Shannon media

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Music Video Analysis Using Andrew Goodwin’s theory.

Transcript of Shannon media

Music Video AnalysisUsing Andrew Goodwin’s theory.

Andrew Goodwin’s TheoryGoodwin identified Seven features that are usually present in music videos.

1. The video shows genre characteristics (for example stake performances in rock videos and group dances in pop videos)

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

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

4. The inclusion of lots of close ups of the artist. This may be done with other music videos they have done in the past, so things like a personal style can be continuously established.

5. There is frequent references to the notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, cameras…) and voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

6. The use of intertextual references (films, TV shows, old videos…)7. The video being based on a concept, narrative or performance.

My Chemical Romance – The Ghost Of You

This is a song from My Chemical Romances’ second studio album ‘Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge’. The video was released in 2004 and is a soft yet powerful alternative rock song.This music video was one of the bands most iconic videos because it was so unlike a rock band to produce a music video that had a classic / historic feel to it as well as being a music video that was almost all narrative based when most rock videos revolved almost completely around performance.

Genre characteristics/Elements of performance, narrative and concept ‘The Ghost Of You ‘ by My Chemical Romance is a song from the ‘alternative rock ‘genre and the video reflects some of the stereotypical characteristics of a rock music video.

• A conventional element of a rock music video is the fact that it is based around the band’s performance. They usually are completely performance based but sometimes will include small amounts of narrative or will try to illustrate a concept throughout the performance. This video is unconventional, or at least it was in its time because it is mostly narrative based. There was elements of the performance throughout the video however it only helped to contribute to the narrative.

• Although this video does not follow the convention of being performance based, It does follow conventions in what is included within some of the mise en scene of the music video. For example the inclusion of instruments; the fact that the main characters in the video are all the members of the band focusing on them and their song and also the way they act while they are performing using strong movements and hand gestures as if they were performing one of their live shows. Performance elements link and add

to the narrative. The performance fits and makes sense within the storyline.

Use of instruments

The inclusion of the entire band as the same live performance passion

In terms of the genre of the music video alone, it is a 140’s style video set during America’s war against Japan. The time in which the video is set is reflected in the use of mise en scene. All the props in the video like helmets stages and even the bands instruments like the guitars and microphones are of a 40’s style. All the costumes and styling of all the people in this video have all have that iconic 40’s look. The men, including the members of the bands are only ever seen in a dark green either in the form of a military style suit or combat attire. I find it interesting how all the men are dressed the same in this video because I think it is supposed to represent the nature of the military and going to war because on the battlefield man had no identity and individuality and were ultimately just there to fight. In contrast to this the women are seen as having their own individuality because each woman in the video looks different. But even still there is a consistent 1940’s style as they are shown wearing florals and with their hair in soft rolls. I think they were intentionally dressed so brightly to represent a safer and happier time in the men’s lives.

The video is set in two places. The first is at a dance with a stage live music, drinks and dancing and the other is on a violent beach battlefield. These are juxtaposed together throughout the music video to show the contrast between the two places and the two lives.

The link between the lyrics and the visualsIn this video the links between the lyrics and the visuals aren't as obvious is in most narrative videos. For example the lyrics read “if I died we’d be together, I cant always just forget her….” that sounds like the song is about a love between a man and a women but the music video is about a love between two brothers or friends which is a contradiction between the lyrics and the visuals.Besides the contraction between the lyrics and the entire storyline, there are some other literal links between the lyrics and the visuals.

When the chorus comes with the lyrics “at the end of the world, or the last thing I see, you are never coming come…” the shot that was previously of people dancing to a live band cuts to all the men sitting in a boat wearing combat uniform going to battle. Teaming the shots with the lyrics implies that death is immanent and some of the men aren't going to make it home. This happens every time the chorus plays.

The lead singer sings “all the tings that you never ever told me and all the smiles that are ever gonna haunt me” and a shot of him reassuring his troubled brother turns within seconds to shots of him and his brother fighting in battle where we see the lead singer as the confident leader and his brother as someone who’s struggling. This tells the audience that the brother is hiding a struggle that his brother cant see and we go on to see the brother die.

The relationship between the music and the visualsThere is a strong relationship between the music and the visuals and it is shown through the pace of the cuts throughout the video.The pace of the music is reflected in how frequent the shots change.

These shots are juxtaposed together to show the contrast between the tempo changes in the send but at the same time the music complenents the contrast in scenery between the warzone and the dance.

When the shots are set here the verses in the songs are playing and because the verses in the song are quite slow and classic sounding so this is reflected in the tempo of shots as they are much slower and evenly spaced here. This reflects the calmer atmosphere in the shots and the music.

When the shots are set here, the chorus is playing which is a lot heavier in contrast to the verse. Here the shots are fast changing to the beat of the music and are also shaky and are fast pace tracking shots. This reflects the heaviness of the music and the difference in action and mood from the other setting.

Use of close ups of the artistClose ups of the artist are often used to that the audience can get to know the artist and establish their own iconic style. This happens in this video too.In this video alone the entire video revolves around all of the members of the band because they are the main characters in the narrative. However in this video it is the bassist and the lead singer that occupies most of the screen time because the story is based on them and their brotherhood. This is not unusual because the focus is usually on the lead singer because they sing the words.Having close ups of the artist helps the audience establish who they are but also their own personal style, making, personality and way of acting throughout all of their music videos. These are the things that help make an artist iconic.After looking through previous videos by My Chemical Romance I can see that they do not have a continuous style. In each video they each wear an elaborate costume that is relevant to the video and the song that aren’t similar to their other music videos in any way. But I guess this is that is their personal style – the way they dress up in elaborate outfits in the first place for every video and always try and create some kind of character. This can count for a small element of intertextuality.Apart from this, throughout the video the camera focuses on the lead singer when he sings and the camera watches his hand gestures and lip movement because he does it in a such a unique way and is seen in all of the bands videos that it has become his own ‘live performance’ visual style.

Costumes from ‘Na Na Na’ from the album danger days – comic book characters

Costumes from ‘Helena’ from the album ‘Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge’ – funeral goers / high school rejects

Costumes from ‘Welcome To The Black Parade’ from the album ‘The Black Parade’ – undead marching band.

References to the notion of looking

In this video there are very few references to the notion of looking and I would say no voyeuristic treatment of the female body as this video is more focused on the meaning and story rather than the pursuit of a woman.

At the start of the video we see the men and women at either side of the dance floor and the camera focuses of several different women looking over at the men, inviting them over with their eyes to dance with them, and then we see the men looking back admiring the women and reacting to the message. This happens a number of times at the start of the video. In contrast to this, at the end of the video we are shown close ups of the lead singer as he watches his brother die. The camera zooms in on his eye as he stares despairingly, then the video finishes when he blinks.I think the video started and ended this way intentionally to show the contrast between love and death. The video starts with young couples making eyes at each other to a man in battle staring at his bother dying in front of him.

Intertextual references

This music video has a lot of intertextual references throughout. The first and most obvious one is the 1940’s references through the use of set costume and context. The other intertextual reference is the similar storyline to the film pearl harbour and legends of the fall.

The men and women in this video are dressed in a similar way to those in this photograph from wartime 1940’s

These films are set in the same time as the music video and have a similar storyline in that its about two best friends / brothers who go to war and one of them dies action.