Task 2 - Contemporary Music Video Research

Artist: OneRepublic

Song: Stop and Stare

Director: Anthony Mandler

Production: Winter 07/08

Release Date: 28^th January 2008

Budget: Unknown

In this video, it is shot in a small town somewhere in the USA. The place is very much naturally lit, with maybe a couple of extra lights used to make sure that it looks naturally lit. The only places that are not naturally lit are two motel rooms. There are no real props that are used most of the places that are used are already like that, although the few props there are, is the bell for the motel, the TV which later on in the video sets a light, the book with all the booking in it and that’s about it.

There are a variety shots that are given in this video ranging from WS to CUs with a lot of the shots either panning or zooming

The video has one special effect used and that would be the TV setting a light on set and also a post production effect is the car as it shows it stopping twice overlapping frames, one is going further than the other.

There are a few elements which link the visual to the lyrics, the obvious one is the lip syncing and the band playing in time to the music but also there is at 1.22 the lead singer has he’s back turned on the town as he sings “This town is cold and I think it’s sick of us” and at 1.29 again you see the lead singer moving as he sings “Time to make a move”. Another time is when you hear the chorus “Stop and Stare” there is a group of people all outside the motel all of them stop and then stare at the motel at 2.24 and then the last link to the lyrics, apart from the band playing and lip syncing, is “Something pull my focus out” where the lead singer in the car turns around to look at the pregnant women and that’s when he loses focus of the road.

The genre to this video is alternative, it has the band playing and probably has a deeper meaning to the video.

The video is meant to represent the band but I think that there is still more that could represent that band. I know the video is meant to represent the band because of the video below.

The video is a performance based video but I also think that somewhere in it is a story line like the lead singer is all different people but there is something that connects them or something like that.

The target audience for this video I would say is young adults and adults.

Artist: Muse

Song: Undisclosed Desires

Director: Jonus Euvremer

Production: Autumn/Winter 2009

Release Date: 6th November 2009

Budget: Unknown

The video was shot, in a large space, in London. The space was kept quite low key and dark in the video with only the performers back lit until the lights on the floor turned on. The place was decorated with various different props including microphones, speakers, TVs, lots of wires, some sort of mechanical device, a heart in the background and some sort of guitar mechanical player, with some of these props on tracks, its almost as if the director is trying to merge both the music and film/TV industry together. This gives it a raw feel to it. Like seeing the making of a TV Programme or a film and not the finished product.

Various different camera angles and shots are used in this video, most of the shot that I saw were WS, MS and CU of the band. Also most of the shots that are used often include some panning or zooming. Making the audience more aware of the space that they are shooting the video in.

In this video there isn’t any known special effects used, it has been kept plain and simple.

There are many elements in this video which relate the lyrics to the visual, some if the elements are the TVs in the background showing the lyrics which occurs all throughout the music video as the heart appears at the time where the lyrics say “undisclosed desires in your heart” at 3.08. The lead singer also clicks he’s fingers at in time with the beat at 0.09 and 3.42 in the video. Also, there is, the lights on the floor going on and off in time with the music throughout the video. There are time where the word from the lyrics take up the whole screen at 0.32, 0.40, 1.30 and 3.14-3.16.There are also moments where the guitars on the rotating frame co-ordinate with the music at 1.58 it is the most obvious. Also the most obvious two elements that relate the lyrics in the video is the lip-syncing and the instruments being played in time. One of the elements in the video that seemed odd was that in the beginning there are two bits of plastic with the framing on them saying “Matt Mid Shot” and “Matt Close-Up” which seemed weird to include in some of the shots at 0.17-0.19, 0.24-0.27, 0.51-0.56, 0.59-1.02 and at 2.17-2.18.

This video seems to be very original, in my opinion because I cannot see any real “borrowed” items in this video. On the other hand the video does seem to have a film/TV feel about with the speakers on tracks and them bits of plastic with “Matt Close-Up” and “Matt Mid Shot” on.

The genre in this video I would say is rock although there isn’t everything in the video that would resemble a rock video, the only part that resembles it is the band playing and maybe the colour black in there.

The video is a based on a performance style although there could be some sort of meaning behind some of the elements that are shown like the fact that band are dressed in black, white and red as that dancer is dressed in other colours, which could mean that the band see love as black, white and red but the dancer thinks that it is various other colours.

The video, I think, is very representative of the band that is very much the image that the band would want other people to see.

I would say that the target audience to the video is towards young adults and adults.

These are some of the photos that were taken while they were shooting the video.

Bibliography
www.youtube.com
www.mtv.com
www.muse.mu
iTunes Store

Purpose of Research

Researching is important for providing a background to any work that you are undertaking and gives you an understanding of the topic.

Primary Research - Primary research is when the research is done by you. This research could be done in a form of a questionnaires, interviews or focus groups. Doing primary research is very reliable as the research has been carried out by yourself.

Secondary Research - Secondary research is when you are getting information which has been done by someone else, so if you use the internet or a book, then that information has been done by someone else. This is not as reliable because it has been done by someone and because you don't know if that person does really know about the subject.