1. George Ezra Blame It On Me Music Video Analysis By Mustaf
A
2. George Ezra's Blame It On Me music video conform to
Goodwin's Theory as the entire music videos is a Performance and
conceptual video depicting the artist, George Ezra, having a very
bad day continuously faced with obstacles on his journey. in
addition the music video features the demand for lots of close up's
of the main artist to establish that Ezra is the main focus point
of the music video, which is certainly fulfilled as the entire
music video is centered around Ezra tracking him on his journey
down the yellow brick road but also close-ups are frequently used
as a means of drawing the audiences attention to the emotions
displayed on the artist/performers face . Furthermore George Ezras
Blame It On Me music video conforms to Goodwins theory by
incorporates elements of Intertextual reference to the Wizard of Oz
throughout the entire music video. According Goodwin, it is
conventional for music videos to include Intertextual references to
films, other music videos or other media text . The complete music
video is a pastiche of the iconic movie Wizard of Oz in which pays
homage to the movie by referencing to the Yellow Brick Road for
e.g. within the opening there is a close up, point of view eye line
shot from George Ezras of an old man asking Ezra Are you sure you
want to follow the yellow brick road? in a foreign language.
Further more Ezras Blame it on me music video further incorporates
elements of Intertextuality as it is a pastiche of the famous
Wizard of Oz as it pays homage to the iconic film by replicating
and reconstructed iconic scene from the film An example of this
being is at 2.04 there is a close up shot of a rugby player with a
gum shield in his mouth turning to look at the camera followed by
an extreme long shot of him running towards the camera to emphasize
the negative events in the video and also establishing the existing
concept to the audience. Due to the close up of the camera tracking
him while he runs and slowly zooms out to reveal more players ,The
editing is significantly reduced in pace again within the video
during the rugby players to accentuate their animalistic traits of
a herd stampeding and that a skinny, tall Ezra has no chance
against these well built athletes. These shots depicted to the
audience are a complete intersexual pastiche as these existing shot
pay homage and replicate the iconic flying monkey scene in the
Wizard Of Oz. The Blame It On Me music video very much, abides by
Goodwin's theory of features of music videos,. The music video for
Blame It On Me visuals directly correspond with lyrics throughout
the entire duration of the music video, although the video is
conceptual based on knockbacks and obstacles one faces in life it
still links to the lyrics of the song as Ezra is singing blame it
on me as the people around him seem to be treating him as a
scapegoat and mistreatment directly establishing a relationship
between the lyrics and the visuals. A clear example of where this
is demonstrated is in the first verse at 00:55 01:00 as Ezra sing
We found ourselves some treasure, and threw it all away, What you
waiting for the visuals exhibits an extreme birds-eye views crane
shot which cuts to a extreme close-up of bird faecal on Ezras shirt
as he wipes it off. This connotes the long line of unfortunate
chain of events that progressively gets worse throughout the
duration of the music video. Another example where the visual
correlate with the lyrics is at 1.46 where Ezra sings Caught in the
tide of blossom, caught in the carnival Your confidence forgotten,
I see the gypsies rule whist the visuals depict long tracking shot
of George Ezra walking under a raincloud, in contrast to this there
are people sunbathing on a car next to him and this helps emphasize
Theory
3. Variation of different camera angles and shot techniques
have been demonstrated within the Blame It On Me music videos for
example The opening shot depicts a formation of birds in the sky
accompanied by the diegetic sound of birds squawking as The camera
slowly pans downwards from the sky to the road and then tracks a
car followed by a extreme long shot of George Ezra and it sets the
scene for the beginning of his journey and establishing the
equilibrium but also introduces the audience to their surrounding
of where the music video will be set. The next shot is a mid-shot,
eye line shot of the old man from George Ezras point of view as the
man says Are you sure you want to follow the yellow brick road? in
a foreign language. There is a cut back to the extreme long shot of
George Ezra and the old man as they turn and walk away from each
other in opposite directions; this suggest and indicates to the
audience that George Ezra has chosen to ignore the old mans warning
which is connotative of the unfortunate chain of events that Ezra
will experience on his journey. Cinematography, Mies en scene,
Props and Edit Throughout the Blame It On Me music video the
cinematography demonstrates the use dynamic shots and angles such
as mid shots and close ups of the artist as Singer-songwriter music
videos are composed of a variety of camera shots. Close-ups are
frequently used as a means of drawing the audiences attention to
the emotions displayed on the artist/performers face whilst Extreme
shots are also used to showcase the artist surroundings or the
location. Throughout the music video there is a reference to
