Wednesday, 31 August 2011

Music Video Analysis - Ed Sheeran (You need me, I don't need you)

Ed Sheeran -You need me, I don't need you

Ed Sheeran has been catapulted into the world of pop after working hard for years as an unsigned artist, doing small gigs here and there and building a gathering of fans. He was signed early this year and brought out his First single The A Team. The video was a massive success and followed a complicated narrative.
This song is the 2nd release and The video has been again very popular but is very simple, and almost has nothing to it.

Thinking about it in detail it does have a concept behind it. I think it's about how he has grown into an artist and how its not just being the great brand and face, you need to be a good songwriter and musician too. The way I interpret this has been shown, is the man in the spotlight is the man with no musical or song writing talent but he can look good and move to make the song look good.

The link between the lyrics and visuals is very subtle at times, but at others, flashing shots of objects make the song and the video connect and have relevance. For example here is a TubeChop that shows how the director has incorporated flashes of items that are relevant to the lyrics. It also shows the actor's hand movements and how he uses them to support the lyrics. http://www.tubechop.com/watch/201472

We see the artist Playing his guitar at beginning and at parts throughout the video but we don't see a massive amount of links between the music of the song and the visuals shown in the video. This is different considering it is mainly a performance based video. Although the actor that shows the narrative throughout the song is almost using sign language to get the best and rythem of the sing across to the audience as well as showing the message behind the lyrics. Here is my TubeChop example: http://www.tubechop.com/watch/201477

The song is of a hip-hop/pop genre and the video shows many elements that make it specific to its target audience. For example, its simply set in a dark studio with flashing lights. This may seem like a small element, but the environment has shown how it has mixed hip hop with pop. The stereotypical Hip-hop Setting would be in an empty dark space with not much character, whereas a pop video, would be all glamorous and set in luxury enviroments that make the artist and their company look big and rich. I think they have managed to balanced the 2 genres well.
The artist appeals to mainly young people, so by using a young actor, and a funky new twist, it has made it young and exciting. therefore it appeals to its target audience.

Ed has only just recently signed and this is only his second single, so I am surprised by the lack of close-ups of the artists that feature in this music video, which is used as promotional material to promote the song and the artist. On the other side of this, The label and artist would argue that he has for many years worked hard to build up his massive fan base that sent his début single to number 1. The way that I have interpreted the narrative, it wouldn't work and would contradict the song. We do see the artist and his ginger locks Twice, at the beginning and the end. We also see the artists signature guitar, that I recognised by fans due to the distinctive Paw Print Logo on it.

Overall I think this is a very good music video and doesn't necessarily follow the recognisable codes and conventions of this type of media.
I am particularly interested in the mise en scene and lighting. They have used a dark set with very strong Flashing lights that create the mood and set the style of the pop and hip-hop style they are going for. I also like how they have used significant objects and put the spot light on them when the lyrics are appropriate to that item.





Tuesday, 30 August 2011

Music Video Analysis- Kid British (Our House Is Dadless)

Kid British - Our House Is Dadless

This 2009 track from Manchester, Modern SKA/Pop band, Kid British, received 527,856 Views on YouTube.
The band members grew up on council estates in Manchester and were keen to let everyone know this with there first single, Our house is Dadless, which samples the famous Madness track, Our House.

The video is mainly concept based and follows the life of how it is to grow up in these areas. They have used many different shots to show this. In my opinion i think that the most effective are the first establishing, aerial shots. They show that the song applies to many people, all over. It also introduces the story of their chaotic houses on these massive estates.

The lyrics suit the visuals in the video and tell the story well. An example of this is the lyrics 'I can smell that bacon cooking, And mum's downstairs doing that weekly washing, Singing along she's got that Motown rocking. And i'm shouting out ‘mum turn it down', Cos i'm tryna sleep right now, Argh forget it I was getting up anyway, Man I can't get a lie in any day.'
Here is a TubeChop clip to show how the narrative and visuals in the video, represent those of the lyrics. http://www.tubechop.com/watch/200602

The beginning of the video shows a relationship between the music and the visuals, when one of the band members, turns the radio off that is playing part of the sampling track 'Our House'. Here is the clip that explains this, http://www.tubechop.com/watch/200604 

The video is almost very genre specific. It adopts the style of some madness videos, mixing the narrative and performance very well. The genre of SKA is all about being real and looking about the real society. This video is very much about that. Its not about showing the glamorous pop-star life, its about showing things like the social-economic conditions and making them acceptable. 
Kid British show the good and bad parts of living on a council estate in Manchester in the modern era, so i think that they have managed to create a Genre Specific Video.

There is not a lot of intertexuality to analyse apart from the obvious sampling and the adopted style of film, following from the madness style. 















We are invited into a world that some people don't understand, or who cannot relate to. 

Overall i would like to use some ideas from this and use it in my music video. I think the way that they take a midshot of each character after their particular scene is a good technique to focus on the detail of all the different characters.