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Shot by shot analysis

This piece of research will be based on a music video from the artist we will be using to make our music

video with. The artist is Subfocus and we will be using the song Endorphins so I will analyse that song.

Shot: 1

This shot is the first shot of the music video; the shot is

showing an army based group of characters. These

characters represent the law and are dressed in black; the

black can represent evil and possibly bad things going to

happen in the video. Obviously I know this because Ive

watched the video and they are portrayed a bad however

its an easy resemblance to make. The song is slowly just

beginning and these are the first characters shown, they

resemble a narrative for the music video. The way the

characters have guns represent a phallic symbol in which

presumably the characters are male and ready to possibly

fight. The term endorphins has a definition of receptors in the brain leading to the pain threshold therefore linking in the use

of the characters guns and the army gear shown by the characters in the music video.

Shots: 2, 3, 4These selections of shots are all shots in the narrative after

seeing the team of army officials dressed in black. These shots

show the rebellious opponents to the army team. The narrative

shows this as the male character in shot 3 is running from the

black van of army officers. The red and black colours in shots 2

and 4 are a colour scheme in which is an on-going theme

through the music video to show the rebellion of the army

opposition. The phrase Unity through shown in shots 2 and 4

represents the uniting of a group of people for a cause. In shot 4

there is a circular symbol, this is in fact the logo for the Sub

focus digi-pack as shown on the right. This is an example of

cross media convergence as the artist is converging the symbol

into two platforms of media, through a music video and a digi-

pack. The target demographic is meant to understand the

symbol for seeing it in the music video and then seeing it on a

digi-pack and realising that is the Sub Focus symbol. This is a

strategy done by the artist to gain and promote himself to a

larger demographic of people wanting to listen to his music. If

my group was to do this in our music video then I would want us to have an on-going image, symbol or theme throughout the

video and something we could then transfer onto a digi-pack. For example my group could work with using a similar symbol,the connotations for doing this will allows our demographic to understand reduplication, like were carrying on a theme

through the song. Or like in the Nicky Romero video of Tolouse we could possibly use masks and then carry on them onto

our digi-pack by having an image of a mask.

Sub Focus digi pack

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Shots: 5, 6, 7

These shots all play on the narrative of the music video as the shots show a warehouse with the rebels listening to music

being stormed by the army. The narrative is strong in this music video as its clear with whats happening and who plays the

villains and heroes. The demographic are meant to be swayed towards the rebels in the video and they are meant to root for

them to be the better people in comparison to the army. The shots used are all quite close to the characters like in shot 7, the

camera angle in still on the character and tracks him, the shot is a medium close up to create a dramatic atmosphere and

tension in which it does. In both shots 6 and 7 the characters are holding 2 very different phallic symbols; these represent the

characters in two different ways. In shot the character has a red flare to represent a change because the colour makes a

difference to the colour scheme which could suggest a change. In shot 7 the character is carrying a gun, and guns represent

war, evil and pain. This just shows the character differences in two similar shots.Shot: 8

This shot is one of the first shots in which represents that

characters acknowledging the sound of the music, almost in a

diegetic format, this is because they are dancing along to the

tune. This makes the target demographic understand that the

narrative involves the song even though the artist isnt

actually performing the song in the video. Also this makes the

song synchronous with the video which is evident and clear

the artist has done on purpose. The colour scheme for this

shot is still quite dull and dreary; I dont think the colour

scheme changes like in the Avicii song; Levels.

Shots: 9, 10, 11

These shots are a representation of the two types of characters finally meeting in the narrative of the music video. During the

meeting of the characters the army men turn to violence and shut down the music down the rebels are listening to. The

connotations of them doing this are that its what theyre being told to do and it adds a level of authority to the music video.

Shot 10 shows a wide shot of the characters and the army individuals fighting, the reason and connotations for this shot are

that it allows the target demographic understand whats happening as theyre fighting and disagreeing. Shot 11 is a

representation of how the target demographic is supposed to take a disliking to the army men. The reasons and connotations

for this are that it shows them throwing speakers away and people use speakers to listen to music so theyre bad, ifthat

makes sense. The shots are done in slow motion, the connotations for the artist doing this in the video is that it adds tension

and drama to the video in which the target demographic could see as interesting.

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Shot: 12

This is a shot of a an elderly couple dancing to the music of the

song in the music video. Granted they arent dancing in the

stereotypical format in which would normally be addressed to

this music genre however this is a good use of targeting a

different demographic. The age of the character is a different

demographic of age from what weve already seen so far in the

video. The ages of the other characters have all been younger

people in their mid twenties. Therefore this shows that the artists

may want to try and appeal to a different target audience instead

of staying with the target audience hes already developed.

Shot: 13

This shot shows the army characters to be in charge as they

are hand cuffing the rebellious characters. The connotations

for this to be shown in the video are that it shows the army

and political side of the video that they are in charge, much

like in real life. The shots show in this shot are almost a front

view of an over the shoulder shot as you can see another rebelcharacter over the shoulder of the black male in the main

point of view of the shot. The target demographic are meant

to understand the villains of the music video and the

characters the video is portraying as the good guys (the

rebels).

Shots: 14, 15, 16

These are the final few shots of the music video, the narrative shows a male character in shot 14 saving old vinyl discs and

running away whilst his friends are being ready for possible execution. The final shot (shot 16) shows one of the army

characters tapping his foot to presumably the music the rebellious characters have been listening to through the whole music

video. This part of the narrative allows the target demographic to feel as though theyve witnessed a cliff hanger almost as if

they want to watch more. This is an effective element of the music video for the artist as the target demographic might want

to watch more videos to find out what happens possibly. The camera speed of this video is important as its done in slow

motion and the whole thing is done with the characters running and moving in slow motion. The effect of this on the target

demographic is that it makes the target demographic feel tension and mystery as to what will happen next. The music video

gradually gets more dramatic towards the end of the video, the connotations for this are that its leading up to a climax and

when the climax happens it changes the target audiences views on the video. We cant see the faces of the army characters

the whole way through the video, the connotations for the artist wanting to get this effect is that it gives them an evil and

mysterious feel to the video in which makes the target audience question who the characters actually are and why they are

behaving in that manner. I like the ending to this music video as the twist at the end keeps me interested and makes me

wonder whats going to happen next. This is similar to the Nicky Romero song Tolouse as there is a mysterious cliff hanger at

the end of that video; this ties in well with this Sub Focus video because its a similar genre of music. This suggests that maybeme and m group should add a twist to our video because Is seen in other music videos of a similar genre. In this music video I

like the split in the characters, I will consider this type of music video when we make our final piece.