To enable further depth into planning and research for my own music video I decided to analyse Lady Gaga's Bad Romance video as it challenges the conventions of the typical music video.
GENRE;
•The Genre – electro pop- This genre is evident throughout Gaga’s previous hits.
•The institution- She was signed at 19 to Def Jam records where she began performing in the rock music scene in New York’s lower East Side, many of her songs show aspects of this rock element, also noticeable in many of her stage performances.
•Now a part of Cherry Tree records an imprint of Inters cope record.
•The actual video “Bad Romance” is a performance narrative as she tells a complex narrative on corruptive society, the video presents many complex arguments and the art aspect of the video enables a diversity of interpretations, mine I will soon present.
Thursday, 18 March 2010
The women wearing white suggests purity whilst the men wearing black suggest men as an oppressive force over women, they are sat positioned higher than the women which links back to the use of the throne and suggests Gaga’s feelings towards a patriarchal society.
The dog is sat in the same position, this may try to portray humanities inflicted problems to the life of animals, and how societys has developed into a restrictive controlling force.It also portrays humanities idealised view of being materialistic, the way the dog is a means of Human ideals.
-The wig suggests the façade of people in the industry and how everything has to be perfect
-Lady Gaga is positioned on a throne suggesting her new role in the music industry
- People gathered around her, the force of the music industry in contemporary society. 
-
The glasses are also made of razor blades which present the brutality of humanity and the harsh vision humanity has adopted.
-
Wearing the Gold dress also reinforces the value of perfection in contemporary materialistic society.
-
The over emphasis on white that is presented throughout the video is a device used to contrast with the underlined presentation of societies sin. As an audience we are made to question societies sin and realise the way Capitalist order hides these problems.
-
The close up of the almost kaleidoscope glasses may try to show Gaga’s multi-visionary on how to perform music but also more deeply portray how people are not seeing the truth to the problems in society.
The wire on the fingers also may show society’s restrictive oppression. The light has biblical references to God and how the only way to succeed in this materialistic society is by gaining religious fulfilment.
-The glasses are also made of razor blades which present the brutality of humanity and the harsh vision humanity has adopted.
-
Wearing the Gold dress also reinforces the value of perfection in contemporary materialistic society.
-
The over emphasis on white that is presented throughout the video is a device used to contrast with the underlined presentation of societies sin. As an audience we are made to question societies sin and realise the way Capitalist order hides these problems.
-
The close up of the almost kaleidoscope glasses may try to show Gaga’s multi-visionary on how to perform music but also more deeply portray how people are not seeing the truth to the problems in society.
The wire on the fingers also may show society’s restrictive oppression. The light has biblical references to God and how the only way to succeed in this materialistic society is by gaining religious fulfilment.
The use of artificial lighting present throughout the video suggests Humanities technological advances but also links to the use of the natural light and it’s religious connotations, Humans are deprived from true religious values in society as it’s all man made i.e. the women’s provocative clothes.
The religious connotations with natural light.
The coffins symbolise the death of true religious significance and how religious meaning is being averted from its origin.
The shot of her looking into a mirror – presents how she’s having to reflect on herself, the crown again links back to her anger at society and the oppression inflicted by a social order.
The Long hair suggests her natural side and her true emotion that she has towards this oppression. It also creates a biblical image of Eve and the corruption of this natural image possibly due to society.
Gaga challenges the issues formed by hierarchy.
The religious connotations with natural light.
The coffins symbolise the death of true religious significance and how religious meaning is being averted from its origin.
The shot of her looking into a mirror – presents how she’s having to reflect on herself, the crown again links back to her anger at society and the oppression inflicted by a social order.The Long hair suggests her natural side and her true emotion that she has towards this oppression. It also creates a biblical image of Eve and the corruption of this natural image possibly due to society.
Gaga challenges the issues formed by hierarchy.
The white costumes link to the women’s corrupted dignity in the way that they are wearing the white and it is not natural, the shape of the top of the costume may also suggest how society are institutionalising people into the capitalist system, it’s all about those who end up victorious- This later links to the narrative at the end of the video where she murders him.
The white costumes also link to the idea of the clue clux clan and how there’s still internalised racism in society.
