Analysis of chosen music video

The video is 4 minutes long, at which the narrative starts straight away with Lily Allen in a record shop called 'tough grade' which infact the real shop is called 'rough trade' this immediately shows that Lily's is living in a reality world, she also has her music playing in the background of the shop, promoting her music. At 42 seconds the music starts, and everything down the street Lily is walking down is colourful, the audience then realise that once Lily has walked past everything, they turn to black and white and no longer become part of her reality world.
Things in the street such as sweets turns into a cigarette. The idiology of this video is to prove a point that not everything is what people seem and that people have different perceptions of things.
The lyrics in this song connote things that happen in real life, and that things arent always what they seem.
Lily Allen was an alternative artist, but appealed to many teenage girls, especially with her fashion style, that consisted of dresses, chavvy jewellry and trainers.
The cinematography used in the video, represent Lily Allen as strong and independant, much like her music. Many tracking shots and medium close ups, as she looks into the camera, shows she own the video, the camera also focuses on Lily's earrings and trainers to signify that they are what make her an icon. There are also many shots of the objects Lily is basically talking about such as money, sweets and cigarettes. The video has a narrative, which means there is continuity edtiting used, you can also see the effect of the bright colours fading as soon as Lily walks past anything.

synopsis

Using a split screen to show the same character on both sides, one side is going to be a reality world, and the other is going to be the real world, every scene both sides are going to be in the same setting, but different things are going to happen, such as the character may be wearing different clothing, using different props etc, at the end of the video, we are going to lose the split screen where she is still in a reality world until she comes close to the camera and when i zoom out shes back in the real world.

analysis on 3 videos related to my genre

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1) Kate Nash - Foundations, the video is a mix of performance and narrative. The objects shown and the way she reacts to her boyfriend linking with the lyrics, show that they are falling apart and she doesn’t want him anymore. The video shows, the couples appliances representing their relationship, such as their watches and toothbrushes separating from each other, when the couple are playing cards, the game represents their relationship is a bit of a joke, and that they are playing games with eachother, the shot shows their feet, in which the man puts his feet near hers and she moves hers away, the table is seperating their feet, again we see all the bottles on the table, which are all empty, this represents his personality, showing he is very masculine, she puts a flower in one of the bottles, which shows she's making it more feminine again showing she is the most dominant in the relationship, when the two are holding hands, the light is only on one persons hands, connoting that the other hand could be seen as non existant to the partner.The lyrics "everytime we fight, I know it’s not right" we see the couples feet, hitting eachother. The ideology of the song is the fact that the relationship is ending, the man is trying to win her back, but she doesn’t care, connoting she is the strong one in the relationship, which also represents the fact she is an independent artist, she also looks at the camera a lot which connotes dominance and power. The actors in the video are wearing vintage clothes the artist would target a niche audience, who like Kate Nash, the house looks kind of retro also giving that feel, it’s a contemporary way of living, I shows that she likes unique things, which is represented in her songs. The video uses many close up shots to show the singers emotion, and also many shot reverse shot patterns to make it look like the lyrics are being said to her boyfriend in the video. Point of view shots are used to show the things she is looking at which represent their relationship. The video makes use of intercut editing making use of animation scenes, and doing domestic things, the use of straight cuts to again symbolise their relationship, its boring and not mushy, and the jump cuts makes the scenes more interesting. This song foundations was her first single from her album Made of Bricks in 2007. The artist herself is 24 years of age, but this year she hasn’t been doing much music, which could prove that most female indie/pop artists don’t last for long for example or aren’t very popular (Lily Allen and Gabriella Cilmi) I wouldn’t say that the artist is famous globally, because she is an independent
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2) Mumford & Sons - The Cave, part performance and part narrative, but what’s interesting is that the band get other people to play the music and sing while they ride around on Vespa’s which could connote their personality as Vespa’s are seen as retro and cool they aren’t wearing helmets which connotes the fact they aren’t in England, the vespa’s connote European transport, and because the band aren’t trying to break boundaries, they are bringing back old retro alternative music, but the fact that the other people are playing their instruments and sing means they don’t want to be seen as celebrities. The video makes use of tracking shots where they are riding around, and establishing shots, the video kind of reminds me of the film 'El Mariachi' in which the main character carries a gun in his guitar case. They also dress very alternative wearing linen suits which can represent the location the video is set in which I think is Mexico. The setting also connoted their style of genre, because they're in a rural area. They're narrative is separate to the lyrical content. The band members are wearing suites, but what’s interesting is that one is wearing a black suite and the rest are wearing white which could mean that he is more important than the others. To me I think the cave represents the singer’s heart. The camera angles in the video are iconic to the song; there are many long shots to establish the setting. Cinema production values, cinematic scale with the broad horizon cinema scale. Quite different to most music video’s because there is no acknowledgement of them looking at the camera in early scenes of the video. Inspiration from Godley and Crème – Cry music video in which they get random people who aren’t in the band to sing the lyrics which they do in this video with the Mexican men. They use much shallow depth of field shots using the main singer in focus and the rest of the band blurred, which is again used in cinema, this is when the lead singer then acknowledges the audience. The sun burning into the camera is an interpretation of the lyrics ”the sun it rises slowly as you walk”, the editing is very slow paced, and the camera uses pull focus to make it seem dream like. The video does not make use of continuity editing, but the song implies continuity, when the middle 8 of the song starts, the editing becomes fast paced, and the camera becomes handheld, and the shots are getting closer, having extreme close-ups on the sudo performers, at the end of the song it gets very energetic, as the lead singer accelerates out of shot. The end scene is shot when the sun sets, which is delilberate. 

