PERFORMANCE
A video that captures a live performance of band/artist, showing the excitement of a live event. Used often in music videos for the metal, punk and country genres.
Kasabian's 'Underdog' is a performance video. The video begins a royal red shot that ties in with the band's album as it is one of the prominent colours within the album's digi-pack. Then a bright light and a distorting camera movement of the crowd to the band playing, creating excitement within the video and ties in with the sound of the distorting guitar at the beginning. The video alternates from black and white to colour with a hazy glow, the b&w like a documentary feel of the band and strong use of bright lights to reflect the energy of a live performance. The hazy colour is similar to a 70's film, that is part of band persona with costume to reinforce. As a performance video it consists of the band playing one of their live shows. It makes the viewer want to be there themselves due to the excitement portrayed of the fans jumping around as well as the band. This is reinforced with the use of slow motion to prolong this elation and close ups of the fans faces in delight. There are sereval beauty shots of the lead singer and conforms to music video conventions. Inter cuts of mid shots of the band playing instruments, again a convention. The music is offsynch with the video at the beginning where the guitars starts playing before the instruments are shown via close ups. Through out the music video, the music is sometimes in sync with the vocalist although there are times when the lyrics are heard but not portrayed by the singer creating a montage effect.
It can be intrepreted that the video contridicts the lyrics as its only of performing but it can be argued that it amplifies as the lead singer is the 'underdog' performing in his element.This also supports the star persona of the band as they are 'everyday blokes' who are the underdogs within the music industry, while their costumes support a 70's theme that is associated with the band's image and influence. I am inspired by the music video as it easily portrays the commotion of a live performance and would be great as part for my music video. However it would be difficult to recreate a live performance due to the amount of people needed as an audience and also that I would rather do a conceptual video as it allows me to be more creative with ideas.
NARRATIVE
A video which tells a story ie a chain of events with a beginning,middle and end. Can also appear to be a short film without dialogue and was very popular in the 1980's and still used today- especially in the hip-hop and country genres.
A-ha's 'Take on me' was directed by Steve Barron in 1986 and is one of the ground breaking videos of the time due to the use of rotoscoping. The narrative is a romantic fantasy where a girl meets her love within a comic book. It begins with sereval still frames at a racing track in a comic book style in pencil, denoting all in closeup to create intrigue for the spectator and cuts in time with the drumbeat. The pace of the track soon picks up and the editing cuts in time to the synthesisers building up to an enegertic level. When the lyrics begin, the page turns over and cuts to a woman reading the comic in a cafe. The mise-en-scene of the cafe is dingy and represents an average cafe, to create a sense of normality for the audience. This also creates a stark contrast with the comic 'world' which proves to be exciting and dramatic, unlike the humdrum of everyday life . An extreme close up of the woman is used to represent that she is the main focus of the video and the audience will follow with her perspective. There is then a shor reverse shot of the singer's eyes (who is the love interest in the comic) and the girl which connates their spark of attraction. A mid shot is then denoted of the singer's hand reaching out to the woman using rotoscope. The singer then pulls the girl in the comic and the video uses a mixture of rotoscoping and live action, and using graphics to transistion between the two, ie the square expanding across the screen showing cartoon and live footage. The man and woman stand oppistites sides of the mirror and the camera pans across showing the two characters both in human and cartoon form. I think this use of camera movement is very effective and would like to use in my music video as it creates a different dynamic to the video. The pan also matches the long note within the song , mainting a sweeping effect. There is also a segement of live action where of the band playing where the mise-en-scene is a similar theme of the comic in the background. The narrative then takes a turn, as the song reaches the bridge, when the two characters are persuade by two villans. The singer creates an escape for the girl although he is left behind to battle the villians. The camera cuts to a close up of the fan in the cafe, transporting the audience back to the real world. The girl runs from the cafe to her home and sees that the singer is injured from the fight. A close up is used of her face to maximise the emotion of sadness she feels. The singer the manages to escape the comic and a mixture of rotoscoping and live action is intermixed to reflect the struggle to get into the real world. The last shots are close ups of the male and female character as they embrace, a shot previously used within the video bringing a sense of closure. Within my video, I would like to use rotoscoping as it is creative and give my music video an edge, but only for a section for the song, perhaps the bridge.
Mystery Jets, 'Half in love with Elizabeth' is a narrative music video. The main storyline is about a couple and the boyfriend's obsession with Queen Elizabeth II. The video illustrates the lyrics as he is literally half in love with his girlfriend and the queen although this could also be interpreted as his love for money, and in so, subverting the original idea of the song's meaning for love or money. Filmed in black and white, it creates a serious and possibly melancholy video. This also goes subverts the band's star persona where they are usually dressed in bright colours such as yellows, to represent youth and conforms to aspects of the indie genre. A good example of this is their video 'Young Love'. The video begins with 'old fashionesque' typogrpahy like on a film reel from 5o's and introduces it as a film with the name of the band and song title. It then cuts to a beauty shot of the lead singer, establishing his role within the band. The band is then revealed to be in a house with the two lead characters in the foreground sitting at a table although it is apparent that the band are unseen. There is a close up of the girl walking in a hurry creating enigma for the audience. The shot of the couple running is also the ending for the music video. The video is predominately is in black and white although the girl is denoted to be wearing a pink top that is lightly coloured back in, highlighting her importance within the video and sticks to the convention that pink is feminine. There is then a brief montage of the couple together and in so quickly portrays that they have been a long term couple. The mise-en-scene is of an average flat, although it is slightly claustrophobic, cluttered with items, giving a homely feel that the audience can relate to. The characters conform to their gender roles, the girl wearing pink and painting her nails, the male wearing his suit and playing basketball. There is also use of props denoted- money, stamps and a crown to reinforce the motif of queen Elizabeth. This illustrates the song lyrics serveal times through out the video, 'But how can you a trust a man who always sleeps in his clothes?' revealing the male character dressed in full clothes in his bed in a long shot. The video subverts the convention of having the band as the main focus, especially within the narrative. There are several shots within of the band although wide shots are used and only when the main characters are presented. For example, when the male character walks through the park to reveal the band sitting there. A long take is first used for the whole band and then a close up of the lead singer again. The video then follows to the man, to inform the audience of his secret obsession and is revealed via mise-en-scene. The cupboard is full of queen items. In editing, use of subtitles are used to explain what is going on and is very dynamic. When the girl discovers the cupboard, she drops a cup in time to the vocalists 'woo!', emphasising the impact of the sound. The girl runs away in shock and the man chases after her, in so going back to the beginning of the video. The video ends with them reconciling but a close up of the man's smile on his face shows that he hasn't gotten over it and this is revealed with a long shot shallow focus of the queen waving in the background. She is not in focus representing that she is still in the male character's mind.
