We had to plan out our ancillary tasks in order to make our coursework successful. We were given a sheet with a list of options and we had note the album title, what genre is the track, the artist record label. We also had to note the artist profile, which noted ‘An indie/rock band from Northern Ireland formed in 2007, consisting of 3 members’ and it goes on to talk about the awards that they have won. It also mentions the overview of target audience for the artist and synopsis of video. We also had to mention our ideas for our digipack and ideas for magazine advertisement.
My task is to analyse in detail the music video of the Kings of Leon song, Pyro, which is the second single that was released from their latest album, ‘Come Around Sundown’. Kings of Leon are an American rock band, from Nashville, Tennessee, that are very serious about their music. They have been very successful in the UK achieving 9 top 40 singles and head lining world famous festival such as Reading and Leeds. The band have also won 2 BRIT awards in 2008 and all 3 of their albums have reached the top 5 in the UK’s album chart. Their most popular singles are arguably ‘Sex on fire’ and ‘Use Somebody’, which managed to make the number 1 spot in this country. The band was formed in 1999 but has only really been successful in recent years perhaps due to their change in genre. They started off with Southern Rock and blues influences however it has eventually changed over time where now the majority of their music is alternative, arena rock. The inspiration from this song came from Caleb Followill, lead vocalist, when he found out about a load of Christians being killed and it’s also about a man that is fed up with the world we live in today. The actual song itself is a fairly dull and depressing one and the video matches that. The video is pretty much based around one guy who is surrounded by a load of low lives in a bar. At the start of the video, we see the neon ‘Bar’ lights that shows that the bar is tacky and cheap. This straight away gives us the impression that the people that attend this bar aren’t very well off and they live in an area with not a lot of wealth. We are introduced to a guy as he is entering the bar and he seems normal compared to the other people inside it. Before he actually goes into the bar he helps a vagabond, which gives the audience the impression that he is in a stable condition and is quite helpful. We think he is normal, not only because of the condition that he is in, but because of his appearance and the clothes that he is wearing. He is wearing smart casual clothes, which shows us that he is a pretty average guy. At this point in the video, no real stand out piece of editing has been noticed. As the guy walks through the door, that’s when the music begins to kick in which links really well, which is linked to Andrew Goodwin. With the same camera shot still in action, it then begins to pan across the bar showing the people in difficulty and distress. This shot is a very good one as it shows the environment of the bar and we also witness that the colour pallet of the video is very dark and meandering which associates well with the song as it is at quite a low and mellow tempo. The people that we see in this shot look like they are on the edge of society and that they have seen better days in their lives. This pan shot is undoubtedly the most crucial shot in the whole video as it gives the audience an idea of what the characters are like and you are able to witness the whole scenery. The camera then eventually pans to the band playing their music; this is one of the few shots that we see of the band in the whole video and it shows that they take their music very seriously. We see them on a small stage in very tacky bar, which could relate to when they first started playing their music, as they probably at a similar level to what they are like in the video. Usually, the band does performance-based videos to show how serious they take their music but they decided to do something different here with a narrative behind it. What follows this is that the guy who the video focuses on tries to split up an argument and then ends up getting punched in the face; this is when the first cut of the video comes in, which is also the beginning of the chorus, which again links well, which is again linked to Andrew Goodwin. The man then continues to get beaten as the song progresses and the volume of the music gets louder and louder which emphasizes him getting a serious beating. What follows this is that the rest of the video is in slow motion emphasizing people’s reactions to what is going on. The people in the bar then begin to rise up, literally. This perhaps suggests that life can only get better as they’re rising towards a light.The relationship between the lyrics and the visuals are that they are relevant as the lyrics are talking about what is actually happening. It allows the audience to understand the song more easily with the video showing what the lyrics are actually about therefore connecting both together. As far as I am aware there are no intertextual references to another song. To conclude, after watching the video several times I have found out that the music and the lyrics all relate together along with the visuals to give the audience an understanding of the song and the video. Kings of Leon choosing a narrative based song is different for them as they are used to doing performance based ones. Even though the overall song wasn’t very successful as it peaked at 69 in the UK charts, however to me personally I feel it was very good and it all linked well.
Dizzee Rascal (Dylan Kwabena Mills), 25, is a British rapper, songwriter and record producer. He is well known for his rap music, as well as other genres such as grime and house. He is also commonly known for his hit singles "Bonkers", "Holiday” and he is also the artist for ‘Come Dance Wiv Me’, which is the video that I’ll be analysing. The song was produced by Calvin Harris and was released in July 2008. Dizzee Rascal is extremely successful, as he has worked with artists such as Calvin Harris, Shirley Bassey, Newham Generals and many more. Also, his latest album went platinum after reaching 300,000 units. The song, ‘Come Dance Wiv Me’ positioned Dizzee Rascal through the medium of a music video as an artist who can produce a wide range of different music.
This song overall made number 1 in the UK’s music charts meaning that the album ‘Tongue and Cheek’ was very popular as it included other number 1’s such as ‘Holiday’ and ‘Bonkers’. So the song itself achieved mainstream success in the short term and established Dizzee Rascal, as it was another single that broke into the top 10.
