Song title- The Hills
Artist- The Weeknd
The eerie tone of this song matches the moodiness/ darkness of the song, it is both a performance based and narrative based form of video. The camera uses a tracking shot to follow Abel Tesfaye as he ambles down the empty street just after surviving a car crash; he was dark black clothes and a gold chain, typical of a R&B style artist, he still has blood on his face. He ends up in a creepy mansion where he meets 3 mysterious woman, the video leaves you asking questions rather than gaining answers which captures the audience. At the end when he meets these woman there is a red overlay on the camera which could represent danger or excitement, there is something dangerous about the video. The artist simply walks away from the car and the woman which were involved in the crash, it could represent the tainted lifestyle of fame; he crashed an expensive car and put two women's life's at risk yet he just walks away. At the beginning of the video there is cross cuts to different angles of the car crash with blackouts in-between each cut, the beat at the start hits when the camera switches which shows a relationship between sound and images. There is also this connection through the performance side of the video, Abel walks down the street singing; the lyrics match to when his mouth moves. What's also typical of this R&B, hip-hop style music video is the objectification of woman. The women in the car at the beginning are in little clothing, also the women in the end are again wearing little and are laying provocatively. This attracts a certain type of audience, typically male. The whole video is quite trippy and dark, typical of The Weeknd's music. "I only call you when it's half past five
The only time that I'll be by your side." The lyrics reflect again this dark side to the music, it talks about the lack of care he has for everything, and will only do things when it suits him- his life is a bit of a car crash waiting to happen.
Video Number 2:
Song title- Islands
Artist- The XX
The XX's music genre is an alternative style of Indie/Dream Pop, similarly to The Weeknd their music is quite trippy and has a dark sense too it. It follows the typical conventions of it's genre music videos through the use of performance, however it subverts in the fact that the band members have no instruments. The video is a compilation of the same scene over and over, however it slightly changes towards the end as the dancer begin to leave the scene. It is a hybrid video as it includes aspects of all 3; concept, narrative and performance, video styles. It's concept is the fact it continuously repeats itself, the narrative is how towards the ending the characters evolve, and the performance aspect is at the centre of the action is Jamie XX, Romy and Oliver (the band) who are sitting on the sofa and singing. The band moves around slightly as the dancers begin to leave, I did not notice the band the first time I watched the video, it is an interesting and thought provoking video. I believe it's a song about a person who doesn't have to look or search as they've found the person their looking for, they remain stationary in life. This stationary feel is reflected in the repetitive style of video, life is boring if you stick with something you don't truly desire. The lyrics also the same thing over and over, "I am yours now." At the end it says "so now I'll never explore", again it eludes to this idea that staying with something you're not fully into just holds you back. The beat also matches the dance moves. The scene starts with a close up shot of a male and female dancer kissing, they are then pulled away by other dancers; the camera moves backwards to capture the whole room dancing. It zooms out to distance itself, at the furthest point the scene blacks out and it then repeats itself. As the video unveils dancers begin to change and leave, leaving the band on their own. The video uses montage, it gradually changes. It's quite a fast pace video as the dance is over really quick. The dim room has bright lighting, this dramatic effect engages the audience. 'XX' is everywhere in the studio, this promotes the band. They all wear simple black clothing, quite dissimilar to the usual Indie style music which shows artists being a bit more unique. The dull dim light could reflect the quite dull tone to the artists voices. The audience for this video would be Indie music lovers, and lovers of the XX- it's quite similar to their other videos. Close ups of the artists introduces the band, there is continuous zooms, it's "dark and simplistic." This video represents life, you'll be stuck in something until you have the courage to change.
Song title- The Ballad of Mona Lisa
Artist- Panic! At the Disco
Panic! At the disco's music genre is punk rock or alternate rock, all of their videos follow the typical punk music style. For example the lead singer has dark black hair, wears eyeliner and dark leather, unique clothing, this is reflected with the unique and obscure narrative. The narrative represents Sweeney Todd, the outfits and setting are very similar, also "Mary" the fiancé would murder him. It's a hybrid music video; both performance, narrative and conceptual. The video runs through transitions of mourning and the stages of the funeral, set it in an alternate universe. The concept is partly about saying goodbye to the bands past, it's similar to 'I write sins not tragedies', the main singer wears the same dusty hat. Also there is element of there other song 'Nine in the afternoon' where it shows the clocks, again by adding in aspects from old videos it's reflecting the past. The lead singer's hat is like the mad hatters from Alice in Wonderland which highlights the uniqueness and obscurity of the band. The Ballad of Mona Lisa could also seen to reflect Alice in Wonderland as the outfits and setting are similar. There is close ups of the main singer, drummer and rest of the band, this is done to promote the band and make them more identifiable. The camera also pans around the room, this is used to establish the setting to be able to identify that it's a different universe. The relationship between sound and images is shown through the performance, the singers mouth moves at the same time as the lyrics, Ure himself wrote the song and it could show his own relationship troubles. Ure and the band members are ghosts, the other people don't seem to acknowledge there presence which shows them suffering on their own. The singer is killed by his girlfriend/fiancée, "Mona Lisa I'd pay to see you frown", she is hiding her true motives. Effects are used through the text that is overlaid onto certain shots, 'Rule #6 allow the people to wail and lament', again this adds to the stages of mourning and the falseness of certain appearances. The audience of this music video will be those who are fans of Panic! at the disco, it's similar to the rest of their songs and therefore will attract similar audiences. This video could be a representation of falseness of appearances, those who'll turn on you in relationships. An institution which was involved in the making of this video is "fuelled by Rome", a subsidiary of Warner music group, a rather well off company, which explains the amount of thematics and props in the video as they probably have a large budget.
