Music video analysis;

Weezer- Pork and beans

Pork and beans is a true to life parody of YouTube fame. It is a performance based video which consists of continues edits throughout the video.
The video begins with an opening shot of the screen split into four, each quarter is filled with one of the band members playing there instrument. This edit is used to introduce the audience to the band immediately which almost welcomes the audience to the music video. This is followed by the top right quarter forming the loading swirl which is used on YouTube, this loading swirl is used to move into the next shot of the first famous YouTube character ‘numa numa guy’ who is famous for the parody dance of the ‘the numa numa song’. The video then cuts straight back to the member of the band in the top right corner. Next CGI is used when the 4shot frame cuts to the shot of the prairie dog which has the lead member of the bands face superimposed onto the dogs face. This is used to give a comedy effect on the video. This is used to define the target audience. The main target audience for the video is an age range between 13-18. Particularly for boys as it’s quite a silly and immature sense of humour for the video. I think this is quite interesting because weezer is normally for a slightly older audience which means by targeting a younger audience they are broadening their audience. The video then straight cuts to the lead member of the band on YouTube. This is used to show that he does enjoy watching the video's on YouTube which even though it is a parody of the famous YouTube acts he does actually respect the YouTube community. This correlates with competition which was held within YouTube which contributed to writing the whole song. The competition ran by lead singer of Weezer allowed YouTube users to submit their own ideas and lyrics for the song.
Next is the scene with the mentos experiment which is very famous on YouTube. The scene is connected by the throwing of safety glasses onto the next shot. This is an animation shot which is appropriate to the video as it helps to target that younger audience this relates to the lyrics “you’d hate for the kids to think that you’d lost your cool”. The shot then straight cuts to the chorus section within the video which is back to the science experiment. The mise en scene of the laboratory outfits helps to create the random sense of YouTube, the band and to the video. Whilst the band are in the previously executed outfits with the cascading cola of the several mentos experiments going on during the chorus on the bands stage. This helps to create a mad sense which livens up the video. Mid chorus a cut is make to a member of the band wearing a changing 155 T-shirts ranging S-XXXL which is edited by stop motion video capture. The T-Shirts gained 100 pounds and took 4 hours to shoot. This is very effective and is repeated throughout the video. At the end of the video there is a collaboration of everyone involved with a lot of random other objects, a space ship is used in the end of the video I think this basically shows exactly what this video is all about; the future. At the end of the video the fountains stop and which is a good ending because it brings all of the random events to a close.



The Killers-Bones

Bones is a very unusual and unique music video by The Killers directed by Tim Burton. The camerawork used in Bones is fairly conventional of indie style genre videos with medium shots of the band and close-ups of the lead vocalist and the band members playing their instruments. Another interesting shot which is used throughout the video is a low angle shot of lead vocalist to give him a sense of power and domination within the band. With predominantly medium shots and close ups, the camera position is fairly straightforward, other uses are the establishing shot to show the location of the video which is a drive-in theatre, the screen in which is also used in the narrative to provide additional footage. There are close-ups of the two main characters within the narrative to portray a sense of intimacy, which is further reinforced by multiple uses of the shot-reverse shot. These conventions which are used throughout the video are very well done and the use of establishing the area and using two main characters within the performance is very inspiring for my music video, it has shown me by focusing in and creating a clear storyline, the overall video will be better.
The editing throughout the video was done in the simplistic and conventional form of a fast cut montage of various images and scenes in order to build up a running narrative. The editing is in time with the music which creates the professional effect. To show this effect, the editing also ensures that the lyrics and narrative are in juxtaposition with each other all throughout the song and example of this is the lyrics “don’t you wanna feel my bones” which are sang by the lead whilst in the narrative shot the scene shows the girl taking off her wig to reveal her whole skeleton. Another key feature of the style of editing was that it continuously cut back to the band with the narrative continuing in the background as to not alienate the viewers or fans from either the band’s performance or the abstract narrative and its features and images. This creates an unusual arty effect throughout the performance and helps keeps the audience interested and involved. Overall I think the video is interesting and unique and has a lot of strong shots and images throughout and really creates a more rock image for the band which appeals to a wider target audience.

