Textual Analysis - Narrative Music Video - Catfish and the Bottlemen - Pacifier

Catfish and the Bottlemen - Pacifier’

The video for Catfish and the Bottlemen’s ‘Pacifier’ entails the story of an underdog football team (played by the band members themselves) who overcome and defeat another team in a game of ‘street-ball’.

The video is set in a dimly lit warehouse which creates confusion and uncertainty for the viewer. The setting of the video is also particularly effective as the warehouse is dark and the use of the flare makes the band look like silhouettes. Flashing lights are also used well in the video. There are many close ups of the band members showing their outfits; skinny jeans and leather jackets etc- all of these work well together to create a vibe that conforms to the indie music genre and will appeal to the band's target audience demographic.

To make the narrative more interesting there is a betting system involved and also no rules are introduced either. A wide angle/establishing shot is used to show the two sides of the match. But the 180 degree rule is applied to maintain the continuity of the narrative.

The managers of the teams are introduced to make the story more interesting, as throughout the video they are used as a way of showing the result of the match. They are shown betting their money at the beginning of the video.

The way the score is kept, is by using spray paint, this shows a lot about the themes being expressed from this video, that being that this is very urban and underground, which links to the music and a method of relating the music to the images.

The use of slow motion is presented throughout the video as a way of matching the editing with the music as when the music speeds up the scenes have more motion to continue and to relate the music and the video. Also throughout the video the different players are hitting and smacking into one another, this aggressive behaviour is related to the music as when the music becomes more aggressive, so do the players and the scenes, for example spitting blood and elbowing people in the face.

The video continues with the same trend of following the music and how the video changes speed with the tempo of the music, the narrative then concludes with one of the teams winning and the team’s manager collecting the money. This is important for the narrative that the story has a conclusion and it follows the equilibrium cycle of the conclusion after the disruption (the match). This video contains semantic elements such as blood, punching etc which shows the audience that the video is very much based around underground narrative and illegal activities.

Textual Analysis - Performance Music Video - Razolrlight - America

The first thing that can be seen in the ‘America’ music video is a projection of a slideshow showing a map of a river in America; after only one second of it being shown, it changes to a photo of an American billboard. This firstly establishes the topic of the song and video, hence the song title, but also connotes that the band are discovering places such as America because they would be touring. Diegetic sound is heard here as the slideshow is ‘flicking’ through the various photos before the music begins playing.

 The video is filmed in what appears to be a studio, there is only one set shown during the video which shows that it is a low-budget production. 70’s style sofas, lamps and carpets can be seen amongst the band’s equipment which illustrates the bands humble British backgrounds; moreover, polaroid photos of various American bridges, billboards and structures can be seen throughout the video. This contrasts with the small-budget production and dull looking mise en scene because America is famous for its big, loud and colourful display compared to Britain’s smaller and less memorable image. The pictures change in time to the beat of the song which indicates that some thought into editing was composed in order to make the video appear more professional. As well as this, the music has been visibly synchronised with the band members playing their respective instrument; for example, the beat of the song integrates with Andy Burrows kicking the bass drum, and Bjorn Agren’s guitar playing is seen and heard in sync.

 Johnny Borrell, the lead singer of Razorlight can be seen on some of the billboards suggesting that the band has ‘made it’ in America, however this is contradicted as at the end of the video we see a broken down car set up in front of a rear projection of an American road. It appears as if they’re recreating their own perception of the USA, at home in England which reinforces the bands’ dream to make it overseas. Furthermore, towards the end of the video we see the lead guitarist holding up two signs reading ‘panic’ and ‘lost’ which visually signifies their current circumstances; This also links to the line in the song’s chorus “panic in America”. We then see Borrell holding up a sign that reads ‘I feel nothing’. These notices portray that the band are unhappy with their situation even if they are a popular group.

 Even though this ‘journey into stardom’ seems to be the band’s ambition, Johnny as the lead singer is shown most in the video. We see many close up camera shots of him singing into a microphone which signifies the ‘performance’ aspect of this music video and we see multiple reaction shots displaying his physical reception and emotion to the lyrics as they are playing out.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Research into existing products - Music Video Analysis - Christian Metz

APPLYING ‘CHRISTIAN METZ’ (LANGUAGE & CINEMA - 1974)

MODEL OF GENRE DEVELOPMENT TO ‘MUSIC VIDEOS’

[ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOW ON A WORD DOCUMENT, ADD IMAGES AND HAND IN FOR ASSESSMENT]

MUSIC VIDEOS:

(1) THE EXPERIMENTAL: Visser/Musicals/Beatles/Queen

(2) THE CLASSIC: Thriller/Beat it/Duran Duran (Early 80’s/MTV)

(3) THE PARODY: Weird Al Jankovic: Eat it/Amish Paradise

(4) THE DECONSTRUCTION: Robert Palmer: Addicted to love/Shania Twain: Man I feel like a woman

EXPLANATION OF 4 PHASES

(1)     By EXPERIMENTAL we mean the phase of filmmaking which explored and experimented with how to film a band or artist whilst they are performing

A.      First recording of a person singing to camera

World's First Music Video - Gus Visser and his Singing Duck (1925) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwQ6v_nYPMs

Q: Analyse how the clip has been framed? What is the context is of the clip? What is happening in the clip?

