The album above is from a band called Mumford & Sons, with the album title called 'Sigh No More'. You can see by looking the cover, that there is a dominant image of a white house, which has been taken from the road. This dominant image makes the album cover look simple but effective, also the main colour is white, which is plain and doesn't make the cover look complicated. The band can also be seen in this image, which is related to most indie/alternative CD covers as most bands like to be shown in their covers. The band can be seen in the house/shop window wearing very stereotypical indie clothing. The concept of this CD cover is that it shows a group of normal, average life males, just wanting to show their love for music and that it is not about the fame and being noticed. The text has also been put on the CD cover very well; it looks very simple but works extremely well with the image. The bands name is larger the name of the album and the text used is simple and can be read easily. The band have put the text on a lighter part of the CD cover, which is a light grey and due to the fact that the text is black, it makes the text stand out. Dominant colours have been used to make the album stand out the colours which have been used are mainly, white, black and grey, which are the three main primary colours. On a whole this CD cover as been really well presented and also relates to the characteristics of the indie/alternative genre extremely well.
Above shows a presentation which I did after analysising 3 similar texts, which talks about the genre, mise-en scene, editing, camera and the relationship between image and lyrics. All of this topics are a huge part in music videos and by analysising them it has helped me to come to a conclusion of what I will need to include in my music video. I have come to a decision with my group that we will need to make sure that we include a variety of shots and camera angles in the music video as this can be used well to edit shots to the beat of the music. Coming onto our next point that we need to have fast and paced cuts to get the audience interested and also so that it is to the beat of the music and up to its pace. We also need to make sure that our mise-en-scene has coventions of the indie genre, which means including good costumes, eg shirts, jeans, chinos etc. We also need to make sure we choose urban locations which are very stereotypical of the indie genre and also have props for instance guitars, amps and fags as these are also stereotypical of the indie/alternative genre. If we can include these things in our music video we will be sure to create a stereotypical video of indie that has the concepts of indie embeded in it.
For my analysis, I have chosen to analyze the video Mr Brightside by The Killers. The Killers are an American rock/indie/pop band from Las Vegas.
Jealousy is the main theme in the music video as it narrates the story of a man who is overcome by it. The video starts with a long shot of the band. The colors of the costumes are red, black gold etc. that suggests that the people have some significant wealth. The setting appears to be a club of some kind. The first few shots are establishing shots as it sets the scene. There is then a sudden close-up of the main actress in the video, which captures the audience’s attention. There is then a slow zoom towards the band and the music starts.
The shots then increase in speed as fast medium and close-up shots suddenly appear. The shots are constantly switching between the band and the characters. The shots are mostly of the woman flirting with the men in the club. Notice there are low angle shots of the band members, which makes them look more dominant. The shots are mostly directed at the main singer Brandon Flowers. This might be due to the popularity of Flowers and that the audience would want to see him more. This links to Andrew Goodwin’s theory of frequent close-ups of the main singer.
Throughout the video, there are frequent shots of Flowers with the main actress and the actress with someone else. There are also shots of another man gazing at the main actress. He also appears to be in love with the woman and the gaze shows jealous
There is also a shot of the two men playing a game of checkers. (2:58-3:03) The montage technique is demonstrated in these 5 seconds, as there is a shot of the woman blended into the scene. This symbolizes the two men clashing with each other for the woman’s love.
The video ends with a shot of Flowers leaving the girl. This shows that he has given up and that jealousy has overcome him.
The song Mr Brightside is seen as a rock as the instruments, performance have a relation to rock etc. The use of an Electric Gibson guitar and a drum kit signify the rock genre as it is typically used in rock music. The concept of live performance in the video also links in with the rock genre. This displays Andrew Goodwin’s theory that music video demonstrates genre characteristics.
Intertextuality is also represented in the music video as the video relates to the film Moulin Rouge. Evidence of this is shown in the costumes of the characters and also how they act. This shows Andrew Goodwin’s theory of intertextuality in music videos.
The lyrics and the visuals also coincide with the music video. For example, when the singer sings about jealousy, the visuals quickly turn to the actress. There is also a link between the visuals and the music as the music speeds up when the shots become more frequent. This supports Andrew Goodwin’s theory that there is a relationship between the visuals, music and lyrics.
There is also voyeuristic treatment of the female body as there are frequent shots of woman dancing in the club. This also links to Andrew Goodwin’s theory and Laura Mulvey’s male gaze.
I think the main target audience would be the male gender as the video consists of many voyeuristic shots of woman. The video would also appeal to woman or others who have been in the same situation of jealousy before. The video would also appeal to teenage girls, as they would find the band members attractive.
I think the video Mr Brightside is effective in attracting the attention of the target audience. It is also successful in conveying the story of the music video.
