Textual Analysis
- 2. What is needed ? Music videos are bottom line create so that music can go multi media so they can advertise more and sell more. With that they usually have two essential elements: Narrative and performance. The narrative is the story that takes place within the video and performance is when the lip sinking and music coexist together, in harmony/rhythm. This means that the singing to the camera looks as though the sound is coming from that person's voice at that specific time. Performance can be part of the narrative, linking the emotions to the story while they sing. Music videos usually head in this direction as the better the narrative and performance, the more the viewer will invest themselves, creating that following. However not all all music videos have narrative and performance at the same time. Some videos have none whatsoever. Some just have good visuals and that's enough. You could argue and say there is some narrative with the visuals however it's not clear. Arctic Monkeys Do I Wanna Know music video is a perfect example. At the start of the video it's a simple strumming of a sound wave then it expands. The Shots above demonstrate the sound waves turning into a woman's brar. However no narrative. This shows that narrative and performance aren't necessarily needed to be successful. That said music videos with the two key
- 3. Why Music videos? Music videos promote the artist in whatever way they want to be sold as. It gives them that extra opportunity to let their audience see them in a different light. Clothing, attitude, personality all that sort of thing. It allows the fans to see what they are really about. Taylor Swift’s Look What You Made Me Do song was her way of re-imagining her character to appeal to a wider audience. Music gives her a chance to develope this however the video makes it official as we can visually see her and how she is presented. There needs to be a clear genre for the artist so that it will attract a specific audience. They do this by putting in elements that are recognisable and explicit. However there are also sub-textual meanings within most music videos that set them apart from others, usually making a better video. OLD NEW
- 4. Goodbye My LoverJames blunt This is just a quick mock-up of what a James blunt album cover may had looked like when the song was produced. I drew inspiration from the real album. Again using the same blue sadness vibe however leaving out the red font and opting for a more updated black and white font. I also added the recorded labels to enforce that Pop genre.
- 5. James Blunt - Goodbye My Lover Is not part of my chosen genre as it is love pop song. We are doing Indie Rock. However i've used this for my inspirational texts and Analysis because it has elements and concepts that I would like to include in my music video. Goodbye My Lover was Directed by Sam Brown and was filmed in October 2005, Los Angeles. Brown uses extreme close ups and medium shots to contrast between love, lust and sadness. It's hard to see in the video it was only uploaded in 720p but you can see here with the extreme close up on the hands and back of the neck that there is a lot of passion and love between these characters. These shots continue throughout the video alongside the wider shots/medium shots of James. Quick cutting between the shot to put emphasis on the what was and what is now. Here is a medium shot of James sitting in the same room, however things have changed. You can already see it's much later into the day. He is alone and the shot isn't perfectly straight on. There's a slight tilt to the right showing us that perfection isn't possible and all is not well. Because of the frequente match on action we know that James is looking back at this life which creates the lust. Then we get this shot. Probably the best shot in the video. A clear empty room with a phone promptly waiting in the centre, windows slightly open, only just letting enough light in to illuminate the room. So if we add two and two together, we can just pick out that she has left him for someone else and he is now mourning over her, wanting her to come back. Brown enhances this melody of sadness by moving from past to present. And that idea of a good thing compared to the depression of the aftermath can relate to so many people, and makes it so much more powerful because of the difference in cinematography. How he uses a shaky cam in the extreme close ups to put us there in the moment of passion, then straight into the fixed, hardly moving reaction shots of James, that helps convey his emotions on how he feels when he thinks back on those moments.
- 6. Brown also uses a lot of subtle moments with extreme close ups to create detail and power. The white curtains blowing softly in the wind represent the the freedom of that woman in the video. They show how she is a gentle pure person (the white) and they almost give her this angle appearance wearing white clothing. This is further supported in the next shot where she is stroking her hair. The camera focuses on her hands to put more emphasis into that angel appearance. You also see her red fingernails representing the common colour of love and passion. Brown uses plenty of extreme close ups on her face throughout the video. Her expressions resembling subtle happiness, again supporting the genital being she is. Again Brown has that prompted shot of the phone. The Doors open, reflecting on James's character preparing for someone to come back. Wildlife and plants at this holiday like home, again supporting that purity this story holds. Brown again uses the empty rooms as a way to show soullessness and the crumpled bed sheets give a sense that everything has been left the way it was when she left. The camera is positioned in the back of the room as so we are. The camera is again lent to the right, again supporting that theory that all is not well. These little details affect the viewer in a subconscious way and help convey the emotions that are meant to be represented.
