Analysis of Music Video and Genre - 'R U Mine?'

My third piece of industry analysis is in the form of 'R U Mine?' by rock band Arctic Monkeys. In a generation in which rock music has become largely scarce, the Arctic Monkeys self proclaim that they are the remedy to that, something amplified in lead-singer Alex Turner's BRIT Award speech for 'Best Album'. This song is one of the leading tracks of that critically acclaimed album.

 

This music video creates a strong star image of the band being nonchalant, anarchic and rash individuals that don't show much interested in the commercial aspect of their careers and care much more about the 'music'. This is reinforced by the whole video being shot handheld, in black and white, and largely in a car. This roots the band in reality and makes it appear as if the video has been thrown together simply because it was a requirement. When looking closely at the camerawork one may understand that it is in fact much more complicated than it first appears, yet nevertheless it is certainly not on the same visual scale as some other music videos. Considering that the Artic Monkeys are currently trying to be seen as the bastions of the dying art that is 'Rock 'n' Roll' it is not surprise that many archetypes of rock bands can be found in this music video such as the Elvis inspired gelled hair (which the lead singer proceeds to comb in the car mirror), emphasis on black clothing and sunglasses. This is further reinforced by the rebellious behaviour of the band, the inclusion of attractive women, and the fact that for a short period the band are playing with all their instruments as if at a performance which is commonplace in Rock music videos. Alex Turner also directs much of his performance directly towards the camera which the confidence of his professional persona.

 

This video does also go some way in detaching itself from conventions with the inclusion of the Radio presenter in the beginning. Not only does this root the video in the real world and act as a self endorsement of the bands quality, but it also adds an element of exclusivity to the song and creates a 'buzz' as if the song is something that should or is hotly anticipated.

 

Analysis of Music Video and Genre - 'Wrecking Ball'

Another interesting music video to analyse is that of Miley Cyrus with her track from her colossal comeback campaign entitled ‘Wrecking Ball’. This video was distributed by her management Sony Entertainment and spearheaded the singers new image and later went on to become the most watched music video on YouTube, leading  to massive controversy and therefore publicity. This controversy was ultimately due to the content on the video and how it so massively juxtaposes from the artists former image as Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel, something that gave her a platform as a global childhood icon.

There are a catalogue of factors in this video that contribute to the mass rebranding of Miley Cyrus. The most obvious of these is her alarming attire. There is a distinct lack of respectable clothing and at one point in the video she goes nude. She has also dramatically altered her style of hair and has a collection of visible tattoos. This is something that would be treated as entirely off limits at Disney presenting the way in which she is attempting to distance herself from that company ethos, and be presented as an anarchic, rebellious young adult who just wants to have fun. She then precedes to swing on a wrecking ball naked creating an obvious link with the songs title. This and other acts such as the way in which she handles the sledge hammer have clear and undoubted sexual connotations. These are blatant and in the audiences face. It makes it clear that the video is directed at a sexually fuelled demographic of young adults and means she will not be appealing to all.

There is a performance element to the video as she lip sinks the lyrics while looking directly into camera. Many have speculated that the tears displayed here and the words of the song reference Cyrus’ split from former boyfriend Liam Hemsworth. This gives some emotional integrity to the song. However, this same integrity is somewhat destroyed by the fact that the activities she is doing aside from the performance appear to have no relation to the meaning of the song. Despite this, the 31 second held extreme close up of the artist face at the opening of the video is a clear attempt to establish some sort of connection between the audience and singer, before it then being contradicted with the strong mixtures of chaotic camera work that shows Cyrus parading herself in a sexually explicit manor.

Analysis of Music Video and Genre - 'What Makes You Beautiful'

The first music video I have chosen to analyse is ‘That’s What Makes you Beautiful’ which coincided with the release of the global boy band’s debut single in 2011. The aim of this video essentially is to create a very clear and defined ‘star image’ that is exploited to entice the bands target demographic. This is an image of five very clean cut, young men who make up their time with charming and appropriate fun. This image plays to the ’13 year-old girl’ audience, and creates content that the parents of that demographic are happy for their audience to be interested in. In some of their more recent videos it has become notably evident that the band are being displayed in a different way from this. The members have become considerably less refined with the majority having tattoos and facial hair and participating in slightly more reckless activities. This is a purposeful position as the bands marketing team wish for them to grow similarly to their original fan base. This means that as their fan base grows older they won’t lose interest.

The video has a partial narrative with the boys meeting up with a small group of girls of the same age to have a camping and sharing a good time. This is of course extremely basic but is all that is required to secure the image. The scenes take place on a beach with the water crashing against the rocks. Considering the romantic nature of the video, one could argue that this setting has strong contextual links with the opening scene of Musical/Movie Grease (1978) which is iconic had a similar target audience. It makes the video somewhat cliché but ensures that the image and intention is immediately identifiable and there is nothing at all sinister about the group. This is reinforced by the slightly dated editing technique of cross-fading between cuts which has a strong romantic resonance. Close-up shots between band members and girls are used to establish chemistry and allow us to see both facial expressions clearly.  Aside from the narrative, there is also a performance element to the video with the band seen to be lip-syncing the words. This may be an attempt to reinforce that fact that they are actually performers and not simply ‘pretty faces’. They also dance and make gestical movements to coincide with the music and maintain the enjoyable pace of the light-hearted video.

 

Examples of Dyer's Key Pardoxes

Theorist: Richard Dyer

Richard Dyer is media theorist who has written extensively about the role of 'stars' within various different media industries, with his key ideas being applicable to all sectors of the media. His most prominent ideology is that a star is an image, not a real person, that is constructed and directed towards and audience using a variety of materials. Dyer also states that the star image is incoherent due to two basic paradoxes (1&2). We analysed these paradoxes and tried to apply them to artists within our media sphere today by creating a PowerPoint.

START OF A2

After completing my media exam one week ago, I am now prepared to commence with Media Studies A2. Having greatly enjoyed last years course and furthermore feeling that I responded to the exam question positively, I was in no doubt that this was in fact the path to take regarding subject choices. I'm am greatly excited at the thought of creating my own Music Video from essentially nothing, using the skills I have thus far acquired and pairing them with some new ones.