Digipaks Analysis

Hand on a String- Michael Andrews 

A-HA: East of the Sun, West of the Moon

 Coldplay-Parachutes

Arcade Fire- The Suburbs

Milo Greene- Milo Greene

Music Video Theories and Analysis of 5 music videos in the Indie Genre

Theorists
Andrew Goodwin proposes that music videos have 7 key features:

1) Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics
2) There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals which is either
-Illustrative: The relationship between the two mediums is explanatory and compliments one another i.e. lyrics walking on a street and a person is shown walking on a street
-Amplifying: The relationship between the two mediums is made apparent by the creative director in a more discrete way e.g. lyrics about corruption could be used with gradual introduction of low key lighting across a video
-Contradicting: The relationship between the two mediums oppose each other e.g. lyrics could be about death and people kissing could be the visuals
3) There is a relationship between the music and the visuals (again either Illustrative, amplifying or contradicting)
4) The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs/visual styles that run across their work
5) There are frequent references to the notion of looking (screens with screens, telescopes etc) andd specifically voyeuristic/sexual treatment of the female body
6) There are Intertextual  references to other media e.g. films or books
7) The video is either Performance based (Artist playing instruments or singing, focuses on them acting to camera), Narrative based (There is a story throughout the video), Concept based (Revolves around a theme/idea) or a Hybrid (combination of multiple bases e.g. narrative and performance)


Propp outlines several character profiles in his character theories:
Hero- Brave, strong, saves the princess
Princess- Vulnerable, naive and is rescued by the hero
Villain- Evil, manipulative, prone to violence and battles with the hero

Todorov suggests that narratives consist of 5 stages:
1) Equilibrium- People are consumed in everyday life and all is peaceful
2) Disruption- Something disturbs daily life
3) Recognition of Disruption- Characters are made aware of the disruption and react to it
4) Attempt to repair Disruption- Characters try to resolve and sort out the disruption
5) Reinstatement of Equilibrium- The disruption is overcome or halted and life goes back to normal, even if it has been dramatically changed and characters have to adjust to new situations/settings.

Strauss talks about Binary opposites: Opposing themes, groups or items e.g. good vs bad, man vs nature or light vs dark

*I have just included relevant parts of Media theories to use in my analysis and have not fully outlined their work in its entirety

Coldplay- Don’t panic

The Paperkites- Bloom

Arcade fire- Suburbs

hebhsirxbjhnzisptgn

Milo Greene- 1957

A-ha- Crying in the rain

Research videos

From watching videos in the indie and pop genre in lesson, I have found three videos in the indie genre:

Muse- Uprising: I found that this video was classified in the performance music video type as the majority of the video included medium close ups of band members playing instruments and close ups of the singer. There was a motif of props like dolls and teddy bears, but this was used in an unusual setting: a dark, apocalypse like city. This signified the themes of pessimism, but contrasted with the lyrics "we will be victorious" to connote hope, so that the audience can relate to the idea of perseverance and triumph against the odds.

The Killers- When you were young: This primarily was a narrative video, but still has a few elements of a performance video as there are a few close ups of the singer. The video also followed a lot of themes, like the dennotation of the cross connoting Christianity, whilst there was anchorage with the lyrics "when you were young" from a close up of a denial with mise en scene makeup of a bruise, connoting she's naive.

Coldplay-The scientist: This was mainly a performance video showing the singer lip synching, but it showed some clips later on that hint a narrative video, but this was limited. I found that this song did focus on a theme as the singer walking backwards with the lyrics "I'm going back to the start" connoting the theme of regression or perhaps renewal.

Videos in class

Here are the videos we watched in class to gain an understanding of music videos and different genres, such as indie.

Linol Richie- Hello: This was mainly a performance video. The lyrics "is it me you're looking for?" is parallel to the visuals as we see a female character with the prop of a stick and finding her way connotes she's lost and blindness. The deficit of her disability makes the album marketable as it signifies the struggles people face in everyday life, making the song seem personal to them.

Arctic monkeys- under the sun: This was a narrative video as there was focus on a story and we saw the artists performing extremely rarely. The lyrics "scummy man" is tied in with the visuals as there's a two person shot where he licks a women's face, connoting lust and sin.

 21 pilots- Stressed out: This was a performance video. The lyrics "wish we could turn back time to the good old days" highlighted the theme of nostalgia as the props of a juice carton and a tricycle denoted childhood. This would market the artist to the audience as it makes the artist seem relatable as mainstreamers can related to the idea of adulthood being stressful.