The music video I chose to analyse was Blossoms - Charlemagne
Genre: Alternative/ Indie rock - Dance
The video is a mix of Performance and narrative, although the narrative hasn't got much of a story too it as it is mainly shots of men playing cards. Having a performance is part of Andrew Goodwin's genre signifier of a rock video.
Whilst there is some performance of the song, it is extremely limited, it mainly comprises of the main singer of blossoms singing. There isn't any shot of the whole band performing although the whole band can be seen. The shots of the main singer are mainly MCU shots or CU.
Initial Analysis The music video I chose to analyse was Avicii vs Nicky Romero - I Could Be The One Genre: EDM Lyrics ...
... The music video had in total 237 shots. The average take length of each take is 1.04 seconds. The whole music video is just narrative due to it being an EDM track. This is a much more common convention in EDM as there is really not much performance that can be done. There is a transition at the start of the music video that fades into black. There is also a transition at the 2nd drop where one shot fades to another. KEY: ECU: Extreme close up CU: Close up MCU: Medium close up MS: Medium shot MLS: Medium long shot LS: Long shot ELS: Extreme long shot 2S: Two Shot OTS: Over the shoulder
Number of each main shot: CU: 56 MS: 42 LS: 12 2S: 40
The main pattern is that there is a larger amount of close up shots than long shots. There is also shot-reverse-shot where the 180° rule is used.
(JC) Initial Analysis:
The music video I chose to analyse was Blossoms - Charlemagne
Genre: Alternative/ Indie rock - Dance
The video is a mix of Performance and narrative, although the narrative hasn't got much of a story too it as it is mainly shots of men playing cards. Having a performance is part of Andrew Goodwin's genre signifier of a rock video.
Whilst there is some performance of the song, it is extremely limited, it mainly comprises of the main singer of blossoms singing. There isn't any shot of the whole band performing although the whole band can be seen. The shots of the main singer are mainly MCU shots or CU.
After thinking of a narrative that involves two females part of the LGBTQ community being rejected from society and standing together to get over it, I have found some potential new tracks that could fit the narrative.
1. I think this could make a more striking video due to the pace of the song and the creativity surrounding the drums and how that can be in a performance. However there is a line "All the things I have seen and done" suggests a more mature band which will be harder to cast.
2. The pace is a bit slower which I think will make it difficult, however the violin will give a large boost for an amazing performance, and the cast can be younger which will be easier to cast.
3. Overall the lyrics directly touch the theme of a happy couple "running away". However the song is very repetitive and might lose the overall effectiveness of the music video.
4. The pace is varied and the song is not too drawn out, some of the lyrics fit exactly what the narrative is about "I see your hurt, I feel your pain" and "You are, you are safe with me". The pace and lyrics fit very well with my narrative idea.
... For this we have a bad breakup here the guy is dreaming about times when he was still with the girl. When he isn't sleeping he's depressed with a drug addiction A more in depth summary can be found here
Promises - Calvin Harris ft. Sam Smith
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We have made a playlist and are finding songs which we could potentially work with using a collaborative Spotify playlist ...
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We will each add a fair few tracks, and decide on three final tracks we can use as backups. After that we will decide if we will continue with Lucid Dreams or use one of the other three we have finalised. Due to the fact that Lucid Dreams seems to be too hard to work with due to pace of the song.
The narrative of this video is that there is a teenager that is called by a girl at the beginning of the video and is so desperate to see Bon Jovi live he goes to extreme lengths just to get to the concert, such as jumping off bridges, through traffic and over police cars. Eventually he makes it to the concert. Along with this narrative there is also a live performance of the band.
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Goodwin:
Andrew Goodwin created a definition of music video format which is not widely used, he identified 6 common characteristics, the first being how lyrics and visuals link. They don'thave to directly link and can even be a complete opposites but having an opposition such as gloomy music with happy visuals creates a effect. Its My Life has a fairly direct link from the visuals to the audio, the song is about living your life how you want and this is what is demonstrated in his attitude.
