I've chosen to analyse two music videos from the Rock/alternative rock/indie genre. They're similar genre to the one me and my group have chosen to work on. The videos are Coldplay's 'Fix you' & Bon Jovi's 'Always'.
Coldplay- Fix you
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| Album cover for X&Y |
This song Fix you is written and Performed by British alternative rock band Coldplay and is the second single from their 3rd album X&Y which was released 5th September 2005. The video is directed by Sophie Muller and is about losing someone or something you love/care about or failing in life e.g. first love, family member, exam etc. However you can interpret it how you want according to the dramatic life event you can relate it to.
In the first half of the video, it focuses on lead singer Chris Martin walking through the streets of London at night while singing the song throughout. It starts off with a long distance shot of the band's lead singer Martin wearing a black outfit which could symbolise death while sitting on the pavement looking at the opening of the tunnel in which we hear the diegetic sound of a bus going past. He looks lost and lonely all by himself at night with no-one for him to turn to when if he's in trouble, or the audience could interpret in their own way to fit the lyrics of the song.
The tunnel is filled with bright lights & as he gets up and walks towards the camera, a long take occurs while zooming in on him walking towards the camera and then the song starts. These close ups connote that he's a significant figure & also the bands unique selling point since he's the front man throughout the video and could be what the record label intends to do (Goodwins theory). The first non-diegetic sound we hear is organs, giving the song a church feel to it and can also enhance the song lyrics by connoting that whenever your in trouble, religion can help you by giving you a sense of hope to try and mend your sorrow. From this, you can see the relationship between the music and the visuals (Goodwins theory) as the tone of the music and gloomy, dull atmosphere matches the visuals. There's also a link between the lyrics and the visuals when he says "stuck in reverse" he starts walking backwards.
In the next edit there's an extreme close up of his face with no emotion, the use of the pull back shot shows that he's walking near King Cross station and the lighting
is quite dim. He carries on singing the song and ends up in another tunnel and as he sings the chorus "lights will guide you home" you see bright lights all over the tunnel and a building in the far distance which looks like a house. This shows that there's a link between the lyrics and the visuals (Andrew Goodwins 2nd point of his theory).
The slogan "Make Trade Fair" is projected onto the Royal National Theatre which is seen in a medium shot using the same ITA2 colour scheme on the cover of their album X&Y. This helps promotional sells for the album along with the song itself. As soon as the electric guitar kicks in, the pace of the edits picks up and Martin also speeds up as he runs through the streets until finally reaching the Reebok Stadium, where he joins the rest of the band for last part of the song.
There's a low angle shot when he's about to go on stage connoting that even though he's feeling down he'll do his best to stay strong hence the songs lyrics "I will try and fix you". Quick edits, Ariel shots, rotational shots, close ups and long shots go back and forth showing the band, crowd and Martin swinging lights. This demonstrates genre characteristics because their is performance based elements of the video which is one of many conventions seen in a typical rock/indie music video. It also represents the bands image and shows what they're about which links everything together in terms of the song, instruments used, location/settings etc.
The diegetic sound of the audience singing along with the band at the end of the video gives them a sense of social solidarity and make them feel like they have something in common with eachother. in addition because the video shows Martin singing and looking directly in the camera it engages the audience furthermore as if he were talking directly to you and makes the viewer feel special. Its almost like hes comforting whoever is going through any of the feelings he expresses in the lyrics and at the end he returns the favour by thanking them for their support and wishes them goodnight.
Here's a link to the video below!
Audience reception?
When the audience watches the video for the first time they'll either find it boring or interesting depending on the individuals interpretation. The song in general gives the audience a sense of belonging and feel they can relate to the song and the artist(s) due to the close ups of him singing directly to the camera. They may also see it as a safety net when they're feeling low, to help reassure them that someone is there to help. Looking at Stuart Halls audience reception theory, this video allows individual interpretation as well as agreements on certain parts of the song for instance "when you try your best but you don't succeed". Everyone has felt that way before so they can agree on that therefore its mainly preferred dominant reading.
Goo Goo Dolls- Iris
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| Album cover for Dizzy Up the Girl |
'Iris' is a song performed by American alternative rock band the Goo Goo Dolls. The song was released April 7th 1998 and was originally written for the soundtrack of the 1998 film City of Angels, and then later included on the bands sixth album Dizzy Up the Girl. The song has contributed to the bands great success. The video was directed by Nancy Bardawil.
Representation
- Rock band
- Performance/concept
- Performance in the tunnel show a stereotypical Rock video
- Band shown throughout video
- Lyrics match the visuals- "I don't want to miss you" as he's looking throughout the telescope
- Intertextuality between the film and the music video
First shot we see is a extreme close up of a telescope which could symbolise the title of the song 'Iris'.
Using the overlapping effect, the scene transitions smoothly into a POV shot of the lead singer looking through different telescopes. This is when the song starts.
The high angle shot of the band playing on the road in a tunnel signifies someone watching over them from above.
Continuous close ups of the lead singer shows that he's the unique selling point of the music and the band, which could be a demand of their music label.
Another high angle shot of him spinning on a chair in a empty room of telescopes, connoting confusion and loneliness.
There's reference to Goodwins theory. The lyrics match the visuals when he says "I don't want to miss you" he looks through the telescope straight after.
Throughout the video he shows no emotion, just a blank face linking to all the actions connoting he doesn't know what/how to feel at the moment. Additionally in most scenes he looks anxious, desperate and paranoid.
There's a long shot of him standing on the edge of the building connoting that he's having suicidal thoughts. This is similar to the movie when Nicholas cage (protagonist), stands on the scaffolding ready to jump.
Then you have a long shot of the remaining band members in black clothing acting as fallen angels looking up to heaven (intertextuality between the movie and music video).
As the music picks up, the pace of the edits also pick up. The music then goes soft and quiet like he's taking a moment to think about the situation in which the music goes louder again.
The clothing is similar to the clothing in the film. The protagonist in the film has a long black jacket just like the lead singer in the video. The colours differ slightly in one scene as he's wearing a brown leather jacket. The jacket could connote that he's looks strong on the outside but on the inside he's being eaten up by his emotions.
He just wants to be left alone because he feels that no one will understand him hence the lyrics "I don't want the world to see me, I don't think that they'd understand".
The band look like a stereotypical Rock band in the scene when they're playing in the tunnel. This part is particularly performance based and this may be so their fans can still connect and recognise the genre they fell in love with.
When he's standing in the tunnel the special effects make it look like he's being watched through a telescope.
In the scene when he's by himself, the lighting is bright in contrast to the tunnel scene where the lighting is dark.
Additionally in the tunnel scene there's a light at the end of the tunnel but hes walking away from it implying he's not ready to go to heaven without letting the anonymous person know who he is.
In the end its just an empty room with telescopes and with an empty chair moving around the room by itself
Audience Theory
This video is a mixture of narrative and performance. This gives the audience something they can unravel due to the fact that they can interpret it how they want. Just like Stuart Hall theory proposed.
As mentioned previously when the audience watches the video they may have mixed views towards it. For me the song can be interpreted in different ways as I noted before that him standing on the edge of the building could connote suicidal thoughts. However this is my opinion whereas other people may see it as purely a love song due to certain lyrics "And I'd give up the world to touch you".
Again using Halls reception theory, the interpretation for this video may vary from viewer to viewer and the audience may reject the preferred reading and create their own view. Therefore I would say it uses negotiated reading which is a compromise of dominant and oppositional reading.
Here is the full video to Iris below, enjoy!
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