smoke at the same time. The sound of ‘ooh, ooh’ sounds that the noise that a steam train makes and therefore when these sound at the same time, it seems like the back in singing is the sound of the steam being let out the tractor.

At 2.25, a number of women appear on the screen surrounded by smoke. From looking at a number of music videos from a number of genres, it is clear that females are often placed in music videos. This may be to give the impression that the band is leading an aspirational lifestyles (women, cars, money etc) and/or it may be used to make other males interested in watching the music video (male gaze). For example, women are also shown in the music video by Foster the people yet they had no real purpose in the story line of the video. This is a theme across a variety of genres if not all genres of music.

From approximately 2.40 we see the band playing musical instruments, here the audience see that the guitarist on the tractor had been traveling to a concert. ‘one for the roads’ relates to the term ‘one for the road’ about a drink before leaving to go somewhere. The clip of the band playing their song is commonly used in music videos for alternative bands, as seen in Foster the peoples music video also.

Circa Waves - T-Shirt Weather

The music video opens with the lead band member facing away from the camera. He is playing the guitar for 0.12 seconds. Then the image changes to that shadow of the guitar being played. The tone of the music video is immediately set and the audience can presume that this song is indie/alternative because of the guitars and ‘live’ music. This is a reoccurring theme as seen in all 3 music videos.

Then at 0.19 seconds we are presented with the full band. At this point, there is not image being projected onto them as the lyrics are yet to start. The band are all styled in jeans a casual top/shirt and a jacket. This again shows that the band are an indie band because they are often styled casually like this.

As in the previous music videos, close ups of the artists have been used frequently, this again meets the demands of the record label to have the artist shown off Andrew Goodwin and John Stewart Stated. Andrew Goodwin states there is a frequent notion to the way of looking, here their are screens which will display images of people on.

In the music video, once the lyrics begin, there is a link between lyrics and visuals. Once again, there is a closeup of the artists face to allow the audience to access the artist. They are singing about ’t-shirt weather’ and the images being projected onto them are images and videos of sunny days which clearly links to the lyrics as t-shirt weather indicates hot weather.

The whole style to this music video my be considered suitable for an indie band because it is very simple and not over complicated. The band are just playing their instruments, on a spinning floor with images being projected over them. This conforms to the characteristics of the genre because indie music is usually much more casual and effortless than all other styles of music. Therefore, the one location and simplicity makes the music video perfect for this genre.

As the song progresses, near the end the spinning floor moves quicker and quicker and more of the beams have appeared. The lighting from the projector causes a cool effect of colour on the artists.