Wednesday 28 September 2011

Music Video Research: Video 1- The View, Same Jeans



The images follow the song's structure as during the verses we see the singer walking around his hotel room, the video then flows into a underground gig as the music goes into the chorus. The video follows this pattern throughout, so when the chorus is played it is at the gig and when the verse is played we are in the narrative part of the video. Also the editing responds to the pace of the song. During the chorus, the edit becomes faster paced and during the verses the edit is slightly slower.

The video follows the story of the song as we see the singer (object of the song) at parties and gigs without going home or changing and we therefore assume that he has had "the same jeans on for four days". However, the song does not take the lyrics literally, the images do not follow the lyrics but suggest that is what they are doing, Andrew Goodwin would call this amplifying.


The star's image is meant to look slightly bohemian and "indie". He had no costume changes as this would counteract the narrative. The image of the star is that he likes to gig, go to parties and drink. This fits with the "indie" lifestyle of bands and fans.
The use of cinematography helps the audience to understand the narrative, like when we see him drunk the camera is wobbling. The cinematography also allows the narrative to flow easily, as the camera zooms in and out of the singer and reveals him in a different place. Also the location and lighting during the gig suggest it is an underground, illegal or secret gig which goes with the "indie" lifestyle.

This video is definitely amplified, as the images do not follow the lyrics literally but suggests the story of the song through image. It could be suggested that the video is slightly disjunctive and the gig had nothing to do with the narrative.

1 comment:

  1. Good, but you could illustrate your points with some images.

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