RESEARCH: Analysis of A Student Music Video

The first student music video I looked at was "Macklemore - Can't Hold Us" embedded below:

This video is of the "Hip Hop" genre - and we see certain conventions of this genre within the video.

One convention is playing with social conventions to give the artist an "above the law presence".  Here we see some over-the-top, slapstick performances of some burglars that don't get caught.

This shows this convention as the burglars spot a "cop" and then shrug him off as being unimportant.

This is something that is close to the 'Hip Hop' genre - however doesn't mean that we won't use that at all in our video - and may consider constructing this in a different, more genre relevant way.

An example of this occurring in a mainstream "Hip-Hop" video is in Eminem's "Without Me" - where a young boy is saved by listening to Eminem's CD, despite it having explicit content.

The entire video actually draws many parallels to the "Without Me" video due to both of them incorporating comic book style titles and having comedy moments:

Here are some examples from the Eminem video. Comic book style panels are used (e.g. "Meanwhile, on a nation talk show...") along with a thought bubble ("What a nice lady!" - also an example of comedy through sarcasm) and comic book style onomatopoeia (the big "POW!" in the yellow & red font).  This particular clip is also presenting comedy through satire (mocking a "Jeremy Kyle" or "Jerry Springer" style show) as well as juxtaposition (the male playing the female character). This is something that works well when accompanying a song that doesn't want to be taken seriously - even if it has controversial subject matter. Therefore, depending on our song choice for our music video - it may be relevant to include some of these features.

Some examples from the Macklemore student video are found here. The frame freezes and changes into a drawn, comic book, effect. We then have the camera panning around stills, with the cartoon effect, making it seem like we are moving from box to box within a comic book. They again use cartoon onomatopoeia ("KAPOW!") - like in the Eminem video - and examples of thought bubbles... & panels are also seen elsewhere in the video. Furthermore: comedy is presented differently to the Eminem video. I.e. at the end of the clip the camera movement creates a comedy moment as it tilts away from the characters - and then tilts back to reveal the man has escaped leaving his jacket. This is funny as the visuals create something surreal occurring which the audience didn't expect.

Another genre convention is the use of low angle close up shots.

An example of a low framed shot with the artist filling the frame.

These are often used through the genre as rappers are stereo typically wanting to brag about how much power they have whether its in terms of  money/possessions or credibility. 

The low angle shot gives the artist a status over the audience and makes them seem more dominant.
The close up has a similar effect - as the artist should take up most of the frame as he is the most important object around.

 

As well as genre conventions, the video used typical characteristics of music videos.

The video is mostly a compilation of comedy moments. This derives firstly from The Beatles video "Hard Days Night": which was the first video to involve the band filmed clowning about with wacky camera angles being cut together. This was also used in Blink 182's Rock Show (I've previously researched). This shows that this type of video convention isn't particularly genre specific and can be effective in many applications.

 

There is an attempted link of a narrative throughout the piece (What's in the box? -  at the end it's comically revealed to be a chicken.) however I wouldn't say this is a predominant feature of the piece as the narrative isn't continuously executed throughout the video (i.e. the dance section seems to divert from the main story).

 

A final 2 convention's used are: lip syncing (which was particularly effective when the artist are walking towards the camera and the camera pans backwards following them - video below) and dancing. Both of these are usual features of music videos - independent of genre.

This shot was particularly effective, and showed good smooth camera control combined with exceptional lip syncing.

The video is most successful when it...

...used certain compilations of comedy sections and conveyed the humour differently. One example is their use of 'whips' to help bring out the humour.

 

For example in the clip above the whip helps to jovially reveal different elements within the scene - making what we see funnier and more expected. 
Panning shots were also used for a comedic effect - like explained above in the Eminem comparison above - and the actors extreme facial expressions helped add to the humour.

They were also very successful with their use of location:
 

 



The images above show 2 great examples. Low angles facing up towards the monuments help to emphasise their magnificence and by framing the main character centre of frame (in front of the buildings) gives them a larger than life presence - again connoting the typical hip hop "power".

They were also successful when framing their shots. Left are some examples where the rule of 3rds has been used effectively - particularly when the artist is sat centre of frame with symmetrical background either side of them.

Other examples of good framed shot at the usage of the phone (where the screen isn't pixelated and appears very sharp and clear in focus - while the others doing less important actions are out of focus) and the shot between one of the characters legs - which is creative and creates a smart symmetrical line either side of the tree.
The video is least successful when it...

... used comedy sound effects. For example: the use of the phone sound effect over the music video and the loony tunes motif at the end of the video shown in the video below.

 

This is unconventional as it draws away from the song - which the video is meant to be promoting and therefore the focus of.

Furthermore, part way through the video the song is interrupted completely by a record scratch sound effect . This again draws away from the song and, despite the sound effect acting as quite a good link, was inappropriate towards promoting the song the music video is around.

Another error was that different people would be singing with the same voice. This is an obvious error - however wasn't overtly obvious because of how well the shots where composed and executed.



From this video I can conclude that for my video I will need to stick to conventions and make sure that the song is the most important part of the video. Furthermore, I should ensure that I make good use of visuals (i.e. using locations smartly and making good use of camera movements) to create different moods/emotions throughout the video.