The dance routine is well choreographed which suggest how society is creating people to act in a certain way and how contemporary society rejects individualism. It also links to the idea of a corrupt sense of morality in society- cat like movements.
The white costumes also link to the idea of the clue clux clan and how there’s still internalised racism in society.
The dance routine is well choreographed which suggest how society is creating people to act in a certain way and how contemporary society rejects individualism. It also links to the idea of a corrupt sense of morality in society- cat like movements.
Lady GaGa Bad Romance music video analysis -second half.
The headphones in the next shot suggests again societies injection of certain normalities.
The way her eyes are big reinforces this un natural injection as it links to effects of un natural substances such as drugs.
The lady in the bath clearly doesn’t conform to modernised views in society therefore, as a result she ends up being re injected with societies principles i.e. the tattoo, the water,. –This shows societies oppression and how we have to conform to the rules or we our out casted. It Links to the underlying narrative of Adam and Eve and the fall of man – how conformity began. (also the snake on her head- links to the idea of the presentation of the fall of man and the temptation to sin is to beauty, as it is on a beautiful 
woman).
There’s a shot of the vodka again and then a cut away shot of the man drinking the drink, suggests how we are constantly fuelled by capitalism and the idea of an order, as if it’s injected in us.
The way the women have to dance for the men simply reinforce women’s status in society, How they are used as a tool.
This Links to the next shot of the “bid” on the screen of the laptops, the way women are only interested in wealth as money is the only importance in this capitalist society.
The diamonds orbiting around her, links to this materialistic world.
On her underwear she is also wearing a diamond shaped cross, this links to the way our materialistic world has corrupted the fundamental principles of the Christian faith , the way the worlds so focused on materialism. Like commercialising religion.
The shot of Gaga in the middle of this orbiting costume, how she is an emblem of the modern woman may reinforce how society revolves around fashion and how our principles are corrupted as we live in a society based on looks as the means for success.
(right image)
She then dances and includes the Christian movement of forgiveness, a typical trait of Christianity.(Shot of them dancing previously of sort of Indian dancing, again mocks religion – sexing it up and how the true meaning of religion is being damaged by societies sin.
The shot of her covered in an array of diamonds etc illustrates the concept of the way the media presents the need for the perfect women ( idea of the media is presented in the numerous flashing shots which are like a camera flash, also her posing as well reinforce this).
The next shot is of her walking with a close up of her animal gown. This Reinforces humanities inflicted suffering on the animal world and the effect that our modern society is having on the world. It also shows the oppression and the controlling force of contemporary society over nature and how nature is being controlled and how societies structure is restrictive force of freedom.
Again the deer heads on the wall.- deterioration of human values.
The way her eyes are big reinforces this un natural injection as it links to effects of un natural substances such as drugs.
The lady in the bath clearly doesn’t conform to modernised views in society therefore, as a result she ends up being re injected with societies principles i.e. the tattoo, the water,. –This shows societies oppression and how we have to conform to the rules or we our out casted. It Links to the underlying narrative of Adam and Eve and the fall of man – how conformity began. (also the snake on her head- links to the idea of the presentation of the fall of man and the temptation to sin is to beauty, as it is on a beautiful 
woman).
The boots on the women enable connotations of femininity. This represents how women are made to look due to this reinforced image presented in the media. The low angle shot presents the idea of a patriarchal society as the woman is on the floor,almost being ordered. It also serves as an emblem of women's status in society.
There’s a shot of the vodka again and then a cut away shot of the man drinking the drink, suggests how we are constantly fuelled by capitalism and the idea of an order, as if it’s injected in us.The way the women have to dance for the men simply reinforce women’s status in society, How they are used as a tool.
This Links to the next shot of the “bid” on the screen of the laptops, the way women are only interested in wealth as money is the only importance in this capitalist society.
The diamonds orbiting around her, links to this materialistic world.
On her underwear she is also wearing a diamond shaped cross, this links to the way our materialistic world has corrupted the fundamental principles of the Christian faith , the way the worlds so focused on materialism. Like commercialising religion.
The shot of Gaga in the middle of this orbiting costume, how she is an emblem of the modern woman may reinforce how society revolves around fashion and how our principles are corrupted as we live in a society based on looks as the means for success.
