Music Video Analysis- Dorje Aeromancy

The band 'Dorje' is a modern passive hard rock metal band formed by well known Youtuber Rob Chapman who is known for his musical involvement in Andertons music store as an online promoter/ entertainer and his own company 'Chapman Guitars'. The song and video released October 2012 is the first single they released together as a band and its become well known as the song representing their band.

The performance based video is set in a darkened room with a heavy lit centre where the band is standing in a circle including their amplification units and cables connecting all together. The use of this mise en scene and the purpose of them being all together creates the idea of the bond they have which is vital in a band for the chemistry for them to work together, they are all facing inwards and a circle connects all the way round which also presents their bond. This is further reinforced by the use of electrical cables which connect all the parts for them able to play as one.

The editing of the video has a range of straight cut speeds, where medium lengthen shots are used lasting a fair few seconds however the cutting speed increasing rapidly on hard hitting punch notes within the song to emphasis power and aggression in the music link to the modern metal genre Dorje are known for. Camera angles of close ups on the band members hands then are shown in the punchy parts of the songs which further emphasis aggressiveness. Other low angle pan shots are used when verse riffs are being played. This then creates the trans like tone and fits it well as the smooth pan and low angle creates a nice contrast between the hard playing and the smooth lit pan shot.

Music Video Analysis- Xavier Wulf Thunder Man

'Thunder Man' by Xavier Wulf is a rapper based around L.A who is up and coming to his raw spoken styling of messages within his lyrics. Released December 2014 he has already been recognised in cultures such as the BMX scene in which I have analysed the 'OSS' and 'The Come Up' filmed John Hicks who actually filmed Wulf's Video for 'Thunder Man'.

The videos Mise En Scene is a range of dark night themed scenes mixed with certain sections where a sun set sky is seen. The dark lighting and midnight setting creates a shady theme between the Spooky tones in the bassy backing track and a high pitched melody, Xaviers hooded jacket presenting him as undercover, the darkness covering his body all mixed in with the lyrics about social problems which he is preaching about in song. The camera angles give Xavier power within the video, with many low angles looking up at him which ties in well with the expressive aggressive hand movements he uses as he raps. This gives him dominance despite being covered by the darkness as he fills shot and his actions present a sense of strength which is reinforced by being looked up on in shot.  Being covered by darkness then gives a sense of rebellious nature which links to the lyrics of his song complaining about social issues. Many shots are slowed down to a mid paced slow motion, where John Hicks well know style of creative structuring of shots is seen as side on shots of Xaviers head smoking is often shown and a focus of the smoke is a opposing to his aggressive body language. This also links in well to the rebellious nature of his words and actions as the use of drugs being smoked presents the idea of not caring well as a symbol. Many of the shots are shaken as an after effect which  is added to shots to add and emphasis Xaviers aggression.

Music Video Analysis- Martin Solveig Intoxicated

Intoxicated by Martin Solveig and GTA is a modern dance/pop song released summer 2015 and is currently being played on popular radio stations like 'Capital FM' and 'Kiss'.

The video style is 'Concept' and many strange and obscure focuses/ actions are seen throughout the video including a woman in a bath, two women fighters wearing abstract dresses dancing with vogue hand movements, men in blue and red suits dancing, an old man cleaning a car and licking ice cream and then a main male singing/mouthing the under lyrics to the song.

The mise en scene shows backgrounds of flat colours of pinks to blues and oranges to greens etc in a gradient creating a summer tropical vibe to the video which links well to the song itself being released in summer 2015 and its upbeat tempo making it a dance style song and the colours suiting this theme. Basic settings are set up for each obscure focus in the video, e.g. just the ropes of the wresting ring and a colourful background while the two dance inside which works well as the song is basic in itself repeating loops many times and no lyrical content which could be a link between the two. As the video is 3/4 of the way through the songs pace slows down in which a change from high key lighting to a dimmed light is seen which works well as a calming tone is created matching the visuals to the musics pace. The body actions also slow down further fitting the vibe at this time in the song. Fairly long shots are seen and many of the shots are slowed down in a slow motion style timing for many of the activities seen, which works well despite the upbeat tone as an emphasis of the enjoyment the people are having is presented.