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3) Florence & The Machine - Dog Days Are Over, elements of performance and narrative, the idea that the people in the woods are playing hide and seek, with Florence welsh, as the lyrics say " the horses are coming so you better run, run fast for your mother and fast for father" they want her to become one of them, as she is trying to escape. She then becomes part of their tribe, and suddenly feels like she belongs which link with the lyrics "leave all you’re loving, you loving behind, you can’t carry it with you if you want to survive". The ideology of this video connotes the similarisation of pre-Raphaelite paintings, with the iconography of the pale skin, orban hair, with that romantic myth feel, which is very inspirational especially towards Florence Welsh and also Kylie Minogue in her video 'Where the Wild Roses Grow'.  This also shows the fact that Florence doesn’t care about individuality, which proves that she is a niche artist.  The idea of purity, with the white clothes clashing with the bright bold primary colours clash to show they are having fun. Florence is wearing a man's suite connoting she is strong, but then when she gets caught, she wears a dress, with many different colours connoting a hippy vibe, as they are all dancing with flags, which could be seen like Morris dancing. There are many tracking shots used to show the singer running away and medium close ups of her and the people chasing her to show their emotion.

All of these songs are alternative, the same as the artist i have chosen (Lily Allen) to base my music video on. The conventions of music videos considering indie music, is usually a mix of performance and narrative, but i would say more narrative. Sometimes they use animation, as that is very unique.

History of music video

History of Music Video

The first type of videos made were in the 1930’s, but only then were they seen on jukebox’s for peoples entertainment, they were also in black and white, and never contained dialogue. Again in the 40’s and 50’s videos were more like short films, its only in the early 60’s when pop music started, but even then major artists such as Elvis Presley, Bill Haley and Cliff Richard played narrative roles in films, performing theme songs, which promoted them.

Fans of these artists could only see the films they starred in at the cinema as TV’s didn’t show films because there were only 2 channels which both belonged to the BBC. This was the same for radio, radio stations were not popular back then, and so people used pirate radio stations on boats, for example the Sex Pistols had to play their song ‘God Save The Queen’ on pirate radio station’s as it was banned from being played anywhere else because it was  seen offensive and politically incorrect. In 1976 Radio 1 started and is now seen as one of the country’s most popular radio station.

Most pop stars in the 60’s and 70’s were manufactured, and they didn’t write their own material, this still remains to this day. But then music changed by the likes of Bob Dylan and The Beatles. In 1965 ‘Don’t look back’ by Bob Dylan was considered the very first music video, and although he never sang or even lip synced in the video, it was unique, because he challenged authority and he wanted people to think about his lyrics, which he wrote.