- 7. The performance matches the visuals in sync to the point where you get more narrative from the song than the visuals itself. It's clear that Brown didn't want to focus so much on the visual narrative, focusing more on the cinematography. Things like being shot in black and white, setting that official tone of loss because it seems there's less in the picture. However James has colour putting emphasis on the time of day. More match on action. I guess this makes some narrative because it looks as though they are missing each other however the actor she was with earlier in the room/in the video, isn't the same man so there's no clear conclusion unless you perceive that james is that other man. Goodbye my lover isn't a Indie rock genre However i've looked at this because it has elements I want to include in my final music video. Brown made sure that the visuals matched the song and how its power could carry the video but instead floats. The video is perfect for what it needed to be people needed to be able to watch it again and again without getting bored because it was a regarded as a pop song. You can see the difference in colour between James and the woman. The woman having the daylight behind her, inforcing that idea of her being an angle. Bottom line though, I wanted to uses this in my textual analysis because of the way it makes you feel. The song alone creates an intense amount of emotion however, mixed in with the visuals, there is an underlying story between these two characters that most people can relate to in some form of passion. Whether that be they went threw the same thing or going through or just simply understanding it is enough to relate to the visuals and that is what I want. I want people to see the music video, see the visuals, mis en scene and relate to it in anyway they can. Doing this will hopefully create a more affective music video for a rock indie genre. Making it more entertaining and easier to watch.
- 8. Bon Jovi - Always. I thought i’d bring it back a bit to the genre we are attempting for. Indie Rock. This is the Rock side I would like to go for. Very heavy on the passion side of things. The song was originally created for a movie however the band rejected to lend them the rights as they didn't like the film. From that the song sat as a lost idea until a close friend of the band, stumbled across it and insisted that the song became a thing. 22 years later I'm using it for my main inspiration as I believe it to be one of the best/ most effective music videos crafted. So that in itself shows how post production in a music videos can have a massive impact on the final product and even more so on the people who view them.
- 9. I Quickly created this blog to simply desus the visuals within the video as I thought it would be better to watch the actual video as I take rather than taking every vital shot and discussing it. Watch the video first before continuing with the Powerpoint.
- 10. Marty Callner directed the infamous Always music video. Callner clearly wanted the rockstar lifestyle to be obsessed over. Obnoxious behavior is a very powerful way to create that. It shows dominance however in this video it tells us that it comes with a price. There's lots of hidden cinematography and prop placement to reinforce this ideology. An example of this is the bull in the back of the background of the photo i've used in this presentation. Bulls being very dominant creatures , reflects on the character's personality and where he gets it from. There's the pictures of a woman in the background when his girlfriend is dancing for him telling us more about the character.
- 11. Callner highly sexualised Always to make the video that much more desirable. This beautiful woman (Carla Gugino) so desirable to the point where she doesn't even need to do all the dancing but Callner put it in there anyway, just to make it that more intense. I feel Callner went the right direction with this video. I feel that the song being created specifically for a film definitely shines through into a wonderful translation of their 1995 take on romeo and juliet. You got the car as the horse, the camera as the weapon/rapier “Fetch me my rapier boy” (Quote from Romeo and Juliet) The isolation romeo has to put himself in when the Capulets are after him, or more promptly when they both die at the end because its technically the death of the relationship. There's just so many hidden in plain sight symbols which make the video all the more better. The shots Callner constructed such as the medium then normal close up, double take on the woman when she enters the artists building brings the viewer closer to the video and puts them in the film. It also gives great forces of intimacy as you can see how much she appreciates art. That all said I'll need to update my video to make it fit to our intended - uptodate audience, so that it fits to their appeal. A video like that wouldn't work today simply because it's already been done and now its more of a stereotype. That's not to say we can't take the feeling. I want my viewers left with the same feeling as viewers would of got back in 1995 when this video was created.
- 12. Callner utilises the powers of desire to captivate the viewer into thinking this is how dramatic it must be to be a rockstar. In 1995 this would of been a pop song so potentially it was necessary from him to had done this. He has this montage sequence of their lavish lifestyle much like how today's music artists are represented only Callner uses it more as a supporting section of the narrative because he is showing the viewer the demonisation from living a life such as a rock star. He shows us that big benefits have big consequences however the lyrics say otherwise. Bon jovi/the artist/the narrator says what's in the title. He contradicts what Callner shows us on screen and it's like this battle between two emotions and two opinions which also shows in the two characters. We see at the end of the video how contradictory and hypocritical the male protagonist is when he see’s the painting even though he’s been up to much worse than her. We are shown that he cheats on her countless times so we are lead to believe he doesn't care. But when he sees this painting we almost side with him, even after all he has done, Callner made sure that we got to see how much this character loves her. It's the same with the lyrics and visuals. Throughout the video all we see is a reclass man destroying a good relationship however the lyrics quite literally say he will always be there for this woman he cheated on. It's almost painful to watch if it were real. The audience is left with questions and heavy emotion and that's one of the things that will get the viewer to come back to the video. To learn more they should see more. The answers are quite simple though. He’s not a man he’s an animal, He’s that poster on the wall of that big bull. But at the same time he’s a strong lover. Mix the two together and you get a bull that wants to breed and a man that wants his love. He is his own destruction and she was his way out. These ideologies will play out in people's minds and could potentially change the way people think about relationships. Is it ok if you still love them? Should I stay with him because of how much he loves me? Callner left these questions unanswered, again so that people will come back to learn more and maybe they might not be doing it purposely but as long as there watching they're making money.
