Analysis of Music Videos

The music video is rock genre directed by Scott Lyon. The band generally appeal to the younger audience, predominately male, the band Hi-Fi’s songs usually consist of sex, drugs and partying. This song talks about a week of work then the excitement for the weekend. The music video begins like a documentary. The full video is a narrative video with no vision of the bands performance just a straightforward storyline with the song playing in the background. The amplification to this song is the way the boy in the video moves to the beat, when he sets the alarm clock off the beat starts, when the song changed pitch or pace slightly the stars movement links an reflects the music, for example in the first 10 seconds the boy sits on the bed and the music is slow and settled then when the beat is introduced the boy jumps of the bed and opens the door. This looks effective and informs the audience that the video is going to be based on the narrative. At the beginning a hand held camera is used in a boys bedroom, it focuses on the alarm clock first then moves across to the bed. The camera varies from medium shot to close up. The bedroom is blue which automatically suggests the room belongs to a male. We then see a boy laid in bed asleep. A close up then appears of the boys face, waking up as the alarm clock sirens. We see the boy sat with his head in his hands, wearing a white t-shirt to suggest purity in a morning perhaps. The room is dark which suggests something is going to happen and the boy is depressed or sad perhaps. Then there is a close up of the time, as it strikes 8am the boy jumps out of bed, runs to the bathroom, brushes his teeth, gets dressed into a suit which suggests he is maybe going to work or college. As the boy leaves the house it becomes lighter. The video still looks like a hand held camera as there is a low angle shot of him walking towards the camera and the camera looks wobbly and uncomfortable which shows it is not been specifically placed purposely it looks as though someone is also waking in front of him whilst filming him but the star is still unaware of this. He walks in time to the beat playing, this shows continuity. He then goes to the train station, misses his train, a reflection appears in a mirror, to show he has still not fully woken up and there is two sides to him. The mirror also suggests humiliation for missing the train, it emphasizes the fact he’s missed it which is embarrassing. He then gets on the train, and more and more color keeps appearing in the shot. The shot is naturally dull, and blue appears, and then green. This shows he is gradually waken up more and more. The boy is sat on the train looking out the window watching the world go by, this shows the minutes are dragging longer and longer. Their is also a video overlap, where two images collide on top of each other, the boy in the background with a fade overlap of trees passing by. This also shows the recognition of time pass. This happens frequently when the verse is being sung. An overlap of the boy stood with another overlap of the same clip on top, this makes the effect look shaky and disorientated which shows his confusion and his deflated feeling of having to go to work. He then appears outside in a busy area where people are hustling and there is a low angle looking up on the boy. He looks baffled. Then he arrives at work and is sat at a computer, working and doodling, the doodling represents boredom. This clip is very short. The beginning was long and dragged on about how annoyed he was that he had to go to work, then the section when he is at work is very short, then the section of him leaving work is very long, this suggests that he has been worked up about going to work for no reason as it really wasn’t that bad. There is a long clip in the middle, showing him leaving work, and a montage of the boy in the lift, and the traffic outside going extremely fast. this suggests the boys future when he arrives outside. we then see him running down a flight of stairs, running down some more steps, appearing outside, surrounded by more steps, this suggests he is escaping and rushing for something. ' i love by the rush' this is the lyrics when we see the traffic outside, this shows the rush of the traffic and everyone wanting to get home for te weekend. The camera angles vary on this and appear faster and more intense which also shows the idea of a hustling area. The boy then arrives at home, runs upstairs, opens his wardrobe, and then more light appears, it’s blue again, to show a male persona. There is a knock at the door, it’s his friend enters wearing black, with a red tie. The red represents love perhaps, or daring behavior. The boys both get ready, go to the shop, where more color is appearing, greens and more blues. They buy alcohol and then drink it. There is then a flash back of the boy at work again and receiving his paycheck. Then there is a flash-forward to the two boys at home drinking again. There is then a close up of empty beer bottles, the pace gets faster and more bottles are adding to the collection. They then leave, walk into the city, the lighting is dark to reflect night time and there is a close up on both boys’ feet walking to the beat, the lyrics are, 'pressure' this is said repeatedly. There is a long shot of the boys walking, and then a medium shot of the boys walking, then a close up, this also links with the beat, showing continuity. The spectator then sees the boys walk in to the pub, and then walk out, the lighting is darker and the boys are drunker which shows they had been in the pub for a while but we don’t see this. The lyrics, 'live by the weekend' are then said repeatedly as there is a montage of shots with the boys laughing, walking, talking, performing disorderly behavior, the shots are linked with a dissolve edit, this shows passing of time, and could also represent the boy state of mind, blurry due to the alcohol. they then arrive home drunk, do more silly things, like sit in the bath drinking more alcohol, falling over, being sick, then as the music fades to an end both boys pass out on the bed. The full video shows an idealistic, stereo-typical view of two young male teenagers on the weekend. The more day passes the more color is shown, this represents the gradual build up of excitement for the weekend. And as the camera shots are hand held and not precise this shows a documentary style video. The entire music video shows voyeurism as the star is unaware that we are watching everything he does. The editing shows continuity as the narrative follows on and there is no shots that don’t link with the previous. All the shots are either linked with strict cuts or a dissolve edit, this suggests the documentary style element. The strict cuts are at the beginning when the music changes pace from slow to fast, the cuts show a sharper, faster performance which suggests to the audience he is in a rush where as the dissolves appear when the stars body language is more relaxed.