Propp:
As talked about in this post before in most videos that contain a narrative there is likely at-least 2 of the 2 archetypes for characters. This is displayed in this video with:
The Hero (Protagonist) - The teenage boy trying to get to the concert
The Princess - The girl the protagonist is trying to get too
The narrative to the video is not very complex however it does display many of the concepts and conventions we are researching for music videos.
Todorov's Narrative Structure:
Todorov's narrative structure can be seen to be demonstrated in the video but on a smaller scale, firstly, There is a state of equilibrium that can be seen, the teenager is shown sitting at his desk on the computer, everything is happening as it should be:
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Next, there is a disruption to the equilibrium, when the girl calls him it disrupts what he is doing
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The teen then recognises the disruption by leaving his house
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The majority of the video is the boy trying to get to the concert, this is the attempt to repair the disruption by getting to the concert the girl has told him about
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Lastly, there is a reinstatement of equilibrium, the boy reaches the concert and the problem is resolved.
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Lip-Synching:
In the video there are many examples of lip-synching, this is a very clear and obvious example of a link between the lyrics and the visuals.
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Narrative:
Macklemore ft Ryan Lewis - Same Love
Micheal Jackson - Thriller
Arctic Monkeys - Why'd you only call me when you're high
Christian - Guns N' Roses - Welcome to the Jungle
Possible Influences
Have lyrics link to whats happening (false paradise)
Follow the narrative structure of Todorov to a certain extent (open narrative?)
Lip syncing during performance
Have certain proppian archetypes
The music video I have analysed for this convention is Guns N Roses - Welcome To The Jungle This video is mainly performance based but the little narrative there is expresses the theories of Propp and Todorov as well as Simon Frith.
Propp If there is a narrative there will most likely be at least two of the seven proppian archetypes. For more detail see this post.
The main hero/protagonist is Axl Rose who is the lead singer of the band as well
The villain/antagonist is the city "jungle" he has ended up in
The narrative is very short in comparison to the performance. The narrative consists of close up shots shown from TV's and Axl Rose's reaction to all the tragedies happening on these TV screens.
Todorov Todorov'snarrativestructure is not obvious in this music video as in others with the narrative. However there is some narrative structure. For more details on Todorov see this post. The narrative starts with a man (Axl Rose) who has signifiers (straw in mouth) from the mise - en - scene that suggest he comes from a farm area and arrives to the city or "the jungle". This is the state of equilibrium.
The disruption to equilibrium can be considered when Axl Rose sees the televisions for the first time and realises what he has got himself into.
The recognition seems to be at the end of the narrative as Axl Rose shakes his head and walks away from the televisions which at the same time also seems to be the attempt to repair the disruption.
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Frith This music video follows Frith's concept of how a music video is formed. The concept was written in his Music for Pleasure: Essays in the Sociology of Pop. With the 3 basic formats of music video being concept, performance and narrative. This video is mainly performance based but it also has a narrative. Which was a very common convention for rock and heavy metal videos alike when this was track was released. Lyrics Lip syncing is almost a must in music videos especially in the performance. The performance in this video is seen as "live footage" as it is played at a concert in a concert hall with fans in the audience. Again this could be setup and staged so lip syncing to the lyrics needs to be accurate. Some shots you can see he is lip syncing but very faintly as the shot and camera angle is not directly on the lead singers face. This helps create verisimilitude. There are often cut away shots so the lip syncing to breakup the potential tedium of constant lip syncing.
Another common convention is when something is said in the lyrics it happens on the screen. This however is not shown in this music video.
Simon - Lonely Cities - Tigertown
This is the first and most basic convention used in music videos. All music videos should have at least one of these
In my first example of this I have chosen the music video for Tigertown's Lonely Cities:
In this video we follow the story of a recently broken up couple. the setup is pretty clear as we see the two sides of the story but also performance. The basic narrative is that these two people just broke up and then the woman moved and they miss each-other but they try not to show it. The longer the music video goes on the more aware they become they are in a music video. and towards the end they leave the scene into the black area around the actual scene.
