Video Analysis Four - Sandhya Gulsin

This is Sandhyas analysis of the song by Kings of Leon: Use Somebody.

Video Analysis Three - Sandhya Gulsin

Video Analysis

Metronomy- Thing for me


My video analysis addresses the indie element of indie/rock. This video is also a personal favourite, so my analysis will refer to how the video successfully attracted me in being a member of the target audience.

Location- The video itself is the perfect contrast between the real word vs. imagination. The locations are a continuation of enclosed room and outside space in which suggest an adventure, but the props used within the scenes help manipulate the location into something extra-ordinary.

Artist portrayal- The Artists open the song in presenting themselves out of their normal nature. their characteristics are exaggerating in much more of an effeminate manner. This alongside their dress code can only be assumed to be done in order to compliment the song. The fluctuation of "random" outfits compliments the variations of scenes.

Props- In this video the power of props holds more than the power of mis-en-scene. Although the locations of scenes continue to fluctuate and progress, the power of the props make it evident to the viewer the "type" of location.

The Ball- Although this comes under the title "props" the use of the ball controls the progression of lyrics, the rhythm of the music, the movement of the people and most of all the outcome of the video.

People- In this video the power of people are almost in-humanised to suit the unusual nature of the video. To distinguish the band members they are shot in various scenes as a collective.

Lyrics- Unlike the trend of most music videos the use of written lyrics in a karaoke type format is one of the main conventions in this music video.

Double vision- Although I have previously analysed projection, this video portrays projection in almost a comic strip format.

Editing- The high frequency of cuts from shot to shot may feel to extreme and uneasy on the eye, so the use of flow and continuation is essential.



Elements of creativity- I feel the layout of the video in general consists of a variety of creative elements mainly the use of text. I felt editing played an important role not only to this video but to all music videos.

This video is a manipulated version of the original, I analysed it thoroughly and explained my thoughts as the video un-winded. Throughout the video there are grayscale scenes, these I did intentionally in order to depict powerful elements of the film.

what is the benefit of the artists portrayal in this video?- The quirky feel to the video was intentional as unique presentation and an inventive perception will always attract attention. This has inspired me to attempt to experiment and develop initial ideas even if I doubt its outcome. A negative factor would be that the audience is of a indie/rock genre whereas this video has a strong focus on indie. Also my perception of this video may be miss-understood and to scattered to other members of the niche market.


Overall meaning
After taking into consideration all of my analysis I felt more able to discover a meaning to the song. I felt the video encourages a lack of seriousness supported by the lyrics in suggesting the first attraction between companions in which they "like" each other in more than a friendly manner but not as intense as a relationship. As the lyrics unwind the line "You've got my heart you know" addresses the element of love and how one person cares more than the other. Although the lyrics express emotions the beat of the song and the humour in the video personifies this and almost alienates the situation from reality.



I felt my analysis was to basic, I created a presentation in order to develop on my initial points addressed in my previous video analysis.

Video Analysis Two

Song: Mr Brightside
Artist: The Killers
Album: Hot Fuss
Length: 3:48
Genre: Indie Rock
Live Set Location: Theater

Overall:
The video fades from black and hits a ride cymbal before the music starts. The video then pans

around the main characters involved, the girl, the man and Brandon the lead singer. Then as the lead singer begins to sing it cuts to a wide angled shot of the band with Brandon looking very dejected and wandering in the middle of the stage. He makes hand gestures which suggests that hes picked himself up. It then cuts, using shot reverse shot, between Brandon looking at the girl and her looking back which suggests there could be something going on. Then it gets interesting when another man throws the girl an apple, see GIF.

I'm not sure what the apple signifies but he then points at her as if to say "You owe me" The camera then cuts to the lead singers face who by now is looking at the man.The lyrics fit into the video very well, "it was only a kiss, it was only a kiss". The Girl then walks off with another man who we haven't been introduced to yet via a tracking shot. The video continues like that for a little while with her going off with different men as the song gets towards the chorus, most of the shots used are hand held. Something else that is rare in a music video is some of the shots they use during the chorus. Although most dont have a crowd/dancers they have a shot from their view of the band performing. Just before the chorus

she goes round the back of the stage with the lead singer and the other man peaks
round and sees. Once again the lyrics fit the video very well, "Jealousy, turning saints into the sea" during the chorus the women dance while the men just watch very much in the style of Moulin Rouge. The video pretty much continues as such from there on as the two men fight over this, to be blunt, whore. The battle continues between the two and the final shot is off Brandon and the girl and he just walks away towards the camera leaving her all alone. This shot is very effective and decisive. I personally like the shot before, which is the end of the live performance where Brandon makes some sort of defining motion, it really stands out for me, Timing 3:34 in the video.
The video has a very clear very suited theme to it making it very likable and the lyrics fit the actions in the video perfectly making it very successful.

Was there a clear story?
The video was done in the style it was because all of the band members are fans of Moulin Rouge. There is an extremely clear story of a battle for the whore angel in the video between the lead singer, Brandon Flowers and the other man. It depicts the paranoia and jealousy of a man who suspects he is being cheated on.