(right image)
She then dances and includes the Christian movement of forgiveness, a typical trait of Christianity.(Shot of them dancing previously of sort of Indian dancing, again mocks religion – sexing it up and how the true meaning of religion is being damaged by societies sin.
(above image)
The shot of her covered in an array of diamonds etc illustrates the concept of the way the media presents the need for the perfect women ( idea of the media is presented in the numerous flashing shots which are like a camera flash, also her posing as well reinforce this).
The next shot is of her walking with a close up of her animal gown. This Reinforces humanities inflicted suffering on the animal world and the effect that our modern society is having on the world. It also shows the oppression and the controlling force of contemporary society over nature and how nature is being controlled and how societies structure is restrictive force of freedom.
Again the deer heads on the wall.- deterioration of human values.
This shot presents her in her natural state – also presents the wrath of God – How natures order and the corruption humanity has inflicted on the Earth means that humanity will pay for what it has done.
The way she eventually kills the man is a symbol of this .
The final shot of her clapping at the end symbolises Satan( The deathly movement and red and black as connotations of hell) It suggests Satan applauding the worlds sin.
The effect of New media in the media industry:
In order to market the video and the digi-pack etc to an audience I decided to research the internet itself to give myself ideas in understanding the effect the internet has in terms of marketing ability.
Media production has in contemporary society progressed to a stage where media is dependent on the internet. The internets origins date to the 1960’s, an idea fuelled by the American military.
The rapid development of the internet in only recent years has created a convergence with other media institutions. Contemporary gadgets such as the Iphone and portable games consoles now are prime examples of the convergence in the way they have the capability to multi task. The convergence the internet has with the range of media production reinforces the impact and the significance of the internet. It is evident that media production is now reliant on the internet as it is a tool for marketing and is capable of influencing its audience.
Radio is an institution that relies on the internet to maintain their viewing figures. BBC radio now offers listeners to listen to their broadcasting over the internet through their live streaming feeds. The website enables a new way of engaging the listener in to viewing the body language and facial expressions made by the presenter , this therefore creates a closer kinship between the presenter and the audience as the audience can gain a greater understanding of how a presenter is trying to say something, evident through there expressions.
The BBC radio website offers a diversity of radio channels that appeal to nearly every possible target audience. The range offered on the website enables a circulation amongst its audiences which would result in higher ratings for the website and the radio station. The recent creation of pod casts is another contemporary example of the way certain shows on the radio ( an example, The Archers) and portable devices such as mp3 players have converged to become more easily accessible and gain more money through viewing figures for the institutions.
The idea of the internet making certain media production profit through viewing figures and purchasing certain content has come with its own criticisms. Market place economy where media institutions make profit from it’s audience is an emblem of the Marxist view towards Capitalism. It has been argued that Institutions exploit its audience through its costs for certain content . Due to the power of the internet and how it is used by millions of users per day it is easy for certain institutions to try to reinforce a message and be hegemonic. An example of this is the Annan report of 1977 which criticised the BBC’s influential attempt of predominant hegemony.
Linking closely to this, the internet has a big impact in the audience’s interaction in media production, the introduction of blogs, forums and social networking sites all help the circulation of a certain part of a media institution and the internet helps engage new opinionated audiences. An obvious criticism of the accessibility of internet forums on websites for TV Channels and Radio is how it lowers its standards to gain more audiences. The consequences would therefore be influencing its audience, which questions the sense of morality in contemporary society.
Recent benefits to the internet are the use of watching particular clips, films and TV shows in a simple way. The accessibility to these through sites such as Youtube and BBC Iplayer enable an audience to be able to “catch up” on what they have missed in order to continue with the storyline in the following episode, the increase in popularity of IPTV questions whether in a few years people in society will own separate Gadgets or instead, own a multi-purpose gadget.
Linking back to the accessibility of the internet, it is simple to gain information quickly which benefits a large range of media production, inevitably the easy access to images, information and talking to others via social networking sites benefits towards globalization.
A massive impact that the internet has had on media production is the unnecessary need of certain jobs. The problem with the technological advances of the internet means that some people are not needed for jobs, the consequence of this leads to a social frustration as the bourgeoisie who are in charge have their jobs whilst the proletariat are without, arguable this soon may lead to a large separation between classes in society.
