Music Video Analysis

CAGE THE ELEPHANT / COME A LITTLE CLOSER 

I have chosen a Cage the Elephant Music video to present the typical indie rock music video genre;

The video is performance based, and does not illustrate the lyrics of the song. The music video features psychedelic patterns and colours to create a serial experience for the audience and a sense of detachment. The song its self is about drug use, and how the concept of time is very distorted when some one is on drugs. there for the music video could be mirroring how the band member feel whilst 'tripping'. The animated world, in which the band members are performing/exploring could present what the band member have experienced whilst being on drugs. The use of bright colours and animated 'out of this world' creatures reinforce the idea of hallucination. In terms of mise-en-scene, the location of the music video is set in space, which presents the theme of losing time.
At the beginning the lead singer starts running away from a death reaper creature, he fights for his life against evil looking creatures. Representing himself as a warrior in the video and is always stating to his challengers "come a little closer than you'll see, come come come come" and is always slaying his attackers, thus feeling that he can do anything under the influence of drugs. Towards the end of the video the lead singer is riding into a hell like planet in a demon like creature as he states "time flies time flies they all say hello", which can represent coming down to
harsh reality of coming down to everyday existence, returning to reality. It is clear that this music video has a clear beginning middle and an end, there for the video interests the audience and has a clear story line that is easy to follow.
It terms of lighting the use of flashing lights connotes the theme of hallucination and drug use. The video is set on an other worldly planet, the lighting suggests and connotes this. The use of close up images on the lead singer, shows how the lead singer conforms to the expectations and genre. The messy hair and glitter eye make up suggests how the lead singer feels independent and different from society, reflecting the style of music that they produce, whilst also representing a 'dont care' attitude. The lead singer is shown wearing a red bomber jacket, the colour red may connote the singers attitude and the sense of danger and passion. The rest of the band are styled in black jeans, and quirky clothing, which appeals to a certain target audience who are inspired by the band's style. Establishing shots are also used to represent the bizarre location of the video, e.g dark space and planets.
The music video appeals to the audience of the band as they may have experienced drug use before, and are intrigued by the portrayal of drug use in the video. Shots of the band members floating in space may also give the impression of hallucinating, and experience a 'high', from drug use. The camera tracks the movement of the floating band member to replicate this feeling to the audience. In terms of lighting, flash lighting is used to also to connote a dream like experience. The on and off dimming of lighting may suggest falling in and out of reality.
The music video its self does not illustrate the lyrics, but the whole concept of the lyrics. Instead of the band taking drugs, the band are shown in an imaginary world. Psychedelic patterns are used as a background for when the band are performing to the camera. The main form of editing in the video includes green screening and animation, rather than transitions and cross cutting. However the use of fast shots, adds to the sense of uneasiness and danger.

SAN CISCO / MAGIC

This narrative style music video, is by an Australian Indie Pop band, San Cisco. The song Magic, is from their latest album. The narrative based music video, does not feature any performance from the band or artist. The video revises the beauty and the beast fairytale, featuring a beautiful young girl falling involve with a beastly male, and places the old fairytale to the present day.
The video begins with surrealist images of dead corpse head rotating on a stick, which static blue and red lighting in the background to connote danger and uneasiness towards the audience. The scene is contrasted with the pastel font colours presenting the name of the band and the name of the song featured in the video.
Before the track begins, sinister organ music plays, to portray a spine chilling atmosphere. As soon as the song begins the shot cuts away from the surreal clips of the rotation corpse heads, the two main characters are introduced, the first, a young woman lying in bed in an extravagant room, the second a beastly looking man. Parallel editing is used to show the juxtaposition of the two characters. The girl is introduced laying in bed, connoting her innocence, where as the beast is presented as prisoned, which could connote his danger towards the young woman.
The male character is dress in all black, which conveys the male character as mysterious and evil, he is shown stepping out of a grand sports car, which can also connote the characters wealth and importance. Mid shots are used to present the male characters features to present his beastly like appearance, for example, long nails, fangs, acicular ears and dark features, the audience can instantly recognise that the character is representing a modern day version of the fairy tale, "beauty and the beast".
The two characters through out the music video are shown as polar opposites. The young girl is dressed in colours such as white and yellow, to indicate innocence and purity. Her child like braids and other hair styles suggest her youth and freshness. Her costumes and hair styles change frequently in the duration of the video, where as the beast stays in one outfit which would imply his rigorous   characteristics. However towards the end of the video, a tracking shot is used to present the change of character, as she is seen wearing a black leather jacket with black boots, which connotes the story of how the beast has influenced her, and a loss of innocence.
The cinematic frame of the music video, gives the impression that the music video portrays a story / plot to the music video. The lighting used in the music video gives a soft pastel tone to the video, connoting a fairytale scenery. The pink and orange tones connote a romantic element to the music video, reflecting the relationship between the two main characters. in moments where the beast character is featured dark shadow like lighting is included to connote a cynical atmosphere. Through out the music video mid shots are used to show the two characters together in one frame, which presents the intimate relationships between the two characters, the audience become aware of the relationship between them, so the video is easier to understand.
Intertextual references of the video include the cinematic scene when both characters are watching the screen, this relates to Andrew Goodwin's theory of intertextuality. Treatment of the female body in this video is not evident, although the female is scene as a sexual desirable object to the male character. The female character is scene wearing limited amounts of clothing in a duration of the music video, whilst the male character is seen a fully clothed permanently through out the whole of the video.
Levi Strauss theory of Binary opposites comes into place when studying this music video. The binary opposite of the female charcater and the male character replicate a beauty and the beast like tale and a dracula tale. the Binary opposite is evident when looking into the media field, binary oppositions are used frequently in films, especially in the horror genre. Many horror films include sets of binary oppositions in their plots. Particularly in this music video, we see a human and supernatural, bad and ugly oppositions.

