Hello, and welcome to my blog. I am currently studying Media Studies at Ilkley Grammar School at A2 level and this blog will show you everything that I will be looking at this year. Each blog post will be like a piece of work that can be looked at individually. I hope you enjoy looking at my blog as I enjoy posting on it.

Wednesday 28 September 2011

Music Video Deconstruction 2, Watch the sun come up, Example



In this music video the basic meaning of the lyrics is of a holiday romance, someone who has fallen in love with someone after what we believe is a one night stand, and then they are faced with the reality of leaving even though they don’t want to. The artist is conveying this through shots of him looking sad when he is on his own, and looking back to the times he had when he was with her. The meaning of the video would be obvious to the audience even without the lyrics as there are frequent cross cuts of the artist alone looking sad, contrasted by the shots of him being with the girl he met, laughing and having fun, showing the audience that he has met someone and had to leave.
The main narrative of the music video, is that the artist ‘Example’ has gone on holiday and fallen in love with a girl, in what we can speculate as a one night stand. He has then had to leave, and is looking back on the times he spent with her. This narrative is obvious to the audience as it is also presented directly through the lyrics, and the shots of the artist being sat alone reminiscing of past events also show this. The themes in the video are love, partying and nostalgia, all of which are directly relevant to the lyrics, and the theme of partying is common to the artist.
The costume of the artist at the beginning of the video affects the meaning because it shows us he has just got up from having a one night stand with the girl he met. Later on in the video his costume changes, and then remains the same, this is just conventional casual clothes you would expect to see a pop artist wear, such as jeans and a shirt. The girl in the video wears a red dress throughout, to make the audience understand that he met her on a night out, which shows the costume is also relevant to the scenarios and locations the characters in the video are in.
This video is based around the normal codes and conventions of a pop video, with the artist, in this case ‘Example’ acting the main role in the narrative, and not playing any instruments. This is relevant to the lyrics, because it is all about him, and how he fell in love with a girl when he had a one night stand. Sadness and joy are both portrayed by the artist throughout the video, as we get shots of the artist looking sad when he is by himself without the girl, but when he is looking back on the times he had, we see he was happy when he was with her, usually through close ups of his expressions, or what they are doing in the shot, for example laughing.
Camera work and lighting are usually used within music videos to emphasise emotions, or to establish a certain location to the audience. In this video camera work was mostly used to help emphasise the narrative.  Throughout the video there are frequent close up or POV shots of the artist to emphasise certain emotions that make the audience relate to the narrative.  The majority of the lighting in the video seems to come from street lights, giving the video more of a holiday feel, and emphasising the artist met the girl on a night out. There are several close up shots of Example, to get across his emotion, such as when is sat looking lonely and sad in the cafe. We also see certain tricks such as a shaky camera following the artist and the girl, to make the audience feel like they are there in person watching the artist, thus identifying with him and the narrative more.
In this music video no over dubbed sound is used. Special effects are used throughout the video, but they don’t seem to have too much of a relation to the narrative. Instead they seem to be merely used as transitions from one shot to another, and may be following certain codes and conventions of the pop genre. Apart from at the end of the video when the speed of the  frame is slowed, to represent the last moments of the two together before he has to leave. At the start of the video the tempo of the song seems to have an effect on the editing pace, but as the lyrics start to become more apparent, the pace of editing seems to be centred around them. This is done so the lyrics tell the story of what is happening in the video to make it easier for the audience to understand the narrative. In editing most music videos the cuts are usually effected by the tempo of the song. It can also be common for music videos to include external sounds affects, that relate to the narrative.  Also special effects can be used to make the audience relate more to the narrative, and may be a case of going along with the conventions of the genre.It Is apparent that this video is made for the male gaze, as is shown through mid shots of the woman at the start of the video who is shown to be naked under the bed covers. This is also apparent further into the video, where the attractive woman take the artists top off, we then get a mid range shot from behind of her taking off her top. Voyeurism can however be seen in the video, giving the viewer a personal insight into Examples emotional life. This can be seen where she is asleep next to him in the bed at the start of the video, in contrast to later on when we see her lying there kissing him and being more intimate.
The main element of this product to attract its audience is the narrative of the lyrics, portrayed by the visuals of the video. One particularly attractive aspect of the video to its target audience of males, will be the holiday romance/one night stand.  This is can be attractive to the target audience, as this is often the gain of most male students on holiday with their friends, often in places such as Ibiza. The video will also appeal to its target audience through the clothing that Example wears, he is wearing fashionable clothes, that people will often look up to, and aspire to wear if they listen to this genre of music, this will also attract people to his video.
The only obvious reference to any other artist in the text, is its reference to ‘Take on me’, by ‘A-ha’, a band popular in the 1980′s. There is an apparent reference to the video of ‘Take on me’ through the sketch style animation. A-ha’s video also had similar themes of love and attraction. This aids the narrative of Examples music video, because people can relate it to that video, and link the themes, which will make it easier for people to understand the narrative. However his target audience of young students may not understand the reference. It may have been done to suggest his own interests in the band, or to because of his admiration for their music, so this may be a tribute to them in his own video.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please note all comments are moderated