Analysis of a Music Video

Song: The Scientist

Artist: Coldplay

Year:2002

Story: Clear narrative, told in reverse so as to allow Chris Martin to be the hero. It sells the band audience so as they get to know who they want. It is a slow song so as the narrative makes it more interesting.

Setting: Outdoor, multiple locations which also makes the slow song more interesting.

Characters: Mainly Chris Martin, to sell the band Coldplay. The girlfriend, love interest, fits the audience love story appeals to female audience.

Costume: Standard style of clothing which fits genre of music so as the audience can relate to it.

Lyrics: Narrative fits lyrics- sad love song fits in with slow placed love song.

Special Effects: Whole video shot in reverse. Chris Martin had to learn the words to his songs backwards which makes the viewers more interested.

Camera Angles: Close up of Chris Martin, love song shows emotion. Editing- shots are edited together slowly fits pace of the song.

Analysis of a Music Video

Song: Smack my bitch up

Artist: Prodigy

Year: 2002

Story: Unlike many dance videos this has a very clear narrative, there is a clear twist at the end which makes it more memorable.

Setting: London Soho. Her flat fits in with the style of music being angry, powerful, clubbing links with style of music.

Characters: Don't see the band in the video, although prodigy do often appear in previous videos. Throughout the whole video the viewers think the main person in the video is a man but the twist is that its a woman.

Costumes: Sexy, clubby style outfits match type of music

Lyrics: Lyrics are minimal as its a dance song. The lyrics do have a link to what happens in the video

Special Effects: Spinning to show character acting drunk, as we cant see character and its done from a point of view shot.

Camera Angle: Point of view shot, so as there can be a twist at the end also allows fast paced movement reflects club environment.

Analysis of a Music Video

Song: Buddy Hollly

Artist:Weezer

Director:Spike Jonze

Story: The selling point of the video is that the band are appearing on an episode of Happy days, a complex plot isn't necessary as the viewers will relate to the sitcom Happy Days.

Setting: Only one setting used throughout the music video ( Happy Days diner, Arnolds) The target market will know Happy Days, so the focus is on the artist. From a technical point of view it is easier to edit old and new footage together.

Characters: The audience expect to see the band in the video, characters from Happy Days, crowds in the diner representing the fans and dancers.

Costume: 1970s style costumes to blend in with era of Happy Days.

Lyrics: Narrative does not follow the lyrics at all.

Special Effects: Old footage from Happy Days is done skillfully through clever cuts and edits so as the band appear as though they are in a real episode of Happy Days.

Camera Angles: Close up of band/ Happy Days characters. Wide shot to show band, crowd and other characters.

Analysing Music Videos

Before deciding which type of filming I wanted to do I explored and analysed both music videos and film trailers.
New music video by arcade fire
Arcade fire have converged with the internet/web 2.0. The video is a standard video of a man running down a street however using the new website technology where by the viewer types in their address or their old childhood address at the start of the video, it is suppose to connote the viewer that they are running past their own childhood home. Once the address has been typed in, the images are taken from google maps. The windows pop up in beat with the music and so there are different screens playing at the same but each window matches what the other one is doing. At the end of the video, the viewer interacts with the video and write a postcard to their address.






OK GO!- This too shall pass



The video appears to be shot in one continuous unbroken shot(famous sequence from Goodfellas) however they used special effects in order to edit the video. Throughout the video sequence of clever tricks that link together to eventually at the end spray the member of the band with paint. Looking at the bands over video "here we go again" they have much like in the "this too shall pass" video they have shot it in one location, only 4 people in the video, they stay in the same outfits(no costume change) Although the videos are cheap as they are not released on music channels but are released over the internet, they are highly effective due to their uniqueness which helps to sell records.

Freytag's Pyramid Structure

Gustav Freytag, a nineteenth century german novelist who saw common patterns in plots and stories and developed a diagram to analyze them. The Freytag structure is an example of a dramatic structure which appeals to all audiences so as to see the drama being shown in an effective way. The way in which he sets up the drama is in seven stages:

1. Exposition: setting the scene. The writer introduces the characters and setting, providing description and background.

2. Inciting Incident: something happens to begin the action. A single event usually signals the beginning of the main conflict. The inciting incident is sometimes called 'the complication'.

3. Rising Action: the story builds and gets more exciting.

4. Climax: the moment of greatest tension in a story. This is often the most exciting event. It is the event that the rising action builds up to and that the falling action follows.

5. Falling Action: events happen as a result of the climax and we know that the story will soon end.

6. Resolution: the character solves the main problem/conflict or someone solves it for him or her.

7. Dénouement: (a French term, pronounced: day-noo-moh) the ending. At this point, any remaining secrets, questions or mysteries which remain after the resolution are solved by the characters or explained by the author. Sometimes the author leaves us to think about the THEME or future possibilities for the characters.

Introduction

This is my second media blog as I have continued to study media into a2. Throughout this course I will be focusing my coursework based around creating a film trailer, therefore I will be creating a promotional package for a film that I will produce myself including a teaser trailer. I also will be creating a film poster and magazine, in my previous As project I created a magazine so I can incorporate the photoshop skills I learnt into my new project. As I am focusing my film trailer on the horror genre, I will create a moodboard as well as looking at current film trailers so as I can see the type of techniques that they use so as to create a dramatic scary effect.