Music Video Analysis – Bullet For My Valentine – Tears Don’t Fall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sTQ0QdkN3Q&feature=related

Camera

Shots: lot of close ups are used for the girl. Showing Laura Mulvey’s male gaze theory where the camera is through the eyes of a heterosexual male.

Movement: The movement is minimal. Except for the scenes where the lead signer is screaming, during which a lot of shake is used.

Editing: straight cuts are used to keep the continuity.

Mise en Scene

Props: The can of oil/water is used as a prop to help tell the story.

Lighting: The lighting used is low key to go with conventions as well as to add to the tone of music. The lighting adds tension and mystery.

Costume: The girl wears clothes that reveal a lot of skin to add to the notion of ‘looking’ (male gaze). The band wears black which relate to the dark intent of the song as well as the heavy metal genre.

Sound

The music is generally fast paced and loud but there are bits where the pace is slowed down and becomes quieter. The editing matches the sound. Also the camera movements are raw to match the sound. The sound is diegetic.

Music Video Analysis – Story Of The Year – Until The Day I Die

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyIrInZp49U&feature=relmfu

Camera

Shots: A lot of close ups and mid shots are used. There also few extreme close ups. This is to show the band’s expressions and passion. It is quite intense parallel to the tone and beat of the music.

Movement:there is a lot of shake and tilts used to add to the rawness. It is used to make the audience feel part of the video and most of the audience in the video watching the band on stage will be moving to the beat (the camera movement creates the similar feel and makes the audience feel more involved).

Editing:straight cuts are used to keep the continuity.

Mise en Scene

The location is inside a club while the band is doing a performance. There are a lot of black and neutral colours being used as is conventions with this type of genre (rock). The clothes worn by the band are also black. The lighting used is low key lighting to add to the mystery and feel of the club. This is a performance based video so we can see the instruments and general stuff you would expect to see in a club like posters of bands on the wall, etc.

Sound

The music is quite fast paced and the editing matches the sound. Also the camera movements are raw to match the sound. The sound is diegetic.

StoryBoard

Initial Questionnaire

1) Do you listen to Indie-Rock?

2) How old are you?

12-15 16-19 20-25 26+

3) How often do you watch music videos?

Never, I simply listen to the audio

Sometimes, I watch them occasionally

Very Often

4) What type of music video do you prefer? Why?

Narrative

Performance

Conceptual

5) Where do you generally watch your music videos?

Youtube

MTV

Spike

Vevo

AOL Music

Other

6) In what order would you rate these 4 music videos? (1 being the best and 4 being the worst)

Foo Fighters – The Pretender

The Killers – Human

Nickelback-Far Away

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

7) After listening to the song Run what do you think the music video should consist of?

Initial Ques Results

1) Do you listen to Indie-Rock?

yes 80%

no 20%

2) How old are you?

12-15 5%

16-19 30%

20-25 55%

26+ 10%

my target audience will be aged between 19-26

3) How often do you watch music videos?

Never, I simply listen to the audio 0%

Sometimes, I watch them occasionally 10%

Very Often 90%

4) What type of music video do you prefer? Why?

Narrative 55%

Performance 35%

Conceptual 10%

My music video will have a mix of narrative and performance. I will put more emphasise on the narrative.

5) Where do you generally watch your music videos?

Youtube 60%

MTV 10%

Spike 0%

Vevo 20%

AOL Music 0%

Other 10%

Upload video onto youtube

6) In what order would you rate these 4 music videos? (1 being the best and 4 being the worst)

Foo Fighters – The Pretender (1)

The Killers – Human (3)

Nickelback-Far Away (2)

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (4)

I really like the pretender's video thus will try and copy their style. It is mainly performance based though so I will take ideas from Nickelback as they are well known for creating interesting storylines in their music videos.

7) After listening to the song Run what do you think the music video should consist of?

Ideas that came up the most were:

Struggle

Conflict

Love

Confusion

I will definitely try and use the ideas of struggle and conflict also I will try and show the confused state of mind my character is in. I must make sure to use postmodernism as well as I want to create something unique and innovative. The love between the characters could be expressed possibly through flashbacks.

Conventions of Indie Music Videos

Independent music videos used to be solely performance based but with time has become mostly a mixture between narrative and performance.

The narrative of the video tends to follow closely to the lyrics of the song. Depending on the lyrics of the song the colours used in the video could be colourful (e.g. Scouting for Girls – Heartbeat) or dark (Kings of Leon – Sex on Fire) or even black and white (Kings of Leon – Use Somebody).

The band performing tends to feature quite a lot in the video and there is likely to be close ups of the lead vocalist.

The location the band performs in could be anything from a small empty room to a massive stage where they are performing to vast crowd; or even something unconventional like what the Killers did for their music video ‘Human’ where they were performing in an open desert.