Video Number 4:
Song title- Fitzpleasure
Artist- Alt J∆
Alt J are a rather unique indie, alternative band. Alt J's music has an unusual allure; it has a rather trippy feel, this music video represents it's genre through it's obscure concept. This video is a hybrid; both narrative and concept based. The video cross cuts to different clips of a rather urban and rundown city, it is filled with gangsters, an old man whose tongue is in his eye, and old man with two faces, contorting dancers and mobsters etc. This unusual concept, the use of different contortionists- an entertainer who twists and bends their body into strange and unnatural positions, again reflects the strange feeling to Alt J's music. It's an interesting and eye catching concept, one that is not typical of any music video, and therefore it's uniqueness will catch a wide variety of audience. The beginning of the music video opens with multiple establishing shots to show the quite run down and rough city, this theme is continued through the rough and dark members of it's society. The clips then cross cut to these different members, the camera uses close shot and medium shots typically to show these people. Also what's quite interesting is the fact that a dutch tilt is used quite often to create a kooky and interesting angle, this yet again reflects this tainted and twisted feel to the video. High angle and low angle shots are also used again to create this corrupt and polluted feel of reality. There is a montage of clips, the video runs at quite a fast pace and is quite random. The video has quite a violent feel to it, it comes across as quite threatening; for example one of men in the video holds a gun, this is used to intrigue the audience. Alt J also stands for the Greek symbol delta '∆' which means uncertainty/change, all of their videos are quite uncertain and random to represent there alternate and unique side. The whole video has an overlay of an indie filter, adhering to the typical conventions of it's genre, the black and white overtone creates both a dark and exciting atmosphere. Also there is the slight use of vignette, where there is black around the edges, this again creates a dark tone. It will attract it's typical audience, fans of Alt J, as it isn't dissimilar to their other videos. French director Emile Somin created the video to be all black and white clips, this really works in terms of it's Indie style.
Video Number 5:
Song title- Ten Tonne Skeleton
Artist- Royal Blood
Royal blood follow the typical conventions of their genre's style of music video; rock/grunge. The video is performance based, typical of rock, the setting in a cave is quite dark yet exciting, bright lights shine down upon them to make them stand out and make the performance that much more dramatic. Again they adhere to typical stereotypes through the fact they're playing instruments, also they have scruffy hair, their shadows are evident and there is little feet movement, again similar of all Rock videos. However the video also has aspects of a narrative based music video; there is a mysterious crime scene which is unknown, it looks like the aftermath of a shooting. There is an abandoned car and a woman is running away from the scene, there is a montage of shots which all follow a theme of violence and seclusion. The video cross cuts from the performance, to these series of images, to the crime scene. It is set at quite a fast pace, which reflects the tense feel to the narrative and quite loud and dramatic song. The series of shots is quite fragmented, it slowly unveils the mysterious crime however. The relationship between sound and images is evident through the performance, obviously they're performing their own music and therefore link. However the actual lyrics are reflected through imagery also, "she took my heart, left me for dead"- the crime scene in where someone was murdered. Also "fired out like a cannonball", there is multiple images of fire and violence. The director uses a variety of camera shots, for example there is a scene in which the camera zooms in and pans over what looks like bullets, eluding to murder. Also they pan in on the performers, this is typical of all music videos to establish the artist and make them more memorable. There is also the use of establishing shot, to understand the setting of the video, when in the woods. The video tracks the woman running as the song unveils, running away from her crime. The montage of different images show a variety of different of textures, for example earth- the forest, water- the swimming pool, fire- the marquee on fire. This technique is quite hypnotic and intrigues the audience. The video represents the twisted and dark side of people, "cut loose like an animal", restrained people finally let out. The production company for this video was "agile films", a British company, and therefore isn't too over the top and has this dark feel too it.
Song title- Ten Tonne Skeleton
Artist- Royal Blood
Royal blood follow the typical conventions of their genre's style of music video; rock/grunge. The video is performance based, typical of rock, the setting in a cave is quite dark yet exciting, bright lights shine down upon them to make them stand out and make the performance that much more dramatic. Again they adhere to typical stereotypes through the fact they're playing instruments, also they have scruffy hair, their shadows are evident and there is little feet movement, again similar of all Rock videos. However the video also has aspects of a narrative based music video; there is a mysterious crime scene which is unknown, it looks like the aftermath of a shooting. There is an abandoned car and a woman is running away from the scene, there is a montage of shots which all follow a theme of violence and seclusion. The video cross cuts from the performance, to these series of images, to the crime scene. It is set at quite a fast pace, which reflects the tense feel to the narrative and quite loud and dramatic song. The series of shots is quite fragmented, it slowly unveils the mysterious crime however. The relationship between sound and images is evident through the performance, obviously they're performing their own music and therefore link. However the actual lyrics are reflected through imagery also, "she took my heart, left me for dead"- the crime scene in where someone was murdered. Also "fired out like a cannonball", there is multiple images of fire and violence. The director uses a variety of camera shots, for example there is a scene in which the camera zooms in and pans over what looks like bullets, eluding to murder. Also they pan in on the performers, this is typical of all music videos to establish the artist and make them more memorable. There is also the use of establishing shot, to understand the setting of the video, when in the woods. The video tracks the woman running as the song unveils, running away from her crime. The montage of different images show a variety of different of textures, for example earth- the forest, water- the swimming pool, fire- the marquee on fire. This technique is quite hypnotic and intrigues the audience. The video represents the twisted and dark side of people, "cut loose like an animal", restrained people finally let out. The production company for this video was "agile films", a British company, and therefore isn't too over the top and has this dark feel too it.