The lyrics also follow the actions of the lead singer and the narrative part of the performance quite closely, which I think is a massive factor.

Overall Opinion:
My opinion is that it is one of the best videos I have seen. Its extremely interesting and keeps the viewer engaged. The story is very clever and fits the video perfectly which makes it even better. The style makes it different and that's something that is difficult to find in a music video nowadays.

Lighting:
The lighting throughout is without a doubt artificial as they are always inside. The stage is lighted as a stage would but without flashing lights. The dance floor is also lighted very professionally. There are no flashing lights in this video which i think would suit the style of song very well.

Clothing:
The clothing was styled upon the style of Moulin Rouge. The band are all dressed up in extremely smart suits with a hint of jazz to the look to make them stand out. The rest are dressed up emphatically and majorly over the top but it works with the style of the video.


Editing:
The editing is characterized by the use of cut transitions. It also fades from black at the beginning of the video, and at the end. The editing speed also depends on the part of the song, for example, speeds up at the chorus and slows down towards the end. 

Behind the Scenes:
The video i am analyzing is the second more expensive video The Killers made for Mr Brightside, The band created an emergency English video and then a year later created a more expensive video suited more to America. The video was filmed over a series of a couple of days.They had a massive crew and massive set and a lot of actors they could use.

Video Analysis One

Song Name: Backseat Serenade
Artist: All Time Low
Album: Don't Panic
Length: 03:23
Genre: Pop Punk
Live set Location: Arcade

Overal:
The Video begins instantly with an out of focus shot of a bedroom with an animal costume hanging up and the lead singer coming into the shot from the right as if he has just woke up. He then looks towards the costume hinting that it may be of some importance in the video. There is then a cut scene
to an arcade, which turns out to be the location of the live performance and the animal costumes the side story. The way the Lead singer appears to sing when outside of the live performance is very casual as if hes just singing to himself like any normal person would in the morning. It then cuts out to a few other people putting on animal costumes. At 0:21 it switches to a live energetic and passionate performance which is the main convention of a rock genre music video.
The setting is in an arcade with the lighting set up incredibly well to very good effect. This pattern of cutting between the live performance and the band members in animal costumes continues for the rest of the start of the video. There are many close ups of the lead singer signifying his importance in the band. There are also many wide angle shots of the whole band, this is mainly to get them all in once shot. A lot of the cut scene shots incorporate some sort of childish humor which reflects the band extremely well, GIF below, the GIF is an example of a shot reverse shot to show two peoples acknowledgement of each other. Towards the end of the video the main band members that wore the costumes appear inside a "whack a mole" game inside the arcade, With the lead singer still singing. And then to finish off the video they cut between the band playing live normally as they have been throughout

the video to the band in their animal costumes playing their instruments. It ends conclusively when the lead singer takes off the costume and gets into bed signifying the end of a "typical day at the office". In the live performance they aren't very creative with the different shots they use, they tend to use the same techniques and shots again and again, close ups and mid shots of the members separately.. I have only noticed this after watching it a good 4/5 times.

Was there a clear story behind the video?
The story behind this video is just imagination. What if the targets you have to hit in a "Whack a mole" game actually had to go to work. If they lived a normal life. Went to work in their uniform, ate in their uniform. They then clocked in and went to work getting hit on the head. Then at the end of the day they just go home as if it is a normal thing.   

Overal opinion:
My opinion on this video is that its very creative and imaginative and the video has been carried out impeccably. The bands personalities really show out throughout the video and the way that silent humor has been sneaked into the video has a great effect. The live performance is very passionate and undoubtedly real. I think its a brilliant music video, fun and enjoyable to watch as well as an incredible song.

Lighting:
The lighting of the live performance is very clever. There appears to be some sort of LED spotlights scattered around behind the band. These create a line effect across the screen when they hit the camera directly (as seen in image above). Other than them the only other light is the light from the arcade machines and any set lighting the crew creating the video have introduced that isn't visible. But the fact they haven't used massive lights making the video all bright has had a good effect. The dark scene with spotlights and random other colours from the arcade makes the performance look amazing.  

Clothing:

The obvious thing to put under clothing would be animal costumes which included: a dog, a cat, a dinosaur, a racoon, a fish, an octopus/squid, and a rabbit. But the clothes that the band wear in the
main performance are very hipster and all dark coloured, mainly black. This is because all of their instruments are white and so they have a good aesthetic effect.

Editing:
The editing is defiantly characterized by cut transitions which switch between the live performance and the short story on the side. These cuts create short takes and also some long takes, but overall the editing is edited to the music.

Behind the Scenes:
When you watch behind the scenes of the video you can see a sneak peaks of how the crew created the video with exception to the random inappropriate behavior from the band. You can see that it is actually a lot lighter than it is shown in the video so some sort of effect has been added there. Also when the do the "Whack a mole" the parts where the characters pop up are covered in brightly colours plasticine. They also use multiple cameras on set.