There are numerous narrative theories, one of these being Vladimir Propp's character theory (I have a more in depth post on the narrative theories here).
In this video I struggle to apply this theory as I only see the two main characters as the 'Hero' and their separation as the 'Villain'.
However, Todorov's narrative theory is more obvious in this music video and can be applied much easier.
The state of equilibrium in the beginning is them together and very early on in the video them leaving each other is the disruption of the original equilibrium.
Then, them being sad in the video is the recognition of the disruption, and the attempt to restore equilibrium is them searching for each other.
Then the new equilibrium is the fact that they simply can't be with each other.
Additional Examples:
Macklemore ft Ryan Lewis - Same Love:
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This video has both a narrative but it also uses imagery to match the lyrics of the song
Summary:
Goodwin stated that the visuals and lyrics commonly have a link
It doesn't have to be a direct link and can be a direct opposite representation
Propp said there are 7 archetypes of character types the: Villain, donor, helper, hero, false hero, princess and dispatcher
Todorovs narrative structure is that there is a state of equilibrium, a disruption to the equilibrium, recognition of the disruption, attempt to repair disruption and lastly reinstatement of equilibrium
Often seen that the band is featured performing their song, this can be for a number of reasons:
Budget
Cheaper to film then a narrative
Record company request for band to be seen as it can assist marketing
Genre characteristics is one of Andrew Goodwin 6 conventions of music videos. This is that a majority of music videos from the same genre share many of the same characteristics in how they are filmed, the narrative, the shots, location etc. For example stage performances are usually featured in metal videos and dance routines in boy/girl bands, night clubs for techno or EDM and expensive luxury items in hip-hop/rap. There is multiple examples of this in my General Music Vid Analysis links list.
Mise-en-scene:
Clothing: The clothing varies for the type of characters seen, whilst the characters seen in the narrative don't appear to be genre signifiers by their clothing, the band, when seen performing are:
Priest(?): Completely black robes
Art teacher: Suit
Students: School uniforms
Band: Cut/torn off jackets
Band t-shirts
Long hair
Leather jackets
Torn jeans/trousers
The clothing of the band acts as a very strong signifier towards the genre, the outfits seen are strong stereotypes of what a metal band would look like
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Band member can be seen with cut off sleeves, long hair and
a band shirt
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Band member can be seen with a sleeveless leather jacket, long hair
and ripped jeans
... Lighting: The lighting throughout the video can be very different, at the beginning, when the priest can be seen he is in a dimly, candle lit room, his body is not visible because of the low light, only his face, the Quill, a cross and the glass ball can be seen, this gives a eerie feeling too the video like its a horror movie which is a characteristic of metal videos. ...
... The video progresses and enters the courtyard of a church, the lighting here is all naturalistic, shadows can be seen around the building but other then that, all characters are lit and visible. ...
Inside the halls underneath the cathedral where the teacher falls the lighting is very dim, there is little bits of light from the torches and light creeping in from outside, this again creates the feeling of the first shot of the priest of it being like a horror movie. Lastly is the lighting of the band on stage, because its a live performance, they have extremely heavy concert lighting with multiple colours and flashing, this is again another characteristic of a metal video.
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Location/Setting: The location of the video is in a cathedral in the UK, the setting is extremely fitting for the genre and as mentioned multiple times previously is used to create a eerie, spooky feeling similar to a horror movie, this is a really good example of this characteristic of metal videos.
Performance:
The amount of performance footage shown in this video is less then normal, the amount shown is extremely limited and that that is shown because it is a close-up of the TV screen, the quality is very poor so band members cannot be made out and facial expressions can't be seen.
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Style:
Below is 2 different examples of heavy metal videos, whilst both are quite different videos they share the main convention/ characteristic of a metal video of live performances. The first, "loner" by black sabbath is a video made up completely of footage from a concert, both on stage live performance and the behind the scenes and of the fans. The second, "Repentless" by Slayer, is different and features a narrative aswell as a performance. The Slayer narrative also follows a genre characteristic of many metal videos which is the theme of chaos, this being the prison riot.
