Music Video Beach-combing

Frank Ocean - Thinking About You



This video is really visually interesting. It has two different narratives of which it cross cuts between. One in modern day in a bedroom with a doctor talking to a little boy (01:02) about the sick little girl whom lays next to them. The other look as though it's set in the 1800's in native America and follows an injured man, carrying a sick little girl to a hut of zombie-like native Americans, he then finds what appears to be a shooting star and makes it back to the hut to give it to the little girl (03:04). He then dies and the girl consequentially wakes up. The narratives are some what ambiguous though it's been discussed that the whole back story is a metaphor used by the doctor to explain whats wrong with his friend and what needs to happen for her to recover (maybe to transplant of a vital organ from someone who wouldn't be able to survive without it).
       The funny thing is, if Frank Ocean was on his own, not a member of Odd Future, then this video would probably be boring and completely lack any creativity or uniqueness, as this is just a love song. The fact that he is a member of the Odd Future collective means that he has to adhere to their persona and image as a group. This video helps to clarify he's in Odd Future, who already have one of the loudest personas along with a large cult following.




Dub Phizix & Skeptical fear Strategy - Marka



This has to be one of my favourite videos of 2011. The visual perfectly fits the audio. The costume in the video is very realistic, it looks well done and because of this, is very effective and quite creepy. The camera work adds to the effectiveness, mostly stationary shots, switching between the two different costumes, mainly close ups on the face so the eyes pierce straight through the screen.
     Again there is no narrative in this video, just a performance aspect with some fire dancing cut in between. But there is still 're-watchability' as the video sets up enigma, mainly "What the **** even is this?!" Yet the repetitive music, monotone voice and eery costumes/eye contact keep you coming back for more, it's almost trance like. Probably because it was made to be listened to on drugs or the synthesise the feel of being on drugs. Would appeal to an audience that have tried drugs before, that are in to art/make-up, that are fans of deep house. Because of this I would say the age range would have a slightly higher bound as fans of deep house tend to be a little older.
     Like most mainly electronic musical artists their personas aren't as important, especially of the underground DJs and producers, so there isn't much representation of the artist in this video, just that they're a little crazy/not afraid to be a little strange.


Hodgy, Domo Genesis & Tyler, The Creator - Rella



This video comes across as a parody, although what it's a parody of i'm really not sure. I like the 'artificial' set, how all the colours are over exposed, like on american dramas like Desperate Housewives. There isn't really a narrative, it's just chaos. A man in a robot suit masturbating laser beams at girls, turning them in to cats... Not exactly normal. Then a guy slapping a black woman, turning her asian, then stamping on a little boys ice cream. After which a man with a woman's wig who's half horse. But I like that it doesn't have a storyline as this is what Odd Future are about, their persona's are clearly shown as a group of stupid crazy guys that are controversial. The video isn't really typical of a hip hop video, as Odd Future are trying to establish a new age and therefor not following any rules set out before them.
       The audience for this video would be youthful as it's pretty much all immature humour, they would most probably be Odd Future fans as only people that follow the group would really understand the humour in the video.

The Grand Spectacular - Being a Di*****d's Cool



I'm not sure what this style of video is called but it looks fan made and purposely amateur. This video just illustrates everything that the singer says (01:03) "Polaroid app on my iPhone, taking pictures on London Fields." This video really goes well with the song and subject. The song is a parody, it's satirical and the pictures accompany the words perfectly, adding humour. There isn't a narrative as it's just describing different aspects of a 'Hipsters' lifestyle, but this works well for the aforementioned reason that it's an illustrative video to a descriptive song.
     The audience for this song would be young Londoners, mostly people who deny they're hipsters who then conform to most of the things mentioned in this video. It's a good viral video for this reason as friends can use it to embarrass their friends.
    The video doesn't really represent the artist as this is just a one off comedy song but it would show that he is funny, quite clever and amateur.

