Music Video Analysis

Holy Diver – Killswitch Engage

This song was originally by ‘Dio’ but ‘Killswitch Engage’ covered it in 2007. The Dio music video featured the lead singer acting as a barbarian, going round turning people into rats with his sword. The Killswitch Engage video is very similar to it, set in a medieval time with a knight in shining armour attempting to awake a fair maiden from her sleep. There are also some performance shots of the band in a castle courtyard with some flames behind them and aggressive playing. This is a very typical feature of a heavy metal music video.

There are no obvious links between the lyrics and the visuals in this video. There are a few references to “Shiny diamonds” and a blacksmith hands the knight a shiny sword and other references to steel which would fit the medieval genre. Apart from this there are no other obvious links.

The pace of this video is relatively slow compared to some other metal videos but it still cuts to the beat well and develops with the music. During the break down of the song the editing speed up slightly and there are some shots interlinked with a few very fast white flashes. This also happens several times with a chord change or a drum fill throughout the song. The visuals emphasise solo instrument parts when they come along in the song. For example near the beginner the guitarist slides his pick along the strings which is shown during one of the performance shots. Also during the guitar solo the guitarist are shown in between narrative shots. I quite liked this as a guitar solo can really be effective with narrative shots. In this video an evil wizard is shown getting angry with a crystal ball, the guitar solo really emphasises the energy and aggression of these shots.

The video has slightly more narrative shots than performance shots; it is usually the other way around with rock and metal music videos. There are a variety of camera shots used during the performance sections which keeps the audience engaged and adds energy to the video. The band is seen playing outside in a castle courtyard with flaming lanterns around them. The editing is relatively fast paced which helps convey energy and liveliness. The way the band is playing also helps give the video an aggressive feel. This is very typical of a metal band. There are a few shots with the guitarist throwing his guitar away from himself while the strap is still attached so it swings around, and lots of head banging. This too adds to the violent and in your face feel. Several close-ups are used of the lead singer; this shows us that it is the real band playing real instruments which again is a conventional feature of heavy metal music videos.

There are some aspects of voyeurism in this video, for example when the knight bursts into the castle at the beginning. The king is surrounded by four girls feeding him and wearing small dresses. This is often something you see in music videos as it grabs the audience’s attention and makes the video more sexual and enticing. However this conventional representation of females is smashed to pieces at the end when the “girl” the knight is trying to awaken from her sleep is about a foot taller than him, has big sideburns, a hairy chest and hairy hands. This is definitely not conventional thing to do, more something you would expect to see in an Aphex Twin video and he is not someone known for his conformity.

In conclusion there are lots of conventional features of a music video in this one, such as the aggressive nature of the playing and the performance shots and the beautiful girls surrounding the king. However there are several very unconventional features like the slightly heavier weighting of narrative shots to performance shots and the tall, hairy sleeping beauty.

Music Video Analysis

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Music Video Analysis

How You Remind Me - Nickelback

The video that I am going to analyse is “How You Remind Me” by Nickelback. The song is a rock song; this is conveyed in the video by having lots of performance shots.

The lyrics of “How You Remind Me” are amplified by the visuals occasionally. At the beginning Chad, the lead singer, is talking about being sad and how he’s ‘never made it’ and the colour of the video is very dim and like a sort of blue grey colour. He is also sitting on a bed looking very sad and depressed.

The video is very much related to the music. The video is cut to the beat and when instruments have a solo section they are often shown playing it on stage. This not only helps the video to flow smoothly it also adds authenticity to the piece. The pace of the editing compliments the pace of the track. When the track is more relaxed and sitting back, so is the editing but when the track gets more energetic so too does the pace of the editing. The audience can see that this is a real band playing real instruments. The pace of the music is also conveyed in the video. At the beginning the pace is quite slow which is shown by the fact that not many shots are being used. When the band really gets into it and the music lifts up the editing is sped up and more shots are used.

There are several close-ups in the video. These are the star shots that make the money. We can see that it is Chad Kroeger singing. Chad looks very serious when he is playing, this shows that him and his band are serious about their music, they don’t mess about. It also adds some authenticity. We see that they are a real band and it also makes the narrative seem like it was real. We can then relate to this. We see that actually this is a real man singing about real experiences.

The Nickelback video is about half performance based and half narrative based. We see sometimes Chad walking down the street or sitting at home, illustrating the narrative. Then some of the time we see the band performing on stage. At the end however the two merge. We see the band performing on stage and the girl from the narrative comes into the audience.

In conclusion the video is very much a stereotypical rock video. There are lots of performance shots showing a real band playing real instruments. Also there is a small narrative relating to the lyrics of the song.

Music Video Analysis

Rock Your Body – Justin Timberlake

The video that I am going to analyse is “Rock Your Body” by Justin Timberlake. The song by Justin Timberlake is an R&B track; the video is a typical R&B video as it has lots of shots of Justin dancing.

The video for “Rock Your Body” convey the lyrics very literally. The video is mainly Justin Timberlake dancing in a room with colourful flashing lights all over the walls. The lights have a retro feel to them although the costumes and the dancing is very modern. The movement of the camera convey the lyrics sometimes. For example Justin sings the word ‘Twirl’ at one point and the camera spins around him. Justin also sings ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ a few times at which point he dances in a movement to the left or right.

The video relates to the music. It is cut to the beat and also speeds up and slows down with the music. In one section the music breaks down and Justin is beat boxing. We see Justin dancing in a cage type structure with cameras mounted on it. This is very unconventional as we are being shown that Justin is being recorded. It is very rare in any media production to be shown the camera. It takes away the realness and we see that actually it is all fake and the people are acting, although it makes for some really great shots it is very unconventional. This sequence of shots with the cage and the cameras keep the audience engaged, and almost shocks them. This makes the video more interesting and not just your normal, everyday music video.

There are several close-ups in the video. These are the star shots that make the money. We can see that it is Justin Timberlake. Justin looks like he is enjoying his dancing. The song he is singing is very energetic and lively, not so much a serious issue or experience. He is just singing about a girl whose body he wants to ‘Rock’. This is conveyed in the way he is dancing and looking. He looks very seductive and confident when he is dancing. This relates to the lyrics of the song and again is quite typical of an R&B music video. However, some of the time he just looks like he is enjoying the dancing which gives the video a fun and enjoyable feel.

The Justin Timberlake video is pretty much all performance based. It is all of Justin Timberlake dancing in a room full of lights. This is often the case when dancing is a main feature of the video as the way the people dance tell a story of the lead singer and his ego, therefore there is no need for a conventional narrative.

In conclusion the video is a very stereotypical R&B music video. There is lots of dancing and lots of fast, energetic camera movements. There are however, some unconventional shots that make the video quite interesting and keeps the audience engaged.

Introduction

Hi and welcome to the blog of Emam Awad and Stephen Roe!

For our A2 media coursework he are making a music video. One of our group members, Emam Awad, is in a band called "Forsaken Souls" so we chose to make a video to their song "The Darkest Love". This will make shooting a lot easier because we can get the actual band members to come and play for us.