Music Video Analysis

Duke Dumont feat. A*M*E - Need U (100%)

Sequence of events:

• man on hospital bed looking at x-ray with doctor
• music fades in as he lifts up top, doctor listens and dances
• people around him begin dancing, at bus stop, in kitchen, at shop and jogging
• more people begin to annoy him- waitress, basketball player, magazine seller, guys on street
• seems to be alone on beach until girl comes in to shot
• he is passed out on hospital bed, switching to previous shots of people
• doctors begin dancing
• finally the cassette player is removed and he turns it off
• doctors get annoyed, he is relieved

This sequence of events helps me to determine this video as a narrative style as we see a story of a mans struggles and how they are resolved.

This shot displays a man on a hospital bed and a doctor listening to his stomach. The fact that it is a long shot enables us to see the doctor begin to dance whilst including the man and the x-ray in the background so that we understand that the music is coming from the sound system inside of him and that the sound of this is what the doctor is dancing to.

The use of the glasses and paperwork props the doctor was previously holding and concerning facial expression adds a comical affect as these aspects connote professionalism, therefore when he begins dancing we do not expect it. The facial expression of the man also adds comedy as he almost rolls his eyes away as he cannot bear to look at the doctor because it builds on his frustration.
The use of this actor creates a sense of continuity as he is also featured in other music videos of Duke Dumont's such as 'Won't look back' and 'I got u.' In a way the use of this actor also advertises the work of Duke Dumont as when we view this person on music channels we immediately know that it is a Duke Dumont song.

Text is edited on to the foreground within the first few seconds illustrating the artists who made the song "DUKE DUMONT" fades in first followed by "feat A*M*E" and both leave the shot as it cuts away. I think this is affective as there is no music playing yet which put emphasis on the too artists which i think is important for them to be recognised.

The fact that the diegetic sound of the music fades in and remains quite quiet until the next shot works well as it make the narrative seem realistic. The volume then increases in the following scene. The sound of the 2 clap sounds is edited to be in sync to the text that appears on screen displaying "NEED U" appearing to the first clap and "(100%)" to the next.

The long shot shows a man getting in the way of the main subject whilst on a jog. 

The long shot shows a man getting in the way of the main subject whilst on a jog. We know from their quarrelling that the main man is getting frustrated at the fact that people keep following him and getting in his way. This is shown at an eye level angle to create a realistic point of view and so that we can clearly see the man's facial expression.
The mise en scene displays a open area in which would be relaxing to go for a jog, yet this juxtaposition of the relaxing environment and the annoying man creates a sense of annoyance for the main subject. The costume - shorts and a plain top- illustrates that the man is prepared for exercise which you would not expect a post man to be chasing you whilst doing so. The post man is dressed in a smart casual attire with a blue shirt and grey trousers, with a crossing over bag, which illustrates his profession and that fact that he is currently working- this shows the man being informal which can be a humorous aspect.
This scene with the post man cross cuts with scenes in a supermarket and with his partner/ sister at home. The sound of the music at this time seems to be a ongoing humming noise which emphasises the ongoing harassing of the people around him everywhere he goes and create a sense that this will never stop as there is no change in the music until we see a new set of people annoying him.
  

This long shot presents the main subject in an operating hospital room with two doctors, the blue and white costumes and props within the set reveal this. This change of scenery emphasises the dramatic effect that the music has had on the man, the fact that the doctors are dancing exaggerates our sympathy for him as well as humorous aspect. One of the doctors knocks over a prop when storming out in a strop when the music stops again adding to the comedic aspect throughout.

The editing mirrors how the character is feeling, crosscutting between all of the previous scenes throughout the video creates an uneasy tone as we are unable to focus and concentrate on one thing at a time- similar to how we expect the character to be feeling- as though he is unable to concentrate because of the cassette player stuck inside of him.

The sound of the music reflects what is happening within these shots, 'oh ah' is continuously repeated representing how the distressed character is feeling- that this is continuous and never ending. The sound beings to fade out as the object that is causing all the stress is removed.

Summary of music video analysis

Through my analysis of the music videos I have analysed i have found that it is important i use the following features to make a effective music video;

• include a visual link between the sound of the music and video
• make sure it promotes the song
• include a recognisable feature from the digipak or poster (colour or symbol)
• consider filming in an authentic setting (like Flume's video at a concert- no need for costume or props)
• consider including text advertising the artist name and name of song

Update: 16/10/2014

Today I published two posts analysing music videos. One had already been completed but I needed to add in some notes that had been hand written out, and the other was completed today. Today I plan on finding one more suitable video to begin analysing and take some screenshots so that it is ready to analyse in tomorrows lesson on the 17th of October. This will be a narrative based video.

Music Video Analysis

Flume- Holdin' on

Sequence of events:

(a range of short cuts between the following)

• the crowd dancing
• artist on stage
• music equipment
• artist outside of work
• backstage
• travelling

The fact that the sequence of events are based around the artist and him performing tells us that it is a performance video. I think it also has elements of a narrative style video as the story and journey of touring is told.

The long shot reveals a specific part of the setting- three girls in the crowd which appear to be on others shoulders dancing. This shot is able to hold both the crowd and the artist showing a connection between the two.

The lighting creates a silhouette of the people in the crowd and highlights the artist on the stage, the fact that the light outlines the three people could represent how the artist and their music has an effect on them. A purple hue is used consistently throughout the video, creating a sense of continuity as Flume's album cover is also in purple. The colour purple symbolises power, creativity and mystery, perhaps these are some things Flume wants his music to be represented as and therefore uses throughout his video.