After looking at and exploring the impact the internet has on media production, it is clear that the internet is a powerful force in contemporary media production. It is clear that the internet will continue to change due to the necessity for humanity to flourish and that it is inevitable that more convergence will happen between a range of Gadgets in the near future. The universal effect of the internet is something I felt neccessary to look at to understand more about marketing my project. The focus on society’s capitalist system means that the internet will always be significant in society, due to its power of gaining profit.
In order to market the video and the digi-pack etc to an audience I decided to research the internet itself to give myself ideas in understanding the effect the internet has in terms of marketing ability.
Media production has in contemporary society progressed to a stage where media is dependent on the internet. The internets origins date to the 1960’s, an idea fuelled by the American military.
The rapid development of the internet in only recent years has created a convergence with other media institutions. Contemporary gadgets such as the Iphone and portable games consoles now are prime examples of the convergence in the way they have the capability to multi task. The convergence the internet has with the range of media production reinforces the impact and the significance of the internet. It is evident that media production is now reliant on the internet as it is a tool for marketing and is capable of influencing its audience.
Radio is an institution that relies on the internet to maintain their viewing figures. BBC radio now offers listeners to listen to their broadcasting over the internet through their live streaming feeds. The website enables a new way of engaging the listener in to viewing the body language and facial expressions made by the presenter , this therefore creates a closer kinship between the presenter and the audience as the audience can gain a greater understanding of how a presenter is trying to say something, evident through there expressions.
The BBC radio website offers a diversity of radio channels that appeal to nearly every possible target audience. The range offered on the website enables a circulation amongst its audiences which would result in higher ratings for the website and the radio station. The recent creation of pod casts is another contemporary example of the way certain shows on the radio ( an example, The Archers) and portable devices such as mp3 players have converged to become more easily accessible and gain more money through viewing figures for the institutions.
The idea of the internet making certain media production profit through viewing figures and purchasing certain content has come with its own criticisms. Market place economy where media institutions make profit from it’s audience is an emblem of the Marxist view towards Capitalism. It has been argued that Institutions exploit its audience through its costs for certain content . Due to the power of the internet and how it is used by millions of users per day it is easy for certain institutions to try to reinforce a message and be hegemonic. An example of this is the Annan report of 1977 which criticised the BBC’s influential attempt of predominant hegemony.
Linking closely to this, the internet has a big impact in the audience’s interaction in media production, the introduction of blogs, forums and social networking sites all help the circulation of a certain part of a media institution and the internet helps engage new opinionated audiences. An obvious criticism of the accessibility of internet forums on websites for TV Channels and Radio is how it lowers its standards to gain more audiences. The consequences would therefore be influencing its audience, which questions the sense of morality in contemporary society.
Recent benefits to the internet are the use of watching particular clips, films and TV shows in a simple way. The accessibility to these through sites such as Youtube and BBC Iplayer enable an audience to be able to “catch up” on what they have missed in order to continue with the storyline in the following episode, the increase in popularity of IPTV questions whether in a few years people in society will own separate Gadgets or instead, own a multi-purpose gadget.
Linking back to the accessibility of the internet, it is simple to gain information quickly which benefits a large range of media production, inevitably the easy access to images, information and talking to others via social networking sites benefits towards globalization.
A massive impact that the internet has had on media production is the unnecessary need of certain jobs. The problem with the technological advances of the internet means that some people are not needed for jobs, the consequence of this leads to a social frustration as the bourgeoisie who are in charge have their jobs whilst the proletariat are without, arguable this soon may lead to a large separation between classes in society.
After looking at and exploring the impact the internet has on media production, it is clear that the internet is a powerful force in contemporary media production. It is clear that the internet will continue to change due to the necessity for humanity to flourish and that it is inevitable that more convergence will happen between a range of Gadgets in the near future. The universal effect of the internet is something I felt neccessary to look at to understand more about marketing my project. The focus on society’s capitalist system means that the internet will always be significant in society, due to its power of gaining profit.
Analysis of three music videos in the genre of the projects song.