I enjoy this video as it has a clear narrative and original storyline. I also like the use of subtitles and would like to put this within my own video, perhaps the song lyrics with special effects typography. I would also like to do a narrative storyline although this would difficult to recreate due to reshooting and not making the storyline over complicated.
CONCEPTUAL
A broader category encompassing all or narrative based. These videos which are neither performance or narrative based. These videos are visuals that are appropriate to the tempo of the song, e.g, a song with a quick tempo will use frenetic camera work and fast montage editing. Can be artistic, shocking emotional, humorous, display the idea of a particular director or linked closely to the themes of an music videos are in some way conceptual although dance and indie use conceptual music videos the most.
The xx's video 'Islands' directed by saam. It has inspired me as it is a conceptual video that goes against conventions of a typical music video and relies on mise-en-scene and performance. It does not conform to the convention of using beauty shots of the band but instead the repeated motion of the camera zooming out, revealing the start of a relationship to its demise each time it zooms out. The beginning starts with the still image of the band's album cover, instantly drawing the audience attention as it is unconventional to have a still frame in a music video and is effective cross promotion. The image itself is also unconventional for it's use of simple typography: a solid white x on a plain black background, instead of the band's image and more complicated typography.
The mise-en-scene itself is dark, predominantly of black, conforming to their star persona,wearing black and broodiness as do the costumes and has a strong use of synthetic lights. The music video amplifies the lyrics of the song, using interpretive dance to portray the inevitable breakup within the lyrics 'See what I've done, that bridge is on fire'. This is also represented at the end where the band's logo is set on fire and so is the room, denoting the end. The editing is sharp with constant uses of cuts and in time where a change is denoted within the melody. An example of this is at the beginning where when the guitar riff begins, it jump cuts to the couple kissing. This is a trend that contains through out the entire video, with the rhythmic guitars repeating the riff and helps to amplify the change of melodies within the song. Another clear example is towards the end, where the melody changes and the screen goes blank very briefly to denote the change within the video. The camera zooms for the final time to reveal the change within the video of a woman dancing and the room on fire signifying the end. Overall I feel that this an effective music video as it represents the band's alternative style and music successfully. For my own music video, I would perhaps use the repeated camera work for a section of the song, perhaps the bridge, although I would not uses it through out the whole video as it would become too repetitive and would not be able to compose an impressive choreography to coincide with the camera work.
Marina and the diamonds video is a conceptual music video and is directed by Rankin and Chris Cottam. The video begins with a blurred focus on the artist which is unconventional as usually the artist is the main focus of the video, although she is still in centre framing. However it then goes into focus to reveal the artists covered in glitter and so is the background. I think that this is creative as it attracts the audience because of it is significant . Her eyes are also closed which is also atypical as the performer often makes eye contact in music videos. It then cuts to a close up of her and then opens her eyes. The sudden direct eye contact with the camera draws the audience in. I would like to recreate this eye contact as it gives an edgy effect to the video that would match my video's music track. The video is a series of the beauty shots of the performer in various forms of makeup. This includes her covered in black glitter, a superhero like costume, the superhero makeup being washed away, jewels on her eyes and lips and her wearing natural make up. The change of make up represents a part of the performer. The black glitter suggest that she has a magical quality or 'sparkle' reflecting the tempo of her song, that will make the audience feel more upbeat. The superhero makeup suggests that there is a more braver and confident side she wants to portray, that she can do anything and come across independent. However, the next image is where the make up begins to wash away, possibly connoting her more vulnerable side. This also amplifies the lyrics 'I'm vulnerable' reinforcing the song's meaning of high expections from yourself. The extreme close up of the artist's jeweled lips and eyes are constantly showed, reflecting the more glamorous side to the artist and possibly a form of exhibitisom, as they are portrayed to be seductive. In a shot, its is only a close up of her ruby jewled lips which can be represented as a form of sex appeal.This also adds to the artist star persona, of glamour, fun and sparkle via using jewels asscioates the band name 'Marina and the Diamonds' reinforces this image. The video somewhat contradicts the song as it does not feature robots but only uses close ups and beauty shots of the performer. This is a simple idea that is effective although it could become repetitive, although the change of make up helps to keep the video entertaining. I would like to recreate some of the mise-en-scene used for my video. I like the use of make up and perhaps use elaborate makeup for the performance in the video to give a 'trademark' look that would be effective. A good example of this is David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust.
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