Foo Fighters – The Pretender

The Pretender video directed by Sam Brown shows the Foo Fighters performing the song in an ice hockey rink, lit by strong strip lights on the ceiling. The ice rink is the only location in the whole video, and it is very interestingly laid out. It is a very simple set, featuring the band on one end of it, with a very large solid glossy red screen above and behind them throughout the video. I like the use of one location as it gives a simplistic and natural effect to the video. Also, opposite the band on the other side of the set is stood what appears to be a riot police officer standing behind a black line on the floor. Due to the set’s simplicity and general emptiness, we are made to wonder what the massive red screen is doing there, and if it has a purpose. As the video progresses, other similar officers who again stand in line along the black line on the floor facing the band, looking intimidating, join the single police officer. The video seems to build up to a bridge just before their last chorus, where there is a very quiet and light music part, and the officers then start running and charge at the band in slow motion, and just as they get closer, the massive screen behind the band suddenly erupts a red water-like liquid jets shoot past and through the band and appears to overwhelm and throw the officers off guard. This of course coincides exactly as the band plays their last chorus, this time louder and angrier than before. It is clear that the guards were defeated as the song ends, and the front man slams his guitar on the floor and falls to his knees to what I assume is to represent the exhaustion after the battle.

The video is composed of mainly pans, zooms and tracking shots, and close ups of the front man since he is the best-known member of the band (having belonged to Nirvana). These are used to really market the main member of the band. The fact that the director isolated them in an empty ice rink makes the political lyrics stand out, as the singer shouts “What if I say I will never surrender” shows that the video is there to present a strong political message. The use of the black, white and red colour theme throughout really creates a strong bold image which I think stands out and looks great. I think using a strict colour scheme really creates structure within a video.

Paparazzi – Lady Gaga

Lady gaga is known for her crazy image and unusual performance base videos such as; poker face and just dance although this video is mainly narrative-based, as the lyrics reflect the narrative yet the full video is still about the promotion and this character ‘lady gaga’. Her usual videos are aimed at a 16-30 audience because her songs are catchy, dance and fun. The opening section is filled with many images with of flowers to create this happy romantic setting it then contrasts majorly with the story of Lady Gaga and her destructive relationship with her boyfriend he injures her in the be him at the beginning, resulting in her seeking revenge and killing him in the end. The final shots of the video shows her having her photo taken, mug-shot style, in jail; this is done after the song has ended. The narrative of the video creates an interesting effect, as when watched in full-length it is almost like watching a mini-movie.
This video contains a huge amount of unusual and interesting shots. The video begins like a movie which is already an unusual way to begin a music video considering the music doesn’t actually begin until 3 minutes into the video, as a small bit of acting takes place, setting the scene and mood for the rest of the video. Meaning the video is nearly 8 minutes long. By creating this old style movie shot she is starting to compare to other artists videos such as; Christina Agularia- Aint no other man. Shots from the point of view of a photographer, creating quick freeze-frames could be used to get different angles and perspectives of the scene. This is a very fun video to watch; also the dramatised style of it will make it more appealing and therefore more successful. Which reflects this big bold unusual character which is ‘lady gaga’ However; it is very long which could cause boredom easily especially if seen too many times. I feel that this has broadened Lady Gaga’s target audience, as the video and the song follow a more pop music style and have a more dramatic narrative, appealing to a younger audience rather than her usual clubber audience. I think this is one of the main targets within the video.

Paramore- Decode

The video of Paramore decode is based on the film twilight which allows Paramore to show a different side to the band than they have in previous videos. The video begins with an opening panning shot of the setting. This gives the audience an idea of the location of the video and the style of video it is going to be even before the music begins. There is then a sudden close up of the guitar which then cuts to a shot of the guitarist, there is then a cut to Hayley Williams (lead singer) this introduces the band and welcomes the viewer to the video. The shot is then cut to members of the twig light film to create and equal balance of Paramore and the twilight characters. Through the use of mise en scene within the woods and within the band members clothes and faces it creates and dark gloomy atmosphere which reflects the film well. Throughout the video there is continues straight cuts between the band members and the characters from the film. The band is set up in an open area in the forest surrounded by trees whilst the twilight characters act out short clips around them. A large range of camera angles is used throughout this video to really create an edgy and nervous feel. The use of many interesting edits between the trees and the band which is centered right in the middle of the forest creates a new style for Paramore which shows a rock side to the band which creates a much wider target audience. One of the main reasons for the video’s success is the success of the film twilight and the books. This allows twilight’s typical target audience to enjoy the music of Paramore which may not be there typical genre of music but it allows Paramore to be broadcasted throughout. The video for decode is one of my favorite music videos and I don’t even like the film twilight I think the edgy setting and the creative editing creates a really strong video and I love it.