I decided that it would be important to gain an understanding of contemporary music videos in my chosen genre to enable me to get an idea of the conventions set in a Rock video. Personally I like the qualities the song (quicksand) has as it is classed as rock however has acoustic traits. I need to analyse similar videos to gain ideas to enable the target audience to easily recognise the genre of “quicksand”.
The first video, after vigorously searching for a similar form of music was Paramore’s “ That’s What You Get”. The songs way of depicting a relationship and the certain use of lexis to produce emotion was ideal to analyse. The establishing shot has the drummer positioned to the left of the frame, this immediately presents to the audience the fact that he is playing the drums which they can associate with rock music. The initial presentation of the drummer ( wearing a black jacket and bright shirt) already enables a audience to make a pre conception to the genre of the music. After this there is an immediate cut away in a different location, this cut away presents the fact that the video has a narrative. The use of the bright light also links to mythological theories of loves, where the sun symbolises love, the use of the light and the way it is distorted on the frame suggests the damaged love of the character in the videos narrative, this is later reinforced in other shots of the video. After this shot there is another cut away of the band and then of the characters embracing each other again, the use of the light suggests the omnipresence of love, the characters of the narrative are shot as a mid-shot, this allows the subjects to be the main focus of the shot and reinforce their love. The narrative then cuts away to the band again in a room with curtains and the sun beaming through the window. The curtains in the mise-en-scene gives a suggestion to the restrictions the lead singer has towards love, the way she can choose to endure love or not.
After this it again uses a cut away to return to the narrative of the video. The proxemics of the two characters inclines the emotion they are both feeling and the physical push the girl uses on the boy suggests how she’s upset with her relationship with the male character. The use of the very wide shot of the female character establishes the environment in which the narrative is happening. The naturalness of the river suggests the natural nature of love and the way love is a natural part of humanity. This is later paralleled with the mid shot of the band members in the urban environment, smashing cars with bricks. The “lack of love” in the urban shots gives connotations and suggestions that real love is an unable process in the industrial world.
There are later two shots put together which use an over the shoulder shot, this enables the audience to gain an insight into the perspective of the characters and how they see the other character.
The cutaway to the band playing their instruments and making bold gestures reinforces to the audience the genre of the band and represents the type of band they are. Wearing Dark clothes such as black hoodies and dark checkered shirts also enables a suggestion to the genre of the band. After watching the video repeatedly there are many shots that suggest a biblical reference. One of the shots is of the lead singer positioned in front of the sun, the close up shot may reference to Jesus and his sacrifice for humanity, in the context of the song it may suggest the bands eagerness and sacrifice for love.
The second video I found worth analysing is System of a down –spiders; the video again has many biblical references and created an engaging narrative, something I am eager to do in my video. The video initially starts with an animation of flowing blue colours, then with flashing lights. The dramatic light sequence symbolises a heart beat and the clashing of colours represent the creation of life the idea of god is soon presented in the narrative in the way a person is positioned with their arms out, like Jesus on the cross. The use of the very wide shot establishes the location of the subject and presents the loneliness of the character in the narrative. The use of distorted and incoherent cutaways from the main narrative may also suggest the inevitable problems that arise in the world.
They video then uses a wide shot of a female character laid asleep in water, the birds eye view of the women symbolises her innocence and fragility, which contrasts with the quick paced ferocious action of creation and the beat of the song. When analysing this video I did suddenly notice how no instruments were shown throughout the video and that the narrative was the main way of distinguishing the genre of the song. The way the narrative does this is the dark black colours, a symbol of death, which contrasts interestingly with the narrative of the video. The binary oppositions in the video is used to reinforce the darkening nature of creation in contrasts to social views of creation, as something to be celebrated.
The video then uses a cut away to a character dressed as Jesus, the medium close up symbolises Jesus’ status in the world and the significance he had to humanity. The use of flashbacks in this video are also something to consider in my music video. Flashbacks enable a greater level of detail in the narrative of a music video and add to the atmosphere generated by the song. The irregular cut a ways break the convention of contemporary music videos and adds an intriguing element to the story. The use of irregular cut away intrigues the audience as it makes them “ piece together” the storyline and interpret the narrative in their own way.
