Research - Music Video Analysis of 'Young Folks' by Peter, Bjorn & John.

I chose to analyse 'Young Folks' by Peter, Bjorn & John, because it is an animated music video, similar to the type of video I'd like to create. Although the music is dissimilar to the music I shall be using, the animation is something I can take great inspiration from, along with the rest of the video.


Firstly, Negus' theory of organic ideology is displayed in the fact that, we never see the band in person, and so they are not sold on their image. Although we see drawn characters who seem to be performing, the audience do not necessarily know if this is the artist, and therefore there is a much stronger focus on the music rather than the artists image. This follows Negus' theory as the band are not being manufactured by the record company, but instead have their music sell records, not a fake, plastic image often associated with a synthetic ideology.

Research - Music Video Analysis of 'Paint Your Target' by Fightstar.

I have chosen to analyse the following video as I believe it is a demonstration of such a simple idea working well. I think that, because I am limited in many ways making my music video, this video could provide great inspiration and innovative ideas for my own music video.

What immediately stands out from this music video, is the support of the theory from Pop music theorist Andrew Goodwin's book Dancing in the Distraction Factory, of song lyrics creating a sense of subject matter. In this case, the lyrics, and title of the song, 'Paint Your Target'. provide the inspiration for the narrative in the video, children pretending to shoot each other in a school play ground, so 'painting' each other as 'targets'. This is also one of the reasons I chose to analyse this music video.

It is shot very simply, with two main focuses. The band performing, and the children playing. However, they have cleverly added bullet effects and explosions with special effects. This is very simple, but transforms the video entirely. It is extremely clever, and a fascinating and original idea, and I think this supports Keith Negus' theory of organic ideology. This is because Fightstar are a band who have had there entire style and image not changed, or created, but nurtured by the record company, into something new, and original, and their raw musical talent is used to sell their records. The simple, but original and interesting video reflects this originality and individuality of the band, but because the video is not the dominant factor, it still allows the band to showcase that their appeal comes across not in their image, but dominantly through their music.

The performance of the band in the video is an example of Dyer's theory of stardom. The bands performance showcases their talent, something which Dyer states as a common value of music stardom. This is because their talent becomes a desirable quality that is attractive of the band. The same can be said for the aggression that the band display in their performance. For some audiences, Dyer sees this aggression as a value of music stardom, as it provides character and stage presence, and the fury in which lead singer Charlie scream, sings, and thrashes his guitar about, demonstrates this immensely.

Dyers paradoxes that the star(s) must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary and simultaneously absent but present are also both present in the video. The lighting seems to cast a god like, halo type outline around the band at points creating the extraordinary image of them, but they wear such normal clothes, and are in such a normal location, a school, that that ordinary image is still present. The band are also quite obviously present in the video, but at the same time, seem absent, as the children pay them no notice as they play around them.

Research – Directors: Tim Burton

Tim Burton is an American Golden Globe winning director, producer and writer, and is one of my all time favourite directors. Although he does not focus on music videos, he did direct the music video for The Killers' single 'Bones'. He instead focuses on full, feature length films, I admire his innovative use of stop animation in films such as 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' and 'The Corpse Bride'. Other films he has worked on include 'Beetlejuice', 'Edward Scissorhands', 'Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street', and many more. He is known for his dark yet quirky films, and has developed a style that can only be described as his own. His films showcase the Gothic genre to the mainstream audience, with the help of his individual and interesting ideas, and humorous screenplays. I personally find his creation of characters impressive. In his re-creation of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', Burton put his own style into the classic story, creating a wonderful, imaginative, and in someways eccentric story, and his re-creation of the characters, particularly Willy Wonka, enabled him to do this. His characters in stop animation have also become "Burton-ised", for example Jack Skellington from 'The Nightmare Before Christmas', and Victor from 'The Corpse Bride', two main protagonists, have cold, white faces and stick thin bodies, with exceptionally skinny digits such as arms and legs, and are dressed in black. The colour contrast, and choice of body shape, reinforce his mystical, fairytale like tales, twisted into the gothic genre.

Burton also has experience in the field of music videos. Most noticeably, his direction of the music video for 'Bones ' by The Killers. This music video demonstrates a different style of animation used by Burton, as a CGI type effect is used to remove the flesh and skin of the band members, turning them, and other characters in the video, into skeletons. This example of his animation is the main reason for my consideration of using a style of animation in my music video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar5BKXg60ME (URL to 'Bones' music video, directed by Tim Burton, as embedding of the video has been removed.)

(http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000318/)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Burton)
(http://www.timburton.com/)
(http://www.timburtoncollective.com/)

Research - Director: Jake Wynne

Jake Wynne is a London based director and editor working out of Prime Focus London. He works primarily on music videos and commercials, having worked with bands such as The Stereophonics, and creating commercials for companies such as BMW, Playstation, and Footlocker. Having watched his films, such as the 'Basketball' Playstation advert, and the 'Nike' Footlocker advert, one thing that appealed to me was the humour behind his work. His films seem to break boundaries in being different and attempt to attract the audience with humour, something I would quite like to experiment with in my music video.


(http://jakewynne.com/)
(http://www.vimeo.com/user710676)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/)
(http://www.imdb.com)

Research - Director: Lindy Heymann

Lindy Heymann is a British writer and director, who graduated from Central/St Martins with a BA in Fine Art/Film. Films that she has worked on include 'The Real Fawlty Towers', 'Kissing Buba', and 'Showboy'. I have noticed that a lot of her work comes in the form of documentaries, or "mockumentaries". This is a really interesting and different way of capturing something, and is not something found regularly in mainstream popular culture. It called also provide a good creative point upon which I could develop and create my music video, as it does not necessarily have to follow the theories of Negus, Dyer, Adorne, and other film theorists. This is because with a "mockumentary", there is the sense that the film should be taken light heartedly, and therefore I could move away from the idea that my music video must present my artist in an iconic, positive way, and perhaps use the video to create a down to earth character from my "star". In this sense it could follow Negus' theory of organic ideology.

(http://www.lindyheymann.com/)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/)
(http://www.imdb.com)


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