Thursday, 15 September 2016

Analysis of Eight Music Videos

Analysis of eight music videos from 4 different genres

The whole purpose of making a music video is not only to make money through the single that has been released by the major artist but also to give a very good representation while portraying a message that is gives meaning to the song. Also it is promoting their music that artist has released for the tended target audience as they are trying to get more recognition and in a way to advertise their album that is getting or been released for the audience.

Future-Blood On the Money (Hip-Hop/Rap)

Link for the video: https://youtu.be/2y-edrXIZjA

The track of Blood On the Money is Hip-Hop/trap track where it is off the album of Future’s third studio album called DS2 but this song was not released as a single but instead it was released as a music video and the producers were Cassius Jay, Zaytoven & Metro Boomin produced the whole of the track.

Visual Presentation: The lyrics that the artist of Future is reciting to the listener of the music is that he is earning his so called money by doing dirty deeds by getting someone murdered and selling drugs in the dangerous neighbourhoods but in the music video, himself and his crew are attending a funeral of dead relative and it showed how this person and his body getting dumped over a bridge but there is a plot twist which in the night, Future and his producers of Metro Boomin and DJ Esco go back to graveyard where the coffin is and opens up to find money inside of it instead of the dead body.



In this screenshot from the Blood on The Money music video, this is mid-shot of the covered man while being tied to a chair where he is shaking in fear as there is a bright light that is approaching him which the audience can tell that he is on train tracks.


In this screenshot, towards the ending of this music video there is shot of Future’s producer of DJ Esco landing into a coffin that is filled with money which is the main plot twist of the video because the audience would think that the dead person was buried inside but they show what happened to both of the dead bodies.

Narrative: This music video was both narrative and performance-based as there was flashbacks of how this person died which was getting run over an oncoming train while being tied up to a chair where his face was covered, his body getting dragged by unknown person in the dark which he sets it on fire to get rid of it and the dead body is getting thrown off a bridge.

Performance features: The performance features within the track of Blood On the Money features the Atlanta producers of Metro Boomin (Leland Tyler Wayne) and DJ Esco where both of them are producers for Future but they do appear as guests because they do not perform any vocals at all.

Sound: The most of the music video is non-diegetic as the editors did slow down the pace of the clips so the lip-syncing would be able to match with the actual audio of the track although at the beginning of the music video, there is diegetic sound when there were vocals from Future being heard.

Age Group: The intended age group for this type of Hip-Hop music is around the ages of sixteen to eighteen.

Arctic Monkeys-Do I Wanna Know? (Alternative/Rock)

This single of Do I Wanna Know is a rock track by Arctic Monkeys where it was based off their fifth studio album called AM where it was released back in September 2013 and this track was released as a single in June of that year.

Visual representation: The whole meaning of this song is that the lead singer of Arctic Monkeys called Alex Turner is portraying himself is an obsessive lover to this girl where he wants her to open up her feelings including his while being in a relationship together.

Idea behind the video: The whole idea behind this music video was that it was abstract that is meaning that it was creative and imaginative rather going with narrative or performance based at all so they used amination with the use of imagery being used like, for example: they had waveform throughout the most of the music video before it got more interesting towards the end of it.

Sound: The sound within this music video is non-diegetic so the waveforms for the most of the video would be in sync with the actual audio of the track.

The Weeknd-Can’t Feel My Face (R&B)

Visual Presentation: The meaning of this track is where the lyrics by the artist of The Weeknd is talking about this drug that he is taking for his personal use while trying to referring it to woman as it is painful to take because he is making music for the industry so he can impress the listeners and his fans at the same time.


In this screenshot from the music video, the camera shot of mid-shot of the lighter in the air that has been thrown by the unknown man towards the artist of The Weeknd where he is performing. He was about to smoke inside the nightclub until he has second thought and decides throw at The Weeknd but the artist was looking at him in couple of the clips so this could be the devil in disguise to keeping working in the studio rather entertain his own fans.

Performance features: The performance features of this video has cameos of males and females who are acting the audience of dancing and watching the artist (The Weeknd) performing in front of nightclub.

Sound: The sound within this music video is non-diegetic because the clips of the artist’s lip syncing matches with the actual audio of the track but there is no diegetic sound being heard at all.

Intended age group: Since the genre of this track is Pop, the intended target audience will be majority young teenagers listening to this track and artist itself so the age gap will between 13-19 years old.

Kendrick Lamar: Alright (Hip-Hop/Rap)
            
Visual representation: The visual representation of this extended Alright music video by Kendrick Lamar where the meaning behind it is that after the track 6 of U on To Pimp A Butterfly which lyrically he is talking about depression when his friend died in hospital after being shot in his hometown of Compton and his dark thoughts of loving yourself, this track is giving him hope and keeping his confidence high rather than low by saying ‘We gon’ be alright’ by believing in God to get rid of his pain and struggles while highlighting the police brutality against black people in the United States of America.





In this screenshot, around the 4:00 and 4:05 minute mark there is panning where the artist of Kendrick Lamar is lip-syncing to the camera while having a crowd behind enjoying in with him. For this single, it is showing that the small communities within the neighbourhoods are united rather being disjointed from different places in the United States of America since this track is positively and hope for different races by saying the hook ‘We gon’ be alright’.  

Performance features: During this music video, there is cameos appearances from Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q and Jay Rock who are part of TDE (Top Dawg Entertainment) including Kendrick as well which they were in a car where four LA police were carrying. Also there is a feature from Pharrell Williams where he is on the hook for the track saying ‘We gon’ be alright’.

