MUSIC VIDEO TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

1 BY OLLIE KYFFIN

SONG CHOICE 1

• The first video I have chosen to analyse for my homework is Radioactive by Imagine Dragons. There are a number of reasons why I decided to pick this video to analyse, the first being that the Radioactive is the same genre as the music video that I have decided to do for my music video. This means that by analysing this song I can get a feel of what concept real-life bands have used for the specific genre that I have chosen to do and how they have conveyed it through the use of various techniques such as camerawork and editing. This song also uses a narrative and performance based concept which is relevant considering I have chosen to use this for my video.

MUSIC VIDEO FORMS - CAMERAWORK• The start of the video uses a wide-angle shot to establish the start of the

narrative. The shot shows a young woman walking through the forest. This gives the impression that the woman is perceived to be small and alone in a big world. Forests are places that people tend to go when they’re alone as the nature gives a warming pleasant experience. This shows that the woman in the shot could be feeling alone and is searching for some happiness.

• The next shot is the first sign of performance within the video. This is a medium close up of the lead singer from the band (Imagine Dragons). This gives the viewers a look at the band member and he performs by singing the song. This is relevant to my music video as the performance we have decided to have is going to be a single person singing parts of the song such as the chorus, without the rest of the band.

MUSIC VIDEO FORMS - CAMERAWORK• This shot is a close-up of one of the actors performing within the narrative part of

the music video. He does not feature within the actual band and has no input on the performance within the video. This close-up shot shows that he is an important character because there isn’t a vast amount of close-up shots throughout the video.

• This next shot is back to the performance part of the music video. It is again a medium-close up of the lead band member singing, but this time utilising the drum that wasn’t previously used. This shot suits the video because during the chorus the drum beat plays a very important part and begins to make the song more up-beat, therefore conveying more emotion and action taking place within the shot.

MUSIC VIDEO FORMS – CAMERAWORK

• The next shot I have chosen to analyse is a wide-angle shot of the action taking place during the narrative part of the chorus. This shot is used to show the audience the location of the action and what is happening. In this case it is a duel between two characters with a crowd watching and supporting.

• This shot is an extreme close-up of one of the main characters within the narrative part of the music video. This shot is deployed to show the character looking on at events happening. This shot starts with her eyes closed and then opening. This shows that she isn’t pleased with what she is seeing and gives the emotion of sadness that wouldn’t have been shown effectively if the shot was from afar. The extreme close up is used to perceive her emotion of sadness in detail that wouldn’t have been noticed if the shot was from further away.

MUSIC VIDEO FORMS - CAMERAWORK

• This shot is another medium close-up of a different member of the band. This shot is used as the chorus kicks in for a second time which shows as the song goes on, the band are beginning to have more of an influence. This shot is dark and misty which gives the impression that events within the video have darkened, which is true as one of the characters in the duel has lost their life.

• Performance is shown during the music video showing the band in a dungeon but giving them a strong image to show the band in a powerful way although they are the weaker people in the video, promoting them to the target audience, as shown in these shots.

MUSIC VIDEO FORMS – MISE EN SCENE

• The character present within this shot is dressed in a hoodie with the hood up. This gives a rather shifty impression to the character showing that they don’t want to be recognised, perhaps because she is about to do something she doesn’t want to be seen doing or because she doesn’t want to be found by somebody. The character also has a fearful look on her face which implies that she is nervous about what she is about to do.

• The next shot I am analysing is a shot with very dark lighting, however the only light is on the character presented. This shows that the character is important and the shot wants the audience’ focus to be on him and only him. The character is a member of the band which is why he is significant.

MUSIC VIDEO FORMS – MISE EN SCENE

• The next shot is of a member of the narrative part of the video. The use of the smart, expensive-looking clothing suggests that he is a very wealthy, important character. The use of the cigar suggests that he is very relaxed and is indulging himself in the events that he is witnessing. The shot is very light which conveys that he is a character that has an important effect on the narrative.

• The editing at the start of the video is very slow-placed with slow shot changes. This is because the music starts off very slow and as it gradually increases, the shots do too. For example, the chorus has a very up-beat nature to it, therefore the shots are faster and have more action happening within them. The shots also cut to the beat of the song throughout the video.

MUSIC VIDEO CONVENTIONS

• The ‘Radioactive’ music video has a strong relationship with the visuals and lyrics, such as “I’m breathing in the chemicals” which then shows a band member breath in with the time of the song line ending and breathing out when the music starts again. The video also shows the band members lip syncing to the camera which helps to illustrate the lyrics to the visuals, which in turn relates to the audience. The song ‘Radioactive’ presents the the ‘Indie genre’ in their music video due to the stereotypical colours for an ‘Indie’ music video such as the dull, grey colours but with certain bright colours which take centre stage such as the soft toys in the ‘Radioactive’ music video as this appeals to the target audience. Notably, the brighter shots usually take place when the music is up-beat, such as the chorus.

MUSIC VIDEO - CONVENTIONS

• This music video uses a strong intertextual reference within the video. This is shown as it has cameos from actors such as the main female character in the music video, ‘Alexandra Daddario’ showing her as a strong minded, fearless character which she is in most of her films such as ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ This helps the audience relate to the video as they are likely to know of her and be fascinated by her part in the video.