Analysis of Contemporary Music Videos

The first video I`am going to analyse is of Linkin Park- the track is called "What I`ve done", the reason I have chosen this video is because it has alot of different edits and their are alot of clips that are cut between.
here is the video:



This music video was directed by Joe Hahn, he is in fact the bands DJ so it was done by one of the bands members so their was more control in what the band wanted. It was released 2nd April 2007 about 22 days before the album which the song is on was actually released,so it promoted the album and made people want to buy the album for the single. Unfortunately I couldn't find any references to the cost of making the video.

Mise-en-scene
Their is a general use of mise-en-scene in the video, as you can see from the video is of nature and history. This is because alot of the shots are of the out side world, it is also because alot of the clips or scenes are in grey and of historical things that have happened in the past. The mise-en-scene of nature is also played up by that fact that most of the scenes have three main colours of blue, green and ground brown colour these in a way represent the common colours of nature so in some way they could have been saying that humanity has destroyed nature and the earth and we should be sorry for what we have done.

Cinematography
The use of cinematography is also very interesting as the lighting of the video is bright but also very consistent this is very good as it causes the shot to be more interesting as alot of the shots of the lead singer or guitarist have over exposure on their shoulders so it make it more interesting for the audience member and it give them more height. Their are lots of different shots that are very experimental but some of them are repeated alot, some of these interesting shots are of the lead singer, they are low shots and high shots and a couple of the shots are tracking shots that have been done by a steady cam but they do give a good effect.

Editing or Visual effects
The editing of this video has been vital for it to work as their are lots of cuts from the band to the clips of history and things of the earth i.e. the grand canyon. The edit of these cuts have been done to go with the speed and intensity of the music track, if you notice the speed of the cuts get faster and their are more cuts as the track gets more intense and as the beat gets quicker.

Relationship between the Lyrics and Visuals
The relationship between the lyrics and the visuals is very good as the visuals in a way interpret what the lyrics are saying, this is made very possible as the director is part of the band so when the song was written he would know what the band were meaning. If you notice the first part of the song is all about regretting what they have done and wanting to whip the slate clean, for this part of the video you have clips from history of dramatic events in history that we all know about and that have changed the world such as Nazism or civil rights. The second part of the song then goes into starting over and changing also becoming new this is reflected by having clips of embryos and week old children which would represent new life so in a way it is trying to say that the second part of the song is on about being born again to forget what they/ we have done.

Relationship between the Music and Visuals
Their is also a strong relationship between the music and the visuals as movement of the visuals goes along with the beat of the music. This is something that is very common in music videos however with this music video you can see the movement going along with the beat more than some other videos if you look closely you can see in one part that when the drum hits the drums they cut to a clip of trees being blown with a high gust of wind, so it makes the effect that he is hitting the wind into the trees. to see what i am talking about look at the video at the time of 2:05 and you will see what i mean.

Intertextuality
Their is a fair bit of intertexuality in the video as in alot of the clips their are references to different problems that face our world like pollution or global warming also war. The video has references to the Iraq war to make people think about whether they support it also alot of the other references makes people think about the other issues the world faces and what they think about it.

Genre characteristics
This video contains alot of the common characteristics of a rock video however it is more of a plain light hearted rock video rather than having a proper hard rock video. The reason this is a light hearted rock video but still a rock video is because the band is all wearing black and are performing in the common style of a rock band but they don't have the girls or the really depressive style of being very doom and gloom but in fact it is brighter than they normally are, however it is still rock as it does have the common shot of dramatic drum playing or of the lead singer having a close up.

Performance, Narrative or Concept based
The video is more performance based and a small bit of narrative and not really concept based. The reason for it being more performance based is fairly obvious as the band are playing in the whole thing oer most of it as they are not shown performing only when their is clips being shown. The narrative part of it that comes into it is the whole sort of regretting the things of the past and starting over, this shown by the oreder of the videos that go from the past clips to the new born clips so it tells the story of what has happened on the earth in the past can be forgotten or washed away and those effected can try to start again and be re-born if you get my meaning.

How well does the Promo Promote the band
This promote the band well as it promotes the band well as it shows them as a good rock band but it also show them as creative and can attract a range of audiences, this is because alot of people can watch this video and relate to them and make them think. It also makes the band look like they care more about what alot of people care about and not just what they care about but also it isnt about just what the band has experienced and it doesn't refer to the bands personal experience.

The Intended Audience
I feel that the intended audience are young people aged 16- 25 that like rock type tracks but also have a bit of time to reflect, this is because the clips are things that young people know of and also it is very modern and fast moving at times .

The next Music video i`am going to analyse is the killers-`some body told me` the reason for choosing this track is firstly a song that i like alot and also it is a very inventive video.