Music Video Analysis- Prodigy Nasty

The music video 'Nasty' released at the beginning of 2015 is a hit from the Prodigy's new album 'The day is my enemy'. The video features a fox which is being chased by hunters through the streets of England and several alleyways who want to kill it. The fox later puts the hunters into a trance like state and lures them into the woods where they turn into fox themselves.

The style of video is an 'Animation' which uses real photographs edited to basic grey tones with a constant of the edited colours of orange and yellow in the sky which match the fox. The animated fox over the dulled photographs creates a main focus on the bright orange fox which connotes the idea of not belonging around theses areas in the contrast. The grimy tone of the music links well to the street settings and a raw edgy theme can be clearly seen between the music and the graffitied, dark, messy streets. The camera angles often marginalise the fox, creating the idea of no power or importance to the surrounds/ society links as he isn't central and doesn't often fill the screen. This is also reinforced by the fox often being shot from a high angle and is placed towards the bottom of the screen which creates the idea of being looked down on, or a hierarchy status in society being at the bottom. Quick cuts in certain areas fits the pace of the build up in music towards chorus sections which is significantly faster than the verses/bridge sections of the song.

John Hicks Videographer

John Hicks based around Long Beach California films and edits for the company The Come Up and OnSomeShit which broadcasts and releases BMX styled videos which are promotional to the company itself and other bike brands around the world. OnSomeShit is the shop itself in California and their website/ youtube style platform for bikes is The Come Up in which Hicks helps edit and film promotional videos to OSS and for individual edits for members of the sponsored teams.

Hicks grew up North Long Beach which is on the border of Compton so growing up in a Ghetto environment which gave him the drive to look out for himself and focus on biking. At 14 Hicks started filming in which he says he could do very well at all, yet after 3-4 years of filming and learning to edit taught him the sort of shots he likes most and he fashioned he styling around his vision.

Hicks style incorporates a raw saturated film including the creative arty shots between clips of riding to present depth and culture to riding itself which he capture excellently. He style is one of my favourite at the moment as the pace of shots flow well and a narrative structure can sort of be seen to present time in the videos which reflects the efforts and time the riders put into the sport themselves.

Music Video Analysis-Metallica Enter Sandman

Metallica a Thrash Metal band created the song Enter Sandman for their self titled album or the 'Black Album' which was aimed to appeal to a much more mainstream metal/ hard rock audience. Filmed July 3 1991 and released on the 30th, the video relates completely to the lyrical meaning of the song, linking to the themes of nightmares and a constant follow of 'The Sandman' of a little boy. Images of the child having the nightmares is seen, with the shots of an old man being shown and performance values of the band in the background aswell which creates a narrative style video with performance values creating a hybrid styled video.

The mise en scene of the video uses a range of locations and settings, with a constant of the boys bedroom throughout. Settings of a dark night and a large truck heading towards screen, falling from the top of a building, covered in snakes and falling from a mountain is shown being the literal nightmares of the boy on screen. The effectiveness of the scenes is the colouring of the scenes all matching with dark saturated tone throughout which creates an evil feel to the video. This then links to the song itself and the bands values in industry of there metal dark approach to music which makes the video suiting to both themes in the song and the band. This can then also link to the albums name the 'Black' album which suits the dark scary settings in shot.  

The camera angles and editing techniques really makes the video as effective as it is to follow the conventions of the thrash metal genre Metallica's music is categorised in. A mix of both 'performance' and 'Narrative' styles of video are seen, where fast cuts between both helps build tensions and suspense of the actions of the boy and his nightmares which follows the build up in heaviness in the music. Extreme close ups are used throughout, focusing on band members hands and body movements playing in the dark which presents and enforces the aggression and grittiness of the music. The band playing in the dark also then fits well with the low key lighting of the boy in bed. It helps the fast transactions between the band and boy and the 'nightmares' flow well whilst changing really quickly. This pace in cuts between clips then links to the speed and timing of the style of music they are playing. Further zooming in close ups of the boys face and neck as he is trying to sleep helps emphasis his struggles to sleep as the nightmares are effecting him which fits well with band member movements as it wouldn't look as good if the band were moving and he was still.

Music Video Analysis

Now I have looked into the different genres which have developed over time and the history of music video itself I am going to analyse a range of music videos. I will look at different genres and different styles of music videos within genre to help broaden my knowledge of preexisting videos.I can then extract what I like from each which I could later incorporate or gather inspiration from for my own work.