Music video Case Study (Rock genre)

First case study - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fygBE8dNawU

 In my first case study, I took a song from the band that we chose our song from our music video, I decided to do this to see what other songs they have and also the way they film and show their narrative, moral etc. to the target audience. 

This song from ‘The ramus’ is called ‘October and April’ this song has a music video which is very interesting, unique and unconventional which is why I have chosen this music video to discuss why it has inspired me.

The way this music video starts off is really different as the mise-en scene shows the target audience following a white bird with a bird’s eye view angel, it shows an establishing shot of the city which looks beautiful with the purple colour sky, and the purple would connote the feelings of love and emotion. The camera then tracks the bird from the sky up to the man who starts singing the song which I believe is a really good opening scene as this is what makes it unique the most,

The different effects that have been used in this music video are really different as we can see the use of special effect being used in the sky at the beginning with the storm of the different colour effects. The use of colour is also very unconventional as the director has showed a colourful sky and a dark earth, as this scene has been filmed in the dark, we can see dark buildings and as we are introduced to the main character we can see that he is also wearing black to fit in within the atmosphere, the blackness symbolises darkness which connotes the genre of the music video which might be about the something sad most probably love,.

The background music that is being played at the same time is also very slow which matches the mise-en-scene. As there is a long shot of the man in the scene the voice in the song seems to be non-diegetic which I think is a good technique to represent the feelings of that character while having him in the same scene with darkness however when a close up is shown to his face we can see his emotions as the song becomes diegetic.

The special effects used in this music video are very unique as the director has tried to show something different through two different opposites. The man in the music video is wearing black and has black smoke coming behind him, however the women in the music video is wearing something totally opposite as she is wearing white with white smoke behind her, this shows the contrast between the two characters as it highlights their personality within themselves. It is trying to show the target audience how different they are from themselves and maybe the reason of the differences between them.

The primary target audience for this music video would be teenagers and young people as in this music video there is an essence of something magical, with the flames and smoke, the secondary target audience of this music video would be other elders who like this sort of music.

When the girl is introduced in the music video, there from low to high angle showing a bridge where the girl is standing, this represents the different statuses between the two characters meaning that the women has a higher status than the man as she symbolises a fairy. The different types of camera angles and shots make this music video very interesting. Camera angles such a close up and medium shots are used to show the feelings and emotions of the different characters. In our music video we will also be using these angles to show how the characters are feeling at different stages of the music video, this would make the audiences fit in as they would know exactly how the characters are feeling. As the characters are walking and singing there is a close up of their expressions for a constant 10-15 seconds, this has inspired me to include this technique in my music video as it looks really good, it involves the target audience and seems as if the characters are sharing their thoughts with the target audience.

Celebrity endorsement is also something which attracts audiences, and especially in music videos this technique is used to promote primary and secondary target audiences depending on what type of genre and music type it is. In this music video the two characters are famous for their band but not as famous as other singers and actors, however still this music video has become quite popular as around 2,616,404  have watched and liked it, as a result this concludes that our music video does not have to have famous people as it mostly depends on the narrative, song, effects and the way the message (if there is one) is being showed to the target audience.

The location of this music video is actually very unique as the two lovers are shown walking on two different levels possibly representing a hierarchy, this also connotes the narrative in the music video and possible the link between the two of them.

The costume worn in this music video also plays a big role as the colour of conduct represents the characters within the music video. The women is wearing a white dress which connotes purity and freshness; showing a positive character. However the man in the music video is wearing black which is a sign of something dark, mysterious; a negative side. Also this dark black outfit and dark black smoke behind him may leave many questions in the target audiences mind as they might be wondering about the reason behind it. This shows me that even the costumes worn in a music video can tell part of the narrative and even can give the genre away.

Second case study http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RtTFP2TNcM&feature=relmfu

This song is from a rock band called I’d come for you. I have chosen this song because the video is very unique and the way the narrative, editing techniques and shot types have been used looks really good therefore analysing this music video might just inspire me to include various techniques in our music video as well.

The length of this music video is 4 minutes 23 seconds; this is an average timing that I have seen in nearly every music video, as I believe that that’s how long our music video will also be. If a music video is any longer than 5 minutes than majority of the target audience it tended to get bored.  

The music video starts off with a long shot of a girl hurrying in the kitchen, as she hurries in there is a close up of a picture frame of her and a boy together, this automatically tells the target audience that this music video is about love. This is a good way to symbolise a genre of a love song. After that scene there is a cut which leads onto the next scene which is an establishing shot of the boy who is singing the song, the way the camera is used to slow zoom into him singing is actually a really good effect, as the slowness of the song matches with the camera effect.

Another think which I really liked about this music video is the fact that the boy who is singing is the same boy who is show playing the instruments which connotes his feelings towards the girl he is singing for, the colours at the back also represent different emotions as the colour black symbolises darkness and sadness which reflects the main theme of the song. the white colour bulbs which in the scene are supposed to light up the stage create double meaning, which is that there is a little bit of brightness in his life and that the contrast of black and silver/white represent the dark night sky with the shiny stars which show the target audience that even though he is sad about his life, there is hope still. To me this double meaning technique is really unique and unconventional as not only is represents the characters feelings but also it makes the narrative even more interesting.

The most important thing about a music video is the narrative; if there is one.  As I think that this music video has a really clear and simple narrative, as the way the different pieces and flashbacks are put together is really very interesting. The way the story is shown to the target audience is the reason why they have got a lot of popularity, as on YouTube 6,531,607 have viewed this music video as they have got 33,798 likes. In my opinion I believe that this is a really good achievement for them.

The primary target audience for this type of music video would be teenagers and people who are interested in this type of song/genre. However the secondary target audience for this music video would be others, older audiences who also like these types of songs. 

The song that has been sang is diegetic and also non diegetic as the same time as sometimes he is in the scene and in other scenes where he is not there is becomes a voice over. Shot reverse shots, extreme close ups and establishing shots are used to express the emotions of the character.

Third case study http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT1-sitWRtY

I have chosen this music video as my last case study for many different reasons, something different that this music has is a female voice, therefore I thought that analysing a female song voice would have different conventions and mise-en-scene in it.  

The one thing that has really inspired me to analyse this music video is the location of this music video. Before making any music video, a director mostly focuses on the different locations so that it could make their music video interesting and attractive, however this music video that I have chosen is very unconventional as throughout the whole music video there is only one location which shocks me, as the camera angles, shot types and sizes make this music video really very unique. The way that it has been shot really expresses the girl’s feelings and emotions without getting the audience bored.

The music video starts with an empty dark room where the camera angle is at an high angle which slowly drifts down to the ground to the eye angle to a girl who is laying down on the floor, the clothes that she is wearing is of normal casual clothes; a black dress. However even the colour of the dress matters to the scene and here it does as it matches the whole theme colour and the mood of the scene at that time. The black, dull dark colours represent how she is feeling. The way she is on the floor all lonely straight away shows the target audience that this music video is all about love and loneliness considering how lonely she is.

As the camera gets to her face she gets up slowly as the camera slowly moves with her as she sits up. The way the camera slowly moves along with her it creates a great effect. This suggests to me that we don’t need absolute big effects to make our music video look attractive, even small effects make a good music video in the end.

Something that really inspired me was that the location of this music video is really very unique. As many directors when making a music video mostly concentrate on the locations however in this music video there is just one location which makes this music video really very unique. Throughout the whole music video the location is really dark and damp to match the mood, the target audience would not get bored of this music video because the way its directed just in one setting.

The primary target audience for this music video is people who are interested in this type of music such as the young teenage age however the secondary target audience would be other people such as adults and older people who would listen this type of music.