GC: Auteur analysis/Mainstream and sexist videos analysis

Modestep - Another Day (Ft. Popeska) (xKore Remix), 2012

·        Interesting narrative, makes the audience want to continue watching

·        Use of slow motion highlights key turning points in the narrative such as the milshake being thrown

·        Audience follows the transformation of the character throughout the video

·        Ends with shots of the band which is unusual for videos that mainly have a storyline using actors. Very unconventional, but would be a good way to intergrate both a narrative and performance style video for our own production. This was done in order to help construct the star image

·        Video and audio sync well at the right places to create points of interest for the audience

Daito Manabe

Nosaj Thing – Eclipse/Blue, 2012

·        Visuals tie in perfectly with audio to make the track feel more alive for the audience

·        The whole video flows as one scene which emulates the calming style of the music

·        Unusual and different to a majority of other music videos as the camera is static and all done in one take which portrays the relaxed mood of the track

·        Creative use of light projection and graphics, profilmic effects such as this are easier than post production editing and look much better. Somnething to consider for our own production

·        Inventive use of projection screen to use another dancer to make a shadow, again profilmic effects like this might be a better option than time consuming post production editing for our video

Ian Robertson

Delta heavy –Get by, 2012

·        Stop motion which is unusual for a majority of music videos. Conveys a slightly more less-serious atmosphere to the audience. This ties in with the semiotics of the childrens toys to create an ironic atmosphere that the toys are getting destroyed. Semic codes like this make the audience keep watching to figure out the narrative.

·        Ending with record being held up to the camera is both unusual and well edited which is more difficult to replicate than editing it in after, but adds to the overall 'homemade' feel of the video

·        Video replicates the music – a bulk of the video is the toys creating sound waves but when the music changes to sound slightly darker, the video changes to emulate this by showing the toys getting destroyed. A good idea for our track choice would be to bear this in mind when planning a story around it

·        Background stays the same and only the toys move around making it look more realistic. This is something the group would want to avoid unless we decide to use a stop motion video as it could get boring after a while

·        All the elements seen in the video (the toys) come together to create something (the record) at the end which is a good idea for our music video - something at the end which incorporates elements throughout the video to clarify the overall message behind the video.

Traktor

Fatboy Slim – Ya Mama, 2001

·        Music stops and starts in line with cassette. This means the cassette is a signifier of the track and could be further exploited in digipacks or adverts for the track, which is good to bear in mind for our own.

·        ‘Infection’ type dance associated with the music, a good idea for up beat dance tracks but something to avoid for slower more calming songs.

·        Video and music in sync when needed to help audience link the track with a happy mood and dancing which could be useful when trying to market the track.

·        Slower cutting rate despite fast paced music to allow audience to see dancing - a risky stratergy if we were to emulate this.

·        Incorporates a narrative as well as a dance sequence to the video, again unconventional but a good way to incorporate both syles into one

Ben Newman

DJ Fresh – Louder, 2011

·        More cinematic than most videos, with cinematic techniques like lens flare, wide lens shots, and focus play. Along with a more 'hollywood' location to emphasize the good mood of the song

·        Slow motion used to create rhythm by incorporating it seemlessly into the middle of shots rather than having a whole seperate shot

·        High cutting rate to tie in with the fast pace and up beat move. Very conventional to the D&B genre

·        No real storyline, but no shots of the DJ either, this keeps the focus on the feel good factor of the song

·        Matched cuts and no slow motion used towards the end when the tempo of the song gets much faster to highlight this change of pace and make the track feel more interesting for the audience

Mainstream videos

Sam Brown

Foo fighters – The pretender, 2009

·        Mainly a performance video but incorporates a small narrative to keep the video interesting

·        The lead singer breaks the fourth wall which immediately positions the audience on his side. However, the rest of the band or the riot police do not break the fourth wall which keeps attention focused on the singer

·        Unusual camera work, such as whip pans and oddly angled shots, with a high cutting rate and lots of camera movement to keep the scene looking alive when it’s just a band playing in an aircraft hangar.

·        Unexpected ending, unlike most music videos which are predictable, but the visuals still work well even with red paint spraying everywhere.

·        The clean and shiny location suggests that the band are very modern, this is a symbolic code which contrasts the band's clean, modern approach with the rougher idea of them up against the riot police. This helps with creating the band's star image as modern etc.

Mickey Finnegan

LMFAO – Sorry for party rocking, 2012

·        Prequel to Party rock anthem, three songs are linked together through the videos in all of which the star image is constructed further by mise en scene and dance

·        Narrative extended before the video, not really continued during the video.. Giving a good mixture of performance and narrative. This technique would be good for our video as it could help convey a narrative across to the audience a lot easier

·        Frequent shots of both the artists around the young actors/dancers helps create the star image  suggesting they are 'down with the kids' so to speak as a lot of young people are in the video. This seems to be the main aim of the video

·        Bright colours used in the costumes, location, and lighting reflect the upbeat mood of the song

·        Unique costume design to the artist, video used to promote it and create a star image of both artists

Natasha Pincus

Gotye – Somebody that I used to know, 2011

·        Camera stays pretty much the same to reflect the slow pace and dejected lyrics of tthe song

·        Performance rather than a narrative which makes the audince realise he is telling the story in the lyrics from a personal experience rather than for the sake of making a song

·        Sings straight into the camera, breaking th fourth wall to address his audience personally and construct his star image as a person rather than a commodity. This ties in with the fact he is trying to tell his story to the viewer

·        Uses stop motion rather than post production editing effects because it looks much more realistic. Also the quirkiness of the glockenspiel in the track matches the odd transition to stop motion and random shapes appearing on his body and the wall behind him. This would be a technique to consider for our own production with any unusual sounds during the track

·        No narrative, filmed in one spot with a white screen and little camera variation to help keep the audience focused on the lyrics and the artist

Sexist Video

Marcus Adams

Fedde Le Grand - Put Your Hands Up For Detroit, 2007

·       The camera shows only close ups of women, (dismemberment)

·        Nurse costumes convey iconocraphy, the view that women are meant to look sexy or cute in uniform

·        Women touch themselves provocatively (feminine touch)

·        Licenced withdrawal is present as women are robots

·        Function ranking is present as we see the women help the man which is stereotypical of a woman looking after a man when he comes home from a long day at work

• In conclusion, it appears less mainstream videos are seen more as art than a promotion tool, and usually involve a narrative with less focus on the artists, in comparison to mainstream videos which use music videos as a form of advertising or to build up a star image, hence the focus on performance based videos and breaking of the fourth wall.