The video begins at a fairly frequent pace, with the DJ decks being used, female's putting make up on and the bar being prepared for the night. All this is done before the music properly kicks in. Once the beat has kicked in, the video cuts to Dizzee Rascal, showing that he's the dominant character in this video. Also, when the camera is on the lady, it is very slow and it cuts to different part of her body emphasizing and she is an important character and is a character who is appealing to the males audience. The editing that is shown in this video is mainly drawn attention to at the beginning where the screen is wiped to a scene of Dizzee Rascal and the female which really accentuates the fact that this scene happened in the past.
When the song cuts to the chorus, Calvin Harris is the singer, and when the camera turns to him the background is changed into this pink colour with him being the only normal coloured part. This stresses how he is also an important part in the video. Also, when the camera is on him, it cuts to him, whilst he is in the same position, however it is not really noticeable but it is really effective as it cuts in time with the beat. The relationship between the lyrics and the visuals is that they are illustrated and amplified by the visuals. Some of the lyrics that are lip-synched by Dizzee Rascal are related to some of the actions that take place in the video. An example is that because the title of the song is called ‘Come Dance Wiv Me’ the video is set in a club, hence the name of the song. The relationship between the music and the visuals is that at times the video does cut to the beat however there aren’t solo instrumental bits due to the fact that the song contains many electro types of music. Also, the video changes pace with the music because as the music gets to the chorus and when the beat drops, the video becomes a bit more frequent.
There are a lot of camera shots of Dizzee Rascal and Calvin Harris, as the record company try and promote the single. Dizzee Rascal is wearing stereotypical clothing of a rapper for example the baseball jacket and the jewellery. On the other hand Calvin Harris is wearing fairly smart clothing. Previously Dizzee Rascal has been known to be quite a fierce character having stabbed someone in the past however this video shows him to be quite laid back and more relaxed as he is in a club and enjoying himself. This video is mainly performance based as well as concept based because there is no real story shown throughout the video.
To conclude, this video changes Dizzee Rascal in a positive way, as he is becoming more of a mainstream artist rather than a stereotypical rapper. Calvin Harris played a major part in producing the single, which helped in it gaining mainstream success and a UK number one.
Example (Elliot Gleave), 29, is an English singer and rapper born in Fulham who is contracted with Data Records. He is well known for his grime, dubstep, hip hop, and electro music which are very modern types of music in this era. He is also the artist for the song ‘Won’t Go Quietly’ which was released at the start of 2010.
This song positioned Example through the medium of a music video as an artist who can produce a wide range of different music. This song overall made number 6 in the UK’s music charts showing Example’s first appearance in the top 10. So the song itself achieved mainstream success in the short term and established Example as an artist as it made the top 10. ‘Won’t Go Quietly’ is effectively a performance type of music video with a vague story behind it about a woman however this story isn’t really progressed so it’s more of video that just focuses on Example himself whilst showing his fans that they are having a good time. It also has section of lip-synching by Example. The lyrics to this song aren’t very illustrative as there isn’t really an obvious intention. Also, the song was released in January so the song wasn’t exactly positioned as a summer anthem or something similar. The relationship between the music and the visuals is that at the beginning of the video there are flashing lights that flash to the beat but overall there isn’t much to speculate between the music and the visuals.
The image of Example is promoted heavily throughout the duration of the video. There are many camera shots of him lip-synching the lyrics and constantly performing. The scene and the video is filled with his fans dancing and enjoying his music signifying that his music is good to listen to constructing that Example is a successful musician. The shots of Example in this video are mainly medium shots to close ups are an essential technique to promote the artist and his music.
At the beginning the video shows that there is a relationship between the lyrics. When he says the word 'she' the woman walks through the door, emphasizing the fact that he is talking about her. This is a constant feature throughout the course of the video, where when he talks about the woman, the camera cuts to her. I also noticed that the majority of the time when the camera cuts to the woman, the pace of the action is slowed down to signify that she is an important character in the video. The mise-en-scene used in this video is both stereotypical and unusual. The song has a dance theme to it hence why it is set in a club with a DJ and people dancing, however the unusual thought is there is a guitar. The perhaps signifies Example to be different and it makes him stand out, emphasizing the fact that his psychographic could be 'the explorer'. Most of the rest of the video is fast paced and there are many frequent cuts that go with the beat as the music is very quick. In some parts of the video, there is an image of Example and you can see his brain. This links in well with the lyrics as they say 'it's just another case of do or die', as the word 'die' is sort of linked to the brain.
Throughout the video, the woman has been seen as the dominant force however towards the end other people in the club are pushing her around showing that she is vulnerable.
To conclude, this video is fairly basic and simple and not much thought has been put into it however it is easily accessible. The video on a whole is designed to make people recognize Example as a mainstream artist as he has been known to do grime, dubstep etc. It was also produced so he could breakthrough into the top 10 in the UK Charts which he succeeded in doing so.
