How to analyse a music video:
The post punk revival is considered a development of alternative rock of the late 20th and early 21st centuries in which bands took inspiration from the original sounds and aesthetics of garage rock of the 60’s and post punk and new wave of the 70’s. Bands from around the globe cited diverse influences (from traditional blues through new wave to grunge and adopted differing styles of dress. Post punk was also used to suggest groups of the era who took punk and experimented with difficult musical structures, lyrical themes and a self consciously art based image, while retaining punks initial iconoclastic stance.
Bands also played basic category of rock n roll from the 60’s, but varied selections. They also united emphasis on energetic live performance and used aesthetics e.g. clothes and hair, which was linked to their fans, drawing on nostalgic dress of the 60’sand 50’s with skinny ties, white belts and shag haircuts. The emphasis on rock authenticity has been noted as a reaction to the commercialism of MTV hip pop, Post-Britpop groups etc.
2. There is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals:
Mr Brightside, link to lyrics:
The relationship between the lyrics and visuals is that the video of Mr Brightside is inspired by lead singer of the band the Killers, Brandon Flowers unfiathful girlfriend. The narrative of the video is abou t the lo0ve triangle between Flowers, Eric Roberts and Izabella Miko being depicted in the context of a burlesque show, and is inspired by the film Moulin Rouge and directed by Sophie Muller. In the lyrics of the video, Brandon Flowers uses the words Mr Brightside to connote to viewers as he see's himself as someone who is incurably optimistic, as his always looking on the bright side of life. In the first stanza
of the song, Brandon is freeing himself from an emotional restraint, which was being used to stop him having a broken heart and then becomes entangled with the girl. "All" signifies that he is referring to true love. in the 2nd stanza he wonders how he cared about her and allow himself to become attached to the relationship. The next couple of stanzas look at how he has strong affections for her, while she's seeing other men. They also communicate the situation between the 2 main characters, where the mans emotions have been manipulated by the womens state of mind. In the 2nd last stanza he mentions "price" in the lyrics which connotes that he has paid with the emotions of anger, jealousy and heartbreak of his attachment to the women.This communicates that it's also out of his hands, that his behaviour from his personality is referred to the words "his destiny". "Eager Eyes" also connote that his eyes are eager to fall for the next girl. As he is eternally optimistic "Mr Brightside", which refers to him as always looking for love and affection.
of the song, Brandon is freeing himself from an emotional restraint, which was being used to stop him having a broken heart and then becomes entangled with the girl. "All" signifies that he is referring to true love. in the 2nd stanza he wonders how he cared about her and allow himself to become attached to the relationship. The next couple of stanzas look at how he has strong affections for her, while she's seeing other men. They also communicate the situation between the 2 main characters, where the mans emotions have been manipulated by the womens state of mind. In the 2nd last stanza he mentions "price" in the lyrics which connotes that he has paid with the emotions of anger, jealousy and heartbreak of his attachment to the women.This communicates that it's also out of his hands, that his behaviour from his personality is referred to the words "his destiny". "Eager Eyes" also connote that his eyes are eager to fall for the next girl. As he is eternally optimistic "Mr Brightside", which refers to him as always looking for love and affection.
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals
Within the music video of Mr Brightside there are characteristics between the New Wave music genre and the post rock genre. In the video, Mr Brightside by The Killers the band members are seen wearing business casual clothing which includes suits etc instead of the conventional generic clothing of jeans with a t-shirt or coat, which is business casual of other musi bands such as Keane or Oasis which have worn these in their music videos. Usually in New Wave music there is no structure as its differening from the generi conventions of other music genres because they usually have no narrative but contain certain messages or themes that the director wishes to indulge to the audience. the music video is not set in modern times nut appears to be set in the 1960s while trying to instigate a love triangle and portraying women as desirable love objects instead of humans, which is shown in the scene were Roberts is seen throwing an apple towards Izabella Miko's character is seen as an object of desire and lust and even property. This is shown in the image above of Brandon Flowers trying to win Miko's character her freedom out of prostitution and thevideo also shows the theme of voyeurism when Roberts character is seen watching Izabella and Brandon's character from behind a curtain. The video is set up to be theatrical by making the music videos look as part of a romantic film.
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for alot of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (visual style)
The demands of the music video of Mr Brightside is that there is a lot of close ups of the lead singer, Brandon Flowers and the other band members when they are playing their instruments, an example of this is when we see at the end of the song, a close up of Ronnie Vanucci playing the drums etc.
