The kooks- naive
The kooks are an indie band, most of the video is narratively based with lip- syncing during the narrative from the lead singer of the band. The music video tells a story of a girl that is cheating on her boyfriend but he still loves her and is afraid to leave her therefore he is being naive. He is scared to ask her if she is in fact cheating as he is afraid of the answer : ‘true or false it may be’.
There is a relationship with the visuals and the lyrics, this is shown in many segments of the video, the video also illustrates the lyrics for example 'just don't let me down' shows the audience that the girlfriend is letting him down. The girl has blonde hair which is a stereotypical image presented of being innocent when in fact she is showing us she is the complete opposite by cheating, the contrast of lighting lets us know the different periods of time throughout the video for example when the couple are sitting on the bed we can tell that he knows about her cheating, the audience realise this from the bright lighting, the camera focuses on them when they are sitting apart suggesting that they are having relationship problems, they are distant and no eye contact.
The camerawork begins with tracking the lead singer (the boyfriend) when he is walking into the party, giving the audience a feeling like they are part of the video and are moving in, the camera tracking is slow like the song. The numerous close ups allows the audience to connect with the lead singer, also when he walks towards the camera gives us the impression as if he is looking for someone (i.e. his girlfriend). There is a clear sense of ambiguity in the video, for example when the girl is cheating on her boyfriend there are scenes of him having fun with his friends and unaware what she is doing, towards the end of the video the truth is revealed that in fact she is cheating on him, the use of the point of view shot was very successful when he discovers her coming out the toilet after she has cheated on him, makes the audience feel part of it as if they are there too, the use of a green light used during the frame of when the girl is cheating indicating a 'dirty, cheap' atmosphere, illustrating the negative tone of what is happening.
The editing is slow together with the pace of the song, the editing changes as the song is getting faster, when the lead singer is looking for his girlfriend it is almost that it is in slow motion indicating that he has been looking for her for a long time and nearly beginning to get tired of it.
The bands clothing is very casual and not anything glamorous revealing that they are down to earth, representing that they are more interested in their music than their fame, however they are also represented as having an 'indie' look, leather jacket, curly hair giving them a stereotypical view but also a unique feel as well.
In conclusion the music video illustrates the lyrics and music video style, the music video has inspired me to use some similar techniques such as camera shots.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVboOdX9icA&feature=fvst
Foo Fighters- The Pretender
This music video is by the band 'Foo Fighters' who are a punk rock band. This video shows the foo fighters in an ice hockey rink with a red and black background, along with white lights, and it is the only location for the whole of the video, opposite the band seems to be be a riot police officer standing behind a black line on the floor because of the emptiness and simplicity, it makes the audience wonder why the red screen is displayed behind as if its there on purpose, the pace of the music is generally much faster because of the genre of music the editing is very fast to join in with the pace of the music.The camera circles around the whole band, giving low angles and high angles of the band, the band also move along with the music, moving back and front, including many of the lead singer (Dave Grohl).
The shots are flipping back and front to the lead singer and to the riot police officer standing opposite him as if they are going into a battle without words. As the video progresses, other riot police officers join and stand in a long line behind the black line facing the band, looking very intimidating, the editing is very fast and includes numerous shots of the riot police officers standing in a line and back to the band facing them, the numerous shots of the lead singer, lets the audience connect with him and understand what he is saying,when the line 'I'm the enemy' comes up the camera has a shot of the lead singers eyes which look extremely scary and intimating at this point fitting in well with the atmosphere.
The video seems to build up to a bridge just before the last chorus, where it seems to be 'quiet' and light music part, and then the officers run towards the band in slow motion to charge at the band and just as they begin to get close enough, the big red screen behind the band suddenly erupts a red like water liquid jets past them, the water is too much for them and appears to overwhelm them and throws the officers off guard. This happens exactly when the band plays their last chorus, but louder and angrier than before, feeling a sense of accomplishment.It is clear that the guards are defeated as the song ends and the lead singer smashes his guitar down to the fall and falls on to his knees indicating that he is exhausted after the battle.
Overall the video is made up of many pans, zooms and tracking shots making it very successful. The fact that the director has used a isolated them in a white ice hockey rink makes the political lyrics stand out, as the lead singer shouts out 'what if i say i never surrender'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJEySrDerj0
The Cranberries- Zombie
The video starts off in black and white showing small children in a street jumping across a roof top to another roof top, the surrounding they are in suggests they are poor, or in trouble, the camera shows a shot of one child in a hood with dirt on his face revealing the hurt perhaps he is feeling.