Kings of Leon was formed in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee by brothers Nathan Followill (drums, percussion, vocals), Caleb Followill (vocals, rhythm guitar), Jared Followill (bass guitar, vocals) and their cousin Matthew Followill (lead guitar, vocals). The bands current album 'Come Around Sunshine' was released on October 15, 2010 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In the UK, the album sold 183,000 units in its first week as well as breaking the record for biggest first week digital album sales by selling over 49,000 album downloads. It was the 11th biggest selling album of 2010 in the UK with 694,300 sales. The album had only four singles released from it which included, Radioactive, The Immortals, Back Down South and Pyro. Pyro was the second single that was released from the album on the 9th of December 2010. Kings of Leon main description of the song/video is that it is about a guy that was kind of fed up with it all and he thought that the world that he was living in wasn't the perfect world to him so he kind of goes and burns it down. It's just one of those songs where it's like it starts out with someone thinking they know how it's supposed to be and at the end it's like, 'I can't even be that way. Pyro falls into the Indie/Rock genre, which is a huge, broad genre, which is full of characteristics and motifs. Pyro expresses some of these characteristics, with lyrics relating to a topic of social concern, which is in this case about life itself. The video shows a man walking into a scummy bar, not knowing what life is really about, and the song continues to then reveal that the real side of life is being there for one another and helping each other, by the man walking around in the bar and noticing things provides a narrative part to the video.
The relationship between lyrics and visuals are sometimes abstract but really illustrative. The core themes of the song are obviously death/suicide and the loss of a loved one(s) coupled with the realisation that you will be around to support them no longer. The opening verse indicates an arsonist or someone who wants to start a fire and closes with the calling of the fire brigade (emergency service!). The video reflects this with the lead character bursting into the bar and immediately picking a fight with someone who can obviously hurt him or even kill him. In real life this would cause the barman or people around to call the emergency services (e.g police/ambulance). The lines 'single book of matches, gonna burn what's standing in the way' emphasises the character bursting into the bar, making out that he wants to cause a problem or start a fire eg. Fight, like a fire bursting into the room. This illustration continues throughout the video, and the words in the second verse 'bury all the pictures, and tell the kids that I'm okay, If'n I'm forgotten, You'll remember me fore today' emphasises the fact that everyone must die and we lose a love one, and this shown later in the video, where certain people around the bar become spirits and rise toward the light, metaphorically in this case heaven. Not only that but the people surrounding the spirits look like that they don't even notice that they are not even there eg. Looks as if they have lost them at an early time in their lives. The main character though doesn't have anyone one with him and doesn't fight back, which relates back to the first two lines showing that he doesn't give a care weather he lives or dies. More illustration becomes adrift when the chorus comes in stating 'I, I won't ever be your cornerstone’ relating once again to the fact the main character doesn't want to live anymore or be around anymore. Throughout the video there are most illustrative relationships between the lyrics and the video. There is a slight contradictive part in the video, where its states 'Once the show gets started, its bound to be a sight to see', where it shows a girl dancing on the stage and the main character getting beaten. This is contradictive as in normal life a show would be a positive eg. Seeing a band live etc but in the video they show the main character been beaten to death which in this case is the show and that it is going to be a sight to see. There is also a slight part of amplifying in the video as when the man dies in the video, you see him with rising up towards the light but at this time, you see other characters rising up the light with him, amplifying that they are all going towards the light, which in this case is heaven.
Kings of Leon have done an absolute amazing job with the editing of this music video, changing the visuals to the pace and tempo of the music. The first 17 seconds of the video, the music is gentle and calm and there is one whole cut which emphasises this, but as soon as the man enters the bar, the guitar and drums kick in relating to the lyrics also where he is bursting into the bar not caring. For the first minute of the video, there is just one shot, which tracks around the whole bar, showing the audience where the video is set and what it is about. After the tracking shot has been used it then cuts to a slow motion shot of the man being punched, once again relating to the lyrics at the begin, the guy entering the bar not giving a care and picking a fight with someone he knows he doesn't have a chance with. This is in coloration with the lyrics as there is a long holding note sung by the singer which really links well with he slow motion shot. It then cuts a few times to relate to the man getting beaten, which relates to a fight making it as quick as possible, but the slow motion shot is still continued to relate to the audience so they can understand what’s happening, and also to once again collates with the lyrics. The tempo of the song throughout now is at a steady pace but the editing has still quite slow cuts along with the slow motion effect still being used. This relates to the lyrics in the song as the singers talk about death and about that life doesn't always end up as everyone assumes it is and that everyone is going to die eventually. Also when the singer sings 'When the show gets started, I’m sure it will be a sight to see' the camera cuts to a women dancing relating to a show, which is going to be good to see but the reality in the video is that the show is actually the man getting beaten to death. There is also a very good and amplified cut of a women screaming with tears falling on her knees and this links really well with the lyrics as he screams the word I and it sounds like someone screaming their tears out. The music changes slightly with the dynamics and tempo as the song slows down when a man throws a baseball bat to his friend, giving the impression that the main characters time is up and that he is going to die and the change in music emphasises this. Then there are many cuts showing his body rise upwards, this is extremely clever as it shows that it is spirit leaving is body. This is amplified more as when it cuts to the mans face you can see that his face heals and it has been said that when your spirit leaves your body it is they way that you want your body to be. This is more amplified when other people around him then start leaving the ground and moving upwards and cuts link with the tempo and beat of the music to show each person leaving there loved one relating once again to the meaning of the song. There then is a really emphasised cut where the audience can see the a women and the man in shot looking at this light in the middle of the shot, emphasising that when you die, you see a bright light and go towards it. For the majority of the song, a slow motion technique is used throughout, although this doesn't relate to the tempo and dynamics of the song but it works as cuts occur when the music changes. Not only that but it relates to that death is quite and peaceful relating to the slow motion making out that it is calm and quite. Overall Kings of Leon and took a subtle idea and turned into something so personified to really emphasise the way of life.
