Pop Music Video Analysis - Wings, Little Mix

The music video for 'Wings' by pop group Little Mix, is pretty stereotypical of a pop music video. The entire video has no basic plotline or storyline. The cinematography includes a lot of close ups and extreme close ups of the girls whilst singing and dancing. The close ups show their facial expressions clearly, the girls are smiling and having fun making the viewer want to have fun with them. There is also a lot of use of long shots. These shots show the girls altogether dancing around and laughing along with each other whilst they perform the song, so this could bring viewers to have more of a personal connection because of the fact the video is    completely their personalities with no storyline or characterisation. 

The high key lighting and colours within the music video is all very bright and cheerful, using  colours that pop out and match each of the girl's personalities. Even when the background is slightly darker, the accessories within the shot are loud and florescent to stand out against it. The colours are mainly girly shades, insinuating that the video is mainly for girls of all ages to watch. The outfits used are all representing the girls individual personal styles but keeping the bright, cute and young tone to the video. Because they have two changes of clothes and there is no characterisation, the audience is again given the look into each of the girls personalities, again bringing them closer to the band and giving the connection between them. 

The individual styles of the girls also brings audiences through the girls who will watch the video and either look up to them because of their style of clothing or relate to them because they like and wear the same sort of clothing. The locations used are also very normal within the video. The video seems to be in a warehouse type of surroundings using small separate rooms with backdrops for the individual personal areas.

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Low Budget Ideas - Just Got Paid, The Fix and Hot 'N' Cold (Youtube annotations)

Rock Music Video Analysis - Welcome to the Black Parade, My Chemical Romance

Greenday on Prezi

The music video for 'Welcome to the Black Parade', by My Chemical Romance, has a very apparent narrative, that could however, be interpreted in different ways by various viewers of the video. It is set during World War Two but is a very surreal idea of what someone's descent into the afterlife would be. The song is based around the dying man who goes to see the marching band perform, as the lyrics suggest he did as a young child, who happen to be the actual members of My Chemical Romance, and the experience he has returning back to it.
The video uses a wide range of shots throughout, especially when it moves from the slow cuts into the fast paced ones. The most popular shots seem to be long shots, extreme long shots and close ups.
The video is heavily edited to create the vintage, old look that is needed because of the World War Two period it is set in, however, the modern twist to the film is still evident because of the way it switches between the different types of times. When the band is being filmed, it looks to be more modern than when the man or any participents of the black parade; the smokey, old fashioned photo like outside to the frame adds this vintage feel to it.
The sound is non diegetic throughout aside from a few added effects such as bomb sounds and the TV in the hospital scene at the beginning when the lead singer is singing to the dying man.
The lighting used throughout is artificial, made to look naturalistic. The location stays within the black parade all the way through, even in the opening of the song, the hospital room turns out to just be curtains that fall and shows the man in the black parade already. The black parade looks like it is based in a warzone in London during World War Two because of the smokey, dark and dingy surroundings where there are buildings that have been bombed and are collapsed all around and fires raging. The costumes are very naturalistic in the hospital scene with the man in a white hospital gown and the nurses in typical uniform. However, once we are introduced to the black parade, the band members are in what seems to be a dark uniform of some sort of guard, suggesting that they are almost the 'gatekeepers' to the black parade. Also, the other members are all wearing masks and flamboyant but old and dirty looking costumes such as tulle skirts, ballgowns and big jackets, again reinforcing the surreal and dreamlike side to the video.
The video ends with the lead singer of the band, Gerard Way, presenting the dead man with a medal which could suggest he has either done well for surviving for so long or for his life in general. However, the actual meaning of the video is that someone is dying of cancer and the black parade is the place where you go when you die, but the music video is open to interpretation by anyone which I think can make it either very personal or very distant depending on the viewer who is watching.
The video is typical of the rock genre because it has a very direct and personal feel to it, along with the dark colours used and the sad plotline. The main singer is also typical to the genre because he shows his passion throughout the song through not only his singing but also his facial expressions.

Rock Music Video Analysis - Wake Me Up When September Ends, Greenday

The music video for 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' by the rock band Greenday, carries an almost short film feel to the video because the majority of the video is based on the narrative.
The video is based on a couple who are very much in love and do everything together, however, the boyfriend is enlisted to become a soldier and so most of the video focusses on their lives apart from each other and how she deals with her grief and concern for him and how he deals with being at war and the horrors he faces on a daily basis.

