Analysis of Nero-Guilt
- 1. NGUEIRLTO
- 2. Typically every music video from Nero provides a narrative, however occasionally Nero and Alana Watson who provides vocals will appear in parts of the video. Based on my research on music videos produced by Nero, I have found that only the more popular tracks include a music video; others feature a constant image throughout the whole song. In contrast to Andrew Goodwin’s characteristic of a music video: ‘there is a demand on the part of the record company for lots of close-ups of the main artist/vocalist’, Nero has created its own star iconography which suggests that they do not want to promote themselves personally, they aim to promote their music initially. What I really like about this music video is that the narrative compliments the title of the track, ‘Guilt’. It is completely unexpected which creates a quirky vibe. The setting of a strip club suggests that the narrative compliments ‘Guilt’ through the guilty feeling of being there; you know that you shouldn’t be there but you want to. According to “Music Video and the Politics of Representation” by Diane Railton and Paul Watson , ‘as the name suggests, the narrative video is defined by the fact that it tells a story’, ‘Guilt’ applies to this as the lyrics tell the story of a stripper attempting to seduce a couple of middle-aged business men, reflecting the feeling of ‘guilt’. Key moments within the video relate strongly to the lyrics; at the beginning of the music video the lyrics ‘Sometimes I don’t know where we're going, sometimes I feel you should be crawling back to me’ are narrated visually, showing the business men walking into the club.
- 3. ‘Guilt’ features a music artist collaborating with Nero. As Nero only produces the track and rarely features in it, Alana Watson provides vocals on many of the duo's songs, though she is not officially a band member. Andrew Goodwin states that ‘there is likely to be reference to voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of women, but also in terms of systems of looking (screens within screens, binoculars, film and movie cameras etc.)’ The screen shot is a shot reverse structure of the dancer looking into the eyes of a viewer, the dancer’s reflection appears in the viewer’s glasses, from a point of view which enables the audience to see both characters. However it is referring to voyeurism.This is my favourite part of the music video as the audience are intrigued to see what ‘the special show’ is. Also the audio is paused between 1.55 and 2.15 so that the dancer can speak, increasing the reality of the video. The music video of ‘Guilt’ complies with one of Joe Gow’s six central genres of music video; ‘The special effects extravaganza-videos in which human performance is over shadowed by spectacular imagery.’ Towards the end the dancer performs ‘the special show’ in which special effects are added, this lowers the levels of verisimilitude. In aspects of narrative there are high levels of verisimilitude throughout the video; however the special effects used lowers the levels of verisimilitude.
- 4. Above are the features of the youtube link to the official music video of Nero ‘Guilt’, it includes over 1 million views reflecting the popularity of the artist and a ratio of greater ‘likes’ than ‘dislikes’. Because the accessibility of youtube is easy to viewers and fans of Nero, I strongly feel that they are encouraged to share their opinions upon the music video.Various camera shots are used, especially long shots to establish the human figure and in relation, the surroundings. The long shot also refers to a wide shot as it requires the use of a wide-angle lens. The colours used in the video are of a dark palette, however vibrant. Red is seen as to represent promiscuity and sexual desire, therefore promoting the heavy use of the colour red.
- 5. The music video for Nero ‘Guilt’ has been portrayed on purpose to be explicit; the contrast between an older generation of men and a young girl is used to shock viewers. In many cases, the more shocking a music video is, the more viewers it attracts , for example Eric Prydz‘ Call On Me’. It is produced to shock viewers in order to encourage them to ‘share’ the music video on Facebook and other social networking sites.Radio 1’s Zane Lowe has supported ‘Guilt’ intensely by naming it ‘The hottest record in the world’. The track has created no end of airplay and a huge amount of awareness for the pair.