Task 2- Contemporay Music video research

Research and analysis of 2
Contemporary music videos

The first Music video I am analysing is Star Guitar by the chemical Brothers.

• director- Michel Gondry and Olivier Gondry


• Production company- Partizan Entertainment


• roduction Date- December 03 2001


• Budget- unknown


• Made in- USA
  

Michel Gondry used alot of interesting objects in his video. notably, the video is set on a train journey and the camera stays completely still throughout the entire video. you csn tell from this that the camera was very basic and that he didnt use loads and loads of equpiment to acheive the desired effect, instead he relied on his editing. the point is, that as the video goes on, the objects that the train passes seem to be going at the seem beat as the music. this is shown because objects Multiply massively more than what they would usually.
from 1:05 to 1:14 the beat is a simple drum beat which is shown by having the white signal frame and then the snare by a small shack. when the synths start it is shown with a bridge over the track and then a train going past.

these objects all come together with the beat and make a truly outstanding video. the camera work cannot really recieve any comments because the camera stayed still throughout the entire video however it has been set up so that it captures a good portion of the action outside the window which means there will be enough of the footage to make the objects fit in without making it too obvious. between 2:42 and 2:54 the bridge scene is reapeated over and over again as the synths make the tune. as it goes along, the little siding keeps coming up and then the bridge goes past. this has been clevery planned out apparently Gondry planned it out from putting everyday household objects in a structure and then made a practice film strip from it.

the lighting for the video remains almost constant, there is only one point in the video when the day changes to night, and the lighting dims to make sure you can see the lights of the industrial estate outside. from 3.05 the editing really shows a weird side. gondry has cleveryly edited it so that a million of these small houses fly past at top speed and then the ordinary music beat starts again. the video represents the music really well and it sticks to it really well. now that i think of the music i can't imagine it with a different kind of video. the video, as i just said, really does make the music stand out, because its such an odd but such a simple idea.

this video has the most interesting editing techniques used and gondry deserves a good pat on the back for his hard work. the editing once completed shows a variety of railside objects moving outside the window which not only seem to reappear but also go to the same beat as the music. the music being a slow beat music track and having quite a fairy tone to the synths, means that the lyrics would be quite fly away and soft, which they are. if you listen between 1:39 to 2:08 you can hear the lyrics, however, because they are so soft you cant really make out what they are saying. however, the sound of the lyrics fits in with the music and therefore with the video.

here are some responeses from youtube.co.uk

w4r7 (1 month ago)
What's so genius about this video is that, what seems as a routine train ride through some European country, the scenary becomes musical notes and counts. Objects such as bridges and passing by trains take place of drum patterns and layers of the track...a well thought out creative vision. Truly an experience worth viewing time and time again.

VSilva2006 (3 months ago)
Genius Videoclip!
Chemical Rullez!!!

max2kev (2 months ago)
sweetness drug honeymoon

the second music video im going to analyse is Always by Blink 182

• Always- Blink 182
• director = Joseph kahn
• production company = unknown
• production dates = october 2004
• budget =unknown
• editor and post production = KromA Visual FX (special effects) and David Blackburn (editor)

joseph kahn has never really been an ordianry director, this is shown particually in always by blink 182, this video is set in a womans apartment with a man trying to make up with her, but the odd thing with it is, the screen is split into 3 parts, so the man is made up with peices of each member of the band. The video was shot as one shot 3 times over using each one of the band members in each one. Then the shots were then edited together as one in rows on the screen which basically looked as if the lead singer had his brother’s body and the drummer’s legs. And all the while this would keep changing over to make each member have a turn of having their head in show.

the misse on scen is really interesting because their are alot of different objects that make up the style of the video, for instance, the video starts, and then splits when the camera looks at the flowers in the vase, also their is broken glass on the floor, which suggests their was probably a fight. the video is really interesting because right at the very end, it finishes on the flowers again. which mean that the whole lot was almost pointless.

the actors are all dressed up in uniform, apart from the girl. this is really weird, but it makes sense and keeps continuity between all of the actors. and it gives them a sense of being a band. the camera and the lighting stay constant throughout the entire video. these are good for the video due to the fact that if they were ever changing, the video would look terrible. and finally the endtitng makes the video really pick up. it makes sure that the video is up and running and makes it more interesting and to be honest it makes the music come alive.

there is much intertextuality in the lyrics as well as th video, the lyrics are about the singer expressing teh fact he misses her and that he doesnt want the relstionship to die, and this is also shown throughout the video, but as it goes on, you see that she is already going out with the bands drummer, at the start the singer throws a glass vase onto the floor, which smashes, and then she pushes him away, which shows that he shouldnt have lost his temper and maybe she wouldnt have got rid of him. at the end of the song, the drummer (travis Barker) comes through the door, kisses her and gives her a brand new vase identical to the first one, and the video ends with a shot of it, which makes it seem like none of it happend. i think the video was a continuous shot, which was done at least 3 times to make the video the way that kahn wanted it to come out.

responses to the video from youtube.co.uk

stayprtygrl182 (14 hours ago)
Is Mark's hair like spikey dreadlocks?

chriscatastrophe182 (12 hours ago)
one of my fave blink vids :)

Maczilla96 (6 hours ago)
hahaha i never noticed how kool everyones hair is in this video