Analysis 3 Music Video's

I am going to analyse three music videos which are similar to the music video which I will be creating for my A2 media course:

First video I will be analysing is No Regrets by Dappy

 

   

Though looking at the characteristics of the music video you can tell that it is of an R&B genre, as it uses the typical form and conventions of this genre. Also through the mise-en-scene urban culture is portrayed in the video e.g. the suburb of America and other typical representations of urban culture.

Throughout the music video there is a strong connection between the visuals and the lyrics, for example Dappy is acting like he is the narrator because the camera keeps going from him sing to the story in the background, at one point he is also sitting down in the door way with the story which he is telling in the background.

Throughout the music video Dappy seems to like using fades to edit cuts because this has what he has done through the majority of the video, this is also a feature of the typical form and conventions of an R&B genre based music video.

Towards the end of the music video there is a representation shown between the visuals and music and this is the piano solo. This occurs as the piano solo begins. For the camera work they have used a mid-shot of the piano. The choir is also another representation between the visual and the music.

Here is some of the camera shots used: Close-ups, mid shots, two man shots, establishing shots, long shots and over the shoulder shots. The most common shot used is close-ups, and the majority of the close-ups are of Dappy, this also is a typical representation of an R&B based music video. This is done to please the audience because this is what they want, to see the artist up close and personal like he is there in front of you. This is also used as a promotion tactic for things such as clothing.

Many of the camera shots are of the artists so that it 1. Pleases the targeted audience and 2. Shows you what he looks like. Basically the music video is based around the artist being the main point of focus.

The second video I will be analysing is The A Team by Ed Sheeran.

 

This video also has certain characteristics which follow the forms and conventions of an R&B based music video. The music video has a narrative structure, which is told in a circular narrative way, this means that the video starts at the end. The video is shown from someone else's prospective, watching her life.

 
The mise-en-scene suggests that the girl is unfortunate as she has very tatty clothing which is dirty and ripped i.e. her tights are badly tarn. Through the representation of her clothing you can tell that girl has very little money, in actual fact the only bit of money that you seem to have in the video is money that she is using to buy drugs.

There are also other indications through the mise-en-scene that suggest that the girl has no money, for one, she is seen sleeping on a bench and two, the only type of income for her is selling the big issue or prostituting herself.

The use of close-ups on the girl along with the lyrics make you (the audience) feel sympathy for her. I would say that the target audience for this video would be for age 13-25. The whole music video is shot in black and white, this gives it a dull feeling and brings out the sympathy you feel for her.

The third and final video I am going to analyse is You need me, I don't need you by Ed Sheeran.

The music video consist of certain characteristics that suggest it is R&B/Pop genre based which follows the general form and conventions of this genre based music video. The video is very simple as there is not much to it and it is all in black and white.

The link between the lyrics and visuals are mainly shown through sign language, but at times flashing objects appear on the screen which make the song and the video connect. For example he says "I live on a couch" and then the video quickly flashes to a couch.

The main camera shots that are used in the music video are extreme close-ups, close-ups, mid shots and long shots, most of the shots are focused on the guy doing the sign language. These shots have been used so that the audience is draw to focus on him. Throughout the music video there is no real clever editing or nothing really special for effects etc.

Throughout the whole music video there are only two shots of the artist playing the guitar, this is only a flash. This is unusual as in most R&B/Pop/Hip-Hop music videos the artist is the main focus. But for Ed sheeran it's not as this is also been done in another one of his music video which I analysed earlier (The A Team).

Overall I feel that the music video is a bit basic with no many special effects or edits, but it’s good enough as it appeals to it targeted audience. I feel that there is good use of the mise-en-scene and the lighting.