Analysis of two Music Videos

For our first analysis we are looking at “Use somebody” by the Kings of Leon, the songs that we are using have a similar tempo to the song, as well as being the same genre and that the lyrics give a similar narrative, a love song. So this is why we believe it is appropriate to use in comparison with our music video both in evaluation and in influence for our film.

The main sequences in the music video give both illustrative and performance sequences. The narrative of the video is strongly an amplification of the song. This is because the song is about somebody in love with another person, and hoping that they will in return. It is a dialogue of the man singing about the subject but not to them, just like in the video. The person in love is at home in bed trying to sleep but cannot stop thinking about this person, which is the same as in the video where he is lying down and another sequence is at a gig where a band is playing and we are left to assume that the person he is in love with is at this gig. There are close-ups in the sequence with the man lying down but not many of the concert, this is most likely to emphasize the emotion of the man, and the high energy at the concert. To support this is that the shots of the man seem to be very slow cuts, whereas the shots of the town and of the concert tended to be much faster cut rates.

The performance element of the video is part of the narrative sequence. This is because the narrative is about one person at the concert, and at this concert the band is playing. There are other sequences of the performance of the band in an empty room lip-synching the song, and miming their instruments to the song. In these sequences of shots, shots and angles vary in height and range from the band members and band as a group. There are close-ups to show emotion and affection for the music, and there are also mid-shots and long-shots to show the energy and tempo of the song, these cuts are used to great effect in terms of promoting the image and genre of the band.

Lighting -

The lighting of the video varies from very vivid night-life to dark and dull shots of the man, and also similar dim shots of the band playing in a relatively dark room. This could represent the mood of the song and the contrasting emotions shown in the song.

Editing -

Also in terms of editing, there are black and white shots which we intend to implement into our music video, but may decide to remove at a later editing stage, these black and white effects develop the mood of the video even further and begin to emphasize the emotions of the man even further. In some stages of the music video, the speed of the video is increased rapidly by several 100 percent, which is another feature we are considering for our final video.

The mise en scene shows contrasting locations, one is in an arena during a concert, this represents the high tempo to the song and is juxtaposed to the shots of the man at home.

The artistic concept that is strongly enforced in this music video is the teenage indie stereotype, this is shown with the appearance of the band members, with long gelled hair shirts, and baggy jeans and canvas clothes. This music video has little sense of parodic settings to influence the characters' imagery. This however is a positive aspect of this video as in many of the shots and sequences, this would oppose the intentional mood that the video was trying to create.

Our second analysis we are now using song called "new divide" by Linkin' Park, this song like "use somebody" is of the same genre and also shares a similar tempo to our chosen song, therefore this is why we think it is appropriate for us to use "new divide" in comparison to "sweet disposition". The narrative of the song is also similar to the narrative in "sweet disposition". There are lots more performance sequences in "new divide", and those shots where the narrative to the song is present in the video, there is still some contentwhich suggests that the shots are also performance shots

The video itself contains illustrative sequences, similar to those in "sweet disposition" and in "use somebody", but however there are many more performance shots in "new divide" than in "sweet disposition", the narrative in the song is used to similar effect to the narrative in "sweet disposition"which is a love song sung by the male, the audience are only left to assume that it is a love song about the male talking about another female, however because the female doesnt appear in the song, this is similar to the Kings of Leon "Use somebody" music video. The effects in the music video are used to great effect in some shots, Such as the "negative" effect which is used to emphasize the "out of world" vibe to the song, which is a strong element to both songs because of the emphasis on emotion, these effects appear mainly in the narrative sequences.

Lighting -

The lighting in this music video is as dark as the Kings of Leon video, which could be because of the emotion in both songs, the content in the narrative scenes shows that the artists' are hurting from their emotions, this is also visible in the lyrics of both songs, form "use somebody" - "Off in the night while you live it up I'm off to sleepWaging wars to shake the poet and the beat", and from "new divide" - "In every loss, in every lie, in every truth that you'd deny And each regret and each goodbye was a mistake too great to hide"

Editing -

The shots consist mainly of mid-shots and close-ups which could be to highlight the emotion, and to show the importance of the emotion in the music video. The transitions are fast and the speed of each shot is like the song, and short. We have included the fast shots in our storyboard which we intend to keep to for the majority of our music video.

There is not much mise en scene to comment on concerning locations, because the video is mainly shot in a studio in front of a green screen, which we also have, however we haven't included the green screen in our storyboard as we find it inappropriate for the narrative of our song, and we have a location prepared for when we start our lip synching, but we may decide to use the green screen eventually if we decide to add a new concept or sequence that is not in our storyboard.

The artistic concept in the music video is stereotypical of the teenage-indie music genres, such as the band are seen in the video wearing leather jackets, T-shirts, jeans, trainers when visible, and most members have long hair, which is popular with Indie/Rock fans.