Look and Image - Indie Music Video Analysis

This video is not necessarily indie-aimed, but there are obvious indie themes in this video. For instance, the way the words "I'll save your seat" appear on the van is a typical convention of the indie genre.
When the man is carrying the bright blue balloons, the colour especially ties in well with the summer theme.
In terms of her actual image, she always wears similar clothes in her music videos, normally shorts and a tank top. The fact that everything is colourful, even her bicycle wheels, ties in with her fashion sense and the front cover of her album, which definitely stands out!
She is cycling towards the camera which helps the viewer perceive this as a narrative and helps the audience relate to an artist identity.

Starter - Camera angles you would expect in a music video

Yesterday's starter exercise was to list down the typical angles found in a music video. In our class we came up with these:

1. Close-up
2. Extreme close-up
3. Long shot - this is to show/set the scene, establishing it. This can be linked to an establishing shot, which is a shot, normally outside of a building to indicate that the following scene will be set there. A good example of a show which does this is Friends, when there is a scene set in the coffee shop "Central Perk", you know it will be set there as you see the outside of the building. When we see establishing shots and other camera angles, it doesn't necessarily psychologically register, which means it is a camera technique that works!
4. High angle
5. Low angle
6. Aerial
7. Zoom in/out - in A2 production our group can consider not to use the zoom that often as it is not regarded as a professional technique.
8. Tracking
9. Whip Pan - camera moving incredibly fast from one side of a room to another, ie from left to right
10. Master shot - Shot that we keep going back to in a video, so the main shot.

Camerawork in Music Videos

In yesterday's lesson, we watched a couple of indie/rock music videos to identify the camerawork used so we could refer to it when we need to make our music video.

Givers - Up Up Up

1. High angle on the road, which indicates that the band are high up and are looking down on the world in this particular situation. In this music video, there are a lot of high angles and this links in with the title of the song, "Up Up Up", therefore the director has considered the meaning of the song with which angle is necessary in each shot.
2. Close up - on the band, as they are one of the main focuses.
3. Low angle on the building, this could be an establishing shot of a building that could be linked to the band. It is a building in the city they are in, which looks like New York, and one of the band members is walking alongside another building in New York, so the idea of one character being in one location one minute and a completely different one the next minute is introduced, which is a common theme in music videos. It tells us that the action is not necessarily happening all at once!
4. Master shot - the main shot in this music video, ie the "master shot", is the band, who are "Up" in the sky.
5. Tracking - this is when the camera is following one person or a group of people in a shot. In this scenario, a band member playing an instrument is being "tracked" by the camera.

We The Kings - Check Yes Juliet

1. Close up - again, on the band itself.
2. Master shot - The band performing this song at a house party
3. Medium and long shot - these shots were included as well as a close up to show them playing instruments and the whole band together
4. Narrative - when the song has a bridge section, the plot became more dramatic and we had more time to focus on the drama. As soon as the chorus comes back in, the camera focuses on the band again. This is especially something that we should consider when filming our music video.

A2 Summer Holiday Work Task Two - Research and Understanding

Rizzle Kicks

They are bringing Old School style music back into the charts and have already had two top 10 singles in the last month so, like many artists today, they have quickly risen to fame.

The video for the song "Down With The Trumpets" looks quite niche. They are going around Brighton with a trumpet and a boombox machine which gives an urban theme.
Also, the niche theme suggests they are not trying to hard to get a number 1 hit but just sticking to what they know and connotations such as the boombox machine suggests not that they always carry one around, but it tells the audience what their musical style is. Another connotation could be the cup of tea at the end of the video, which suggests this is something else that they are used to or that they can be linked to.
They are wearing casual clothes as well as a few urban accessories eg hats and necklaces.

Editing: The cuts are quick, when the lyrics are being rapped, it usually cuts from them rapping a line on the street and finishing it on the television screen.

MES: It is filmed in Brighton and in parts of the video they are at a beach and a park, so there is a flavour of what it is like there.

Ed Sheeran

He is portrayed to be young and unique and, in some cases niche, although he has also had 2 top ten hits recently.

Editing - The video for this song and another top 10 song of his are in black and white. This could convey a mysterious mood and we may be unsure what happens in the video.

MES - Like another of his songs "The A Team", he does not make many appearances in this video. This could be to keep his look niche and to make his name bigger than his appearance, although many people will recognise Ed Sheeran.
There are many connotations in this video such as the Buddha which could link to various aspects.

The Wanted

They are represented as a normal boyband and it is easy to assume that they have appeared on The X Factor or Britain's Got Talent. Their latest song is a little different to their previous singles:

This song sounds and looks more like a club song compared to a boyband song, and the CEMS depict this.

Editing - The editing shows them in a club one minute and the next jumping into the sea from a high part of a beach. Not many boybands typically do this, so the conventions and stereotypes are being pushed and altered.

MES - This video is set in an area of Spain which looks like it is popular amongst British people. This would be a typical scenario for a dance music video but this shows that The Wanted are trying to differentiate and not go down the usual boyband route, ie cheesy key-changing songs and curtain-style hair.