After all of this the video then uses a close up to show the innocence of the character, the white lighting symbolises her purity. The introduction of a sinister character dressed in black also acts as the catalysts for the pure womans temptation. After the introduction of this character the woman awakes. The low angle positioning of the shot of the sinister character again symbolises the characters authority over the innocent woman. The woman in the narrative may be a biblical reference to Eve and the sinister man as temptation, this biblical reference is finally reinforced at the end of the video when the woman falls down the hole, a clear symbol of the fall of man.
The final video I analysed was Greenday: Boulevard Of Broken Dreams. The video’s establishing shot is a low angle mid shot of a car driving towards the camera, the dark colour of the car and the state of the car immediately suggests the stereotype of people who would own the car, people who would enjoy rock music. The extreme close up of the cars bonnet with “ Greenday” as the cars logo also creates an understanding to the audience who the band are. The next shot is of the band getting out of their vehicle and walking through a desert path , this links to the lyrics of the song and may also suggest the bands kinship with nature and the freedom the band has to say whatever they like. The cutaways to the destroyed building also symbolises the eternalness of nature in comparison to the industrial world built around capitalism. The power of nature is then reinforced by the low angle shot of the sky as the sky takes up the majority of the frame. One of the most obvious effects this video uses is a film grain over the top, this is a good effect to use as it suggest the bands journey to where they are has being epic, also represented in their journey down “ the boulevard of broken dreams” even the name of the video links to the narrative, that the band have had struggle before reaching their dream. The chorus uses a wide shot of the band playing their instruments, the drums and guitars explicitly suggest the genre of the band and the audience it seeks, something important for any video. After this shot the band walk down the “ Boulevard of broken dreams” the very wide shot used here gets many different stereotypes within the frame, the focus on the stop sign in the middle of the frame also acts as a symbol of the true narrative of the video, to stop stereotyping people in society. The anger the band seems to have towards society is also reinforced by the “ men working” sign, the close up of this sign also adds to the narrative and may even suggest the anger towards our patriarchal world. After using more mid shots of the band walking down the boulevard there is the final shots of the band playing their instruments in a dark room. The low angle close ups of the instruments used in the end of the video symbolises the bands genre and what kind of band they are. The closeness in the band proxemics and the confetti falling from the roof in the final shots suggests the celebration of their unity, the way the band together can overcome their “broken dreams” and become successful.
The first video, after vigorously searching for a similar form of music was Paramore’s “ That’s What You Get”. The songs way of depicting a relationship and the certain use of lexis to produce emotion was ideal to analyse. The establishing shot has the drummer positioned to the left of the frame, this immediately presents to the audience the fact that he is playing the drums which they can associate with rock music. The initial presentation of the drummer ( wearing a black jacket and bright shirt) already enables a audience to make a pre conception to the genre of the music. After this there is an immediate cut away in a different location, this cut away presents the fact that the video has a narrative. The use of the bright light also links to mythological theories of loves, where the sun symbolises love, the use of the light and the way it is distorted on the frame suggests the damaged love of the character in the videos narrative, this is later reinforced in other shots of the video. After this shot there is another cut away of the band and then of the characters embracing each other again, the use of the light suggests the omnipresence of love, the characters of the narrative are shot as a mid-shot, this allows the subjects to be the main focus of the shot and reinforce their love. The narrative then cuts away to the band again in a room with curtains and the sun beaming through the window. The curtains in the mise-en-scene gives a suggestion to the restrictions the lead singer has towards love, the way she can choose to endure love or not.
After this it again uses a cut away to return to the narrative of the video. The proxemics of the two characters inclines the emotion they are both feeling and the physical push the girl uses on the boy suggests how she’s upset with her relationship with the male character. The use of the very wide shot of the female character establishes the environment in which the narrative is happening. The naturalness of the river suggests the natural nature of love and the way love is a natural part of humanity. This is later paralleled with the mid shot of the band members in the urban environment, smashing cars with bricks. The “lack of love” in the urban shots gives connotations and suggestions that real love is an unable process in the industrial world.
There are later two shots put together which use an over the shoulder shot, this enables the audience to gain an insight into the perspective of the characters and how they see the other character.