The Courteeners What Took You So Long is the third single released by the band and comes under the genre soft rock. The music video begins in what looks like a warehouse. The editing is black and white, and the video reflects the beat of the song. The shot begins as a medium shot, then zooms further and further in, the spectator feels as though they are entering a room, then a cut to inside the room originally we zoomed into, we then see the band playing at a long shot, the camera is still zooming in. The beat is still reflecting the image. The beat changes to something more dynamic, with that the camera moves to door it originally walked through, and we see another member of the band walk in. This links with the title, 'what took you so long?' it is as though the rest of the band is waiting for him. he walks towards the camera. Then there is a close up of the other band member. He is only on the right hand side of the screen, the left is empty showing something or someone is missing, this could suggest the rest of the band is missing at this point. Everything is still black and white and very dark, to show dullness or mystery. We then see the single band member from behind and not from the back, this is shown through a straight forward cut. He is still on the left hand side of the screen, and in the door way, the door way borders him which makes him stand out but also separates him. The camera then zooms in further and there is a cut to him walking towards the rest of the band as they are playing there instruments. He then walks towards the microphone, and as they lyrics starts he starts singing. The mise en scene is all black and white, brick walls, and the instruments for the band, nothing else, all very minimalistic. Then there is a zoom in to the singers face, it’s an extreme close up of his singing. The camera is still and the singers face is moving from side to side, sometimes in the frame sometimes not. There is then a cut to a close up of the band and then it cuts to a long shot of the scenery. The camera pans around the space. This section, the camera pans from all different angles, high angles from the ground looking up to the artists, low angles from the ceiling looking down on them. It then pans from the sides zooming in and out, and then from behind barriers looking over. The camera never stops moving and is constantly zooming and out when the verse is being sung. When the chorus is sung the camera is still and cuts from band member to band member. The original back ground setting is replaced. The original, being a warehouse, the replacement being computerised black and white stripes, checks, and tiles. This cuts backwards and forwards. The camera then cuts from the ceiling to the floor to the walls when the lyrics are, 'dirty and missing' this suggests the dirty walls and floors and empty space reflects the word 'missing.' The is then an instrumental bit and we see a cut from the guitar strings being played, the drums being played and a long shot of the entire band playing, the computerised black and white background is shown, and line are been drawn from the band towards the camera, the band don’t move the background switches from different effects. The cuts and images are in time with the beat this shows continuity. We then see the band playing in the warehouse again, the camera zooms in and out and cuts from instrument to instrument, band member to band member, wall to wall, floor to ceiling, this all links with the beat of the song, and becomes faster and more aggressive and the band reaches climax. When the song slows down again, we see the band in the warehouse singing and playing less intense, the angles are level and the cuts are slower as well as the tracking shots. The shots cut from the warehouse to the computerised background until the end when we see the band back in the warehouse and the song ends the singer throws his microphone and walks off, then it cuts to the doorway and zooms into black.