Sound: There is non-diegetic sound within the music video because Kendrick’s lip syncing within each clip is matching with the actual audio of the track and some audio from a different track of U which is on to Pimp a Butterfly as well including Alright where Kendrick is screaming in pain and anger. But at the beginning of the music video you can hear diegetic sound like, for example: you can hear a gun being fired by one of the LA policemen, glass of beer getting smashed into a wall which gets broken into pieces.

Intended age group: Since the track belongs to the genre of Hip-Hop, the intended target audience would be teenagers who are between the age of 13-26 years old and who are into the likes of Kendrick, Drake, J Cole, Kanye West, Chance The Rapper, Logic, Big Sean etc.

Muse: Resistance (Alternative/Rock)

Visual representation: This music video of Resistance is about where someone is recording a tour with the band performing in a stadium in the capital city of Spain which is Madrid in front of their fans but in terms of the lyrics being said in the audio is simple for the listener which the whole meaning of the track is that it is about the romance between two people and about love being crossed any boundaries when it comes to religious beliefs.


In this screenshot around the 1:20 to 1:23 minute mark, this camera shot that is being used here is a long shot of the band playing in a concert in front of thousands of people in a stadium within the country of Spain but in the capital city of Madrid.

Performance features: Within this music video, the band is consisting of Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard but there is no featuring artist within the track and also, they are performing in front of a lot of people in a stadium by using live instruments like, for example: guitar, bass and drums were being played by them. So I can definitely say that the public had been waiting to go in to see them live so I can guess that these people are a fans of the band.
  
Sound: The type of the music sound that is being used in this music video is non-diegetic as the footage has been recorded in the concert is in sync so the band cannot hear the track at all otherwise it will be diegetic.  

Age Group: Since this track’s genre is Alternative/Rock, it would say that the target audience who are bands like, for example: Muse, Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, Red Hot Chilli Peppers or even Foo Fighters could be around the age of 13-30 year olds.

Bryson Tiller: Exchange (R&B)

Exchange is one of the singles that was released from Bryson Tiller’s first debut studio album called TRAPSOUL which it was released back 2th October 2015 and he became one of the breakout stars of 2015 where it was good year in which there was music getting released from all genres like, for example: Hip-Hop, Pop, R&B, Alternative etc.

Visual representation: This music video is about the past relationship that Tiller and ex-girlfriend where it shows of how both of them met together and it developed before they broke up but towards the ending of the music video, they do get back together after meeting up on a top of a mountain.


In this screenshot which this is a clip from the music video ‘Exchange’ by Bryson Tiller where from the 1:13 to the 1:23 minute mark it is showing how Bryson Tiller and his new girlfriend met for the first time so it is establishing to the listener and audience who are watching this music video that from that point on, they have been in a relationship before breaking up with one other.

Performance Analysis: In this music video, it is starring Bryson Tiller which he is the main actor of the whole thing but there is a guest of a mixed-race and good looking woman who seems to be an ex-lover to the Louisville singer in the video.

Narrative: The whole narrative of this music video that has been released by the artist is both performance and narrative-based story of nonlinear being mixed in together to make more interesting for the viewer to watch rather it being boring and dull but the reason why it is both of these types of narrative as there is some parts of the video where the main artist is lip-syncing to the camera and including the fact that there are flashbacks to show the past of what happened between the relationship between the artist and his girlfriend.

Sound: The sound that is being heard within the music video is non-diegetic as the different camera shots that are getting shown to the viewer is in sync with the audio of the track as well with the shots with Tiller lip-syncing the vocals that he is singing.

Age Group: Since this track of Exchange by Bryson Tiller is an R&B/Pop genre, the target audience is intended for young teenagers of mainly girls between the age of 13-19 years old.

Gun N’ Roses: Welcome to the Jungle (Rock)

This track was released back in October 27th 1988 in the United Kingdom after a year their first album called Appetite for Destruction was released to the public in July 21th 1987 and was well-received by music critics and including new fans who just starting listening to the band for the first time.  

Visuals: This music video is about exploring the dark side of city while trying to a reach for fame in their life which in for a case for the band, the city that are talking about in their lyrics of the song is Los Angeles as they were living in Sunset Boulevard around 1985 where they described as a ‘hell.
Performance Analysis: In this music video, there is appearances from the whole of the rock band like the vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bass player Duff McKagen and drummer Steven Adler where they are seen performing in a concert in front of people.   
Sound: The sound is that being used in the video is non-diegetic as the vocalist of Axl Rose is lip-syncing to the vocals of the track to the camera while the band are also playing the actual track where they cannot hear it at all.

Age Group: The intended age group for the target audience who are into the genre of Rock music and are into artists like AC/DC, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix or even Iron Maiden are most likely to be around the age of 13-50 years old.

B.B King: The Thrill Is Gone ft. Tracy Chapman (Jazz)

Visuals: The whole meaning of this track is that the main artist (B.B King) is remembering a relationship that that he was previously in but his wife seems to have died and he is trying to move on from that past relationship and the proof of this is where around 2:00 and 2:04 minutes into the music video as he is checking into a local hotel and he opens up the briefcase, he has a photo frame of his wife.

Performance Analysis: The whole music video has the main artist of Jazz artist and musician of B.B King with the featuring artist of Tracy Chapman where this single appears on his fifth album called Deuces Wild that was released in 1997.

Sound: The type of sound that is being used in this music video is non-diegetic because both of the artists are lip-syncing to the vocals that is being said in the actual audio of the single.

Age Group: The intended age group of this song is most likely between the age of 24-70 as there are going to be fans that like jazz music are into the artists like B.B King, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole etc.

No comments:

Post a Comment