different camera shots such as close ups to distinguish Ezra's
feelings about the yellow brick road and his journey upon it,
medium shots to, for example, emphasise the force of the rugby
players absorbing Ezra and lastly long shots to emphasize a
contrast between the artist and his surroundings an example being
when there is a rain cloud over his head the long shot allows
people to be eating ice cream and sunbathing at the same time,
therefore reiterating that it is Ezra who is having a bad day and
no one else. At 55 seconds there is a birds eye view shot of George
Ezra that is rapidly zooming in, this is to simulate the bird
droppings that land on George Ezra in the next shot. The droppings
leads George Ezra into a chain of events that progressively gets
worse throughout the duration of the music video. At 1.46 there is
a long tracking shot of George Ezra walking under a raincloud, in
contrast to this there are people sunbathing on a car next to him
in a mid long shot. In the same shot Ezra is shown throws his empty
guitar case on the ground showing that he is fed up and the
negative events are having an effect on him, this has been
deliberately constructed to emphasize how bad his situation is and
how unfortunate his day is thus establishing the concept of the
music video across to the audience. The music video for Blame It On
Me directly correspond with lyrics throughout the entire duration
of the music video, as Ezra is singing blame it on me the people
around him seem to be treating him as a scapegoat and mistreatment
directly establishing a relationship between the lyrics and the
visuals. A clear example of where this is demonstrated is in the
first verse at 00:55 01:00 as Ezra sing We found ourselves some
treasure, and threw it all away, What you waiting for the visuals
exhibits an extreme birds- eye views crane shot which cuts to a
extreme close-up of bird faecal on Ezras shirt as he wipes it off.
This connotes the long line of unfortunate chain of events that
progressively gets worse throughout the duration of the music
video. Another example where the visual correlate with the lyrics
is at 1.46 where Ezra sings Caught in the tide of blossom, caught
in the carnival Your confidence forgotten, I see the gypsies rule
there is a long tracking shot of George Ezra walking under a
raincloud, in contrast to this there are people sunbathing on a car
next to him and this helps emphasize how bad his situation is and
how unfortunate his day is.
4. At 3.06 in the Blame It On Me there are multiple shots of
people wearing yellow balaclavas shooting at police officers while
George Ezra walks through the chaos obviously not caring about the
gunshots being fired around him. One of the gunshots hits a barrel
and it starts to leak a yellow, presumably flammable, LIQUID. At
3.40 there is a high angle extreme long shot of George Ezra walking
along the trail of liquid. This links to the old man at the very
beginning who warned him about the yellow brick road as this shot
somewhat resembles a yellow path for George Ezra to walk along.
During the beginning of the music video there is a shot reverse
shot, after an eye-line match, using close ups of two girls and
Ezra walking directly towards one an other, through the use of the
close ups the female subjects appear to be looking at Ezra in a
hostile manner through a point of view shot from George Ezras
perspective. Within the video there are various editing techniques
used to emphasize and mark the moment For example The close up
shots of the girls have been slowed down to emphasize the event and
make sure that the audience can see every detail and expression in
the shots. Slowing down the shots make them seem more important as
it prolongs the negative shots. Another example is at 2.04 there is
a close up shot of a rugby player with a gum shield in his mouth
turning to look at the camera followed by an extreme long shot of
him running towards the camera to emphasize the negative events in
the video and also establishing the existing concept to the
audience. Due to the close up of the camera tracking him while he
runs and slowly zooms out to reveal more players ,The editing is
significantly reduced in pace again within the video during the
rugby players to accentuate their animalistic traits of a herd
stampeding and that a skinny, tall Ezra has no chance against these
well built athletes. These shot depicted to the audience are a
complete intersexual pastiche as these existing shot pay homage and
replicate the iconic flying monkey scene in the Wizard Of Oz. The
same technique is witnessed during the gun fight at the end, which
could lead the viewer to expect that this is a build up to Ezra
getting shot but this doesn't happen, changing his suggested bad
luck into good luck as he survives. The Cinematography throughout
Ezra Blame It On Me music video conforms to the codes and
conventions of the Singer Songwriter genre through the use of
naturalistic camerawork such as Hand-Held Camera shots . The
cinematography has been constructed to reinstating the idea of the
everyday and that these events within the music video are everyday
happenings and in no way are composed at all rather than obviously
stylized shots which are predominantly associated with mainstream
celebrity culture, such as would be typical of the pop genre. I
found the cinematography in this sense to be effective in
establishing the genre of the music video to the audience.
