In this video there is a clear relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. When the singer, Marina Diamandis, sings “don't need love” and a cartoon graphic of a heart appears on the screen and when she sings “I'm only after success”, there is again a cartoon graphic of money and a look of determination on the singers face. This continues throughout the video, with graphics appearing to accompany the lyrics, amplifying their meaning. The visuals in this video do however remind us that the lyrics are meant to be taken as ironic and 'tounge-in-cheek'. She does not actually believe what she is saying and the fact the cartoons reminds us that what she is saying is suppose to be taken as a joke although she is trying to get a message across. As well as the cartoons that appear in the video there is also an obvious relationship between music and lyrics, especially in terms on money in the video. Throughout the video she holds piles of cash, is wearing a dress that is designed to look like a dollar whilst laying on a bed surrounded by money. These shots emphasise how the desire for her to succeed, and for her success means having money.
There is also a relationship between the music and the visuals. This song is a pop song and therefore as you would expect in a pop video there is lots of bright colours, a dance routine and an emphasise on the lead singer. The dance routine also ties in with the fact that this is an upbeat song.
In order to maintain 'star-texts' there is often the demand from the record company to have a number of close ups of the artist or vocalist. This is also the case in this video where throughout the video there is a number of close ups of Marina. These shots remind us of the emphasise there is on how videos are used to sell the music and the artist as a package. One thing this video doesn't do, which is often the case with music females in music videos, there is not a sense of voyeurism, throughout the video she is very aware that she is being watched and is therefore performing to the cameras. Although the record company is playing on the lead singers looks and are using female dancers in short dresses, the voyeurism is lost because these women know what is going on and are acting up to it, which is something that also ties in with lyrics as it is clear that she wants to be noticed because of what she is singing about.
This video is similar to other Marina and the Diamonds videos, as her music videos tend to be colourful and bright, particularly her single 'Hollywood'. The use of close ups is also something used in her other videos, with shots of her nails also becoming recoccuring. She is also becoming synonymous with having this look that involves her wearing bright, quirky dresses, which she carries over into her videos. The look of 'Oh No' is not a one off for Marina and the Diamonds, but it is instead an image that is being built around her, her music and her videos. She does also have this appeal of being a bit like a cartoon character with the clothes she wears, which is being referenced with the graphics.(Shots from 'Hollywood' on left)
There are many other intertextual references in this video. The main one is the link between the cartoon graphics and work by artists such as Roy Lichenstein and Andy Warhol (on right), again something helping build on this image of her being like a cartoon character(on left).
1.Performance
Features an artist or a band performing the song. Examples of this style of video is Coldplay’s ‘Speed of Sound’, and Green Day’s ‘Boulavard of Broken Dreams’. Below is an example of a Performance Video.
2.Story
Features a narrative story with a beginning, middle and end. Examples of this style of video is Mary J Blige’s ‘Runaway Love’, and Daughtry’s “It’s not over”.
3.GAG Video
Relies on visual tricks, visually altering something or someone. Impossible and normally in an fantasy location. Examples of this style of video include Missy Elliot’s ‘Sock it to me’. Below is an example of a GAG video.
4.Dance
Involves choreography. Examples of this style of video includes Gwen Stefani’s ‘Hollaback Girl’ and Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’.
5.Party or Club
Features scene taking place in a dance club or at a party. Examples of this style of video includes Nelly’s ‘Hot in Here’ and 50 Cents ‘In Da Club’.
6.Animated
Features animated images. Artists may or may not be depicted. Examples of this include The Gorlliaz ‘Feel Good Inc’ and Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’.
7.Film Clip
Songs featured on a movie soundtrack, including scenes from the movie in the video. Examples of this style of video included Flo Rida ‘Club Can’t Handle Me’ and Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’.
So far, in preparation for creating our own music video, we have used existing footage to develop our editing skills. In one task we had various clips which had no soundtrack and a choice of six soundtracks. In this task we learnt how to mark the beat, which we then used when editing together, which we then used to determine which clip we should use and when we should change clips. We also used this skill in the “you wanna what?” and in this case we used the skill to help up match up the video clips with the soundtrack. The skill was particularly important for this task because the singer was miming to the track and so we had to ensure that the soundtrack and videos matched up exactly. This is a useful skill to develop for when it comes to making our own video because it will be important to match the soundtrack to the video clips. When it came to marking the beat for the first task it was about matching the clips to the beat of the music whilst in the second task there was more of a focus on matching the words and the clips up. On reflection I found the second task easier and if possible in my final video I would rather use the second method, however this was something that wasn't possible for the first task as they were not singling in the clips.