The 60’s introduced the world to very talented artists such as Stevie Wonder, who could not only play the piano and harmonica, he was also blind. When he was just 12 he achieved his first million hits. At the beginning of the 70’s music videos were becoming more popular, such as David Bowie with Space Oddity. The cinematography contained many pans and zooms and the editing was very fast paced to connote craziness and fun. Again with ABBA and their song – Take a Chance On Me, they just stood in front of a plain white background and edited some of the shots out of focus to connote romance. There was more music on TV now such as shows like ‘Top Of The Pops’ and ‘Old Grey Whistle Test’ as serious musicians needed to prove they could really sing.

It was in 1975 when Queen spent 9 weeks at number 1 with Bohemian Rhapsody, they spent £5,000 on the video which was very expensive back then. The video has elements of performance, with lighting and dry ice; it was less boring to watch than any other video.

In 1981 the channel MTV started, which unlike the BBC was broadcast globally, so everyone around the world could watch the latest music videos, which were usually played on a loop, every 2 hours.

At this point, the video was as/more important than the song. In 1982 Wham made a video for Club Tropicana, and it was unique because the video had a narrative. They make use of voyeurism, as the audience enjoy watching them, they are offering us a lifestyle. In the 80’s there was a conspicuous consumption that everyone was supposed to be wealthy and enjoying life.

 It was in 1986 when music video was taken to a whole new level with Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer, where the video is made out of thousands of pictures which are put together to make it look like he’s singing. He uses an animation interpretation of lyrics. By now it was all about who had the best video, up until the point where they spent millions.

In the late 90’s George Michael was arrested for “engaging in a lewd act” in public toilets in LA. Then in 1998 he released a song called ‘Outside’ in which he takes the mickey out of himself, referring to his own situation, turning the toilet into a disco. In the 80’s/90’s people were showing their sexuality more and so the barriers on music video’s got pushed further.

By this time music videos had meanings to them like The Beautiful South with Song For Whoever, which has a narrative but is separate to lyrical content, with aspects of performance which is self-reflexive. The video is also intertextual with the use of George Michael auditioning for the band, and the newspapers popping up at the end, as well as R.E.M. – Losing My Religion, which at the beginning shows a bottle on the window ledge representing the singers faith, the bottle then smashes on the floor connoting that him and most people don’t believe in god anymore. They are informing the audience that people now believe in something manmade, this video is very symbolic and makes use of iconography.

In 2006 Red Hot Chili Peppers released a video for their single Dani California, where they are basically performing but imitating other rock bands through the era’s such as Elvis, The Beatles, Sex Pistols and Nirvana, and then become themselves, showing they are the next best thing. And in 2010 the very unique rock band 30 Seconds To Mars released a video for Kings and Queens, which was highly relatable to the song, as they get many people involved in the video who have different beliefs, from different cultures coming together riding their bikes, as one man gets ran over, the idea of the horse running towards him (symbolising his beliefs) to save him.

Many songs these days aren’t as unique as they were in the 80’s/90’s because, they are very popular now and so no ideas are new to the audience, which means nearly all videos are the same, and like the beginning of music video, they are starting to lose their narrative, its usually more about performance again.

Targeted audience

As Lily Allen is individual, but also slightly mainstream. My target audience will be 15 to 25, males and female with an SEG of E-C2. Because her songs target individual and mainstream audience's i am aiming to do the same with mine.

music video for featured song

Music Video Idea

The song I have chosen is Lily Allen - LDN because i think the video is very unique and the lyrics work well the style of video. Its not all about the performance, its more about the narrative.
In the song, Lily says "When you look with your eyes, everything seems nice, but if you look twice you can see its all lies" and basically everything she see's going on around her is happy and colourful then when she walks past it, everything turns bad and goes into black and white.

Obviously i cant do that in my video, but i want to use certain aspects, I want to make the video, look like a split screen, so that the audience see double of the character, in a world that is a fantasy for her, and the real world and also want her to jump infront of the camera, then when she jumps back the setting has changed.

Music Video Brief

Music Video

A production package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options.

a website homepage for the band
a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package)
a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package)