This music video, being the first of its kind shows one continual frame throughout the performance of Gus and his duck. The ‘music video’ appears to be filmed at a theatre or on stage. However this could be a set and it may be filmed in a studio. The video is humorous suggesting that Gus is a comic performer and singer.

B.      Musical Films: Gentlemen prefer Blondes/Diamonds are a girl’s best friend

Musical films were another important precursor to music video, "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). The performance is filmed mostly in a long shot with pans left and right and tracking towards the artist – mostly a long take, no or little cuts.

C.      A Hard Day’s Night (1964) Directed By Richard Lester

D.      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ets2eNJzhY

Q: What camera angles, shots, movement & position, are still used today from the ‘Hard Day’s Night’ Performance music videos?

The Beatles star in the first ‘performance music video’ of all time directed by Richard Lester. It is ground-breaking in the world of music videos because Lester established multiple filming conventions that are still used in music videos to this day. For example we can see Ringo drumming and John Lennon playing the guitar in time to the song which they are miming to; this is called synchronisation and is used in nearly all music videos nowadays. 

    The video was filmed in multiple takes because we can see examples of match-on-action shots of the band and shots from different angles. For example the band are filmed from the back and then from the front which shows the viewer the surrounding and established the setting. Various camera shots are used in the filming of this video; a handheld shots can be seen which suggest a documentary style of filming making the audience feel closer to the performer as it makes the act feel more real.

     John Lennon appears to be given the most screen time which is because he is the lead singer in this particular track but we can also see various two-shots and medium shots showing the band members playing their instruments in time.

Richard Lester helped formalise and establish the codes and conventions of how to film a band;

1.       Close ups of lead singer,

2.       Cutaways of instruments being played,

3.       Filming band together and separately,

4.       Cutting to the beat of the song, on the beat transitions/cuts

5.       Filming a live performance with multiple cameras.

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(2)     By CLASSIC we mean the phase of music videos which established the conventions in its most successful & defining period (The 1980’s)

A.       Michael Jackson: Beat It/Thriller

B.       The Buggles: Video killed the Radio Star (1^st August 1981 – First ever MTV broadcast)

Q: Discuss what the appeal was of MTV in the 1980’s? Analyse in relation to Thriller/Video killed the radio star

(Think in terms of pop culture at that time, TV as a medium, importance to record sale etc.)

“Thriller”, the 1982 classic by Michael Jackson is much more than just a music video. It is 14 minutes long and portrays Michael showcasing his talent by acting, singing and dancing. Due to the invention of MTV in 1981 this enabled artists to be much more creative with how they wanted to present their music; the first music video to be aired on MTV was The Buggles ‘video killed the radio star’ and since then artists made videos that would appeal to audiences of all ages and all around the world. Videos like ‘thriller’ established the conventions of modern music videos whilst creating and practicing new creative ideas.

(3)     By PARODY we mean videos that have mimicked famous music videos in some comical way

A.       Weird Al Jankovic: Eat it (Parody of Beat it)/Amish Paradise (Coolio/Gangster Paradise)

Weird Al jankovic is a comedy singer who has made thousands of ‘parody’ music videos where he re-writes the lyrics to famous songs in a humorous was and performs it in a music video. These have become massively popular on YouTube. He has covered songs like ‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke turning it into ‘Word Crimes’ and ‘Gangsters paradise’ to ‘Amish Paradise’.

 (4) By DECONSTRUCTION we mean videos which have taken the generic elements of another music video and amalgamated them into something else (homage)

One of the best-known examples of DECONSTRUTION is Madonna's 1985 video for "Material Girl" (directed by Mary Lambert) which was closely modelled on Jack Cole's staging of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g__ANxxwKIk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3wYIjI8WcI

Q: Discuss what elements of the Marilyn Monroe musical scene are borrowed by Madonna? Think in terms of the Similarities of Mise en scene: location, setting, costumes, props, body language etc.

Madonna obviously shows a desire to be like Marylyn Monroe in her music video for the1985 hit ‘Material Girl’. The video shadows a scene in the 1953 musical ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ starring Marylyn herself in which she sings the classic ‘Diamonds are a girl’s Best Friend’ to a group of men on a stage in a theatre. She is dressed very glamorously in a pink dress and pink gloves with ‘diamond’ jewellery. In Madonna’s music video she can be seen wearing almost identical attire.

Also Robert Palmers: Addicted to Love was deconstructed by Shania Twain’s: Man I feel like a woman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcATvu5f9vE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJL4UGSbeF