The video uses the famous actors Evan Rachel Wood and Jamie Bell who would attract a new audience to the Greenday songs because of their fanbase. It could also be seen as an anthem for the people who went to battle and are risking their lives or the families waiting for their safe return home also giving a new audience.
The video uses a wide range of shots throughout. However, a majority of them seem to be close ups of not only the characters but also the band memebers. Because of the dramatic side of it, the shots come quickly, as the video is edited to be fast paced with effects such as slow motion, showing clips of tilts, tracks, extreme close ups among others.
There is a lot of diegetic sound involved in the music video as we are given dialogue and sound effects for the story to take effect. The first one minute and forty two seconds of the video has no music and is just dialogue and natural sound effects caused by the wind and the movement of the two actors. Even when the non diegetic music is introduced, sometimes it will fade into the background because the sound effects seem to be one of the most important things within the sound of the video.
The locations vary a lot throughout the video, ranging from a humble family home, to a field to a warzone in what appears to be a middle eastern country. The range of locations show how near and then how far the couple is from each other, showing the good times and the bad in their relationship. However, when the band is introduced, they are in a studio for the entire piece, singing to the camera which could be seen as them performing to the couple or people like the couple because it is so direct and personal to some viewers.

The lighting seems to be natural in the outdoor scenes of the music video whereas the inside scenes, including when the band is performing, seems to be more artificial lighting.
The costumes for the band is very dark clothing, giving them a somber and dark look to them, whereas the couple have very light coloured clothing on in the scenes when they are happy, showing the radiating bliss between them. However, when they are separate, the clothes are darker and look to be more dingy. Also in the scenes when the boyfriend is fighting, he is wearing the typical army uniform which again shows his career to the audience

The video is quite a typical rock video because of the sad and dramatic narrative which fits in perfectly with the feel of the song. The dark colours in the video and dingy surroundings as the video continues is very typical of a rock video.

Rock Video Analysis - If You Wanna, The Vaccines

Rock/indie music video for the song 'If You Wanna' by The Vaccines is a montage style of video with no story line or narrative.
The whole music video is based in a studio with a bright screen behind the band which changes colours often throughout the entire song. The lighting is all coloured as the band moves around the restrictive stage area. A lot of the music video is spent in an extreme long shot, fitting the whole band in as they perform the song giving a concert like feel to the video. The colours of the lighting on the screen create silhouettes of the performance giving a slightly mysterious and exciting effect to the viewers whom are unable to see their faces.
There are a range of shots used, but specifically the extreme long shots and close ups are used most, giving the viewer a personal view of them, but also being so far away distances them and creates a fastival/concert like effect. They also use extreme close ups and mid shots to display the band playing their instruments.
We only get small glimpses of what the band is wearing because the shots are so fast paced and the lighting makes it difficult to fully see them. However, in the short moments we do get to see what they are wearing, it is very casual and normal with nothing out of the ordinary to make them stand out, however, being the only people in the music video means that they wouldn't have to anyway because the audiences focus is constantly on them.
The band performances are quite calm and cool to watch as they create a distance through the lack of direct views into the camera.
Throughout the video, there is only non-diegetic sound as there are only the shots of them playing the instruments and nothing else.
This music video fits in with the rock genre because it is just like a performance of the song like a concert or a festival, making the viewer seem like they are part of it. It has no narrative or story line and therefore is playing the song for what it is and for people to enjoy.

Analysis of Pop Video - One Thing, One Direction

The pop music video, 'One Thing' by One Direction, is a montage style music video with a basic narrative. The narrative is that the group of boys are going around London for the day on one of the famous red buses meeting people and singing for them from morning straight into the night.
The music video uses a range of shot types to present the video. These include long shots, close ups, mid shots, extreme long shorts and extreme close ups to name just a few. They use a lot of hand held shots to make the viewer almost feel like they are moving with the band creating a personal feel to the video. A majority of the music video is also spent looking straight into the camera, again adding to the direct address style to it.
The locations used in the music video are famous London landmarks giving a sense of adventure to viewers in foreign countries and a sense of familiarity to people living in the country and showing them how much they can enjoy staying near home. The costumes for the boys stay the same throughout, showing the continuity of the day in which they filmed. The clothes are smart casual giving them a look that is not only fun but formal, appealing to a wide range in audience.
The performance from the band members is excellent. They are constantly messing around and grinning in shots, making the viewers have fun with them as they watch it.
The sound is continuous with only the non-diegetic music playing meaning there is no excess sound such as the guys talking or the girls involved screaming.

Analysis of Pop Video

The video I looked at was 'The One That Got Away', by the artist Katy Perry.
The video uses a variety of shot types including extreme long shots, over the shoulder shots, close ups, mid shots, tilts, tracks and extreme close ups among others.
The narrative is that a young girl and her boyfriend are deeply in love and living together. They are both artists with what seems to be fiery attitudes causing arguments and fights often. However, when her boyfriend dies, she is left heartbroken and distraught. After there is a time jump to the future, Katy is a sad old woman who has remarried and had a successful career and life, but is still upset over the man she lost and after all these years is still devastated by his loss.
The costumes are very divided. When Katy is playing a young girl, they are all very casual, the kind of thing you would lay around in at home. They are loose fitting clothes that allow movement and give off a kind of 'lazy' feel. However, when the video moves to the present time, Katy is in a very tight fitting and smart looking pencil skirt and jacket, no longer giving off a carefree attitude but showing a hard working business type of woman.
The lighting within the video switches between high key and low key lighting.

Brief

In The Sun