Arctic Monkeys DigiPak

The Killers - Somebody Told Me Analysis

                                                                                                                                  The start of the video opens with this mesh of colours creating a ‘trippy’ effect which we would associate with drugs creating enigma as to whether or not the band are trying to give a positive feel to the video.

This video is a performance type as we can see the band playing their instruments. The band themselves are blacked out signifying that they don’t want to be seen reinforcing the stereotype of the genre where the look doesn’t matter, it’s all about the music.

A lot of close ups of the bands instruments are shown, the effect of this is it shows the audience that they are the real deal and they play the instruments themselves.

The video is not in black and white which goes against the codes and conventions of this genre and instead quite vibrant colours are used challenging the stereotypes and bringing something different to the table.

When doing my research I found there was a common theme of this genre and it felt like I was writing the same thing over and over, however this video has almost gone against all the codes in order be different, giving the band that bold image that fans will recognise them from. Catfish and the bottlemen and Arctic Monkeys have this moody atmosphere really fitting into the indie / alternative to a t. the killers have challenged this. Their music very much fits and some of their other videos fit however this video in particular represents the band to be crazy.                                                                                                                               

The band still however keep the generic image through the use of mise en scene. Here the band are wearing a lot of black and reds which have connotations to badness and mystery. Leather jackets seem to be a common trend throughout this genre and this is something that the killers reinforce this image.

Their body language suggests they are outcasts due to their awkward stances and crazy jesters. Representing the band to have this unique style and making the audience relate to them being outcasts because if they can do it then surely we can.

The song again is about a love interest reinforcing the codes and conventions of this genre. However unlike some bands there is no girls in the video at all and in fact the camera is mainly focusing on the band. Unlike other videos the lead singer is always in the main focus and in some cases he is in this however there is an equal share of limelight in this video.   

The Kooks - Naive Analysis

The colours scheme for this video is mostly greys, blacks and red undertones, these colours connote to danger and mystery representing the band to have this darkness about them.

In the opening scene of the video we are greeted with a close up of the lead singer, he is the first member we see and so he gives us first impression of how the band looks. The lead singer appears to be walking down a scary alley way at night. This itself alerts us that these lads have no fear.  We get a sense of rebellious due to mise en scene. In this shot the man is wearing a leather jacket and has messy curly hair. From previous videos I have looked at and in my research this tends to be a common theme. The idea that they don’t care how they look and they like to have this bad boy attitude.

A straight cut to this shot leaves us a bit blank, this video has a hidden narrative, this links to Giddens’ idea of the relationship between the visuals and the lyrics.  It tells us a lot about the band, it’s like the band distract the audience with their music to take them away from the deeper meaningful lyrics. The song is about love this really reinforces the stereotypes of this genre. the codes and conventions of this is they alternative and they’re hard people to understand therefore their music always has a problem involved.

Here we see a two person shot of the lead singer again in bed and a girl looking at him. This looks like a hook up which represents the band to ‘get around’ and that they can’t stick to one person therefore never finding love.

The straight cuts between these two scenarios are starting to make sense. The video has a narrative of someone on a night out and taking advantage of a girl who is ‘Naive’ linking the name of the song and the visuals. 

 

The lyrics ‘I’m not saying it was your fault all though you could of done more, but you’re so naïve’ means you didn’t help yourself by getting drunk but you’re naïve and so you got hurt. This represents the band to be very relatable and appealing to their audience as they feel like the band talk about the issues that they might face in life.   

The club like atmosphere and the out of focus camera shots gives the impression that they are on drugs and alcohol connoting to badness representing the band in a bad light yet also giving them style by people thinking it’s cool because they do it.  

Oasis - The Importance Of Being Idol Analysis

The video opens with a close up of what looks like the start of a TV drama, the words ‘Don’t Believe the Truth’ are spread across the screen.

This tells us that the band is very much imposers of the government and that they believe people are being brained washed as members of society. This straight away tells us that the band our outcasts and that they do not follow the crowd. The video is in black and white sticking to the codes and conventions of this genre. The lighting is very hard causing a lot of shadows creating a very moody atmosphere. The tones of black and grey have connotations of evil and mystery. This could link to the fact we don’t know what the truth is leaving this mystery.

If you are familiar with the band you would know that the font of this text is very much different to fonts they have previously used. If you are watching this for the first time it would give the impression that the band are very serious and are strong believers.

We are then greeted with a long shot of a street where two kids are playing with the text ‘Oasis in The Importance of being idol’ the kids are playing football this is very a working class sport compared to rugby which is signified to be a upper-class sport. Form this we understand that the band come from a low income family.  

This next shot of an old lady collecting milk from her doorstep suggests that this video has a narrative as it does not show the band members in it as stereotypically done.

We get a sense that this video is set in the past, this is done through mise en scene the wallpaper in this shot looks very dated and not modern, the clothes look cheap and non-expensive linking pack the band coming from a low-income background. The fact this video is a narrative does tell us that the band don’t want to be seen instead produce this small montage of how they grew up.    

the panning upwards of the man on his bed creates a sense of mystery creating enigma to both who this man is but also who Oasis are as a band. The man is on his bed with what looks like his work clothes this signifies that he is always working. The lyrics ‘I sold my soul for the second time’ are parallel to this scene following Giddens idea of the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. The lyric itself could mean life is very hard, if you have to sell your soul twice then you really want to get rid of it almost like he has been given a second chance but his life is that bad he doesn’t want a second chance.   

