Previous A2 Music Videos

Previous A2 Music Videos - Analysis

To start off the course, I thought I would watch and analyse some of the music videos from last years students in order to develop my own ideas for my music video. Also, this will help me to understand what is expected of me this year.

I started by looking at this video:

I like this video because it really connects with the audience because of the relationship presented through the narrative which is built through the lighting and mise-en-scene. I think the use of close-ups really helps to develop the narrative and makes the audience more engaged.

This example highlights the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as a lot of what is said matches the image on screen. For example, 'These eyes that I'm staring at' then the image is off her eyes. This is repeated throughout the video which supports Goodwin's theory of lyrics matching visuals.

There is good use of lighting in this video to emphasise the emotion between the characters as well as the change in background when the main male character is singing on his own. I also really liked the slow motion images to make it fit in well with the lyrics as well as the special effects which give a hazy effect to link in with the drugs we see on the table. I think this was a really well put together video however, it could be considered slightly too literal to the lyrics. I prefer videos to be left slightly to my imagination.

The next Music Video I looked at from a previous student was this:

I thought this video was extremely well put together. I loved the change in speed to create an unsettling mood which worked really well with the colours in the miss-en-scene too. The reds and blacks help build the narrative as they are generally seen as quite dark or devilish colours.

There is a repeated close-up of the main characters lips which also matches in with the colour red. This shows the lip sync is well done and also, there is a slight relationship between the lyrics and the visuals when it said 'Go back and tie it' then it showed the hands being tied up. I thought the reversal of that was really neat and cleverly done as it rewinds the footage.

The lighting is generally quite dark too which also reflects on the narrative however, there is a light shining at certain parts when there is a white piece of clothing being flown around the woman which creates a kind of silhouette which is really effective and keeps the audience enticed throughout. This creates the image of the main character being watched because of the perspective we are looking at her from. It looks as if she's on a stage but I really like the effect this gives.

I then watched this video: http://player.vimeo.com/video/47925628?byline=0&portrait=0

This talks about how over the years music videos have become a lot less important to many people and therefore, not as much money is being spent on making them because they are so easily made now with modern technology. I think that although this is true, somehow professionally made Music Videos always appear a lot better. They seem to have better narratives, better lighting and are able to produce it to a high standard and of good quality, Homemade Music Videos can also produce good quality ones however, you can still see the difference between the two in my eyes.
Making these Videos requires a lot of money for it to look decent but people only have small budgets.  I think it's great that young people can make their own videos and practice if they are aspiring directors as it's a great starting point. It is extremely difficult to create a high standard video with such a low budget whilst still be creative enough to engage an audience.