Many people know what Kings of Leon look like as it many previous videos they have released, they are present throughout. They created an image showing that in most of their videos there are just performing with their instruments, as this relates to the people that they are and relates to the characteristics of the genre that they are in. Throughout the video the audience see the band many times playing the song within the set, but there are wearing clothes which relate to the setting that they are in, so they contrast between being the band playing a live gig there and looking like normal people in life. Both the video and the song give the viewers the feeling of the band being a school American band but they have a country and present influence with them in how they perform and what they wear. The record label for this song has focused on both promoting the single and the band themselves.
There is a slight intertextual reference to the song with the bright light being shown at the end with the film 'Ghost', where Patrick Swayze is a spirit without the film and then a bright light appears and light takes him from earth, this relates to the song as you can see at the end where everyone is spirits and moving towards the light. There is a saying where people say that when you die you see a bright light and it takes you from earth. This intertextual reference is a very good way to help the audience understand the idea and meaning of the song.
Two Door Cinema Club are an indie rock band from Bangor and Donaghadee, County Down in Northern Ireland. Formed in 2007, the band is composed of band members: Sam Halliday (lead guitar, backing vocals), Alex Trimble (vocals, rhythm guitar, beats, synths) and Kevin Baird (bass, backing vocals). They released their debut album 'Tourist History' on March 1 2010. It was released on 26 February 2010 in the Republic of Ireland and on 1 March 2010 in the UK and was released in the USA on 27 April 2010. Undercover Martyn was the third single released by Two Door Cinema Club and was released on18th February 2010 by the French record label Kitsune Music which the band are signed to. Undercover Martyn was of the singles that was released from the ablum and it was seen as a slightly different video to what most indie/alternative bands produce. The video has been described as energetic, colorful and danceable by many of their fans. The video shows the three band members on a black canvas floating in mid air, along with their instruments, which is a characteristics of the indie/alternative genre. Throughout the video it continues to show the trio performing their music and having fun, along with some simple transitions and clever editing it makes the video enjoyable and fun to watch.
The relationship between lyrics and visuals mainly visual and peformance based and there is rarely any illustrative throughout the video. The main theme of the the video is showing that the band want just want to play their music and be different from other bands out their in the alternative/indie genre. The video starts off as with the group against a black background, but it seems to the auidience that they are standing but actually the camera angle has been changed, the band are actually laying on the floor and being held by numerous people who are all dressed in black and blend into the background. The first two lines of the song are 'And she spoke words that would melt in your hands, And she spoke words of wisdom' These lyrics have no revelance to the visuals which are shown at this part in the song, all it shows is a close up of the lead singer singing these two lines. The next couple of lines, where the singer says 'to the basement people, to the basement'. When the word basement is sung, the letters of basement come up behind the band. Throughout the song the lyrics of the song have no connection with the visuals of the video.
Throughout the video the band play their guitars and the middle person who is the lead singer singsalong,with very little movement other than tapping their feet which then looks a little strange as if they were standing up they would not be able to move their feet that freely. As the video progresses the people holding them up proceed to turn the band members whole bodies around and take their guitars off of them as they do so, however as we are not supposed to see the people in the background it looks very peculiar. The people behind also pass through very long colourful bits of material in order to make it look like a special effect but in its most basic form. The key concept of this video is to make it look as basic as possible and to not feature any high-tech camera work such as CGI’s. This then links to the Indie Genre as it portrays its characteristics of just featuring the band and making them and their instruments the main focus point rather than anything else within the video.
The lighting is kept the same throughout, however at one moment they use a special lighting which then makes the clothes and guitars look as if they are glowing and the rest of their bodies are completely blacked out, this then changes from this to normal very quickly and repeatedly to add special effect.
This then links to the editing that has been made within the video. They have used a lot of fast shot changes to make it more enticing to watch as the band are being flipped upside down and around very quickly. Other than this there has been no other editing made as the rest of the movement of the band and other features of the video is all done by the numerous people who are holding the band members and continually are doing other things such as holding up letter cards spelling out the song lyrics and passing round the colourful material. This makes the whole video more intriguing to watch as it is all done by people and not by the use of computers.
There is also not a lot of camera work used, the angle is kept the same throughout positioned facing the whole band and occasionally producing close-ups featuring just their shoulders and heads. This again adapts to the idea of the indie genre music videos as they try to keep it as simplistic as they can to meet the sound of the music being produced.
The clothes that the band members are wearing are very smart casual, again meeting the requirements of an Indie stereotype. As they are all wearing quite tight fitted clothes such as chinos, with the same kind of cool look about them. A lot of Indie listeners tend to dress the same as they see specific band members wearing particular clothing and their proceed the wear the same in a aspiring way.