The song is directly to the conflict between Ireland and England the reference to the easter rising of 1916 make this obvious however the song can also be seen to be about the horror`s of war. There are many shots of a solider walking with his gun, then shots of children holding a wooden plank running showing that the soldiers are having some influence on them to protect their country, the lyrics and video suggest that the band are saying the children may believe they are fighting for justice even though that might not be true, and 'the violence caused such silence' could mean that each side of the war caused such terrible atrocities that neither side were willing to negotiate and so the violence continued.
As the video progresses the bands lead singer is shown dressed in complete gold, her face is gold and her hair is gold and sitting down beside her are children also dressed head to toe in gold, the camera moves from the top where she is tied to a cross to the bottom revealing everything, The question "who are we mistaken?" asks if war and killing is ever right and says that its always a mistake to go to war no matter the circumstances. The point of having the lead singer tied to a cross shows that the people in war are catholic and even though their religion has high morals they still are at war, there is a key relationship with the lyrics and the visuals when the lead singer sings 'its not me, its not my family' the child sitting beside her is agreeing by nodding his head, also when she sings ' in your head, in your head' she is holding her hands in her head also suggesting that she is exhausted with it all and that she cannot escape from it or distance herself.
The editing keeps coming back to the children (the importance of the video) they are shown fighting with wooden swords, showing that they are conforming to the soldiers and aren't really sure of what is happening at the same time revealing their innocence, this whole segment of the video is in black and white, adding an old fashioned feel and going back to the time of the war in 1916. Once the music gets the faster, the editing picks up too, there is a shot of the band and the music getting louder and louder and we can see they are getting angrier and angrier, the camera pans around shots of graffiti about the war, then showing soldier holding his gun and also showing the emptiness of the town because of the war. Another mother's breakin',Heart is taking over" this line mimics the first in that the death of a child causes so much pain however the next line is slightly changed instead of asking if war is wrong like the first verse it is a statement this time "We must be mistaken", the camera goes back to showing the lead singer in gold and her sways along almost like a robot with the music, there are a number of images shown back and forth of the band, of the lead singer in gold and most importantly the children running around with pretend guns and swords, when the tempo is high the children in gold are displayed on the screen going round and round and then the camera is flipping back and forth to the band and then the children. The music then begins to be very slow and the editing matches with this, the white, bright lights are reflected onto the children showing the pure innocence of them, when the loudest bit of music is played the children start to scream in pain, many images of children fighting and in pain are displayed, the soldiers looking around are also displayed on the screen. The children in gold now begin to sway their arms about and still remain screaming. The music begins to fade out and shows a image of a child in pain to end.
OK GO- Here it goes
This music video has become incredibly famous since it has been out, the music is video is very different from others as it actually emphasises the low budget the artists had, instead of playing the instruments the band make eye catching dance moves on the treadmills.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjtI2WZTZ9k
Michael Jackson- Liberian Girl
This video story is a 'behind the scenes' look at the making of a fictional movie, it starts off in black and white creating a gothic aspect. The video is truly a showcase for all Michael Jackson's famous friends, fristly the camera focuses on a young beuatiful black woman who then turns to technicolour, and the clapboard goes down and the video starts. Though the audience doesnt necessarily know who 'liberian girl' is, it is as if she is kept a secret, the camera pans out focusing on different celebrities talking pratcising lines for the video as if it is some film including John Travolta, Olivia Newton John.
Michael pledges his love for this Liberian girl as more precious than any pearl, your love so complete.In the video itself however, it was quite one of togetherness and excitement. One of a celebratory look with real life celebrities preparing to sing, learning their lines, having a cup or two of coffee, tea, drinks, just generally getting ready, but obviously, not without Michael. Whoppi Goldberg ask who is directing this and lots of the celebrities start to speculate and continue to ask where michael is, the camera also continues to move around now revealing that steven spielberg is there and the camera almost answers Whoppi Goldberg's question by showing him in a directors chair marked 'director', another good aspect of the music video is that the celebrities never look directly at the camera not even once to take a glimpse and remain talking to each other happily and are eagerly anticipating the arrival of michael and cleverly making the audience wait for him too. Regardless, the celebrities learn their lines and simply appear to feel at home quite a warm, enthusiastic feeling and impression, an air of friendliness and respect,The camerawork is very well done as the celebrites never look directly at the camera nor do they even glimpse, they remain chatting happily to each other. Celebrites dressed as policemen come in also asking where michael is, and it is then when we hear michael saying hello and the audience feel an excited relief, the camera pans out to showing all the celebrities reaction and genuine shock when the camera focuses upwards and it is revealed that michael has been filiming them the whole time.
Overall I think this video works well as it is very unique and attracts a lot of people for this reason. It is good to see celebrities unite and shows the celebrites as real people also.
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