DRENGE / BACKWATERS

Drenge are an English two-piece alternative rock band, based in Castleton, Derbyshire, based in Sheffield. Originally released in May, 2013 on Infectious Records, ‘Backwaters’ serves as the second single released from the Drenge’s self-titled debut album. The song's lyrics are violent, dark and graphic, 'Sun's so hot that meat cooks in the shade', suggesting gross like images, which will appeal to a certain genre, of young rebellious teenagers. The loud guitar and drums of the song suggests violence and aggression, again appealing to a target audience of young juvenile teens. The repetitive shifting rhythm feels similar to being young  and bored, the restlessness and relentless need for excitement. A dissatisfaction with society and the dull routine of life, that can lead to destruction if only to try to rebuild something more satisfying or beautiful. The music video its self demonstrates genre characteristics, introducing certain characters similar to the bands target audience.
The lyrics are mostly pointless and serve no narrative, like the song itself, the music video reflects the feeling of anger and aggression in the lyrics of the song, whilst also linking to the aggression of the music.
The video features one actor and two actresses, with appearances from the band members. The video reflects deviance in society and how the younger generation are typically portrayed through the media. The video begins with a crane shot to denote the location of the music video, the shot includes tall trees and a grey sky to connote a gloomy atmosphere. As the camera panned down the audience are introduced to a young male, who is shown wearing stereotypical clothing, such as a band tshirt and tracksuit bottoms. This connotes a stereotypical view of teens in todays society. The music video is edited in slow motion to add a dramatic affect. The slow paced video creates suspense and hyperbolize the narrative of the video. Establishing shots are used to show the location of the video, in which case the video proposes a rural suburb area, suggesting a sense of familiarity and realism. The two actresses are seen waiting at a bus stop in grunge like clothing, which connotes their youth, dark clothing colours such as dark red/purple/black implies a lack of innocence, and delinquency. A close up shot is used to focus on props such as the bottle of vodka which plays a big part in the video, implying 'underage drinking', emphasising the rebelish attitude of the characters. At times, the video cuts away to shots of 3 young girls between the ages of 6-9, dancing in slow-motion at a tennis court, presenting a contrast between the older teens against the younger infants. The younger infants are seen wearing youthful clothing, the colours pink and light blue present a sense of innocence and purity, in contrast to the grunge, played back clothing of the teens. The use of a cutaway shot is effective as it presents a clear contrast to the audience. The audience of the band is niche, and would usually appeal to a grunge like subculture.
As the chorus progresses and the music comes to a climax, the video cuts to a clip of the band members driving a car recklessly on a field. Multiple long shots and establishing shots are used to show the quiet and tranquil rural location, whilst juxtaposed against the black car circling in the field. In the next shots, the three characters are seen in the car, as opposed from the band members. This suggests how the two narratives are linked, however at the same time secluded from each other. the band members are never seen in the same shot with the characters, presenting a clear divide, in the narrative. Midcoast and close up shots show how the band members are dressed in grunge like clothing, reflecting their genre and star image. The way the band members act and present themselves appeals to a niche target audience, of young rebelling teens. The band embers are shown rebelling, whilst trashing the black car. Slow motion is used to exaggerate the shots, creating a dramatic effect to the audience. Almost all of the shots are edited into slow motion, to create a dramatic and thrilling affect to the audience. The audience becomes more focused on what is happening in the narrative of the video.
The video presents the power of the two females as they attack the male character towards the end of the video. The ending scenes are filmed at night, non artificial lighting of the fire contributes to the thrilling scenes of violence to connote a dramatic effect. As the music progresses into a more violent tone, the use of hand held camera movement and increased temp of the video reflects the climax of the song. The rapid shot changes connote an uneasy atmosphere, emphasising the brutality of the fight. The music video ends with a close up of the lead female. The dark dim like lighting presents ferocity and power of the female. The close up shot emphasises how the intense eye contact, which causes a disturbed picture.