Kasabian Vlad The Impaler was directed by Richard Ayoade. All Kasabians videos are out of the ordinary this one especially. Vlad is representing Dracula. The video begins like the beginning of a film with the credits. The music begins a screen of reds and oranges appear with the names of who the clip presents and who it is by. The reds represent death and blood. As soon as the beat changes slightly as does the image. We then see a man all in black walking towards the screen, carrying what seems to be a sword or spear. The mise-en-scene is a field, the shot is symmetrical because on both sides there is grass and the man is walking in the center down a road. The shot is in a sphere shaped frame portraying the camera lens. Red, bold writing appears saying, ‘Vlad The Impaler’ this introduces the leading character of the narrative music video. The shot freezes to give the spectator chance to read, as the writing fades the character carries on walking towards the screen. He is walking in time to the beat. The lyrics then start been sung and the shot cuts to a table, covered in sharp objects like knives an axes. The camera pans the table establishing the props. The clip cuts to a low angle of the character, still in his black cloak with a hint of red on his collar to represent blood. It cuts to a medium shot of the character sawing something on the table. The shot is from behind so we don’t see the image from the front. It then cuts to a close up of the character, he raises a spear to the screen pointing it directly at the camera, and this invites the spectator into the scene. The clip blurs, and we see a close up of the man’s eye. It then cuts very quickly from the man’s ace, to another weapon, then to the man walking down the same road we saw at the beginning. This clip is a close up, side view of the man, we see his face but we can establish where he is from the background we can see vaguely. It then cuts to a medium shot, low angle of him walking towards the camera again. The low angle represents the mans’ power, as he has a weapon in his hand this also exaggerates his strength and status. It then cuts to a tennis court, a long shot of a girl playing tennis. The beat changes, climaxing to the chorus. As this happens the shots flash from the man staring at the girl playing tennis and he girl playing tennis, this fits with the beat showing continuity. The man is standing behind a railing fence which shows he cannot harm the girl yet as he is defenseless behind the barrier. Their is then a cut to the girl walking towards the camera as she leaves the court, then a cut to the man staring at the screen then another cut to the girl walking towards the camera, this suggests where the girl is heading, towards the man. A cut to the man pointing the spear at the camera and the screen becomes red. This represents that the girl has just been killed. Their is then a cut to the man walking down the same road again with spear in his hand, the cut flashes from the man walking to a boy and a girl in a corn field walking, this suggests these are his next victims, their is then a cut to the man crouched down in the corn field watching his victims. As the lyrics ‘repeat’ are said their is an extreme close up of the mans eyes again, they are very dark which shows mystery and danger. The transitional bridge starts and the same thing as before happens, the man walks in time to the beat down the road holing his spear, this time it’s filming him from behind walking away from the camera, this suggests he has finished one dead and his heading towards the next. The clip cuts to a medium shot of a girl and boy hiding behind a fence, as the lyrics ‘cut you down; are sung there is a long shot level cut of the man stood in the field with his spear, it then cuts to the same shot but a close up. It then cuts to an empty field suggesting that’s where the victims are going to run. Their is then another cut to a field with a tent, the man is hiding and a girl appears with a torch, the torch represents vulnerability as everything else is dark, the lyrics then say ‘we have got the floor’ their an extreme close up of the same shot of the mans eyes, their is a red tint representing danger. The bridge starts again, and the lyrics ‘get loose’ are repeated. The clip flashes from the mans face with the red tint, to the girl screaming in slow motion, then back to the man again. It then cuts to the previous victims escaping and looking scared as the bridge climaxes, then as the chorus begins the man is seen running through fields with his spear. We see him chasing a variety of people through the fields. The camera varies from long angles to medium shots, all tracking and zooming in and out of characters faces, the characters run towards the camera then their is a straight level cut to them running away from the character, this looks like the camera is actually portraying the man in the black cape, and involves the spectator as it feels as though they are running away from us, the audience. These clips are in slow motion which intensifies the feeling of being chased and makes it more scary and thrilling to watch, also the lighting is all very dark apart from the characters who are in bright clothing, all wearing some tem of red to show fear. Their is then cuts of low and angles of the victims looking up at the man and high angles of the man looking down on his victims, white lights are flashing to show the purity of the victims then as soon as they get hurt the lights disappear. We then hear an instrumental bit with no lyrics and the man is stood in a circle surrounded by nuns with torches, the man is pivoting around with his spear, this shows he has been captured perhaps and their is no mistake, the pivot of the camera makes the spectator feel dizzy and defenceless for the man. We then see a level cut of the girl a tennis court and a disturbing image of a girl in pyjamas covered in blood then the man walking down the road again towards the camera with his spear. Then the music fades as does the lighting then we see tints of red and the man walking still. This shows he has escaped. The majority of the video is intense to watch as the action links and reflects the beat very well so the continuity consists. The fill video is a narrative one, we see no evidence of the band just a straight forward story being told.