Music Video Analysis #3

Friday Night – The Darkness

Friday night

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Music Video Analysis #2

Bittersweet Symphony – The Verve

 

This music video was produced in 1997 by British alternative rock band ‘The Verve’ and is one which I personally believe is very well made with many subtleties which simply add to this.

The video opens with the camera concentrating on the protagonist’s feet, this is shown at the same time as an orchestral introduction with no vocals. When the feet reach a crossing, the camera zooms out to show the entire protagonist. It is at this moment that the dull colour palette becomes obvious to the viewer. This sets the tone for the entire video and the song itself, that of sadness which is further exemplified by the use of cool drowned out colours.

The music begins with this person’s first step off of the pavement. This could be expanded upon by saying that he is stepping out of his comfort zone and beginning a change of his life as shown by the change in the music.

The viewer is forced to emphasise with the protagonist in the way that the camera is used. This is established by keeping the character centred at all times in the shot forcing the viewer to take notice of him. This empathy is the forced again in the only other camera angle used; that of a first person shot. This is mainly used during the ‘action’ sequences of the video and makes the viewer go into their shoes and face the literal (and mentioned in the song) hardships.

Music Video Analysis #1

Modest Mouse – World at Large

 

I have chosen this as it is considered the title track of one of the albums I analysed (Good News for People who Love Bad News by Modest Mouse).

The video is fairly unconventional as it does not contain any of the band, this could be because they want to keep the music, the video and themselves separate. This could tie in with the bands well publicised ‘passion’ for their music and therefore they view all three as separate entities and art forms. This is further emphasised by the use of a separate title to the music track (World at Large) which has the music video named ‘Stiff Animal Fantasy’.

The video itself is also unconventional as it has an unprofessional tone about it, using what appears to be a cheap camera and stuffed animals. This shows again that the music is much more important as the band has spent far more money on the music than it has on the video.

The music ties into the video somewhat as the lyrics ‘If I float on baby’ are used repeatedly and this somewhat links with the way the animals move (Stop motion therefore appearing to ‘float’ along the ground) and the way the scenery moves in a jerky fashion. The video also distances itself away from the music in the way in which there is no ‘story’ that links with the music but instead another story going on shown by way of captions.

Album Cover #5

This is a compilation album of all the individual works of KISS members, it was released in 2008 but contains music far older.

I have chosen this because I like the effect it has on someone who views it. Such as the AC/DC cover the entire album is in black and white/silver except for the band’s logo. This is again the band attempting to sell themselves over what the album actually contains. This is an especially clever move as the album itself consists of many previously released singles and therefore to put any particular track or song title on the cover would do the entire band a disservice.

Album Cover #4

Keeping in touch with the last analysis, I have decided to do a classic rock band who released their newest album after a short hiatus. AC/DC released Black Ice in 2008, 8 years after their last album. For this reason I feel it is a good analysis due to it being a popular band who have re-released in the modern age.

The most striking thing about this cover is how there is absolutely no colour except on the AC/DC logo. I feel this could be because less people would care about the albums now and AC/DC might have fallen out of favour. The band therefore felt it necessary to show that they were AC/DC and attempt to appeal to an earlier market. This also means that the logo is extremely eye catching and even someone who does not appreciate AC/DC would still be drawn towards it.

The background image appears to be mostly nonsensical, with the band’s logo being repeated several times and several other images that are of little importance. The entire background image is symmetrical, except the small guitarist at the very top centre. This helps to create a uniform feel to the cover, with the eyes drawn to where the band feel they should be.

Album Cover #3

This cover is taken from a much more modern band and is of a sub genre ‘Modern Rock’ which is known as being a continuation of the modern rock of the 70s and 80s. The band is Modest Mouse and this album was produced in 2004.

Like the other covers, this one is showing a very simplistic design, a one tone background brought into contrast only by stark white arrows. Where the arrows are hitting there is a slight variation in the colour of the green and a trail. This could be a statement about how rock music is today with the many bands representing the arrow and the green ‘living’ background representing rock.

This album shows the opposite of my two previous analyses and has the band’s name and album title very small in the corner. This shows that the band has played more to advertising the album than they have themselves. This could represent how the industry is today with many bands being made to one conformity and with very little lasting potential.

Album Cover #2

The above cover is from Def Leppard’s most successful album, Hysteria made in 1987. As can be seen, as in my other album cover analysis, there is little to identify the band visually and instead relies on bright colours to attract the attention of a passerby. Although Def Leppard were not extremely popular before the release of this album, again the reliance is shown to be on the band’s name rather than the album itself. Like the other album, this album relies on contrasting colours, with the extremely common blue/orange contrast being shown, this contrast is further highlighted by the use of a red/green contrast that compliments the orange/blue designs respectively. It is possible that the image used in the centre is there as a focal point for the entire album, but it is also possible that it is white to draw the eyes away from the central triangle.

Album Cover #1

I will analyse covers of artists and bands that are close to the genre that I would most like to pursue; classic rock.

This album cover is by classic rock band ‘Journey’ and is one which I appreciate due to its simplicity. For a start, it is obvious that there is no actual photograph used on the cover. I feel this is because by this point, Journey are a well known band and do not need to be recognised by what the band looks like. It is worth noting however that in the absence of a band shot, there is a Scarab, this is known to fans of the band to be the bands logo. Also extremely noticeable is the colour contrast, this is a simple blue/orange contrast which is well known to be a ‘safe’ scheme to go with as it combines a hot colour with a cool one.

The most striking thing about the album cover is how the album title is shown in relation to the band’s name. This could show that it’s more likely that the band would focus on the fact that it is them releasing a new album, rather than what the album itself is.