5. Throughout the video the lighting remains and appears to be
natural, therefore reinstating the idea of the everyday and that
these events within the music video are everyday happenings and in
no way are composed at all. In addition through the predominant use
of natural lighting Ezras Blame It On Me music video establishes
convention of the folk singer-songwriter genre. Lighting acts as an
important part of a singer-songwriter music video as simplistic
natural lighting is common for realistic purposes as opposed to
artificial lighting. The use of space and location is very well
composed with just a street used it makes a short journey into a
whole music video while telling a story and captivating the viewer,
the use of simplistic locations establishes conventions of the
singer songwriter genre as it predominantly focus is on the artist
and their musical craft and not on visual aesthetics which is very
effective as lots of other music videos tend to use various
locations to appease and entertain to entice the audience. The
final set of props appears to be through the technique of
foreshadowing as the little boy has a toy gun but then towards the
end it is escalated to the use of real guns. The use of such a
dramatic elevation of the plotline keeps the viewer watching and
absorbed, and every new problem appears to grow in severity to the
point which we as a viewer and society would recognize as a 'bad
day
6. During the course of the Blame It On Me music video the
track is played throughout the video overplayed with additional
sound effects added. For example at the start a positive atmosphere
is set through the bird song, which has uplifting connotations, As
they turn away from each other the sound of birds fades out and the
song cuts in implying to the audience this the start of his
journey. There are various diegetic sounds used within the Blame It
On Me video at various point, for example the man at the beginning
warning George Ezra about the yellow brick road Are you sure you
want to follow the yellow brick road?. The sound effects within the
music video seem increased as a means to convey Ezra's day getting
worse to the audience therefore there is also an enhanced in sounds
which are made to seem diegetic . An example of this would be the
sound of the dog biting him, so the aggressive nature of the dog is
asserted through the added growl and bark. Another example where
enhanced diegetic sound is demonstrated within the music video is
through the realness of the gun fight is accentuated through the
addition of the shots . The enhancement of this sound, overlaying
it with the music portrays the realness of the situation.
Sound
7. Genre Characteristic's and Iconography In terms of star
image and representation singer-songwriters tend to wear casual
clothing and renounce mainstream trends. They have an authentic
original image which isn't a product of industry marketing, for
example pop artist are often made to wear trendy luxury-brand
clothes due to their record company whereas the image a
singer-songwriter reflects is more natural. The costumes conform to
conventions by appearing as normal everyday clothes and would
accommodate the viewers expectations of the singer songwriter genre
and. As well as the police being in their uniform and the binary
opposites of the criminals wearing the balaclavas to reiterate the
normality of the day and to avoid the costumes taking away from the
plotline. In Blame It On Me George Ezra wears clothing he is
comfortable in and would probably where everyday, this type genre
signifier which is less focused on the aesthetic image of the
artist but more focused on the 'down-to-earth' perception of the
singers and therefore a glamorous image isn't essential as the
musicality if of more importance Props are another key factor to
establish the genre of the music video to the audience, the guitar
and case fall into the general expectations of the viewer due to
the singer/songwriter genre as the guitar is the stereotypical
instrument played by the songwriter over any other instruments so
the involvement of the prop conforms to the viewers expectations of
a singer/songwriter, which conforms to Goodwin's theory that the
genre has it's own iconography.The Cinematography throughout Ezra
Blame It On Me music video conforms to the codes and conventions of
the Singer Songwriter genre through the use of naturalistic
camerawork such as Hand-Held Camera shots . The cinematography has
been constructed to reinstating the idea of the everyday and that
these events within the music video are everyday happenings and in
no way are composed at all rather than obviously stylized shots
which are predominantly associated with mainstream celebrity
culture, such as would be typical of the pop genre. I found the
cinematography in this sense to be effective in establishing the
genre of the music video to the audience.
8. Brand Identity And Typography The following shot depicts a
close mid shot panning up behind George Ezra walking as his name
and the song title appear on screen on screen. The overlayed text
features on the music video has been constructed and designed in
the same distinctive font that has been featured on the album cover
title that the song is from, Wanted on Voyage, as they share the
font, colour and positioning. This has been done as a means to
establish brand identity between the album(Digipak), music video
and other promotional platforms so that the audience recognize they
are related. The overlaid text in which is displays George Ezras
logo at the beginning of the music video but also been displayed on
all of Ezra's media texts and products have been constructed as a
means to create synergy between the products to establish brands
identity for the audience. This has deliberately been done so that
the consumer will immediately recognize the distinctive logo as
well as drawing the attention of those who may not be familiar with
the artist helping the sales. Furthermore, the distinctive font
appearances simplistic, connoting individuality and personalization
of his music. in addition the simplistic typography conforms to the
conventions of singer songwriter genre; as the typography
simplistic and not overpower, which connotes the greater importance
of the music over the materialistic aesthetics or persona of the
artists rejecting the conventions of mainstream pop genre
emphasizing the Ezra's serious singer songwriter image.