The cutaway to the band playing their instruments and making bold gestures reinforces to the audience the genre of the band and represents the type of band they are. Wearing Dark clothes such as black hoodies and dark checkered shirts also enables a suggestion to the genre of the band. After watching the video repeatedly there are many shots that suggest a biblical reference. One of the shots is of the lead singer positioned in front of the sun, the close up shot may reference to Jesus and his sacrifice for humanity, in the context of the song it may suggest the bands eagerness and sacrifice for love.
The second video I found worth analysing is System of a down –spiders; the video again has many biblical references and created an engaging narrative, something I am eager to do in my video. The video initially starts with an animation of flowing blue colours, then with flashing lights. The dramatic light sequence symbolises a heart beat and the clashing of colours represent the creation of life the idea of god is soon presented in the narrative in the way a person is positioned with their arms out, like Jesus on the cross. The use of the very wide shot establishes the location of the subject and presents the loneliness of the character in the narrative. The use of distorted and incoherent cutaways from the main narrative may also suggest the inevitable problems that arise in the world.
They video then uses a wide shot of a female character laid asleep in water, the birds eye view of the women symbolises her innocence and fragility, which contrasts with the quick paced ferocious action of creation and the beat of the song. When analysing this video I did suddenly notice how no instruments were shown throughout the video and that the narrative was the main way of distinguishing the genre of the song. The way the narrative does this is the dark black colours, a symbol of death, which contrasts interestingly with the narrative of the video. The binary oppositions in the video is used to reinforce the darkening nature of creation in contrasts to social views of creation, as something to be celebrated.
The video then uses a cut away to a character dressed as Jesus, the medium close up symbolises Jesus’ status in the world and the significance he had to humanity. The use of flashbacks in this video are also something to consider in my music video. Flashbacks enable a greater level of detail in the narrative of a music video and add to the atmosphere generated by the song. The irregular cut a ways break the convention of contemporary music videos and adds an intriguing element to the story. The use of irregular cut away intrigues the audience as it makes them “ piece together” the storyline and interpret the narrative in their own way.
After all of this the video then uses a close up to show the innocence of the character, the white lighting symbolises her purity. The introduction of a sinister character dressed in black also acts as the catalysts for the pure womans temptation. After the introduction of this character the woman awakes. The low angle positioning of the shot of the sinister character again symbolises the characters authority over the innocent woman. The woman in the narrative may be a biblical reference to Eve and the sinister man as temptation, this biblical reference is finally reinforced at the end of the video when the woman falls down the hole, a clear symbol of the fall of man.
The final video I analysed was Greenday: Boulevard Of Broken Dreams. The video’s establishing shot is a low angle mid shot of a car driving towards the camera, the dark colour of the car and the state of the car immediately suggests the stereotype of people who would own the car, people who would enjoy rock music. The extreme close up of the cars bonnet with “ Greenday” as the cars logo also creates an understanding to the audience who the band are. The next shot is of the band getting out of their vehicle and walking through a desert path , this links to the lyrics of the song and may also suggest the bands kinship with nature and the freedom the band has to say whatever they like. The cutaways to the destroyed building also symbolises the eternalness of nature in comparison to the industrial world built around capitalism. The power of nature is then reinforced by the low angle shot of the sky as the sky takes up the majority of the frame. One of the most obvious effects this video uses is a film grain over the top, this is a good effect to use as it suggest the bands journey to where they are has being epic, also represented in their journey down “ the boulevard of broken dreams” even the name of the video links to the narrative, that the band have had struggle before reaching their dream. The chorus uses a wide shot of the band playing their instruments, the drums and guitars explicitly suggest the genre of the band and the audience it seeks, something important for any video. After this shot the band walk down the “ Boulevard of broken dreams” the very wide shot used here gets many different stereotypes within the frame, the focus on the stop sign in the middle of the frame also acts as a symbol of the true narrative of the video, to stop stereotyping people in society. The anger the band seems to have towards society is also reinforced by the “ men working” sign, the close up of this sign also adds to the narrative and may even suggest the anger towards our patriarchal world. After using more mid shots of the band walking down the boulevard there is the final shots of the band playing their instruments in a dark room. The low angle close ups of the instruments used in the end of the video symbolises the bands genre and what kind of band they are. The closeness in the band proxemics and the confetti falling from the roof in the final shots suggests the celebration of their unity, the way the band together can overcome their “broken dreams” and become successful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)