Music Video Analysis

Paramore - Now

This music video for the Alternative Rock band Paramore was released in 2013 for the song 'Now' and is a mixture of narrative and performance. There is a story to it but the only performance is the singer, Hayley Williams, lip syncing along to the song to emphasise the meaning of the lyrics and there are no instruments involved. There are a variety of shots such as close ups to portray the feelings of the band members, as well as on particular objects or features of people in the music video to give the audience something to focus on. The video starts with an establishing shot to set the scene and shows the audience who the main battle is between, being the singer and the man shown in this shot. The use of slow motion emphasises the events occurring and expresses the feelings of the characters. There are many fast cuts and transitions acting as a contrast to the slow motion but is used effectively to convey the message of fighting for peace which is the connoted meaning and fits in with the lively atmosphere of the song. There are many long shots showing the fighting and the camera is rarely ever completely static to convey the chaotic ideologies of war.
Goodwin's theory is used as the lyrics link to the images shown. For example, "there's a time and a place to die, and this ain't it" signifies there is a conflict between the people shown in the video, yet suggests that the band aren't giving up as they will succeed today. "War" and "battle" are used to further express the theme of conflict which is shown in the video clearly.
The Alternative Rock genre of the video is shown with the use of mise-en-scene. The singer is wearing white eye makeup which is very alternative and her bright hair stands out denoting the defiant vibe from the band and that they want to make a change by going against mainstream conventions. She is wearing layers of clothing including a jacket, tank top, jeans, a jumper and boots which represent the genre well. Everyone else shown in the video is wearing army clothing demonstrating the fight for peace shown in the video and they are using appropriate props such as grenades, batons and flares to fight. As the video progresses, the girl lights up a flare which starts to add more colour to the scene and by the end of the video, it is all vibrant with the colour becoming more visible and dominant. It is dark at the start to symbolise the bleakness of war and death but when the bright colours emerge by the end it shows how the war is won as everyone drops their weapons, conveying there is hope in dark situations. Her clothes are slowly being taken off as she resists the opposition, connoting the unraveling of the narrative and exposing the bravery of the main character as well as the depth of interpretation regarding the video.
The audience is positioned to empathise with the band members due to the use of camera angles. A high angle is shown, making her look vulnerable and positions the audience to side with her. The camera is focused on the band members and shows their facial expressions whereas the other people who are attacking them are mostly shown as blurs, giving them no real identification. During the video, a man raises his weapon to attack the girl but as he sees her he hesitates. This links to Laura Mulveys theory as it suggests that women need to be protected by men and are not capable of looking after themselves.
She is personified as a confident woman with a set goal in mind, she is not distracted by the violence around her which portrays her as a powerful role model to younger audiences and members of the target audience. She is being protected by the other members of the band and doesn't need to use any violence to succeed in reaching her goal and winning the war.
As the video finishes, the fog clears signifying the peace brought by the band and the end of the war and cuts with the final sight of victory.

The Wombats - Greek Tragedy 

The video for the 2015 single 'Greek Tragedy' by The Wombats features a young woman becoming obsessed with the band and eventually stalking and killing them. At the start of the video there are a series of shots that match up with the drum beats of the song interrupting the state of ecstasy the girl is in with images of the band performing. The girl is shown to be obsessed and in love with the band through observing her facial expressions and body language in comparison to those around her in the shots shown at a concert as they are dancing around having fun whilst the girl is still watching them in awe.
The genre of this video is 'Indie Rock' and would have a target audience of around 16-30 years old due to the themes of the video shown not being suitable for younger teenagers and children. This genre is shown well through the use of mise-en-scene as the girl is wearing jumpers and layers of baggy, dark clothing which are conventions of a simplistic Indie Rock style. The scenes have a dark tint over them
The video is focused on her story rather than the band with some of it being filmed from her point of view which relates to the audience as it shows the life of a fan of The Wombats. There is a variety in camera quality and filming to show which parts of the video the girl is blogging while the rest is high quality to express how she is feeling through her body language and actions. There is use of slow motion to represent the feelings of the girl and direct address is used when filming herself to connect the viewer to her perspective of the narrative. The band members can be shown by the rigid zooming and movements with the camera, as well as the lower definition in comparison to the clear picture when filming from outside her point of view.
The atmosphere of the video changes dramatically when the peaceful and worshiping attitude of the girl turns murderous as her love of the band turns to hate as she kills the band members and straps them up in a warehouse to perform for her forever. This plot twist engages the interest of the viewers which may make them want to watch the video again.  The reveal of what the girl did with the bodies fits the timing of the lyrics "here comes a Greek tragedy". This denotes the tragic death of the members and links the event to the title of the song which indicates that this is the key part of the video.

Muse - Undisclosed Desires

This video for Muse's 2009 single 'Undisclosed Desires' includes all members of the band performing in a dark room filled with wires and excessive amounts of technical equipment which gives the video an electric vibe. The lead vocalist Matthew Bellany is lip syncing along with the song into two microphones taped together with a keytar attached to him with wires. Slightly above him are a cluster of microphones where he'd occasionally raise his hand and snap his fingers into matching the sounds in the song. There are three frames in front of him labelled "Matt Close Up", "Matt Mid Shot" and "Matt Long Shot" and at the start of the song he plugged a lead into the heel of his shoe to denote his connection to the music.
Chris Wolstenholme is playing the base guitar in the corner next to a large wheel filled with guitars spiralling around and being sprung by pedals in time with the music. The drummer, Dominic Howard, is playing a black set of drums at the back of the room with multiple long LED lights lined up on the floor directed towards him.
There is a woman dancing in the middle of the room dressed in strings of bright colours performing a sequence of dance moves that seem to express the sense of the song. A few elements of Laura Mulvey's theory on male gaze could be applied here as the woman is not wearing anything covering her arms and legs. The camera is focusing on her body and movements by using a vast amount of close ups, high/low angles, focusing and zooming to show every aspect of her body to the audience. This could attract a male audience as the camera lingers on the woman and this isn't in context to the overall video as it is performance based.
The walls are covered with monitors showing the lyrics of the song with them all slightly out of sync with each other and only a few of them seem to match the song.
All members of the band are wearing dark colours and the overall colour scheme shown in the video is black and red which fits in with the genre of the song which is alternative and allows the video to look pleasing as no harsh colours stand out and clash against each other. The singer is wearing sunglasses which connote he is a famous icon and the band is successful with their fame.
A range of camera angles and movements are used in this video to connote the overall bizarre and quirky theme of this video. Close ups are used on the band members faces and objects around the room to give the viewer a closer look as to what is in the video and the facial expressions of the men. There are many long shots and mid shots used to show the audience the rest of the room and what is contained in it to hold their attention and make them wonder why these objects are there and presented in such a way. The camera is hardly ever static and it pans around the room or the band members to allow each cut to transition smoothly with the attention switching between the band members, the monitors, the girl dancing, the instruments or emphasising other objects around the room. High angles are used to show their full bodies performing and the camera has a range of smooth movements as well as staggered ones where it switches direction or pace during a shot. There is a variety of zooming techniques and changes in focus to draw in the audiences attention to particular aspects of the shot and represent the videos peculiar theme with a twist on the conventions of performance videos.
The overall mood of this video is electronical, messy and seemingly futuristic which is memorable and impressive showing it is successful as it is unique and hasn't been done before.