5. There are frequently references to notions of look (screens with screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body
There is frequently references to notions of looking which depict voyeuristic treatment of the female body is of group shots, where we see voyeuristic behaviour of females dancing to the music, which is used to make the viewer feel like a spectator before it shows mid shots of men in the burlesque show and it also communicates how the men see the women as sexualized prized objects which they can assert their masculinity on. Voyeuristic behavior is also shown throughout the video such as we see Eric Roberts character spying on Izabella's character and Flowers characters. Voyeurism is also used when we see Miko's character dancing in a long shot by herself or when we see her dancing with other men such as the dance scene between the main female character and man seen dancing intensely, which connotes them as having sex rather then communicating this through imagery for the audience to see.
6.There is often intertextuality references (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc)
What are the themes and conventions of music videos in the genre you have chosen?
The theme portrayed in the music video of Mr Brightside includes themes such as prostitution, voyeurism, freedom, love, temptation etc. The conventions of the music videos tend to be black and white. The artist/band is shown throughout their video. In the music video there also includes close ups and long shots, face spaced and there are sometimes use or special effects. There is also medium close ups of the band/lead singer and a number of long shots used in the video, which are used to make the viewer feel connected or even part of the video. The main editing technique used in the video is fast cuts, which is used to connote a sense of urgency and confusion, which reflects the emotions of the lyrics. The use of fast cut edits are used to make it impossible for the viewer to see everything in the first viewing which helps sustain the repeated viewings.
U2-“Hands that built America”:
1. Music Videos demonstrate genre characteristics:
Rock is generally cantered around the sound of the electric guitar, which emerged from the modern 1950’s with populization of rock n roll. The sound of the electric guitar is supported by the electric bass guitar emerged in Jazz music of the same era and percussion produced from a drum kit which combines drums and cymbals. These instruments have been often complemented by the inclusion of piano, Hammond Organ and synthesizers. A rock band usually consists of 2 to five members. Rock is based on a foundation of simple unsyncopated rhythms in4/4 meter with beats on two and four from a snare drum back beat. The melodies also derive from older musical modes and harmonies range from the common triad to parallel fourths and fifths and dissonant harmonic progressions. From the 1960’s onwards rock songs have used the versus chorus structure which has derived from folk music and the blues but there has been change from this model.
Rock lyrics also tend to communicate about themes such as romantic love, sex, rebellion against the establishment, social concern and cultures. The themes expressed come from other sources such as Tin Pan Alley pop tradition, folk music and rhythm and blues. Rock music has also been dominated by white, male and middle class musicians and rock has been noted as appropriation of black musical forms for a young, white, male audience.
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.
Here is the link to the U2 song “Hands that built America”:
In the first verse of the song “Hands That Built America” makes reference to Irish potato famine and the immigration of people from Ireland to America , a fact which has been reflected in the demographics of New York City
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals?
The relationship between music and visuals in the music video of “Hands that built America” is that the music talks about the people from the Gangs of New York and how they have come from different cultures and backgrounds to find themselves in America trying to fulfil their wish of accomplishing the American Dream. Such as the buildings are used to remind people of September 11th and how the world will strive to counter any obstacle. The buildings also connote themes such as progress of civilisation, free, nationalism etc.
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close up of the artists and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their works (a visual style)
In the music video of "The Hands that built America"there are not only close ups of the band members such as Bono (lead singer), or the Edge (guitarist) etc. In the video its also contains close ups of characters from the film "Gangs of New York" such as Amsterdam(DiCaprio) or Bill Cutting (Daniel Day Lewis which is used to make viewers feel as if they have to buy the soundtrack to understand the narrative and themes of the film.5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens, telescopes etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body
In the music video by U2 the only reference to the notion of looking through the scenes of being able to see, scenes from Gangs of New York being displayed on the wall or the scenes being depicted as through a projector.6. There is often intertexual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music video’s etc)
As the song is a soundtrack, it includes references to the film, Gangs of New York (2002, Scorsese).
The themes which are projected in the music video of "Hands that built America" are themes such as freedom, betrayal, liberation and the uprising and downfall of civilisation. the video also include other themes such as acceptance etc. The conventions of the music genre of rock include themes such as there are lots of close ups and extreme long shots of Bono and the band. Usually in these videos, the videos depict narrative which is connected to the song and shows the band throughout the narrative of the song such as when see parts of the movie, Gangs Of New York and cuts, fades or dissolves to the video depicting U2 in a music studio.
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