This scene is edited to sync the footage with the sound of the music. The footage begins in slow motion as the girls jump up and returns back to normality on the beat as the girls fall back down, this repeated. The shot begins in out of focus and returns to focus, perhaps to create a sense of disorientation or to represent the change in pace of the music. 

Similarly to the previous music video i analysed, White noise by Disclosure, the sound is diegetic as we  see the artist Flume performing his music, the fact that we see the audience dancing in sync suggests that we are hearing what they are hearing.

This long shot shows both the artist on stage performing in the background and a mid shot of someone dancing in the foreground, we can clearly see both of them enjoying themselves as we see them dance to the music, it also reveals the artists facial expression telling us he is happy as he has a big grin across his face. 

Again the lighting is purple throughout connoting power, creativity and mystery throughout.  The subject appears to be wearing a simple long sleeve shirt which is suitable for the occasion. The stage set out seems to be symmetrical which enables us to focus on the artist. 

The large light circles across the screen create a divide between the artist and the girl in the crowd, demonstrating how both individuals are enjoying the same music but apart. This shot has also been edited in slow motion to reflect the slower pace of the music.

The lighting on the stage also flash in tune to the sound of the music.

This mid shot presents the artist from the side performing his music from a laptop. He is viewed from a slight low angle which may influence us to think of him has more powerful as we physically look up to him perhaps suggesting how others may admire and look up to him because of the music he has created.
The setting of this shot is outside as we can see trees and buildings in the background, other shots show the artist performing inside buildings as well as outside, this implies the diversity of his shows, some are performed in the day- perhaps these are at festivals, and some are at night- perhaps these are more intimate concerts.
The shot is edited to be broken up in to different layers which are repeated on top of another which causes different parts of the scene to also be repeated, these layers then form together by almost entrancing inwards, which then bring the scene back to normal. I have found that throughout the music video either the shot moves to the beat of the music or cross cutting is used to reflect it. In this case, up until this point the video cross cuts between shots yet here there is no movement to reflect it so the editing has been created to do so.

Music Video Analysis

Disclosure - White Noise ft. AlunaGeorge (Official Video)

Sequence of events:

• Man gets ready wearing security jacket, appears to be walking to work, puts on headphones
• meets with woman, appears to collect key, uses to enter building
• uses torch to look around
• begins dancing in range of rooms
• shots of location outside
• dances infront of large building
• carries golf clubs to different location
• torch pans building, face appears
• shots switch between dancing inside and outside of building, woman joins
• face appears

This sequence of events helps me to determine this video as a concept style with elements of a performance video as the man seems to be promoting the song by dancing along and enjoying himself whilst guarding this abandoned building.

This mid-shot at eye level reveals the happy, excited expression on the mans face almost as though he has realised that he is alone after walking the grounds of the building. The camera then zooms out or changes a lens in the focal length to create the illusion that the camera is moving away, this allows the audience to see the subject dancing at a better view, It is important for us to see this so that we understand the way that the man is feeling whilst listening to this song through his dancing. I think we can assume that he is listening to the song White Noise as we are able to see that he begins dancing when the chorus arrives and he is wearing headphones.

The man is holding a torch which is an important prop in this video as it creates the scene at which this sort of music is likely to be played as it acts as a strobe light as the man flicks it around whilst dancing. The fact that he is able to create this enjoyable environment whilst in an unattractive old building shows the impact that the song has- that you are able to enjoy it at anytime anywhere, which in a way promotes itself to the audience.

The editing technique, cross-cutting, is used following this shot which alternates between the man dancing in this area and another room which appears to be bigger and lighter. This creates diversity for our vision as in the first scene the main source of light comes from the torch prop, this often flashes on to the lens of the camera again adding to the strobe light effect. The alternating scene has a large income of light from the windows which are behind the man, yet there is little light in-front which forms a white background adding the performance aspect.

I think it is arguable that the sound of the music is diegetic as we see the subject plug something in to a socket yet we do not see what, later on we see a speaker being moved, the use of headphones also implies that the sound is diegetic. Yet the fact that we hear music at the start of the video this implies that it is non-diegetic.

This mid-shot at a low angle presents the man dancing in an open area in front of a large building. This low angle makes the subject more dominant as we look up to him, not only do we physically look up to him this could represent how the audience should look up to him in terms of the way he is presented- the fact that he clearly doesn't care what people around him think as he is in a open space which is likely to have people around.

This setting contrasts to the previous scene inside of a dark building where he appears to be alone, the lighting in those scenes are very dark and secluded- making it seem more usual for him to be dancing as  he is unable to be seen. Yet this lighting contrasts with the lighting in this scene which seems to be very bright again emphasising the idea that the man doesn't care if he is seen.

There is then a series of jump cuts which again show the man dancing, the effect of this is that it adds a sense of time as there is a range of shots, with so much going on it appears as though he has been there longer than it seems. This extended period of time creates a sense of realism as the audience think he has been dancing for a while rather than a few seconds in front of the camera.

The man is shown doing 'the worm', as his body lowers to the ground an electronic sound reflects his movement as the pitch decrease.

This mid-shot at eye level shows the back of the mans head with minimal lighting in front creating an outline around his upper body, this shot is effective because very little is revealed other than the digital affects. The video cuts to this shot and the digital affect of the face flashes on the silhouette. This is affective as it reminds the audience of who this artist is as this face is recognisable to disclosure fans as it appears of their album cover 'Settle' and is often shown in the background of the sets they play at festivals. The flashes of this face are in sync with the beat of the music making the aesthetically pleasing for the audiences senses. The music begins to fade out after this face is shown, so it sort of signifies that it is the end of the video. I think the use of the digital affects is effective as is creates continuity between the digipak and the music video.