Detailed analysis of music videosAndrew Goodwin - 7 key ideas to identify

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. Stage performances in metal videos, dance routines for boy/girl bands)

2. There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (Either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting)

3. There is a relationship between the music and the visuals (Either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting)

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (e.g. A visual style)

5. There are frequent references to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic (sexual) treatment of the female body

6. There is often intertextual references (to films, TV programmes, other music videos, etc)

7. Whether the video is primarily performance-based, narrative-based or concept-based and how element of each is used in it

Artist: George Ezra Song title: Budapest

Concept/narrative: this song is about if you had all the things you didn’t have you would give it away for someone.

Features Observations Examples

Genre characteristics

From observing the music video I think that it contains characteristics of a slow rock song due to the lyrics of the song as well as the instrument that is used which is a guitar.

Relationship between lyrics and visuals

There is very little link towards the lyrics of the song and the music video. However there are some links with the lyrics and the visuals for example during the song the lyrics say “my many artefacts” the camera uses a cut zoom in and focuses on a man with a vase showing that that is his artefact.

Relationship between music and visuals

From observing the music video, I think that there is some link between the music and the visuals, for example there are parts in the song where the sound is low key, and when this happens the video only shows one to three people moving where as everyone else is stood still.

Are there close ups of the artists and star image motifs?

During this music video there are some close ups of the artist. As this artist is fairly new, it was difficult to spot a motif, however I did notice that George Ezra is dressed in shirts in most of his videos carrying a guitar so this could be considered his signature motif.

Is there reference to the notion of looking?

In this video there is very little elements of notion of looking, at most there is a girl who looks like she has been at a beauty contest so this could be considered as an element of notion of looking. Other than that example there are no other examples of notion of looking.

Are the examples of intertextual references?

In this music video, I noticed that the video seems to be a lot like a “where’s wally” book, this is because of the fact that there is a lot of people in the video and you are cousinly trying to find the artist within the grope of people.

Is the video category illustration, amplification or contradicting? How much of each?

From observing this video, I would think that this song would be an amplification of the lyrics, this is because the song is about giving the things that you don’t have away, and the music video contains a section where everyone is passing different objects around which could link to the theme of the song.