The music video for "Somebody Told Me", was filmed in February 2004 in California and was directed by Brett Simon.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somebody_Told_Me#Music_video)

Mise-En-Scene.
The mise-en-scene of this video is very good and interesting. The location is of somewhere in the desert, which makes the band seem very different and odd. This is very good for the bands image as it makes them more out their than other bands in their type of genre. The costume for this video is also very good as it is them in a casual suit, so it gives the feeling that the band are smart but also relaxed. It also fits with the audio track as it gives the impression that they are singing about a party or being in a club which is how they are dressed. Their are not any props in the video so i cant really say much about them. Another bit that is very interesting about the set is that the background or back drop is a video screen that has projected onto it shots of the band so it is a very good effect it also has other visuals that go with the music .

Cinematography.
The cinematography has been played with alot in this track but it is extremely good. firstly the type of shots that have been used range an awful lot, their are alot of mid shot and also wide shot plus their are a few MCU shots, the interesting thing though is that they jump around with the speed of the track as when the track gets faster so does the cuts between the shots but also you see alot of the MCU shot cross fading into wide shots but what makes them more interesting to watch is that as the cross fade happens you see it tracking into a wide shot or zooming out into wide shot. in one of part of the video you can tell that they have used a jib as it goes from a mid shot of the lead singer into a cross fade to the jib panning down and pulling back into a wide shot, this has been done very well and creates a very good effect for the viewer. the lighting on this video is also very interesting as it is very dark then at the end of the video it becomes lighter this is more to demonstrate night and day. the light has also been done very cleverly at some points of the video as the only part of the video that is actually lite is the backs of the band and the dancers so it creates silotets, this has been done by having a big screen video behind them and having that as the only light.

Interesting edited or Visual effects.
in this video their are a lot of interesting effects that have been created with the use of a large veiwing monitor that has been added into the set behind the band. if you look then you can see that some of the shots have the band member being mirrored or even another band member being on the screen behind the one on the camera. their have also been many effects created by the editing of the video. this is the green screen that has been done to make one of the shots all blue but with a hint of cartoon added to it. one other edited thing that has been done which makes the video more interesting i the effect that they have done of words coming out of the monitor screen behind the band to go out of the screen and in front of the band with a wipe effect.

relationship between the lyrics and visuals.
the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals is fairly good but the visuals don't give the scene that you would expect from hearing the lyrics, what i mean is that the lyrics give and image of a party or a club but the visuals are obviously of a desert. however the visuals do match the visuals in some areas as it contains parts of where it says "that looks like a girl Friend", they have siloets of women coming on the screen, also the lyrics that say about it being some place that's not like many others it sort of suggests it as they are set in somewhere that not many people would have a video to a song like this set in a desert.

relationship between the music and the visuals.
their is a strong relationship between the music and the visuals as the speed of the cuts and the movement goes with the speed of the track. also the visual movements go with the beat of the music if you look at the cuts and the movement of the band members it goes along with the beat as they are to each of the beats, however the cuts are for only certain beats and the movement goes from 2-4 beats till they move.

use of intertextuallity
their has been a big use of intertextuality but not of common products however it has beeen used to promote the band by it being the bands name that is played on the big screen behing thm but istead of it bing scroll across the screen normally theyn have infact scrolled it backwards so you could fnid your self trying to figure it out but in fact it is also to subliminal messaging by getting veiwers to look at it that way.also the setting they have used many bands have used that same type of setting or locations for example linkin park in "what ive done", so the location is also in a way intertaxualltiy as it is advertising those bands that are in their genre who have done the same type of thing.

genre characteristics
the video also containes a few characteristics of the indie music genre, as it has the whole band performance. they also have the visuals that the genre usually has, as it is the whole moving electronic visuals that videos like "let it rock by little wayne". also they are dressed in the costume that most indie bands wear in their videos.

Perfomance, narrative or concept
this video is very much a perfomance based video as the band are playing throught the whole video as live. however you could say that it does have a small bit of narrative as they are in the desert and are saying that they are in a place that isnt like normal or in the world, but the performance base of it is very dominante as they way hey move and sing also play looks like they are performing fo the audience.

how well does the promo promote.
this video/ promo promotes the band very well as they have the bands name all over the video, also it shows the band as very good performers. the way in which the band is represented in this video is that they are very invetive and active also it show them as the cool old school band by them being in suits but also the are performing and keep it simple, which in a way makes the band also be shwon to not care about their image and weather they can attract audiences by having sexy girls but in fact they show that they care more about the music and not over complicating their video.

intended audience.
the intended audince for this video is those aged 16-28 who like indie music however it is a very well known song that is like by people who like all sorts of genres, so in a way i think it could be aimed at anyone aged 16-28 that are big lovers of all genres and those who really like indie music.