Further on we see a close up of the lead singer looking in the mirror, the scene just before we saw the man on the bed looking in the mirror two, this could suggest that these two people are the same but are being showed with two narratives.  

The more we watch we realise that that the man is actually dead and the lyrics ‘I can’t get a life if my hearts' not in it’ imply that because his hearts not in it he might aswell just die. The previous lyrics (My best friend called me the other night

He said "Man, are you crazy?"

My girlfriend told me to get a life

She said "boy, you lazy") suggest the man is crazy and mad, it also tells us he has lost everything.

The whole video is very morbid but shows the way of life which tells us a lot about the band. In this shot we see cards and rizzlor papers on the side connoting bad and in a way quite ironic, the man is dying in the video and smoking can kill you so tells us that the band are very clever in the making but also the need to show they smoke as if it makes them cool. 

Arctic Monkeys - R U MINE Analysis

The Music video for this song is a performance type as it features the band members and there is no narrative throughout. The video again is in black and white and has a short amount of dialogue before the song starts playing.

In the first scene of the video it is set in a radio studio, this shows that the band has status as their music is being played on the radio where there is a mass audience waiting to listen. In comparison to some of the other music videos in which I looked at, this video doesn’t follow some of the codes and conventions as much as ‘7 By Catfish and the bottlemen’ this video doesn’t have a cheap budget feel to it. The video does however reinforces the stereotype that bands of the indie/ alternative genre come from a middle class background.   

  The image on the left is a above is a close up of two of the band members. Majority of the video is filmed from this angle, the effect of this is the members are in clear view of the camera performing, doing what they do best.  In the video we notice the band is wearing a lot of dark colours connoting to something being bad or dangerous, implying that this band is ‘badass.’ The shades also represent this bad boy attitude. A very 1950s style with James Dean similarities. We all know that James Dean has iconic style. The video for this creates the impression that the band themselves want to have this iconic image that fans will remember them by.   I find the video goes against what Giddens says about the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as I find there is no connection what’s so ever.

The camera work is very much handheld bringing the band and the audience close on a personal note. The lead singer is very much always looking directly down the camera as if he you wear seeing him live and he is singing to you. 

Catfish And The Bottlemen - 7 Analysis

This music video is a performance type. The video features the band itself, taking us on a journey backstage showing us what the band do best. The song is about a relationship, however one feels he is unable to love because he always on the road touring. The video compliments the lyrics reinforcing Giddens idea about the relationship between the visuals and the lyrics.

Some of the codes and conventions of indie alternative music videos is that they are mainly shot in black and white, feature the bands themselves, have a low cost budget feel to them, and this idea where ‘it’s all about the music.’ We also found that a lot of music videos have some sort of dialogue at the start, which this video includes.

The opening of this video starts with a short amount of dialogue from this we are introduced to the bands attitude, the fact one band member is still in bed connotes that they are lazy. The video is shot in black and white but we assume that the member is wearing a black shirt, reinforcing the stereotypes of mise en scene.  This is filmed with a handheld camera creating the low budget feel to the video. We don’t see the faces of the members in this shot, this again tells us that it’s not all about what they look like. The shot is a big close up this tells us that they are lads and have this ‘Laddish’ behaviour to one another where they live to wind each other up. The use of the word ‘fuck’ reinforces the ‘bad boy attitude.’ The member in bed is also very moody again really reinforcing that stereotype of the genre.

The music comes in through the use of a Crescendo, once the music reaches its loudest point the scene changes to a stationary medium close up of the band member. This gives the impression that the band is lazy as they have just left the camera rolling on the side. We see them lighting up cigarettes which again reinforces the bad boy attitude but also makes the band relatable as they are doing things that ‘normal’ people do. In this short scene a time-lapse has been used to speed things up. In this we see some of the band

members chilling out in what looks like someone’s house linking back to the codes and conventions of the genre that they have a cheap budget to make their music video. The use of the time-lapse could be to represent the band to be quite slow and lazy therefore the effect of the time-lapse creates this chaotic atmosphere.

    A tracking/ zoom in is used to spot one of the band members asleep on a deckchair holding his guitar, he is wearing the stereotypical black skinny jeans and a check shirt. These items both have connotations to being quite scruffy compared to someone in a suit. His body language in this frame is very relaxed. The member is cuddling his guitar like he is in love with it. The guitar takes up most of the room on the chair as if to say the member is putting the guitar first rather than himself. This suggests that the band on a whole put the music first and themselves second.

A straight cut, cuts between scenes still using this handheld camera and tracking motion following the band. In this scene we actually get to see some of the faces behind the music. This is really important because when big close ups are used to show their face you can sense the awkwardness as they aren’t a band that want to be in the lime light and doesn’t know what to do when they are.  As the tracking movement continues, we see another band member in the similar clothes sitting down and strumming his guitar. This really indicates that this genre of music where they really take pride in their music and are always playing.

This video is includes majority of the codes and conventions make an indie/alternative music video needs. The lyrics of the songs does have a close relationship to the visuals of the music video, however it isn’t very obvious and you have to really understand the band and the music in order to make the connections between the two.

    

        

       

Genre ideas

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin's Theory:

Goodwin says that the technical aspects of a music video are very important as it is what brings the music video together.

Goodwin talks about key aspects such as:


* Seeing the sound

* Narrative Performance

* The Star Image

* Relations Of Visuals To Song

* Intetextual References

* Genre related Iconography

* Voyeurism (Particularly Females)

3 More Music Videos

Narrative

Performance

Both

Types of Music Videos

Narrative

Performance

                               Both