Kings of Leon – Because of the Times (Textual Analysis of Cover)

The name of the band is displayed on the top left corner of the cover; the font is white which manages to stand out against the black background and thus grab the audience attention immediately. The name of the album is also displayed on the top right corner but in a gold colour and it is not as bold as the name of the band. Even though the text is minimal and simple I think it works very well for this cover.

The layout used is very simple with the headings on the top and an image taking up most of the space. The colours used are also minimal and simple with a black background and contrasting colours such as white and gold. The cover is quite easily recognizable due to being so simple but still very clever and attractive.

The image used is very clever; it is of a light bulb frozen in the moment it is exploding. Since the white light bulb is put against a black background it immediately stands out and grabs the reader’s attention. The light bulb shattering could be trying to imply the music in this album is powerful, destructive and edgy. We can see inside the shattered light bulb there is small spark this could signify that the music is creative, potent and full of life.

Audience Questionnaire Results

1. Age?
Below 13 0%

13-18 15%

19-24 50%

25-35 30%

36+ 5%

Using this info I decided to have a target audience between the ages of 19-26 to gain the most audience possible.

2. Gender?
Male 60%
Female 40%

3. What music genre do you listen to the most too?

Alternative 22%
Blues 0%
Classical 0%
Dance/Electronic 3%
Grime 6%
Hip Hop/Rap 10%
Pop 4%
R&B 10%
Reggae 4%
Rock 34%
World 7%

This is good as my music video is indie/alternative rock

4. I am more likely to watch a music video because of the…
Music 30%
Artist 10%
Story 60%

My music video will have a interesting narrative/plot to get the most audience possible.

5. Where do you hear about new music videos?
Friends 40%
Advertisements 10%
Radio Stations 15%
TV 10%
Magazines 25%

I understood the importance of word of mouth and magazine adverts. Thus after my project is done I will mainly use these two methods to attract audience.

6. Where do you watch music videos?

TV 30%
Youtube 50%
Yahoo Videos 0%
Google Videos 0%

iTunes 5%

iPod 5%
Mobile 10%

If possible I will upload my video onto youtube to get the most target audience interest possible.

7) Which music station do you prefer?

Kiss 101 50%

Radio 1 40%
Virgin Radio 0%
Choice Fm 7%
Other 3% (heart fm)

Kiss 101 and BBC radio 1 have a lot of listeners.

Kanye West - Homecoming (Music Video Analysis)

Homecoming is Kanye’s final single on his third album Graduation. Due to the decline in downloads the CD release on February 2008 was cancelled. However the song did go on vinyl couple of weeks later and managed to get into the top ten of UK singles chart on download sales alone.

The whole video was shot in black and white. This could have been for a number of different reasons. First of all to make the video stand out; it has become the norm to make videos in colour thus Kanye might have wanted people to see he is unique. Black-and-white is associated with dreaming or a parallel reality this could have been used to show Kanye thinks his old city is like a memory.

The use of colour can sometimes be distracting (audiences’ attention is normally gained by framing something or using lighting to make it stand out); black-and-white can be used help convey the plot/story much more simply and directly.

Plot
We see Kanye walking around Chicago city which he refers to as Wendy. He says how the city has been there throughout his life and how it has looked after him and made him the person he is today.

Audience Questionnaire

1. Age?
Below 13 13-18 19-24 25-35 36+

2. Gender?
Male
Female

3. What music genre do you listen to the most too?Alternative
Blues
Classical
Dance/Electronic
Grime
Hip Hop/Rap
Pop
R&B
Reggae
Rock
World

4. I am more likely to watch a music video because of the…
Music
Artist
Story

5. Where do you hear about new music videos?
Friends
Advertisements
Radio Stations
TV
Magazines

6. Where do you watch music videos?TV
Youtube
Yahoo Videos
Google VideosiTunesiPod
Mobile7) Which music station do you prefer?Kiss 101Radio 1
Virgin Radio
Choice Fm
Other

The Killers – Day and Age (Textual Analysis of Cover)

This is the third studio album by The Killers. The killers used to be Indie Rock but as they become very popular they decided to go mainstream and are now alternative rock.

The lettering is very simple and attractive this creates a calm and peacefulness; it is very easy on the eye. The name of the band is in a large font and created in an artistic manner; it is placed at the centre thus should be able to easily grab the target audience’s attention.

The cover was designed by Paul Normansell who claimed it represented the relationship between art and music. The image used is a mosaic and by using the mix of purple and white it sets a very relaxed mood (similar to the music). The image of the tropical landscape created with the use of the colours red, orange and gold gives a warm feeling. This suggests the music is likely to sound pleasant and pleasing rather than dark and heavy. The colours and layout are kept very simple; furthermore there aren’t images of any of the band members this could show the Killers want to be judged purely on their music and not their appearance. The Killers are trying to reach out to a wide audience with the images they have used, as generally more people tend to listen to calm and cheerful music.