Analysis of original music video

The music video I am covering is "Just Tonight" by The Pretty Reckless which  is an American rock band from New York City. The current members are Taylor Momsen (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Ben Phillips (lead guitar, backing vocals), Mark Damon (bass) and Jamie Perkins (drums).  


Camera Shots: 

This close up shot of Taylor Momsen is one of Goodwin's Conventions, as she is the lead vocalist and front woman. Shots like these are used to let the viewer be able to recognise the band members better, which means they will become better known and more popular.

With close up shots such as these, the artist would usually look directly at the camera breaking the fourth-wall rule, which is another common convention of music videos as the viewer will feel as though the artist is singing at them, making them more compelled to listen to the song.

Another shot commonly used in this video is a long shot of the whole band, which another one of Goodwin's conventions as, usually, the record label would require such shots, to help people recognise the whole band and see their image clearly.


Mise en Scene:


The aesthetic used by the band in this video is a little more gothic than their usual songs, however, they are a rock/post grunge band which means that dark imagery and gothic themes fit with their music and lyrics. In this video, we see Taylor wearing a long, black dress for most of the song which fits with the alternative rock image of the band and fits with the lyrics and music, which is another conventions of Goodwin.

Editing:

This video contains a lot of cut-aways from the band to scenes of Taylor doing other things, however these other things represent the lyrics in the song. For example, Taylor sings "I'm too numb to feel right now" and we see a scene of ther pricing her finger on a rose stem and not reacting, just as the lyrics suggest. 

Other than that, the scenes don't really match the lyrics, which is one reason why I want to cover this song.



Sound:

During this song, the theme used is rather gothic which matches the bands image, however i do not thing that it matches this music or the lyrics very well.

Initial Ideas

Ideas For My Music Video~

My initial ideas for my music video was to maintain a similar grunge aesthetic to the bands "Nirvana" and "The Pretty Reckless". I have decided to cover the song "Just Tonight" by The Pretty Reckless as it is one of my favourite songs by that group and I thought I would be able to create a good video which could correspond with the lyrics and theme, The original video for this song was rather Gothic so I thought I would be able to re-interpret the themes and create a very different style of video for the same song. The band I am covering- The Pretty Reckless -Is a gothic/grunge group lead by vocalist front woman Taylor Momsen.

Significant moments in music video history

Analysis of recommended music videos

1) Lana Del Rey- "Video Games"

Lana Del Rey is known for using themes inspired from imagery and looks from the past, for example, home-footage type videos and "old film" filters and effect added to said videos which has made her known for her retro aesthetic. To link with this image, she has taken to likening her music style toward the old-style baroque-pop from the '60's and '70's.


The shots used in the video show that, even though the recorded footage shows she is having a fun time out with other people, when it cuts back to her being alone, she looks as though she is bored with her 'lover'. the colours used in the video are also quite bland and dull which also suggests how she feels about her life or the person she is with.

2) Panic! At the disco- "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"

Panic! At The Disco, then, had a very "steam-punkie" image which is shown through their use of old-style carnival themes and top-hats. This song takes place in a church wedding where the guests' faces are painted with their eyes closed, which suggests that no one can see what's going on, which links with the lyrics as they are singing about how the groom's bride is currently cheating on the groom- "What a beautiful wedding! What a beautiful wedding!" says a bridesmaid to a waiter,
"And, yes, but what a shame, what a shame the poor groom's bride is a wh*re." The singer in this video sings about how they shouldn't gossip about the couple and that that is not the correct way of handling the situation- "I chime in with a "Haven't you people ever heard of closing the goodamn door?!" No, it's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of poise and rationality." This video also represents Goodwin's conventions in the way that the lyrics match with the visuals, and there are also a lot of close up shots of the front man, Brendon Urie.

3) Lady Gaga- "Marry The Night"

Lady Gaga is known for her Music videos in the style of short films lasting for around 10-15 minutes. In this particular video, we see that the character played by Gaga is residing in a hospital, which, at the time was representing her upset over her last record label dropping her. It is not until 8 minutes in when the music and song begin. The song is set at night, outside, which reflects Goodwin's conventions of the visuals matching the song. Another convention used is close-up shots of the lead singer/ artist. These are used regularly throughout the video to help the viewers see her as an icon and can easily recognise her elsewhere.

Introduction

Hello I'm Jade Louise, I am 17 years old and I'd like to welcome to my year 13 media studies blog   ^-^ In this blog, I will record my progress throughout this year's course and the production of my music video. I will also be researching and analysing the music industry as I go along.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy seeing my progress,

Jade.

Textual analysis 1: "Smells like teen spirit" - Nirvana.

For the textual analysis of a song from before I was born, I have decided to analyse the video for "smells like teen spirit" by Nirvana.



At the beginning of the video we are introduced to a lot of typical 'teen' related themes such as the cheerleaders and a teenage audience. We are also shown a lot of typical 'grunge'/ rock themes which were popular in the 1990's such at live performances, and the artists/ band members performing on their own instruments. In this video we see Krist Novoselic on bass guitar, Dave Grohl on drums and Kurt Cobain on lead guitar and vocals.


















Later on in the video, we notice that the venue of their performance is in a high school sports hall or gym which adds further to the theme of this song. We also see that the cheerleaders are wearing black uniforms with the symbol for 'anarchy' printed on the front suggesting that teen spirit is all about being reckless wild, and chaotic. This relates to Goodwin's conventions of linking the music to the visuals as 'grunge' and rock was seen to be very anarchistic at the time.













During this video, we see many close up shots, or body shots of the band members to keep the attentions of the audience on the band, especially front man and vocalist Kurt Cobain. This is another one of Goodwin's conventions and is considered very important by the record label, as they want to ensure the faces of the band members become well known and, in effect, become more successful.