Research and Planning: Brief Textual Analysis of a Music Video
1) Name of Artist?
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys
2) Title of song?
Leave Before The Lights Come On
Leave Before The Lights Come On
3) Date of release?
14th August 2006
14th August 2006
4) Director of video?
John Hardwick feat. Kate Ashfield (Shaun of the Dead)
John Hardwick feat. Kate Ashfield (Shaun of the Dead)
5) What genre of music does this fall into?
Alternative/Indie
Alternative/Indie
6) Is there a relationship between lyrics and visuals in the song?
I think in some ways the lyrics could be linked to the visuals, To me, the song is about a man with a partner, during a night out at a bar, he and another pretty girl exchange some words. "my friend fancies you, what a way to begin it all"... and then, of course, they end up in bed together, the next morning, before the girl wakes up and the lights in the room go on, the man ducks out, "quick let's leave before the lights come on... so that you don't have to see what you've done."- the video hints that perhaps these people had a one night stand, only the female felt more than the male and craves for the affection but becomes suicidal and psychotic when she does not get it.
I think in some ways the lyrics could be linked to the visuals, To me, the song is about a man with a partner, during a night out at a bar, he and another pretty girl exchange some words. "my friend fancies you, what a way to begin it all"... and then, of course, they end up in bed together, the next morning, before the girl wakes up and the lights in the room go on, the man ducks out, "quick let's leave before the lights come on... so that you don't have to see what you've done."- the video hints that perhaps these people had a one night stand, only the female felt more than the male and craves for the affection but becomes suicidal and psychotic when she does not get it.
7) Is there a relationship between the music and the visuals?
Slightly, there are often cuts in time with the music which help to emphasis the plot
Slightly, there are often cuts in time with the music which help to emphasis the plot
8) What is the importance of the artist in the visuals?
The artist is not included in the video until the end where Matt Helders (Drummer) is scene walking under the woman when she drops her shoes which indicates that this is going to happen again as she is trapped in an infinite loop of obsession
The artist is not included in the video until the end where Matt Helders (Drummer) is scene walking under the woman when she drops her shoes which indicates that this is going to happen again as she is trapped in an infinite loop of obsession
9) Is there any voyeurism in the video?
No
No
10) Does the video have any intertextuality?
11) What is the mixture in the video between performance and narrative?
The whole video is narrative as it is telling a story about a woman with a need for affection and her struggles while trying to receive it from a man who is not interested in her, it is then revealed to us at the end how this is a recurring thing for her. There is no performance from the band, this is common in many of the older music videos from Arctic Monkeys.
The whole video is narrative as it is telling a story about a woman with a need for affection and her struggles while trying to receive it from a man who is not interested in her, it is then revealed to us at the end how this is a recurring thing for her. There is no performance from the band, this is common in many of the older music videos from Arctic Monkeys.
Research and Planning: Andrew Goodwin's 6 Features Of Music Videos
In his book Dancing in the Distraction Factory Andrew Goodwin points out characteristics and features that can be found in music videos
1) Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (E.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for a boy/girl and, aspiration in hip-hop)
2)There is a relationship between music and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting)
3)There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music (Either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting)
4)The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style)
5)There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatments of the female body.
6)There are often intertextual reference (to films, Tv programs, other music videos etc).
Research and Planning: Music Videos
In our research we have been looking at various music videos as a way to promote an artist, below are some of my favourite music videos.
Alt-J - Fitzpleasure, Breezeblocks
I picked these 2 videos as they are both intriguing to watch, 'Fitzpleasure' confuses the audience in a disturbing manner which makes you want to watch it more, this is a good way to promote the artist as they often want to explore reasons for this, 'Breezeblocks' is my favourite out of the two because I feel that it shows a dramatic story just by playing the clip backwards, it also creates suspense as you want to know how it all started, I also like how the song is in time with various movements that are included in the clip, this is something i would like to experiment with when creating my own music video
Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down, Fluorescent Adolescent
The White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl
I picked this video as another one of my favourites because I like the look of stop animation, I feel that it is a very creative method to use, I also like how the Lego is used to show the band members and this clearly shows that skill and time have been put into making this video, by showing the band members i feel that this promotes the band well, however it's still somewhat irrelevant to the lyrics
I picked this video as another one of my favourites because I like the look of stop animation, I feel that it is a very creative method to use, I also like how the Lego is used to show the band members and this clearly shows that skill and time have been put into making this video, by showing the band members i feel that this promotes the band well, however it's still somewhat irrelevant to the lyrics
Bon Iver - Wash, Holocene
I absolutely love all of the videos by Bon Iver because I feel that they somehow make us appreciate nature with a mellow tone and calm imagery. I like 'wash' because it is a continuous take and I feel that this makes the video appear somewhat realistic and yet you are captivated and have to watch on, Despite it still being slightly irrelevant to lyrics, out of these two videos my favourite is 'Holocene' because it tells a story and I feel that it really captures the beauty of nature with an element of fun. Both videos often have moments where sections are in time with a beat, but also ones which aren't in time, which i feel is a good technique to use as it allows time for us to focus of both the song being played and the film being used, I feel that if a song has a good video it is more likely to be remembered than one that doesn't so this makes it a very good way to promote an artist
I absolutely love all of the videos by Bon Iver because I feel that they somehow make us appreciate nature with a mellow tone and calm imagery. I like 'wash' because it is a continuous take and I feel that this makes the video appear somewhat realistic and yet you are captivated and have to watch on, Despite it still being slightly irrelevant to lyrics, out of these two videos my favourite is 'Holocene' because it tells a story and I feel that it really captures the beauty of nature with an element of fun. Both videos often have moments where sections are in time with a beat, but also ones which aren't in time, which i feel is a good technique to use as it allows time for us to focus of both the song being played and the film being used, I feel that if a song has a good video it is more likely to be remembered than one that doesn't so this makes it a very good way to promote an artist
Research and Planning: Dave Grohl's speech
South By Southwest (SXSW) 2013 Keynote Speech in Full
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)