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... WARNING - video contains gory scenes that some viewers may find upsetting
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Another genre which has its own extremely strong characteristic is boy bands, the majority of boy band videos feature a dance routine with all the band. The examples have of this is NSYNC "Its gonna be me" and backstreet boys "Everybody."
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Other examples:
Timbaland ft One republic - Apologize
Circa Waves - T-Shirt Weathers
The Killers - Mr Brightside
Dimitri Vegas & Like mike - Arcade Mammoth
Christian - Venga Boys - Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!
Possible Influences
Have a limited amount of male/female gaze
Appropriate costumes that are genre specific to Indie/Alternative Rock
Mainly low key lighting
Have locations suitable to narrative/performance
Genre specific makeup
Performance needs to be genre specific to Indie/Alternative
Goodwin argues that each genre has specific characteristics in music videos. When many music videos from the same genre usually share the same conventions, like the locations, mise - en - scene, type of performance, narrativeshotsetc. The track I have chosen is Boom Boom Boom by Vengaboys.
You can break down genre characteristics into these category's:
Mise-en-scene:
Clothing:The clothing is quiet revealing at times but in general "sporty". The females performers having crop tops/sport bras which show off their stomachs. Many other females also have very low cut tops to show cleavage. This can also link into the male gaze theory, which again is common convention dance videos. The performers also have a large mix of high skirts to show off their legs and will be objectified.Some of the clothing are also very odd and have bizarre shapes and glittery attributes. The males also have quite open shirts showing off their chest and are being sexaulised as well. This can be argued to be female gaze.
Lighting:The lighting can be seen as a very club like setting, with it being high key lighting to glamorises the faces but the back lighting is quite dark or low key lighting with many flashes.
Location/Setting:The location is at a night club where this genre of music is very popular. Therefore it is only fitting that the performance and music video takes place in these types of party locations, either in a city or an exotic location such as a beach or festival.
Props: The main props seem to be drinks and glasses with drinks used in this music video, again this often happens in night clubs and the music video is reflecting these conventions of a party life. Makeup: The females are heavily made up with colorful eye shadow and eyebrows that have been filled in, they have an extensive amount of highlight which also allows their face to "glow" and this is seen as very glamorous. The eyes are also filled in with eyeliner and they have an extensive amount of lipstick. All this makeup is to glamorises the females and is a common convention in dance music videos.
Performance:
Dancing: The dance style is either jazz or hip hop which is again a common convention in the dance genre. The main performance is both dancing and lip syncing. The shots are also fast paced as well as the editing. There is also a large shot variety with special effects and a fair amount of panning to make the dance choreography more interesting to the audience.
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Cinematography + Editing:
The editing is generally a varied pace. When the "drop" comes the editing pace increases to make it more visually striking along side making the drop more powerful. There are also slo - mo shots to emphasise male gaze and female gaze in the music video. All of these are common characteristics of the dance genre.
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Simon - Anthrax & Public Enemy - Bring the noise
This convention uses Goodwin's 2nd theory i.e. Genre signified, however this is usually overlapped with his 4th and 5th convention which have been covered in my General Conventions 4 which you can find here. ... ... Here we see 2 genres mixed together in one song. You get the hard metal instrumental of Anthrax and the the sweet bars of Public Enemy. An unlikely duo but it works.
The video itself has a lot of performance which is standard in a rock/metal video however the rap elements are still there. The low angles on the rappers to make them look more powerful is present, however not only to the rappers the people in the rock band get low angles too. Also the comedic elements of the rappers is also present as this is pretty common for 90's rap.
The costumes for each group are very distinct and different. Anthrax look like the typical metal band; (mostly) tight black clothes, big boots and long hair. Whereas Public enemy are wearing baggy clothes which is very common in rap in that era, hats, one of the members (Flava Flav) even wears a clock chain.
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Flava flav and his clock chain.
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The body language of each group is also very prominent, both aggressive however very different. Anthrax are all head-banging which is very common for a metal band, whereas the rappers are in your face which is also very common for rap videos