In this task we also learnt how to use effects on Final Cut. This was useful to learn, especially as we were using lots of different clips that did not necessarily follow on from one another (especially in the first task) so effects, such as cross dissolve showed us how we could use clips that were not linked together but still make them work. Learning how to use the effects also means that we can improve clips.
This is the video for M.I.A’s single ‘Paperplanes’. This video is mainly performance based with the singer, M.I.A playing the role of a girl who works in a truck selling sandwiches but wants to be rich.
The opening shot establishes that the video is set in New York, as we see shots of the city's iconic skyline. These shots are romanticised as they have been filmed in black and white and are showing the wealthy Manhattan areas of New York, however this shot is in contrast to the rest of the video, which is set in down town New York. In comparison to the establishing shot of New York, these shots are bright and colourful, highlighting the contrast between these two areas. This shot is very similar to the opening shot of Jay Z featuring Alicia Keys video (below left), Empire state of mind, which also shows shots of New York in black and white. The videos are very similar in the sense that they show different different areas of New York.
It is obvious from the start that this woman does not live in the wealthy part of the city, illustrated by what she does for a living (it is clear she does not live in Manhattan from the fact she is selling sandwiches out of a truck), the clothes she wears and the landscape that surrounds the singer. One shot that I find interesting in this video and the shot I feel illistrates the other side to New York is the shot of M.I.A surrounded by fake designer clothes and handbags. Instead of showing the side of New York that you would see in shows such as Sex in the City, where everyone wears real, expensive designer clothes because they are relatively wealthy, in this video we get a glimpse of the side of the city. The people still care about the labels they’re wearing but they cannot afford to buy the real ones so wear fake ones. The copies of clothes also suggest that there is a lot of crime taking place in the area. Crime is something present throughout the video, with M.I.A talking talking about how she want to “take your money” and the gun shots in the sound track and the singer making her fingers into the shape of guns. I like these shots because they reinforce that this video is not about the sophisticated, wealthy area of New York.
Although the lyrics and the video are not related, it isn’t difficult to believe that the woman in the video would be singing about this. She is clearly a person who dreams of bigger things and thinks money is going to take her places. The reoccurring line “All I wanna do is take your money” and the shots of cash in the till register and the money flying through New York as paper planes shows that M.I.A wants the money that the rich have and that money clearly has a huge importance to her as she is seen counting the money throughout. This video does help us understand the lyrics better because we learn more about the situation that these people are faced with and their desire to escape.
The shot of her surrounded by a group of women when she is walking through the streets of New York also confirms that she is probably not the only person who thinks like this and she is representing the views of many other people who lived in impoverished areas of this wealthy city.
The aspect of this video I enjoy the most is the performance because it shows the singer has attitude, which we would expect from someone living in this setting and it matches the genre of the song. The audience for this song is likely to be young people who are into urban and hip hop music.
This is the video for Kasabian's single 'Fire'. The concept for this video is that the band are robbing a bank in a small, practically deserted town. Along with the setting, the shots all have a slight yellow tint, which means the video feels like it is an old western movie, with the band members playing the roles of the villains.
The video and lyrics are not directly linked to one another in the sense that the lyrics tell the story of what is happening in the video but the lyrics could be interpreted as being how the singer and band are feeling before the robbery. Because parts of the song are being sung by the lead singer in the video, it means we associate the lyrics with them even more so. The lyrics give us an insight into their minds and help us understand better what is going on.
This is one of my favourite shots from the video. You can see the reflection of lead singer, Tom, in the window, showing that he is perhaps apprehensive about what he is about to do, which means that we still like him despite the fact he robs a bank, because the shot shows he has a conscious and remorse for what happens. This shot also shows that this video is not purely narrative based but there is also an element of performance to it.
This is also another of my favourite shots from the video because not only does it make the video seem like it is from a western movie but also because it is a parody because the guitars they are holding are playing the parts of guns. In the next scene they are also seen throwing a bag full of paper, which you would expect to be money but is instead sheets of music. These icons, especially the guitars, suggest that this video video would fit the rock genre. The shoot out scene also helps increase pleasure for the viewer because they feel as though the video is now coming to it's climax. This moment is what the video has been building up to.
One of the features that I like best about this video that it comes full circle. It starts and ends with a voice over and the start of the video shows you what happens towards the end of the video, whilst the very end of the video comes back to the beginning, before the robbery has even taken place.
This is similar to other Kasabian videos as they tend to always have a powerful story line running throughout the video and mild violence, for example in another of their songs, 'Empire' the band are in the army and are at battle. The way that this video is shot is also like The Killers 'When we were Young' as they both have similar settings and although they both have a story running through them there is still a performance by the band.