- 13. Arctic Monkeys- Arabella You can see just from this photo they are the kings of indie rock. Photo being very reminiscen t of the Mount Rushmore president’s . Another mock up of a album cover. I feel this would probably be in a record/LP/ vinyl.
- 14. The Arctic Monkeys are probably one of the most successful Indie rock bands that could've easily gone mainstream but decided not to, probably down to creative differences and the hassle of not owning the rights to your own music. Currently they are signed with Domino Records. This company allow indie artists to have that creative freedom which is probably why they signed with them. Arctic Monkeys- Arabella music video, directed by the famous Jake Nava. He has directed many music videos in the past and continues to work on TV commercials and other music videos. Nava’s utilizes black and white in many of his videos and I can see why. Black and white helps the viewer see exactly what the director wants you to see. It makes it easier for the viewer to be influenced by the cinematography and mise-en-scene. This is because a very heavily element has been taken away (colours) and lives us with the basics. Basics being shadows that could translate the noir themes. Here we have this beautiful woman who looks as though she doesn't even know she is being filmed but the shaky cam suggests this was purposely intended as it gives her this star states as though she were sitting a interview You can see here how Nava uses black and white for his official page. A very simple lay out But easy to follow and uptodate in trend. Simple subtleties The Monkeys are known for heavily stylising there music videos. Mix between late 50s fashion, 70s attitude and early 60s styles
- 15. Nava highly stylised the video from the beginning. He uses extreme close ups. such as the one i've used for the background. These closeups have the black bars running across like the light threw the blinds in a noir film. He also demonstrates that faults can make a positive when making a music video. N In this shot we see man shying away from a girl with a emotionless face. Nava repeats this shot as though it were filmed on an old camera and the frames got messed up in the reel. This further creates that stylised noir feel as well as the perfectly aligned lighting on the man's face so we know who we should be paying attention to Like Bruno Mars- Gorilla the performance has been integrated into the narrative so that it is a direct link. There's something about a person expressing their passion for another person in live action. The main chorus kicks in and Nava freeze frames this shot as he knows how seductive the lead band member looks in the shot. The music video is as though it were shot in many different pictures with an old photo camera. I feel Nava has done this on purpose to make the video feel more oufetic to the viewer as though this is how the band live their lives.
- 16. I feel as though Nava wanted to sexulize the main band member. Having him positioned in the center for most of his screen time whilst having him play the guitar solo which would usually be done by the actual guitar player. I feel this is actually a flaw in Naves work as these vital moments were the rest of the band are supposed to be in shot seem to be non existent. Guns N Roses would be the same without Axl Rose however the band players such as the infamous Slash have created a cut following further increasing the popularity towards the band. Nava opes for of a more Pop style were the video is more about the artist than the song or the band. Being a Indie rock band I think he should of at least gave the guitar solo to a different person. However I can see why he has done this and I respect the authenticity he projected into the video. Music videos like these are structurally made to simply look good. This makes the song easier to re-watch because there's no real narrative to lose emotion to, but it still holds ideologies viewers look up too and aspire to be like such as the rock star lifstyle Nava shows the viewer. The lyrics go hand in hand with the visuals. He’s genuinely talking about Arabella and there's uslay ether shots of him singing it or shots of what the viwer will assume to be her. Bottomline I'm not a fan of simply conjuring up some aesthetically good looking shots then calling it a music video. I know Indie music videos usually only ever go with the simplest of videos such as the classic garage band location shots however i'm not part of a big company, I'm not signed to a big record label. I have £0 money for this video, our choses song is as indie as an artist gets. I am/we are what they would call indie and we are going to create a good narrative with good visuals and good performance. This video shies away from that, focusing more on the styles and conventions it has and what inpact that has on the viewer aesthetically. I will be taking the dedicated art from this music video as I can see what Nava was going for and if he’d of just added that bit more narrative and maybe some more shots of the band so I could justify how the band will be properly sold then I would of said this is a nearly perfect Indie music video.
- 17. So what have I learnt? I feel I have leant that the importance on a good narrative can depend on genre and affects the way people look at a shong visually. Successful indie bands like Arctic Monkeys don't need narratives at all in there videos to produce a good video. Post production can massively impact how the final product is delivered. Bon Jovi- Always sitting on the shelf because they didn't like the film. Music videos do not necessarily need a clear conclusion as long as the lyrics support the narrative so you as the viewer can fill in the gaps. James Blunt- Goodbye My Lover doesn't fully make sense visually, you have to imagine yourself how the ending planned out. Extreme close ups in the performance side look really great and allow the viewer to further feel the passion for the song when they can literally see the swat coming from the artist's face. Bruno Mars- Gorilla, extreme close ups when he is looking at the woman, we can sense the same feeling he feels about her. Lyrics don't need to be exact to the visually. Bon Jovi- Always contradicts itself the whole way through to the point where even the male character becomes a hypocrite towards the end. Sometimes twisting the lyrics and visuals gives for a better narrative as we see from the singers/storytellers mind that even though he does unforgivable things he would still do anything for her, its just his animalistic behaviour that lets him down.