Hot Chip - I Feel Better



This video is a perfect parody of the typical boy band video where it's 4 or 5 good looking guys with mediocre voices dancing about on a stage to pre-pubescant teenage fan girls. Therefore the first half follows the conventions of that genre, especially the start of the video where each member fades in from black and looks up at the camera in slow motion (like when X-Factor shows the contestants, which fits as TV talent shows are what gave a lot of these bands fame). The narrative of this video is more of a statement on the current state of the music industry, where a 'messiah' type character comes in to cleanse the scene of cheap acts such as JLS. It's a stand against cheesy, reality TV acts who seem to have constant chart success.
     The audience for this video would be anyone who holds the same views as Hot Chip, in agreeance, a fan would then show their friends who have mutual feelings, which would make a successful video. 
    This video represents the artist through the statement they are putting across, as a respectable band that make good music and aren't happy about the music industry of today, this shows that the band aren't passive but also have a good sense of humour.  

Analysing the song

Analysis

Target Audience

- 18-25 years old
- 50% Male, 50% Female.
- Music, Going out, Fashion.

Not many media products are aimed equally at both genders but from going to their shows and researching their fan base on their FaceBook page, I'd say the numbers really were close to equal. It appeals to the new audience for "rock" or indie music, you no longer need long hair and a lack of care for your apparel to enjoy this genre.





Lyrics-

NO PARADISE – SHOTGUN AMIGO

(The band that was almost the next Stone Roses.)

VERSE #1

She’s found the meaning for life and she’s sold,

Pipe’s and lights make the sugar sweeter, oh, she found love in a hole,

Time is slow when your down in the smoke, cigarettes and alcohol,

Oh, your mask might work and your punters they love you but this is all you know,

You said, go, surrender, my love, stop pretending, X 2

CHORUS

Paradise, Paradise, Paradise, its no paradise   (this bit is quite self-explanatory…) X 2

VERSE #2

She’s paradised but her hands are tied, she thinks the angels are on her side,

Well so say the lies, shoot it up and hide behind those enemy lines,

And you were so pretty, so sweet, so rare,

The claws that form this ugly uniform watch how they stop and stare,

You said, go, surrender, my love, stop pretending, X 2

CHORUS

Paradise, Paradise, Paradise, its no paradise   (this bit is quite self-explanatory…) X 2

MIDDLE EIGHT

[SLOWLY]

She’s found the meaning for life and she’s sold,

Pipe’s and lights make the sugar sweeter, oh, she found love in a hole,

Time is slow when your down in the smoke, cigarettes and alcohol,

Oh, your mask might work and your punters they love you but this is all you know,

CHORUS

Paradise, Paradise, Paradise, its no paradise   (this bit is quite self-explanatory…) X 2

MUSICAL EXPLOSION

FIN.

I think the general subject of the song is a troubled woman with a drug addiction although I don't feel that we're particularly meant to focus on this image or feel sympathy, unlike for instance Ed Sheeran's "A Team" where we're led through very detailed descriptions of her and her life.
 
Because of this, I don't think the best idea would be to base the video on this woman, unlike the video for "A Team", which just followed her the whole way through.


Music-

Musically the song is made with a typical four piece set up- Vocals/Rhythm guitar, Drums/Backing vocals, Lead guitar/Backing vocals, Bass Guitar. You would probably class this as indie rock. It's similar to Arctic Monkeys with influence from bands like Kings of Leon.

Tempo-

The tempo doesn't stay the same the whole way through which is one of the reasons I chose this song. It's fairly slow/steady paced but then picks up for the choruses and ending. This gives the video potential for dramatic pace changes visually and nice variation in the tempo of editing too.

Using the song in a video-

With the song starting fairly steadily, this would be a time where the pace of editing would follow that of the music, slow and building tension. The song then builds and releases at the chorus, this could be where something exciting/shocking happens in the video which then carries on throughout the chorus, dying down for the verses only to build again to a climax at the end. With this structure a range of ideas, simple thoughts, can be applied to create an entertaining video. Simplicity is best in my opinion, if somethings too complicated people will get bored, opposing that, the same could be said for simplicity, but if you pull it off with just the right level of humour and uniqueness then it will have the replay-ability factor.

Copyright Free Song- No Paradise

This is my Nephews band 'Shotgun Amigo' with their first recorded song No Paradise. The band consist of four 20 year olds who are all best mates. The thing I love about them is only the lead guitarist knew how to play an instrument, the others learnt after they decided to form. This means that for the majority, they've all learnt and grown together (just like the Beatles!).